We have a rule that I ‘generally’ adhere to in our house – no phones beside our beds. And you know I have to say I think it’s a great idea (it wasn’t mind it was my husbands, he’s literally allergic to social media – well they do say opposites attract!). Lucy used to wake a LOT at night, actually it’s probably remiss of me to write that in the past tense because she’s only just figured out how to sleep through so I doubt we’re out of the sleepless woods yet. Anyway, I digress, I used to find myself picking up my phone once I’d settled her, you know to check all the incredibly important social media happenings that just simply couldn’t’ wait until morning….!! But for sure the bright light of the phone really messed with my ability to go back to sleep and it used to set my mind racing with ideas or thoughts.

So instead I now bring my good old Kindle up to bed with me and I would say in the last month alone I’ve read at least 10 books. I’m a very fast reader so it only takes me about two nights to finish a book, especially if I like it. I am part of a Book Club in my local village which has given me lots of new reading fodder and has also turned out to be a really lovely way to meet some new and lovely women! So I thought I’d put into words a few of the books I’ve enjoyed over the past while. I’ll do the miniest of reviews/synopsis of the book so if it takes your fancy from the few words I’ve written you can investigate further yourself! 

1. The Other Side of the Wall – Andrea Mara; I think probably my favourite book of the year, set in Dublin it’s a really good thriller, brilliant book, I quite literally could not put this down. 
2. Eleanor Olpihant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman; a really unusual read from the prospective of a girl suffering with some mental health issues, really interesting book, I loved this. 
3. The Seven Sisters series – Lucinda Riley; I’m two books into this and really enjoying it. The books are really long but they are interesting with plenty of twists. I have to admit though after two now back to back I’m ready for a break from them to just read something totally different. There are currently four books published with another three (I think!) scheduled for publishing in the near future. 
4. Cornflakes for Dinner – Aidan Comferford; a really simple book with no grand twists but just a nice look on family life over the past ten years or so, it looks at the effect of the recession on his family and he has two girls with autism so it was interesting to see the effect of that on the family, overall a cheerful book despite the rather sad theme.
5. The Keeper of Lost Things – Ruth Hogan; a lovely easy read, a nice story following an old man who finds treasures and a young woman who helps out in his house and is then left the task of finding the owner of all the lost things. It comes together nicely in the end, bit of spiritual happenings which I’m really not into normally but it suited this book. 
6. When God was a Rabbit – Sarah Winman; I loved this book, kind of a random find on my Kindle but it was just a nice story. Now I could see how the main character could be a bit irritating because she is a bit odd really and lacks the ability to take responsibility but all the same a quirky tale from the South of England! 
7. The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead; this one was a bit different to most books I read this year, it was hard enough reading, set back in the era when the slave trade in America was on the cusp of being demolished it follows one young slave girl on her journey. I won’t tell you what the journey is but suffice to say it’s graphic in parts and the ending is just not the sense of euphoria you wish it would be. That said a very interesting read. 
8. Small Great Things – Jodie Piccoult; a really interesting book from a few different points of view, one being a black midwife and the other the parents of a baby who dies in her care. I actually had to google the ending of this book because, having read a previous book of hers I know the ending doesn’t always go as you would seem. Its a really good read, very interesting. 
9. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath; I love her poetry so this was one I wanted to read for a long time. Nice book but fierce depressing, hardly surprising though!
10. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou; a kind of cult classic really this one, an autobiography by Maya Angelou set back in the thirties and forties in the US. A really interesting and intriguing read, definitely I would highly recommend this. 
11. Sarah’s Key – Tatiana de Rosnay; in a way I don’t know if I sould recommend this book because I had to put it down several times, the writing is so good but the storyline in parts so incredibly sad it does make for some hard reading at times. Nonetheless it is an absolutely excellent book the follows an American journalist in Paris in more recent times as she looks to uncover what happened during the Nazi era in France. 
12. All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr; The latest book we read as part of the book club I absolutely loved this. It’s a long book with two stories running parralel that come together in the end. Set during World War Two, one story being told by a young blind French girl, the other following a German soldier, it’s a really good read and had me gripped until the end, although some of the book club ladies said they found it dragged in parts.

So there are some of my favourite reads of the past few months. Up next in the book club is Louise O’Neill’s book, Asking For It which I am really looking forward to reading having heard such fantastic reviews about it since it’s been published. 

I am always open to suggestions for books too so please drop a comment with your recommendations if they’re not listed above, that’s the great thing about reading, the list of good books to be discovered is endless!  

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