I recently went on a book buying spree, as I do every time I get my student loan, and spent a lot of money on a lot of new books. Okay, so maybe not all of these books are new, but they are new to my ever growing book collection. I honestly didn't intend to spend so much, but then I thought to myself - I would rather spend the money on books, of which will benefit me in someway or another, rather than spend it on clothes that I will inevitably get bored of and food that will only bring me joy for the time I am eating it. Books make me happy, not only the stories inside of them, but the actual physical book itself. I love being surrounded by books, each one is different, in their own unique way, kind of like people. They maybe made of the same things, but each one has so many different elements which it make it stand it out, or blend in. Surprisingly, people scare me because of this exact same reason. But books; being surrounded by all these different stories, is just soul filling. Or at least has some kind of philosophical explanation. I don't like kindles. Kindles are not books. Any anyone who says 'I downloaded this new book to my Kindle' clearly needs some kind of reevaluation of the word book. No, you downloaded a PDF of a story onto your kindle, not a book. Wow - this post just went in a completely different direction as to what I originally intended. Needless to say, I hate Kindles. Back to my original purpose of this post... After buying a whole bunch of new books, I figured I would share the ones I am most excited about reading with my lovely readers!
First up is, 'The Art of being a Grown-up' by Grace Helbig: Youtube celebrity and second member of the holy trinity to publish a book (Hannah Hart published her autobiographical cook book early last year, and Mamrie Hart will be publishing hers within the next few months). The book is essentially a biographical guide, on how to deal with certain aspects of life, based on Grace's Experiences. As someone who has followed Grace online for a few years, I have been wanting to read this since it was released back in October, so I can't wait to start dive in and have a read. I am so gutted that I can't head out to meet her on her UK book tour, ah the burden of wanting an education, and having a job.
Next up is 'The Reason' //Lacey Sturm: Ex lead singer of the Christian Rock band, Flyleaf. It's another biography, but it strays away from comedic value that Grace's will no doubtably have. I'm not a religious person myself, but I admire those that are. It's such a big commitment to say 'yes I believe in this', and I have very mixed feelings about the word commitment, along with its meaning. I love to read books that involve religion in someway or another. There is just something about them that makes me feel. I wish I could be religious, but there is something in my brain that just won't let me; so instead my religious interests will live vicariously through those that are. The novel focuses on her life and how she progressed from a self destructive lifestyle, to as she put it 'discovering a life worth living'. It will be great to get into the mind of someone who wrote such great lyrics for such a great band. I had the opportunity of seeing Flyleaf on one of their UK tours, where I got to see Lacey, and hear her speak about herself, the band, and us - the fans, and it was just magical. I really felt something deep inside myself that night, almost like a sense of belonging. I do hope her book is just as profound as she is.
Third on the list is 'We are all completely beside ourselves' //Karen Joy Fowler. Shortlisted for Man Booker 2015, it is rumoured that this novel sold more copies at the winners ceremony, than the actual winner. Who won it again? If I am being completely honest, I was a little disappointed with the winner, I wanted either WAAKBO or Ali Smiths 'How to be both'. I have read great things about this book, including within a recent #BookBloggers chat. I love reading reviews and opinions from people, and I almost certainly alway look at books if they have been recommended to me; especially if they are not something I would necessarily choose or myself.
'It's kind of a funny story' //Ned Vizzini, is one those books that I really want to read, but always seem to overlook it when scrolling through my Amazon wish list for a new book to read. I think It was added to my list in 2012, or possibly 2011, something like that. Either way its been on it for along time. The novels main theme is Mental Illness and Suicide, and since I am researching and exploring both of those within literature for my dissertation, I figured now would be the best time to start reading it. The New York Times, classified it as authentic and important - so it has to be remotely interesting, right? I have read many books that involve depression and suicide, however after reading the Amazon reviews, there definitely seems to be something special about this book.
You may recognise Mindy Kailing from The Mindy Project, but she has also written the incredibly popular book: 'Is everyone hanging out with out me?' I can't say that I bought this book through some phenomenon, or because it is a work of genius because I didn't. I simply chose it because of it's title; a thought that I have often have. I automatically felt "wow, this woman gets me, so now I'm going to get her book." I'm very intrigued to read this, I want to know if all of the expectations I have based solely around the name, are what I hoped, or if I am going to crash into a corner and start crying over it's lack of interesting'ness. Hopefully not the latter. Mindy is very witty as actress, so lets hope that shows in her writing.
Last, but definitely not least is Lena Dunham's 'Not That Kind of Girl'. If you've seen the HBO show, Girls, or even Tiny Furniture, then you will definitely know who Lena Dunham is. She is smart, funny, beautiful, and somewhat philosophical, as she explores the lives of four women living in New York - Think of Sex and the City, with out SJP, and more personal angst. The Show although hilarious, is really hard hitting and focuses on a lot of issues that many other shows wouldn't necessarily do. Lena Dunham isn't afraid to convey what she wants to convey, and I only hope that she does the same within her book. However, although I among others think Lena in a Genius, I am worried, that perhaps her book has been slightly over hyped, because of the attention that surrounds her. She has been dubbed as the voice of a generation, but is she really? She isn't afraid to say what she thinks, and do what she wants - she is just an extraordinary girl making her mark on the world. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to read this book, and find out more about the supposed voice of my generation. I have at least four more that I could write about, but I fear that this post is already too long. Maybe I will make a second part - but I will definitely be reviewing them over the coming months. My goal for 2015, is to read and review fifty books, which I am looking forward to completing.
Have you bought any new books recently? Any you would recommend? Let me know below, and who knows, maybe I'll be reviewing/discussing that book in the near future!
Stay cool,
Kirstie xo
