Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
I enjoy writing book recaps as it allows me to remember what I read because there is nothing worse than spending ages reading something and then forgetting it. This then gave me this idea of creating a monthly reading wrap-up. With that being said I hope that you enjoy these book recaps.
1: West with the night by Beryl Markham.
I didn’t know whether I should include this book in this reading wrap-up as I began reading it before April but finished it on the 1st. But, I couldn’t not write about this book on my blog. I loved this book so much. I don’t read much travel biographies but I may need to start. My Grandparents are all from Kenya and so I was able to learn a lot about the beauty of the country from this book.
This book follows the life of Beryl Markham who moved to Kenya when she was young. She recounts the different experiences she had and does so in such a beautiful way. The way she writes is extremely poetic and alluring that I just couldn’t put the book down. The title is called West with the night, which I believe is the title of the last chapter, because she was the first person to fly all the way (non-stop) from England to North America. Her story is truly inspiring and I’m so glad I read this book.
Rating: 4.5/5
2: Throne of Glass by Sarah J.Maas
This was the last book that I started before April and finished towards the beginning of the Month. I saw this book circulating around booktube and decided it was finally time to see if it was worth the hype.
This Fantasy book, follows Calaena who is an assassin forced to partake in a competition to earn her freedom. She lives in a kingdom where magic has been banished. However, throughout the book we see elements of magic resurface. There are also two love interests (if you can even call them that), one being the prince himself and the other the head guard. The one thing I liked about this book is the dynamics between all the characters (especially between Calaena and Nehemiah). I think the friendship and romance was executed really well.
However, overall I really struggled to finish the book. It was a decent book but I did feel it was quite long. This being said, I have heard that the other books are much more better than this one so will try and read them next.
Rating: 3/5
3: Happy place by Emily Henry
I’m not going to lie I absolutely loved this book. I don’t read many romance books ( I usually prefer romance as a sub-plot) but this book was so extremely good. If I read another romance book it will be because of this book. It follows the Lives of both Harriet and Wyn who were engaged and are now not. However, because they are in such a close knitted friendship group they found it hard tell everyone the truth. Now they are reunited at their friends wedding and have no other choice but to pretend they’re still together. Then the story essentially unfolds from there.
The one thing that I loved about this book was how relatable the characters were. I saw a part of myself in literally every character. When an author does this it makes you resonate with the characters a lot more and makes you root for their happy ending. I also loved all the friendships in this book. I literally had to stop reading at times because the friendships in this book were so beautifully written. Everyone deserves good friends like the ones in this book.
I would highly recommend this book.
Rating: 4.5/5
4: The book that broke the world by Mark Lawrence.
I will say this time and time again but this whole book series is so good. Each book in this series is so descriptive and detailed that whilst I’m reading it a whole movies is playing in my head. That’s how I remember so much of the first book; not with words but with images I created in my imagination.
This is the second book in the library trilogy. I feel like if I explain what this book is about I’ll just spoil everything so I wont describe it in too much detail. Instead, I will say that it is a sci-fi/ Fantasy book that’s story is centered around a library. Its really cool and the idea is very unique and original.
I think this book takes the phrase ‘Knowledge is power’ to a whole different level and really makes you think about how much power a library essentially holds. Out of all the books on this list I would 100% recommend this one.
Rating: 5/5
5: Man’s search for meaning by Viktor E. Frankyl
This book follows the story of Viktor E. Frankyl, an Austrian physicist and Holocaust survivor. In the first part of the book we read about his horrific experience living in concentration camps. We also learn about the people he met along the way and the impact they had on his life. In the second part of his book he talks about his idea of logotherapy.
The book focuses a lot on the meaning of life and how we may find it in the least expected places; our sufferings. This book is really good and definitely worth a read.
Rating: 4.5/5
6: The waves by Virginia Woolf
This is the last book for this months Reading wrap-up. I absolutely loved this book. Virginia Woolf could literally be writing a horror story and I would think its a romance novel because of how poetic it sounds. I really enjoy reading her essays and novels. The waves is an amazing story about 6 friends and their lives from childhood all the way up to adulthood. It uses waves as a metaphor to show the unity and turbulence of life and explores different types of relationships with other people and ourselves.
Although this book was a slow read for me (mainly because I had to decipher what was being said) I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anybody who loves poetic and classical literature.
Rating: 4.8/5
I hope that you enjoyed this months reading wrap-up! I would love to hear about any book recommendations or your thoughts on the books mentioned above.