Today, everybody is addicted to their smartphone or computer, constantly checking e-mails and social media. This makes it so important to just unplug from time to time. Turn of your phone and your computer and stop thinking about work or your endless to-do list. Make yourself a cup of tea and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Here are my favourite reads for November, some I’ve already read and enjoyed and some I’m really looking forward to:
In one of my last posts I’ve mentioned that I wanted to start reading Sweet Tooth (just finished it yesterday and loved it). It deals with the story of Serena, who starts working at the British MI5 and gets sucked into a world of spies, intrigue and betrayal. She’s a book lover and starts working on a mission involving the literary world. It’s a love story and a spy novel and also a typical McEwan story, with twists and turns and quite a surprising ending. If you’re looking for an entertaining but also intelligent read, this is your book.
PS: Ian McEwan visited Cologne a few weeks ago, so I was actually able to go to one of his readings. He’s one of my favourite authors ever, so you can guess how excited I was! He even signed some books at the end, so I’m now the proud owner of a signed copy of Sweet Tooth, which I will hopefully keep for the rest of my life.
I’m not the biggest fan of reading biographies, but from time to time there’s one that’s really inspiring and this is one of them. I’ve only started yesterday and I’m already half way through since it’s such an easy and interesting read. Virginia Woolf has lead a fascinating life and written out-standing books (and did you know she and her husband also founded their own publishing house? I didn’t). If you liked her work (my personal favourite is Mrs. Dalloway) or if you’re an aspiring writer, I would definitely recommend reading this biography.
I know that this novel is a classic ‘school fiction’ book you have to read in English class (all my friends did in 10th grade), I’ve never actually read it though. It’s written from the perspective of a 15-year old boy, Christopher John Francis Boone, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome. Mark Haddon wrote on his blog though that “Curious Incident is not a book about Asperger’s….if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The book is not specifically about any specific disorder,”. I haven’t started it yet, I’m definitely looking forward to it though!
As I Lay Dying has been sitting in my book shelf ever since our London trip this summer where I bought it in a small but wonderfully stocked book store (why do you only find those in London?). I’ve never read anything by Faulkner, so I hope it’s a good start. It deals with the death and burial of Addie Bundren, told by the members of her family. And also with life in the deep south in Mississippi. Books like this can be really great or really boring, so I’ll just read and see ;)
What are you reading at the moment?
Good choices! I’m reading the last few pages of Momo, and afterward I’m going to start on Lady Chatterley’s lover :-)
I completely agree with having some quiet time! I love to read and I want to get through a lot of books this year!
Hanna’s Places is a green lifestyle magazine written by Hanna Ulatowski. It’s all about slowing down in a fast-paced society and finding ways to live a more sustainable, simple lifestyle.
November 6, 2013
I want to read more books this month too! I am currently reading Allegiant by Veronica Roth. It’s the third book in her Divergent series. I loved Atonement by Ian McEwan. I’ll add Sweet Tooth to my to-read list!