LOL.
Not any more, my friends. My pitiful excuse reason this time is just general STUFF, you know, homework, tests, and most of all making a twelve-page book of Harry Potter quotes (with pictures) for my friend's sixteenth. You know, just a normal present. The good news: it forced me to learn how to draw people in profile. Woohoo! The bad news: it took frikking ages, which is why I've not posted and also why I may have left multiple comments on several of your posts this evening, because I've been doing a big read of my posts backlog. I'm still doing it in fact. There will be comments yet this night, my friends!
What else is new in the life of Emily? Well, now that summer has finally arrived here in Scotland ... my hayfever is here. With a vengeance. As in, I got through a whole pack of tissues at school today in a series of disgusting and loud nose-blowing. As in, the skin under my nose is red and raw from sneezing so much, and my throat is a fiery ball of pain that Paracetamol is not helping.
So that's fun.
But anyway, onwards and upwards! Do you remember last month when I posted the first part of my list of books I'd read during my hiatus? Well, here is part 2! Link to the first part is here.
Just after Christmas, when I'd finished A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth after spending several months reading it (which isn't to put you off, IT'S AMAZING YOU SHOULD ALL READ IT REVIEW HERE), I did the Harry Potter re-read I'd been promising myself for so long. And to tell truth: my obsession is only growing with age. The first time I read them I was ten so I was like "whoa magic whoa plot twists THIS IS SO EXCITING" but now that I read them again I am, of course, still saying "whoa magic whoa plot twist" (even though I know what the plot twists are, I still get very excited), but I'm also saying "whoa first love whoa friendships whoa relationship dynamics". I think I just generally understand/relate to lots of aspects more now that I'm a teenager.
Anyway, friends, the point is that whilst I don't have favourite books because there are so many amazing, wonderful, beautiful, INCREDIBLE books in this world ..... these are my favourite books. And if you've not read them it's really time to re-evaluate your life. So go. Go now. The library is that why. Please just leave, IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a beautiful, moving frightening dystopian novel written in the 1930s. In a society where shallow pleasure is the ultimate goal and babies are created in test tubes, there is no concept of love, marriage or family - and no one questions it. But somewhere, outside, there are communities of 'savages' - people with religion and marriage, children and parents, and so much else that 'civil' society rejects.
I would definitely recommend this book - it is so thought-provoking and well-written, and unlike any dystopian novel I've ever read. And there's lots of Shakespeare references. A plus. Oh, and also it is short - which can be a refreshing change, am I right?
Below Stairs is the memoir of an early Edwardian period kitchen maid. It was a really interesting read, which I would recommend for any fans of historical-y type stuff. I mean, it wasn't the best-written, and hardly life-changing, but did enjoy it. It only took me a few days, which was a plus - I find that, the longer a book takes me, the less patience I have with it and the better it has to be for me to like it. If it's going to take three months - like A Suitable Boy did - it's got be frikking good. Which A Suitable Boy was. But the book I'm reading at the moment - Dune by Frank Herbert - has already take me, like, three weeks and I'm not done and I'm annoyed :/
Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss: a history of rudeness by the acclaimed author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I found this in my house and thought: this looks funny. It was. It made me laugh out loud a few times ..... but only a few times. And for a satirical book, it really wasn't that funny. Nor did it make any insights about rudeness - it just kinda stated lots that we all already know. Don't get me wrong, I mean I did quite enjoy this book, but really, friends, life is short, and you should be spending that precious time reading books like A Suitable Boy (seriously have I raved about it enough in this post??) and Harry Potter. If you've not read HP but you ignored my sending you to the library and have read to the end of this post, you really need to get your priorities sorted. It's not hard. Just pick up Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and go from there. I'm not joking. It will bring so much joy to your life. That is not sarcastic.
And now I'm off, because HOW THE HECK is it already ten past nine, I have long hair to wash and a novel to write! Internet you suck my life away!
(Virtually) see you all at some point in the future,
Emily x
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