READING || September 2019

Tuesday, October 1, 2019
books read:
~ To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
~ Imperfect Courage by Jessica Honegger [Netgalley]
~ The Manticore's Vow by Cassandra Rose Clarke [Netgalley]
~ The Edible Garden by Paul West (review)
~ Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton
~ Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (review)
~ The Innocent Reader by Debra Adelaide (review)
~ Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
~ Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem (review)

DNFs in September:
Nil!

currently reading:
~ Blood Song (Raven's Shadow #1) by Anthony Ryan [I've kind of stalled on this one, but hoping to finish it at some point.]
~ Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) by Jay Kristoff [a reread in preparation for my copy of Darkdawn to arrive...]
~ The Warden (Chronicles of Barsetshire #1) by Anthony Trollope [I couldn't wait until Victober for this one, and just dove right in.]



Not as many books read as usual this month - I think mostly because I moved house at the beginning of the month and I have had a lot of days where I either wanted to get lots of chores done around the new house, or I was just too exhausted and sick to read. I did end up reading a load of review books, though. I received quite a few after moving house, which was a lovely little housewarming present, to be honest, and I also realised I really needed to make some headway on my ridiculously long Netgalley TBR (for those who don't know, Netgalley is a website where you can request early copies of books in ebook format from the publishers). Update on the Netgalley TBR: I managed to read a couple, but then had some more requests granted, so I now have an even longer TBR than before. Ah well, onwards and upwards, I guess!

I started off the month with a bang - To Be Taught If Fortunate is a novella by Becky Chambers that is a standalone - separate from her Wayfarers books. I adore Becky Chambers' writing and this absolutely knocked me over. It was so beautiful, so raw, so emotional and wonderful. Despite being just over 100 pages long, I cried thrice. THRICE. I read this one out of the library, but I definitely want a copy of my own sometime. I cannot gush about Becky Chambers enough - she is wonderful. And so is her writing.

Of the review books, I actually enjoy all of them about the same. They were all quite wonderful in their own ways - not quite five out of five stars, but definitely a four or so. Two of the four mentioned above now have reviews, so I have linked them so you can go and take a look, and the other two should have reviews up in the next week or so. Keeping up with my reading is actually proving quite difficult - I have enough brain power for reading, but not always enough to write the review, so sometimes they have to wait a little while before I can get to them. But, hopefully, the waiting means that I write a better review because I have the energy to put into it properly.

As to the Netgalley books, I'm thinking of doing a round-up every time I've read three or four off of my list, and just giving you an idea of what I've been reading and whether I recommend them. If you'd like to see that, definitely leave me a comment below. I may still do it regardless of whether I get any comments or not (those are thin on the ground in these parts, but I absolutely appreciate anyone who reads my posts!).

Serpent & Dove was part of my Anticipated Releases post (find it here) and so I grabbed a copy on the day it came out - something I haven't done in a very long time. And it was... quite good. It didn't really blow me away, but it was a solid YA Fantasy, with high stakes, and the writing did pull me through quite well. I liked the characters for the most part, I just didn't fall in love with them, and I think that was the problem for me. I wanted to adore these characters and really want to know what was going to happen next, and I just kind of... didn't? I think I will read the next book in the series when it comes out, but I may be placing a reservation on it at the library instead of buying it next time.

Before I go, just a quick mentioned of Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton. I really enjoyed this. It made me feel inspired and happy, and really made me think about the impact that art has had upon my life, and how it can continue to do so. I also admit to sometimes reading something de Botton had said and applying it to writing/reading instead, and finding it really impactful. If you can get your hands on this, I highly recommend it.

And that's it for this month! Next month I am planning on taking part in Victober, or Victorian October - a readathon where you aim to read a lot of Victorian literature. I admitted above in my currently reading section that I had already started, a touch cheekily, because I just really couldn't help myself, honestly. I am hoping to get my hands on a few more books - either secondhand or from the library - for Victober, but I will try to keep you updated - most likely through my book instagram (@badgerbeebooks) where I've been a teensy bit more active again.

Anyway, til the next post! Love and thanks to all who read.


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