September was a super busy month for me so I definitely did not get as much reading done as I would have liked but 7 (and a half) books is not too bad!
The first two books that I finished reading were
Six of Crows and
Crooked Kingdom which I have already posted a full series review of. I won't go back over my thoughts on this series but I will say that it is a 5 star series.
I started off reading
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman as a hardback but swiftly transferred to audiobook and I must say I am very glad that I did. The narrator fitted the character of Eleanor absolutely perfectly. In the novel we follow the socially inept Eleanor who fails to fit into the social norms of society. She has a dark past which has left her scarred physically, mentally and emotionally. Her life is a series of routines that must not be broken. She is unintentionally hilarious throughout - this is particularly clear through the audiobook verion. When an old man falls in the street Eleanor is forced to work together with a colleague to help the man. Raymond, her colleague, is a big hearted, kind and genuine guy who has a huge impact on Eleanor and the way she lives her life. I laughed and cried at this book. The characterisation was phenomenal throughout. Eleanor never slips out of character and the mysterious plot kept me wanting to read on. This was a 5 star read for me. I am amazed that this was a debut novel for the author and will be keeping an eye out for future reads by Gail Honeyman.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare was my next read in September. I must admit that this is defintely not my favourite play by Shakespeare. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads but, on reflection, I feel like I may have been too generous with that. There are some real interesting characters in this play including the magician, Prospero, his daughter, Miranda, and her prince, Ferdinand. Prospero uses his magic to set the world to rights. He was previously the Duke of Milan but was usurped by his brother and ended up living his life alone on an island except for his daughter and the monster Caliban. Prospero traps his brother and the King of Naples on his island and manipulates a situation where the King's son, Ferdinand, ends up marrying Prospero's daughter, Miranda. This is very much a character driven play as the plot is very sporadic. This is definitely not one of my favourite Skakespearean plays but the characters were well developed throughout.
Stay With Me by Adebayo Ayobami was the easiest 5 star rating I gave all month. I had heard a lot of rave reviews about this novel on Booktube and could not wait to get started with it. This tells the story of Yejide and Akin - a Nigerian couple who have fertility issues. Whilst they had agreed to a monogamous relationship Akin's family had other ideas and introduce a second wife to him. The development of the relationship between Akin and Yejide is complex and revealed slowly throughout the plot. The concept of arranged marriage is explored along with the political turmoil of the 1980s in Nigeria. The narrative flows freely and, at times, appears to merge the voice of Yejide and Akin through the strength of love they have for each other. This is an important read and one that definitely deserves all of the praise and 5 star reviews it is receiving currently.
The next novel I read was
The Sellout by Paul Beatty which I listened to on Audible. This was mega weird. I had heard a lot about it since it won the Man Booker 2016 but I really wasn't clear on the actual story until I started to read it. It definitely is not for the faint hearted! This is a satirical take on the issues of racism and equality which poses absurdist "solutions" to the disadvantages faced by black Americans. The narrator is facing the Supreme Court on several charges which include reinstating slavery and introducing segregation to the local secondary school. One view that particularly stood out for me was the "pro-slavery" perspective of Hominy (previously a child tv star) who wanted nothing more than to become a slave. The heartbreaking perspective he has on slavery is based on the fact that this at least gives him a sense of certainty of what to expect from life - it takes away the guess work of how he, as a representative of his race, will be treated by society. Another character attempts to re-write history by including views of racial equality and pretending that racism and slavery was never a thing. Whichever perspective you look at it is heartbreaking to consider and be made to face the truth that actually racial inequality is very much alive and kicking in modern society. The book poses the question - what makes modern treatment of black Americans any different to the slavers of times gone by?
A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin was my final full read this month. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads and can't believe how good this was for a debut novel. I already am totally in love with Ira Levin's writing style having read
Rosemary's Baby a few years ago and I was a little bit worried that this would not be of the same standard. I need not have worried though - this was absolutely super. I can't say too much without spoiling the plot. It follows a young, ambitious man who believes he is destined for greatness. He is smart, handsome and charming and has big plans for his life. The mysterious build up of his character starts when he goes unnamed for the whole first section of the novel. We are intrigued to know more about him. A sticking point arises in his plans when the young woman he is dating falls pregnant and is determined to marry him regardless of the fact she will be disinherited from a small fortune if she does so. His only solution: kill her. Everything from the characterisation to the pace of the plot in this novel was super. I was desperately turning the pages to get to the end and find out what would happen to each of the characters. It has made me really keen to read the rest of Levin's works.
There was one book that I regret spending so much time on this month - I feel like if it was not for this book I would have made it to by 8 book target.
Confessions of a Sociopath by M.E. Thomas was a non-fiction novel based on her own life as a non-criminal sociopath. I have seen many disregarding this book because it was too "self-involved" but I feel that this is something that should be expected given the title. My reason for disregarding it was that I just did not find the subject interesting. The narrative was clumsy and too repetitive. Perhaps this would have been better as a series of short stories rather than a jarred attempt to combine all of the events in her life that showed her lack of emotional connection. I won't be going back to this one and I doubt I would even give it to anyone to read to be honest.
Finally I read half of the short story collection
The Blue Lenses by Daphne DuMaurier. I will definitely go back to this one and finish it off before I write a full review. They were getting a little bit much for me to read all at once.
A very positive reading month overall. I think in October I may try to include a mid-month wrap up if I have time - I always regret leaving all of the typing to the very last minute!
Meg x
A lot of what we know about the mythical vampire/vampyre comes from classics such as Dracula (Stoker) and The Vampyre (Polidori). For all the love that I have for Gothic fiction I must admit most of the books that I have read fall in to the female Gothic genre. I am part of an online book club where we vote for a few books each month and discuss them. One such book for this month was Dracula and I have to say I was reluctant to start with. I wasn't sure how I would get along with the style of writing - this is something I need to address because I usually end up really enjoying this 
It was really clear to me that the tropes that we see in modern Gothic literature were all present but I think isolation was the one that really stood out for me. The characters were all at their most vulnerable whenever they were left by themselves. The isolation caused by perceived madness at the start had a really profound effect on my interpretation of the novel and the character of Jonathan. As a reader I felt as though I was being taken on the journey of discovery along with each of the characters despite having more knowledge owing to the omniscient role played by the reader.
