April Reads

Yes, yes I know. I did the thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do: I neglected my blogging duties and let my reading reviews slide yet again.

Catching up on some reading – February and March Reads bumper edition

OK, brace yourselves folks, we’re going on a three month roller-coaster of reading with some wham-bam-thank-you-mam write ups because I have been lax, negligent even, in my monthly bookish thoughts and it has become a thing bigger than myself, casting a shadow over my to do list, looming over me while I cower in shame.

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January Reads

It has been quite a fruitful month for reading – apparently holidays and being ‘funemployed’ are the answer to the staggeringly impressive reading paces I’ve admired on Bookstagram.

It’s been rather a balanced month in terms of fiction and non-fiction too. Three of each. A good habit to stick to this year I think. And here’s something I haven’t been able to say in a while – I would wholeheartedly recommend each and evey one of them. So if you’re looking for some 2019 reading inspiration, here’s what I’ve got to offer…

Safe Sounds by Carol Ann Duffy

I’ve been pondering the most suitable poem to open this year’s selection all month. January calls for inspiration, motivation to persevere with New Year’s Resolutions, hope and promise to see us through what is for many, the darkest month of the year. But I like January.

December Reads

The last push for the Good Reads challenge saw me overtake my 35 book target and rattle through another couple of reads during the festive period. Of course, having so much time to kill in departures and on flights has aided that. My desk today is from a cosy corner in Malta, looking out on a blue sky, white-capped waves and sunshine on sandstone rooftops. Not a bad way to ease back into things.

Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath

On Friday morning I jolted awake at 5.45am, startled by a door slamming behind me in my dream. Unable to get back to sleep and irritated by a new clicking in the rotation of my ankle, I started to think about my body and how it’s held up in what has been its thirtieth year on this earth.

November Reads

With long nights stretching into winter chill, you might imagine I’d have had more time on my hands to curl up with a book, but somehow no. I have been dipping in and out of several different reads, and excitedly, began my first chronological read of Nigel Slater’s The Christmas Chronicles which will see me through until Spring, but it’s all been rather slow, leisurely reading – which, considering the breakneck pace of life recently, is perhaps a blessing in disguise.

October Reads

What a month. National Poetry Day. Bookshop Day. October is clearly a month dedicated to bookworms which is perhaps how I managed to devote so much time to reading when I appeared to have so little time on my hands.

September Reads

September was an odd, emotional month with a family funeral, a spectacular wedding and some long overdue quality time with friends and family. As for reading, a little geography, a little history, a little close to home.

Postscript by Seamus Heaney

A few months ago I visited the Seamus Heaney: Listen Again Now exhibition in the Bank of Ireland building in Dublin and passed a happy hour meandering through the wilds and words of his life.