Books to Read: Martin, Thériault & Strayed

This year I'm trying really hard to read the books I already have gathering dust on my bookshelf before I buy anymore. And I've got lots. I've read some incredible books already this year and I can't wait to get stuck into more. Here are the three that are next on my list of books to read.

Dangerous Women Part I, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois | It's hard not to get stuck into a series when it's literally everywhere you turn your head. I'm slowly making my way through the Game of Thrones books and I bought Dangerous Women on a whim in Waterstones. It contains seven short stories. The first is entitled The Princess and the Queen which is basically a prequel to Game of Thrones, set in Westeros and focusing on the Targaryen's during the civil war. It's also comprised of more tales by different authors and I'm really interested to see what they're like. 

Wild, Cheryl Strayed | I fell in love with Strayed after reading Tiny, Beautiful Things and she's one of the reasons I've thrown myself into writing like I have done this past year. Wild is the story of Strayed's hike along the west coast of America which she took after the unexpected death of her mother. Riddled with grief she sets off on the eleven hundred mile journey on her own. I've heard nothing but good things about this one so I can't wait to read it and follow her along that journey. 

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman, Denis Thériault | I'm actually half way through reading this one and it's only 108 pages so I can't imagine it will take much longer. I was immediately taken in by the idea of this book when I read what it was about. Bilodo is a lonely postman who fills his days by secretly reading the letters of a long-distance couple and soon enough he gets entangled in their lives. I was hooked in the beginning but the storyline took an odd turn and I found myself losing sympathy for the central character. That being said, I'm intrigued to find out what happens at the end!

Ever since I started working full time I've found it really hard sleep in for very long on a weekend. I hated it at first, it drove me mad but I've learnt to love it. This morning I woke up at 6.50am, brewed myself a cup of tea and sat under a blanket with a book. The world feels peaceful at this time of day and I find I can get lost in a book for hours. 

Let me know if you have any book recommendations. I'm always searching pinterest and blogs for my next read! 

Books to Love: Very Good Lives

"We do not need magic to transform our world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better." - Very Good Lives, J.K. Rowling

It's authors and women like J.K Rowling that make me feel proud of being a part of this generation. She's intelligent, she's down-to-earth, she stands up for what she believes in and she cares so deeply about the influence Harry Potter has had on people. She understands what position she's in, the platform she's on and how she can use it for good.

I've kept up-to-date with her writing because I enjoy it. I read The Casual Vacancy and bought The Cuckoo's Calling the Christmas that it was released (even though I haven't got around to reading that one yet.) Then I stumbled across this post from Sian Louise who recommended Very Good Lives, something I'd never heard of before.

Very Good Lives is the 2008 commencement speech Rowling delivered to the Harvard University graduates. True to Rowling's style, it's witty and powerful and has something that everyone can take away from it. In it she talks about failure and how it isn't always a bad thing. She talks a bit about her journey, the problems she faced and why she made the decisions she did. She encourages those who can to use their positions to do good, much like she has. 

My favourite aspect of it was when she touched on imagination. When I first read the cover I wondered how she was going to talk to hundreds of 21 year old graduates about imagination without sounding like she was delivering a Year Two literacy lesson. But she talks about how you can use your imagination to empathise with other people, to imagine yourself in their position, which is so important in building an understanding and tolerant society. 

There's something about people and society that she just gets and if she'd have delivered that address at my graduation then maybe I'd have left knowing there's so much more to offer the world other than a degree. 

Very Good Lives is a book I imagine I'll be returning to often and I hope it's one that you'll decide to try. It's beautifully written and illustrated too so what's not to love?