10 Book Recommendations

Hello,

I recently haven’t been in the reading mood, or any mood in particular, decision making of any kind at the minute is not my strong suit. I find myself being fidgety and indecisive; I start a book and if I can’t get into it immediately I leave it. Part of that is impatience. I’m the kind of person who prefers watching television programs on catch up because I can fast forward the boring bits and get to the good stuff even if I haven’t seen it before.

I thought I would give a list of 10 of my favourite books which have crafted my reading experience and that I reread time and time again.

1. The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle This is the perfect children's book that I enjoy rereading as an adult. It's so lighthearted and I have the fondest memories of reading this as a kid.
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen My mum was always obsessed with Pride and Prejucide and Mr. Darcy, especially the BBC version with Colin Firth, so just before I went to secondary school I read Pride and Prejudice. It changed my reading experience forever, the characters are so vibrant and unique, that now if I read a book without strong characters, I really struggle to get into it.
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte I didn't read Wuthering Heights until I was in my last year of Secondary School (High School) and was captivated by the complex plot and the intertwining story lines, as well as the raw and dark characters.
4. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery An utterly relatable character of stubbornness and imagination; both of which I was a child/teenager. I loved this book so much because Anne reminds me so much of myself.
5. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman Noughts and Crosses was a book we read in school alongside studying Romeo and Juliet (the books inspiration). And for me this was the first time I read a book and thought it was powerful. Some books you read are really life changing and this for me as a 14 year old was one of them.
6. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Following Noughts and Crosses, later in school we read, Harper Lee's classic which only built on the awareness of the strength of literature and how it can be used for other means other than just entertainment and enjoyment. This opened doors of political and social contexts within books to which I naively had never been aware of before.
7. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo A beautiful story of a lady and her cat in World War Two. Animals have always been such a big part of my life, and I truly believe they choose you before you've even realised.
8. The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson I have always loved poetry and none more than the works of Alfred Lord Tennyson. My favourites include classics like The Charge of The Light-Brigade and The Lady of Shallot, but my absolute favourite is Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere.
9. A Book of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Coming from a theatrical background of course I couldn't help but want to acknowlege the great William Shakespeare. I only really found a love for his sonnets just before University when I had an audition which asked me to prepare and learn a sonnet when I was 18. I chose sonnet 140 and it's meaning has changed so much for me as time has gone on. And that's what I love about this book of sonnets.
10. A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford This is the first book I have ever felt "adult" reading, classical texts made me feel cultured and sophisticated, but reading A Woman of Substance was far more grown up than anything I'd ever read before. I was 18 when I read this book and it made me feel like I could achieve anything if I worked hard enough.

I could go into further detail about each one of these books, but most of these are classics and books that have been published for over 10 years so I felt the need for detail was not required as much. Everyone's take on books are different but this is what my past reading experiences have been. But I hope to expand my reading repertoire as much as possible.

Dancing with Nemetona by Joanna Van Der Hoeven Review

Pagan Portals: Dancing with Nemetona, A Druid’s Exploration of Sanctuary and Sacred Space by Joanna Van Der Hoeven published in 2013.

Dancing with Nemetona was an impulse buy. I purchased the book out of interest in spirituality and paganism when it popped up as a suggestion on my Amazon. I’ve always been interested in the early forms of religion like paganism, greek mythology and roman deities though I’d never read a book about them, that was non-fictional, and not embellished by fictional dramatisation.

Not embellished by fictional dramatisation.

The book provides a spiritual education into the ancient Goddess Nemetona, the Lady of Sanctuary, of Sacred Groves and Sacred Spaces, who leads those who are on the druid path. I found the read to be not as intriguing as I had thought it to be as the latter half of the book focuses on ritual and meditation. Although, the acknowledgements of personal space, and the feeling you get when you return to your family home were two very poignant parts of the book that I enjoyed. The most interesting part of the book for me was the Appendix which gave the reader accounts of what Nemetona means to others, gives key information regarding druids and raises a debate of “authenticity vs validity” (which I thought was an exceptionally wise move by Van Der Hoeven).

A dreadful impulse buy.

The Breakdown:

Genre: Religion/Spirituality

Writing style: Addresses the reader often eg. “we can do...” or “our personal…” It describes everyone as a collective and also uses first person accounts. As well as including songs/chants.

Structure: 6 small chapters and an appendix of 6 sections

Ease of reading: It was a very short book, only 67 pages without including the bibliography and suggestive reading, but it took me about 2 days to get through it. It wasn’t as engrossing as I expected it to be.

Design: No internal art work, but the painting design on the front is beautiful, mystical, and ornate.

Target audience: I read it as an intrigued novice in regards to druids and Nemetona, and I think that this book is definitely more for mediators and spiritualists who will get a lot more out of it that I certainly did.

Cost: £4.99

Overall:

I really want to be engrossed when I learn about new things but I sadly wasn’t engrossed by Dancing with Nemetona. I speak as a person who has no experience with Druid’s and was intrigued to learn what I could in the Appendix, but perhaps I should have began my own exploration in Druid backgrounds before jumping into reading about their deities. This was a dreadful impulse buy - next time I shall purchase something awful and trashy and see how that works out - and when I decide to read about paganism again I will start at the basics and ease into it.

#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso Review

New York Times bestseller #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso (Founder and CEO of Nasty Gal) was published in 2014 captioned with a quote from Lena Dunham: “#GIRLBOSS is more than a book… #GIRLBOSS is a movement”

I imagine you can sense a theme with the last two reviews and now this one, so I shall tell you how I came to purchase motivational, female empowering, self-help-type-books. I have always been a confident and motivated person but nothing has scared me more than the prospect of being a “grown up” in the “real world”, so just before I left university I bought an array of books to jolt me out of this fear and back into my bubbly, ballsy, sometimes sassy- but never rude- self. Explanation is over. There will be novels and fictional book reviews soon; when Amazon gets a wiggle on.

You’re enticed into believing everything and anything is possible.

Back to the review…

#GIRLBOSS is a rags to riches, anyone can make it, girl power book. It implores its readers to be a #GIRLBOSS and follow their natural instincts. But as you read the dramatic tales of Amoruso’s past lives, which feels like she’s has just about as many lives as a cat, you’re enticed into believing everything and anything is possible. These tales are fuelled by the photo’s that she’s paired with book, as a reminder that these aren’t just stories, they were part of Amoruso’s life; or lives as I like to think she’s led many.

I think it is fair to question what is the difference between Dunham’s book Not That Kind of Girl and #GIRLBOSS as when you see them paired next to each other, as autobiographies of successful women who want to share their message with other women, they could indeed be the same. However, Dunham’s is a personal and self-deprecatingly hilarious autobiography, which is about who you are as a person. Whereas, Amoruso's focus is more about who you want to be, what you aspire to do and how you’re going to do it. There is no messing about with this book. It is lighthearted at points but is sincere in Amoruso’s story of unexpected success.

Follow your dreams because now you feel like you are better equipped to do it.

The Breakdown:

Genre: Autobiographical

Writing style: Beautiful storytelling, uniquely decisive and snappy at points.

Structure: Simple format of 11 Chapters

Ease of reading: It’s a very driven narrative and the stories about her past are often more compelling than the story of her success. But I read it with relative ease in about a week.

Design: Pink and black colour scheme very chic and simple. Bold fully black pages to divide up the chapters was a really nice touch. Illustrations done very boldly in black adding to the cohesivity of the whole design.

Target audience: Similarly to Dunham’s I’d recommend this for 16+. Amoruso targets her audience on the back of her book stating it’s for “outsiders (and insiders) seeking a unique path to success.”

Price: £9.99

Overall:

#GIRLBOSS leaves you wanting to follow your dreams because now you feel like you are better equipped to do it. Amoruso offers some of the best and the worst advice in this book: the best being how she managed to build a multi-million dollar company without stacking up any debt, and the worst being about her hitchhiking and shoplifting experiences. Personally I think Amoruso could make a cracking film out of her life story. Grab a coffee, and enjoy!

The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery by Ruiz & Ruiz Review

The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery by Don Miguel Ruiz & Don Jose Ruiz published in 2010.

You are going to need motivation to pick it up and read it to begin with.

I know what you’re thinking... What on earth is this? And why would a theatre graduate read such a book? I saw a recommendation for it, and someone said that it was really life changing. So I bought it, and read it, and here are my thoughts on this book:

Briefly the book is about returning to an awareness of the Self, escaping from what you believe to be “truths” and therefore re-establishing your authenticity which you have when you are born.

For example as a toddler/child you will believe what your parents tell you as “truths”, then in school you believe what the teachers say to you is the “truth”, but those “truths” are products of a belief system that extends from generations of religions and political systems. They have been changed and developed over time from what that initial truth was. This may sound very anarchist driven but the book is more about you reflecting on yourself, rather than looking at the demographic of society, or having any ulterior motive.  

It reminds you of valuable life lessons that are very easily forgot nowadays.

Don’t get it? Don’t worry I didn’t either at first! I really struggled reading this book as it’s written in continuous prose and like most philosophical books it holds long, long trails of thought that if you’re not totally engaging with, you miss the original point it was making.

*Tip for difficult books: Get a pencil and start to underline things within the book that you think are important, or things that you don’t understand, so that as you read on you can refer back to the stuff that you didn’t get, and check whether you now understand it.*

The Fifth Agreement is what I would describe as an interesting read. It has some great messages such as “be impeccable with your word” and “always do your best”. It also teaches you “not to take anything personally”, to “be sceptical but always listen”, and “not to make assumptions”. All of these qualities make up what Ruiz & Ruiz call the five agreements.

I wouldn’t personally describe this book as life changing for me, as I think my time as a Brownie and a Girl Guide pretty much taught me most of those qualities… However I think it does make you aware of the the power you possess, and it reminds you of valuable life lessons that are very easily forgot nowadays.

The Breakdown:

Genre: Self-help/Non-fiction

Writing style: Continuous prose. Long winded but bare with it.

Structure: Split into two parts with chapters all the way through.

Ease of reading: It is a very lofty read. It took me about a month to get through it. I wasn’t reading it every day; mostly because I didn’t have the mental stamina. But every time I read it I had my pencil at the ready.

Design: Cover was really warmly designed with plants on the front automatically presenting the idea of growth (personal growth). There weren’t any other design elements other than on the chapter numbers which replicated the design on the cover.

Target audience: I think this is a book for people who want a fresh start, or want the skills to improve themselves. I think it is a valuable book for soon-to-be, or new parents to read just as a reminder that it really matters what information you put into your children’s brains.

Cost: $14.00/£10.66

Overall:

I think you have to be a certain type of person to read this book because although this book makes you feel motivated and like you can achieve anything, you are going to need motivation to pick it up and read it to begin with. So you might need a vat of coffee if you want to get through it quickly.
I think I would like to read it again in 10 years time and see what 31 year old me thinks because I would imagine I’d have a very different reaction to it.

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham Review

No. 1 Bestseller Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham published in 2014 captioned with “a young woman tells you what she’s learned”.

Don’t be put off by the hype because I assure you it is entirely worth it!

I started my reconnecting with books journey with this absolute corker. It was a book that I had wanted to read for the longest time after becoming obsessed with Girls: Dunham’s TV show which is on HBO.

There are already so many reviews about this book, so I don’t want to add too much of what’s already been said, however I will say these few things...

This book is for any girl or woman who keeps a diary and likes to read back on what they wrote a few months down the line and laugh, cringe and maybe even cry.

It is a coming of age book of memoirs that as you read you can imagine Dunham’s voice confessionally spurting out these events of her life.

Other reviews have named Dunham the “voice of a generation” (Daisy Wyatt, Independent) and described the book as “one of those rare examples when something hyped deserves its buzz” (New York Post) and I wholeheartedly agree. I wanted to read this book since the moment it was released but never had time. Reading it two years on... the hype was absolutely true to the standard of the book.

Although this book is for the most part hilarious in it’s entirety, it also brings up real issues from sex, dieting, and mental health issues which are written so personally by Dunham. However, don’t let that put you off. When I read the book it finished with this resounding feeling of empowerment that in the face of self-doubt, embarrassment and misfortune you can succeed and be who you want to be.

An excellent book to take on a girls holiday this summer.

The Breakdown:

Genre: Memoir/Autobiographical

Writing style: Sharp, engaging, comic and poignant.

Structure: It’s broken down into sections of topics for example the first section is titled “Love & Sex” and then within that section is a series of chapters of events or anecdotes from Dunham’s experiences. What is particularly enjoyable is that she has chapters called “15 things…” which are lighthearted anecdotes or reflections.

Ease of reading: I found this very easy to read. I got through it in about a week of reading it for 1-2 hours a day.

Design: The cover has Dunham on the front of it with a stack of books on a table with a cup and saucer (clearly Dunham loves coffee as much as I do). It’s bright and vibrant. The pop of the pink really stands out with the black on the front and along the seam of the book. Back of the book is plain but filled with captions of the reviews she’s received. Inside the book the illustrations (by Joana Avillez) pose themselves to be doodles but are ornately beautiful, they relate directly to the writing, and form their own comic personality.

Target audience: I would recommend this for people 16+ as it does hold some more adult content and require a level of maturity; as even Dunham states on the back of her book “I am not a sexpert, a psychologist, or a dietician” so don’t take her words as gospel regarding the more sensitive themes.

Cost: £8.99- Although I’d always advise going on Amazon for the best deals.

Overall:

It’s reputation precedes this book. Don’t be put off by the hype because I assure you it is entirely worth it. An excellent book to take on a girls holiday this summer. It was a No. 1 Bestseller for a reason. Go grab a coffee. And start reading it. I doubt you’ll be able to put it down.

Welcome to Coffee. Books. Coffee.

Hello, and welcome to Coffee. Books. Coffee. Where I shall fuel my coffee drinking habit and get to read and review lots of books, sounds perfect right?

Here is a brief summary or mission statement, if you like, of what I intend to use this space for:

1. To reconnect with books, at university I did a very hands on, academically stimulated theatre course which left very little time to read books, so this blog is part of my journey to re-establishing a long lost relationship with books.
2. To make sure I actually commit to reading books- that says a lot about me, and a lot less about the books!
3. To reflect on what I’ve read, I don’t want to chain-read the books, I want to make sure I actually take them in and enjoy reading them and not skim through them; any books I’ve struggled with or disliked I might read twice to check that I actually feel this way because books can grow on you.

That’s the basis of what I plan to be doing for the moment. I’m a graduate, I’m unemployed for the first time in 5 years and I’m going to spend my time educating myself through the world of books (as well as also scouring through the internet for jobs..) so come along with me on my journey. Agree with me. Disagree with me. Help educate me if you really disagree with me.

Let’s drink coffee and read together!

Geo x