Aka the last book haul I did...
It's my first post of 2021. And I've decided to kick it off with a lovely book review post. Because I LOVE reading and it only seemed right to talk about the books I bought in my last trip to Waterstones.
Cos, in lovely bright England we're in lockdown again. Lol.
This haul was done waaaaay back in September, so it's about time I talked you through the books I was sucked into. I mean, what's better than reality? Fiction!
Settle down and read on, and you might even find a book to add to your own shelves...
001: kate summerscale - the haunting of alma fielding:
Right from the first page, Kate Summerscale pulls you in to this whirlwind of a haunting with story telling that you question: how can this be real? And that’s the thrill of it! Mainly following the ghost hunter Nandor Fodor, who worked for the International Institute for Psychical Research, as he investigates a curious haunting of a housewife, Alma Fielding, in 1938 in South London.
As he gets to the bottom of this haunting (Where cutlery flies, objects mysteriously disappear and appear somewhere else and the strange scratches Alma experiences on her body. Among countless other things...), he discovers how Alma has experienced a much darker past that may be cause for the haunting. Summerscale is able to paint a scene with not only focus on Fodor and Alma, but also on other mediums, researchers and their investigations, how the country viewed hauntings and the pressing worry of the Second World War.
I came to this book expecting one thing and was left with something entirely different to what I anticipated. And even though my expectations weren’t fulfilled, it’s still a really intriguing tale of how such a haunting came to Alma and her home. And the conclusion of how such hauntings influenced great horror and psychological thriller books of the time.
002: susanna clarke - piranesi:
This is one book I'm actually yet to read... so here's the synopsis...
"Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known."
003: toshikazu kawaghuci - before the coffee gets cold: tales from the cafe:
A book just as delightful as the first! A cosy read, heartwarming but also heartbreaking read where visitors to a cafe in Tokyo can travel back in time to visit loved ones. It all starts with a cup of hot coffee, and you must drink the coffee before it gets cold... Otherwise you’ll be in a bit of a pickle.
This second book is split into four chapters with:
best friends
mother and son
the lovers
the married couple
I won’t reveal anymore, but what I really loved was the further character development of owner and his family who work in his cafe. The way this book ended was bittersweet, and despite the finality of it, I’m hoping for a third book!
004: philip pullman - the book of dust: the secret commonwealth:
This book was just as gripping and mesmerising to read as the last. This one is set twenty years after the first book with Lyra at twenty attending university. She’s got a strained relationship with her daemon Pan, due to the events of the last His Dark Materials book. Both of them are pulled into a mysterious mythical world while trying to save their relationship.
I really loved how Philip Pullman referred a lot to both the first book and the first HDM series. It really brought the story to life and as a reader who hasn’t read the first series in years, was a good refresher! I whizzed through this book and I’m really excited for more!
005: sayaka murata - earthlings:
I cannot even begin to describe what I just read. Earthlings is literally a whole other dimension from Sayaka Murata’s debut Convenience Store Woman. (And that’s not a pun!) It digs deep into what how we function as humans in a society, and how we’re controlled in subtle ways to live our lives. Like how we’re expected to study, find a career, get married and then start a family...
Exploring the deepest and darkest themes of misogyny, incest, cannibalism and rebellion. Murata creates a protagonist that challenges the taboos in society who believes she is from a different planet - and tries to break free from The Factory.
When I was told this was darker than the first novel, I didn’t know how dark it would really get. Natsuki’s character reminds me of those who choose to break out from society and choose to liberate themselves and live in the wild. But instead of an already built life, she’s leaving the grasp of those around her that tell her what she should be doing with her life. This novel is a true play on the word “alienation”.
006: francine toon - pine:
This novel is the freshest and most captivating gothic thriller I’ve read this year. I can just imagine this being made into an on screen adaption, and Francine Toon makes this so easy to imagine scenes like a film with her way of telling the story.
With a hint of horror and spooky going’s on, you’ll want to keep reading more when finding out who this strange woman is who disappears the next morning, what really happened to Lauren’s mum and what happened to Anne-Marie?
Just because Halloween is over, doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in some more dark fiction...
What books have you read recently?
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