4/03/2017

The Autumn Book Haul




It's been an age since I last did a book haul around these parts, in fact I cannot even remember the last time one made its way onto this corner of the internet. My apologies, and if you are a fan of seeing what books I have naughtily bought or been sent, well you are in for a treat. There's a bit of everything here; nonfiction, feminist fairytales, Shakespeare and fashion to name but a few...

South and West: From A Notebook* by Joan Didion-At the moment I'm dipping in and out of The Year of Magical Thinking, also by Didion. I would be immersed in it normally but given its preoccupation with death, a topic many of us find confronting at the best of times, I'm taking it in a bit more gradually. Anyway, her latest book turned up on my doorstep last week. It is essentially two different sets of musings and notes from her notebooks during the seventies; drafts of interviews, dialogue overheard, essays and articles are all within. There's something intoxicating in the best way with Didion's words so I am looking forward to reading this soon.

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson-After loving Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood's retelling of The Tempest I knew I had to read more from the Hogarth Shakespeare series. The Gap of Time is Winterson's retelling of The Winter's Tale. Again, like Hag-Seed I deliberately don't know a lot about this. I did read the synopsis obviously but I have chosen to not look at it again so I can just enjoy it. Book lover problems. Winterson's festive story collection from last year wowed me so I am expecting great things from this.

Can You Tolerate This? by Ashleigh Young-This is a book of essays by a fellow New Zealander. As well as being top of the Unity Books bestseller lists for a while now, it also recently won the Windham-Campbell literature prize which is kinda a big deal. This year I want to try to read more books by New Zealand authors as I have a bit of a stigma around NZ literature. That can be blamed on the one paper I did on the subject at university which scared me away. You all know how much I love memoirs+essays so I am sure this will not disappoint. 

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde-After adding and removing this from my cart for months, I finally bought it in March. Sister Outsider is on many a feminist reading list and this collection of essays is said to be brilliant so I am looking forward to reading and in turn diversifying my reading list soon. 


The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k* by Sarah Knight-Believe the hype because this book is goood. Real freakin' good. I have the follow-up, Get Your Shit Together to read as well. Anyway, if you are like me and find yourself caring too much, this is for you. There's nothing wrong with being a caring person, obviously. It's just about reassessing and prioritising what you allocate your cares or f**k budget towards as Knight puts it. The book is split into categories; friends, family, work etc and it's not too preachy or self-help esque. It's more a toolkit and somewhat truthful piece of writing. I found this extremely helpful and when I find myself getting frustrated or overly sensitive about things that do not really matter, I return to my budget lists and remind myself 'hey person/situation/thing/thought does not matter'. 

Groundbreaking Fashion* by Jane Rocca, illustrated by Juliet Sulejmani-If you're yet to follow Juliet's Instagram, get onto it and then come back here. Groundbreaking Fashion is a whimsical collection of iconic moments from fashion in history. Bjork's swan dress, the Mulberry Alexa bag and more make an appearance. I am in the process of reading this at the moment and I love it. Definitely one for the coffee table and all the fashion loving people in your life.

How Not to Fall in Love, Actually* by Catherine Bennetto-I do not know much about this book, admittedly but the title has me intrigued. If not because the words 'Love Actually' so closely aligned naturally makes me think of one of my all time favourite films. Anyway, going off the synopsis for this one, it sounds like it's perfect if you are a fan of authors like Sophie Kinsella or Helen Fielding-the lady behind Bridget Jones. I will keep you posted.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls* by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo-When I read the concept for this book it really took my attention. My only qualm is that it didn't exist when I was younger. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a love letter and beautiful homage to the real-life heroines from history and today. Each profile of the women featured is told in the style of a fairytale which I love and the illustrations are so vibrant and really capture each heroine perfectly. I haven't read this yet but I will definitely be delving into it properly soon.

-What have you read and loved recently?

*Review Copy

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