
A round-up of books I've read since I did my last book post, including the ones I read over my trip.
Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks. This is the first book of feminist theory/essays I've read. bell hooks' ideas are based on
radical feminism, which I appreciate more than what is applauded as feminism in pop culture today. She also writes about how feminism intersects with things like race and class, which I think gets missed a lot in general discussion. It's a short and easy read, I recommend it to everyone who wants to read more about feminism. I'm not sure I agree with everything she says but it definitely got me thinking.
The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. I'd read the first book (Finnikin of the Rock) a while back, and loaded the trilogy onto my Kindle for my trip. Melina Marchetta is an amazing writer, her books are always so engrossing and she usually has great plot twists. These made for good plane/airport reading, but I think I would've enjoyed them more a few years back when I was more into fantasy.
Sharp Objects and
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I found Gone Girl a good read so I checked out Gillian Flynn's other two books. Sharp Objects was a bit more straightforward in plot but it's a good mystery anyway; Dark Places is more substantial but I couldn't get into the characters as much. Both worth reading if you liked Gone Girl!
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I
unexpectedly liked The Secret History, a lot, and The Goldfinch has the same sort of feel to it (although in a completely different setting, with different characters). It somehow manages to make a series of unlikely events involving antiques, fine art, teen delinquency in the suburbs of Las Vegas, drugs, and European criminal gangs, work together. It wasn't as tightly written as The Secret History, and I felt the plot and writing were a bit more rambling and pointless at times, but otherwise I enjoyed it.
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. This is a cheat, it was a re-read, but the BBC series is coming out this week and I'm excited for it so I read it again in preparation.
Jamaica Inn and
The Apple Tree and other stories by Daphne du Maurier. Rebecca is a really good book and her short story collection Don't Look Now was amazing so I've put basically everything du Maurier wrote onto my Kindle to get through bit by bit. Jamaica Inn is a good story, just a tad less exciting compared to Rebecca but still very atmospheric. It reminds me of Wuthering Heights in that it's set on the moors and there's a love interest of questionable character. The Apple Tree short story collection includes The Birds (which the film was based on). I think I might like her short stories more than her novels; they're so suspenseful and her plot twists/surprises work better in a shorter format, I feel. A lot of her shorts are a bit disturbing - not overtly, but still not the kind of thing to read to relax before bed.
Next up I think I'll try and finish The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, which I started but couldn't get into, or another of Daphne Du Maurier's novels. What are you reading right now?