Review: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #2)

 PAPERBACK; 372 P.
 HODDER & STOUGHTON, 2002
 SOURCE: FROM THE LIBRARY

Disclaimer: As this is the second book in the series, the review might contain some unintended spoilers. I recommend you to read the first book (The Eyre Affair) first.

Thursday Next, literary detective and registered dodo owner begins her married life with the disturbing news that her husband of only a month drowned thirty-eight years ago, and no one but Thursday has any memory of him at all. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. Could it be the ubiquitous Goliath Corporation, who will stop at nothing to get their operative Jack Schitt out of ‘The Raven’ — the poem in which Thursday trapped him? Or are more sinister forces at work in Swindon?

Having barely caught her breath after The Eyre Affair, Thursday heads back into fiction to search for some answers. Along the way she finds herself helping Miss Havisham close narrative loopholes in Great Expectations, struggling for a deeper understanding of The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and learning the truth about Larry the Lamb. Paper politicians, lost Shakespearean manuscripts, woolly mammoth migrations, a flurry of near-fatal coincidences and impending Armageddon are all part of a greater plan.

But whose? And why?

I read the first book in the Thursday Next series in November 2014 and adored it. Granted, it had it’s problems in terms of pacing, but I had such a blast reading about the adventures of the main protagonist Thursday.

Lost in a Good Book takes place a few months after the events of The Eyre Affair. Saving Jane Eyre has made Thursday famous, but she’s quickly growing tired of the monotonous PR – especially as she cannot tell what really happened. However, things are getting interesting at the SpecOps 27 (‘Literary Detectives’) when she and her partner come across a find of the century – an authentic manuscript of Cardenio, an unpublished Shakespeare play. Only moments later Thursday has two punctures, discovers a Skyrail ticket, and boards a train where all the other passengers are named Irma Cohen – a coincidence too great. The ride ends with Thursday being short by SpecOps operatives, but she is saved thanks to her time traveling father, who has bad news: The world will end on December 12, 8.23 PM. However, it isn’t until Thursday returns home and finds out that her husband has been eradicated that things x get tricky. Now Thursday has to find her way back into books in order to save her husband – and the world.

As you can probably guess from my attempt of summarising the premise of the book, Fforde isn’t slowing down. Lost in a Good Book is an intense page-turner that keeps throwing plot twists and hilarious literary references at you on every page. The main character is barely out of one scrape when the next one comes knocking. Nevertheless, the second book shows more character development on the part of the main character as well as the worlds of Jurisfiction, PROs and annotation phone – and yes, lots of fictional characters. The book features several scenes in Great Expectations as well as some in The Trial, both of which I have not read. I’ve seen the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations, so I was familiar with the story, but as I only had a rough idea of what The Trial was about, I did have some second thoughts about reading the chapters that dealt with the book. I did read those in the end and I’m now even more curious about the book!

All in all, Lost in a Good Book had me laughing out loud, teared me up, and made me look twice at all the minor characters in the books that I’ve read. Jasper Fforde’s imagination seems to be endless and I love the way he takes his readers on a trip round the impossible possibilities. I’d recommend it to fans of Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy as well as to those who read the first book and enjoyed it – it only gets better.

4/5

“Lesson one in time travel, Thursday. First of all, we are all time travellers. The vast majority of us manage only one day per day.”

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Review: Punainen viiva by Ilmari Kianto (Eng. The Red Line)

HARDCOVER; 174 P.
OTAVA, 1970/1909
SOURCE: FROM THE LIBRARY

Disclaimer: This book has, unfortunately, not been translated into English. Thus all the excerpts here have been translated by yours truly. 

Ilmari Kianto’s (1874–1970) The Red Line was published in 1909 and depicts the time of the first universal and equal vote in Finland in the beginning of 20th century. The story is set in the rural community of Eastern Finland and it centers around a couple, Topi and Riikka, who try to understand the unravelling events of the approaching vote and the promises of social change that it might bring. The novel offers an insightful look into the minds of the poorer classes of the early 20th century and its characters have settled their place in the literary canon of Finland. This edition features the cover that was designed for the first edition, but never used due to the strong controversy of the topic.

For a long time The Red Line was a title that I instantly recognised as one of the Finnish classics but had no idea what the book was about. And had it not been for a paper that I’m currently writing, it would have stayed so for a few more years. Because of the political issues discussed in the book and the fact that it was published only two years after the first universal vote, it was considered rather controversial.

The Red Line begins with a beautiful description of the forest in the autumn, from the perspective of a great bear. As the bear falls into hibernation, we enter the small cottage of Topi and Riikka Romppainen and their small children who prepare for the upcoming winter with the dread that what they have might not be enough. As the winter sets in, their fears are realised and Topi has to travel to the closest village to sell some of their valuables to buy food for the family. However, as he arrives to the village, he is struck by the notion that something strange is afoot. The workers and farmers are holding meetings and reading the paper aloud. Topi is soon told that an election is arriving and there is a rumour that, for once, the poor will have a voice. When Topi return home, Riikka dismisses the news as village gossip but is soon proved wrong as politics comes knocking on their own door. As winter turns into spring the visitors of the small cottage tell of change that could turn their world upside down.

SO SO GOOD. This book had me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn’t believe I had ever not wanted to read it. The Red Line seems to have everything: complex narration, symbolism, beautiful description of nature, interesting language, heart-wrenching story but with an occasional glint in the eye. The red line of the title symbolises the voting process in which voters had to draw a line next to the candidate that they were voting for – with a red pencil. Simply reading about the two main characters anxiously preparing for this moment, the moment of drawing the line, was at the same time so strange and so empowering. The author has truly captured something very pure and raw about the people and the time. The Red Line isn’t a historical document per se, but it provides an insight to the history of Finland in a way that opened my eyes. In order to catch the references, you do need to understand the history of Finnish independence, but I’m sure it could also be read without the background information. The Red Line is definitely one of my new favourites! So if you ever do have the chance to read this, please do!

5/5

The day of the red line was fast approaching. The printing machines pounded on and on. Red letters whisked like fiery dragons across the country; biting till blood, lighting the spirit aflame.

January Book Extragavanca

Hello readers!

First I’d like to apologise for the fact that I haven’t been posting or commenting as frequently as I used to. The current hiatus is only because the past weeks have been super busy and I’ve barely had time to even sit down and read. In fact, my reading and blogging have currently taken a backseat due to school and work commitments. However, I do hope to get back to reading (and blogging) soon because I miss positive effect it has on my stress levels. In the meanwhile, here’s the book haul I promised in my January wrap-up!

Post-Chrismas sales are the best – and the worst. I don’t know if I should be ashamed of myself for giving into the temptation or proud that I was able to get so many books so cheaply. My original plan was to do a January-March book haul, but since I already I had a big pile of books in the end of January, I decided to post this whilst they are still fresh in my mind.

My book haul began innocently as my intention in entering the bookstore was only to purchase a calendar for the new year. However, I’d completely forgotten about the post-Chrismas sales and wasinstantly sucked into the tables with “-40% off” tags. I kept picking up new books and walking to the next table and pick up new books and … you get the gist. However, in the end I was able to narrow my purchases into four books. However, later in the month I somehow ended up browsing the -60% shelves, and picked up one more book. Combining that with the five ebooks I bought, it’s safe to say my book buying was off charts in January.

The first table I gravitated to in the midst of the sales was naturally the classics shelf. From there I picked up two classics, first of which is How to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is one of those classic that almost every American high school student has to read, but I’ve never read it. I’ve been lately reading a lot of American classics, such as Of Mice and Men and The Catcher in the Rye, so I thought this would be a great continuation to those. And you can imagine my surprise when the sequel Go Set a Watchman was announced to be published in July 2015. Now I kind of have to read it before the sequel comes out!

The other classic that I picked up was George Orwell’s 1984 in this wonderful Penguin classics edition. I think the cover design for this dystopian classic is very clever and I can’t wait to read another one of Orwell’s best loved works. I must say that my expectations are really, really high because Animal Farm was one of the best books I read in 2014.

Next I picked up Atonement by Ian McEwan. BBC recently listed it on the Greatest Novels of 21st Century and the film adaptation is a favourite among many of my friends. Atonement tells the story of a thirteen-year-old Briony who in the summer of 1934 witnesses something that changes the lives of everyone around her. It is said to involve family relationships, war drama, and beautiful writing, so I’m very intrigued to see where the story goes.

I saw this collection of Edith Södergran’s poetry – Edith Södergran – dikter och aforismer (eng. Poetry and Aforisms) – for the first time at last year’s Helsinki Book Fair, but didn’t buy it then. However, the cover design really stuck with me and also reminded me that I should try to read some more poetry in 2015. Edith Södergran is a Finnish-Swedish poet who was one of the first modernists in Finland and, despite her early death in 1923, a very prolific writer. This book is a collection of all of her works, and it is in Swedish. So in terms of my challenges for this year, this book ticks the boxes for poetry, Swedish, and Finnish author.

In January I was also approached by an author about reviewing her book that will be republished as an ebook in March. The book in question is Never Trust a Happy Song by Natalie Bina and it depicts a young protagonist, Cassidy, who attends a summer program in Stanford. However, instead of her dream of intellectual prestige, she is placed in a host family that takes very different approach to education. The premise of the book sounds very interesting, and I can’t wait to see how the story unfolds. Plus the cover of the paperback is really stunning.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami is a beast of a book, especially in this Vintage edition that has all the three parts printed together. I’ve only heard great things about Murakami and about this book, so I can’t wait to experience it on my own. However, because this book has some kind of a connection to Orwell’s 1984, I will most likely read that first before so that I will have a better understanding of the references.

And lastly, a book that circled around the Finnish blogosphere in 2013 and won the prestigious Finlandia Prize – Jokapäiväinen elämämme (eng. Our Everyday Life) by Riikka Pelo. I’ve been meaning to pick this up and so I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the price tag on this beautiful hardcover, because this book was only 1 euro. What?! The story of Our Everyday Life is about a Russian poet who escapes to Europe in the time of Soviet revolution. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful reviews of this book, so my plan is to read it as soon as possible – and maybe even incorporate it as a part of my 15 in 2015 challenge.

Ebooks ahoy!
And finally, because I have no restraint, here are five ebooks that I bought in January plus one that I received for review. Most of these are thanks to recommendations from other bloggers who wrote wonderful reviews that made me want to experience them myself.

      

I bought the first book in the Flavia De Lucie series, Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, which I’ve seen many bloggers reading. Alexandra from Diverses et avarieés is a fan, and has made me really curious as to what it is that makes this book series so loved. Another first book in a series, I purchased Cinder by Marissa Meyer. It’s part of the Lunar Chronicles series that blends together fairy tale retellings with cyborgs and other science fiction elements. The hype around the series has been very tangible these past years, so I think it’s time that I give it a go.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman. This one was rather popular in the past year because the film adaptation came out towards the end of the year. However, before that I’d read many positive reviews of it, especially from Emma at Turning Pages and Tea. In the end I wasn’t as enthralled or touched by the story as I had hoped, but it still an enjoyable read.

      

Next up is one of the Finnish titles coming out in English this spring, When the Doves Disappered by Sofi Oksanen. Oksanen rose to global fame with Purge and this is her second novel published in English. I’ve previously read Purge (also in English translation) so when found out that When the Doves Disappeared was coming out in February, I immediately requested an eARC. The book is part of Oksanen’s Estonia Quartet and it features the lives of two cousins and their loved ones in Estonia in the 1940s and 1960s. Oksanen’s style is best described as dark and harrowing, and this book is no exception. Plus the cover is fabulous!

I also purchased a couple non-fiction titles for my Kindle: Quiet by Susan Cain and The Entrepreneurial Linguist by Judy Jenner and Dagmar Jenner. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in the World that cannot stop Talking is about introverts and as I do consider myself more of an introvert than extrovert, I’ve been interested in reading this book ever since it came out. The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation on the other hand is quite the niche book about a niche topic. It has been recommended to me a few times by various people and although I’m not yet in the position to build my own translation business, it’s always good to know more.

In short I acquired a total of 13 books in January – madness!. Luckily I was able to break the habit for February, so the next book haul shouldn’t come around until April (I hope). Let me know if you’ve read any of the books mentioned or if you have any recommendations as to which ones I should read first!

Cheers! x

Review: When the Doves Disappeared by Sofi Oksanen

EBOOK; 320 P.
TRANS. LOLA ROGERS
KNOPF, 2015/2012
SOURCE: FROM THE PUBLISHER

From the acclaimed author of Purge comes a riveting, chillingly relevant new novel of occupation, resistance, and collaboration in Eastern Europe.

1941: In Communist-ruled, war-ravaged Estonia, two men are fleeing from the Red Army—Roland, a fiercely principled freedom fighter, and his slippery cousin Edgar. When the Germans arrive, Roland goes into hiding; Edgar abandons his unhappy wife, Juudit, and takes on a new identity as a loyal supporter of the Nazi regime…1963: Estonia is again under Communist control, independence even further out of reach behind the Iron Curtain. Edgar is now a Soviet apparatchik, desperate to hide the secrets of his past life and stay close to those in power. But his fate remains entangled with Roland’s, and with Juudit, who may hold the key to uncovering the truth…

Great acts of deception and heroism collide in this masterful story of surveillance, passion, and betrayal, as Sofi Oksanen brings to life the frailty—and the resilience—of humanity under the shadow of tyranny.

Sofi Oksanen is probably one of Finland’s most read authors. She draws a lot of her topics from her Finnish-Estonian heritage, and her historical fiction quartet depicts the events of the past century in Estonia. Her breakthrough novel and the second in the quartet, Purge, won the famed Finlandia Prize in 2008 and has been translated into several languages. When the Doves Disappeared is the third book in the quartet and is set in Estonia in the 1940s and 1960s.

When the Doves Disappeared begins with war in early 1940s where cousins Roland and Edgar are fighting against the Soviet Union for the freedom of their country. With the help of German forces the Estonians win the war, but whilst the others celebrate the newfound freedom, Roland feels conflicted about the new ally. Edgar on the other hand is sure that he will gain respect and prosperity under the new rule by taking on a new identity. However, along with the new identity, Edgar abandons his wife, who on her side has been fearing his husband’s return from the war. Twenty years later, Edgar has again changed sides and is now trying to find out what happened to Roland after the Germans arrived.

The story of When the Doves Disappeared does not follow a simple timeline, but jumps between the events of the 1940s and the events of 1960s. In the beginning of every chapter is a stamp that indicates what year is in question, which I thought was a clever way of showing time. The story revolves around the three main characters: Roland, Edgar, and Edgar’s wife Juudit. All have their own dreams, problems, deceits and weaknesses that are slowly revealed as the narration peels away the layers of the story. The topics in Oksanen’s books are often so harrowing and painful that I can only read few chapters at a time. However, once you immerse yourself in the story, the book is simply unputdownable. The writing is beautiful and I think Rogers’ translation flows really well. I’d recommend Where the Doves Disappeared to those who want to know more about the experience of Eastern Europeans during and after the WWII as well as to other lovers of historical fiction.

When the Doves Disappeared is released on February 10, 2015 in the U.S. (Knopf) and on May 7, 2015 in the UK (Atlantic Books).

4/5

She only hoped that her time wouldn’t come until some more ordinary day, that the last sound she heard would be the clink of a spoon on a saucer, the jangle of hairpins in a box, the hollow ring of a milk can set down on a table.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

HARDCOVER; 312 P.
HARPER COLLINS, 2008/2007
SOURCE: FROM THE LIBRARY

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel that is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

I’ve discovered Neil Gaiman only recently and thus have been slightly confused as to where to start with his vast body of work. I read Fortunately, The Milk one afternoon in the library last year and absolutely loved the creative spin and depth of imagination that the story had. However, it took me a while to decide where to continue. Alexandra from Diverses et Avariées recommended The Graveyard Book and as it was available in the library I checked it out.

The Graveyard Book begins with the murder of a family in the hands of man Jack, which the baby boy mysteriously survives by wandering into an old graveyard. The orphaned boy is adopted by an old ghost couple and grows up with the help of the graveyard’s recidents. He is named Nobody, shortly Bod, and the story follows him growing up and learning different skills with the help of both the dead and the living. But the world isn’t safe for Bod because the mysterious man Jack is still out there and looking for him…

Neil Gaiman has the ability to craft wonderful and awe-inspiring stories like no one else. The story abount Bod and the various ghosts that habit the graveyard was all in all fun, scary and exciting. However, at the same time the story of The Graveyard Book never truly gripped my attention. I wanted it to draw me in and make me believe in this world that Gaiman had created. There were several scenes that I loved, and I appreciated that he didn’t over-explicate the allusions to different themes and characters. Nevertheless, I didn’t feel like any connection to the story itself. Every chapter felt like its own story and although I really enjoyed some of the elements in the book, my overall feeling after finishing the book was “what should I read next?” instead of “what a book!”. However, many readers absolutely love The Graveyard Book, so if you’re intrigued by the story, do give it a try. I’d recommend it to fans of Gaiman and younger readers who enjoy their ghost stories with a twist.

3/5

You’re alive, Bod. That means you have infinite potential. You can do anything, make anything, dream anything. If you can change the world, the world will change. Potential. Once you’re dead, it’s gone.

Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

EBOOK; 196 P.
SPEAK, 2009
SOURCE: PURCHASED

A critically acclaimed novel that will change the way you look at life, love, and family.

On a day that started like any other, Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she’ll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.

A couple months ago If I Stay seemed to be on everyone’s lips. I’d heard of the book before, often together with The Fault in Our Stars, because both books were adapted into films in 2013. And because the book came highly recommended by one of my blogger friends, I decided to give it a go.

If I Stay is set in Washington, where a family of four decides to go for a drive on a snow day. However, the consequences of that drive are rather tragic, and as Mia, a 17-year-old high school senior wakes up by the side of the road, she is feels nothing – because she isn’t there anymore. Her parents are dead, her little brother is rushed to a local hospital and her body is flown over to Portland’s main hospital. Mia is stuck in the middle of life and death where she alone must decide whether she stay or lets go. As she watches by her body and the people that visit her in the hospital, we get a glimpse of what her life was before the accident, her dreams and passions, her rock star boyfriend, and more.

The main character of If I Stay, Mia, is a talented cello player and has been accepted to study in the prestigious Julliard after graduation. The music aspect of the story intrigued me from the very start, and the book features a lot of music references, both classical and popular. Although the story focuses around Mia’s life and her experiences, I found her parents to be the most interesting characters of the story. In a way, they are the definition of cool quirky parents that all the teens wish they had. They have interesting backgrounds, memories, and friends – and, for me, they seemed to be more realistic than the main character. Gayle Forman writes in the afterword of the book, that part of the story was inspired by her own experience of suddenly loosing two of her friends, which might be the reason why I felt that at times the side characters of the story were taking over.

Forman’s writing is interesting and pleasant to read, but it still left me cold. Another big theme in the book is first love as many of Mia’s memories focus on the relationship of her and her boyfriend Adam. I appreciated the honesty with which Forman writes about relationships, but to be honest, I wasn’t that into this aspect of the book. Some of the scenes in the book seemed a bit too far fetched, and though I enjoyed the flashbacks to Mia’s past, it didn’t really form a coherent story. The whole book felt more like snippets of a story than a fully fledged one. I do not mean to say that the book was bad, but I was simply expecting it to pack a bigger punch. It is an enjoyable read but didn’t rock my world. I’d recommend If I Stay to younger readers as well as to those who are planning to see the film.

3/5

“Your mother is probably right,” Dad said. “Social services frowns on drunk ten-year-ols. Besides, when I dropped my drumsticks and puked onstage, it was punk. If you drop your bow and smell like a brewery, it will look gauche. You classical-music people are so snobby that way.”

January Reads and February Plans

Hello dear readers!

I hope your January has been fantastic and that you’ve been welcoming the new year with open arms, feeling excited for things to come. I’ve read so many wonderful posts both in reflection of 2014 as well as fun projects for 2015, that opening my blog feed has always put a smile on my lips. I had a small bout of blogging from 27th December to around 2nd January when I posted every day and I loved it. Things have calmed down since then, which is probably for the best because I do have to work and study too 🙂 In January I shared my 15 in 2015 reading challenge as well listed some other goals I had for reading. Other non-review posts that I published after the New Years were my Bout of Books week posts (1&2), sharing Oxford Culture Review’s giveaway post for White Hunger and the news about the BBC’s Greatest Novels of 21st Century.

Since I read a total of 9 books in January, there are still a few that I need to write reviews for. I do also have a book haul coming up which will consist of 13 books that I bought in January alone. So many books to read, so little time. A quick summary of my reading month would be this: There were many books that I loved this month, but also a few that I enjoyed but forgot soon after. I also did manage to read a short story collection for the Jazz Age January event. The highlight of the month was finishing The Name of the Rose, which I’ve had on my TBR list for ages. On the other hand, I had high hopes for Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, but ended up feeling rather ‘meh’ about it.

Books read in January:

• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman
• The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Six Other Stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation by Judy Jenner & Dagmar Jenner

A Woman of No Importance features a young man named Gerald Arbuthnot who is invited to work for a highly fashionable gentleman, Mr Illingworth, by the recommendation of Mrs Hunstanton. Mrs Hunstanton hosts a dinner party for her friends, with the intention to introduce the mother, Mrs Arbuthnot, to the gentleman and thus gain her permission for the venture. However, as the awaited meeting happens, things don’t go as planned and old secrets are brought to daylight. I’ve been reading one of Wilde’s plays per month since October and although I love the fact that gives more attention to each play, I’ve also begun noticing some themes and elements that are repeating. I read A Woman of No Importance during the Bout of Books readathon, and though it was fun and witty, some of the punches turned out to be duds. Nevertheless, the play had some interesting man vs woman dabates and I loved the character of Mrs Arbuthnot. 3.5/5

I’d set the Dial M for Murdoch as my non-fiction read of the month, but instead I picked up The Entrepreneurial Linguist: The Business-School Approach to Freelance Translation by Judy and Dagmar Jenner. The Jenners are twins who have their own small translation business and who have been active bloggers in Translation Times. I’m not going to go on more detail about the book, because the topic is a rather niche one. The Entrepreneurial Linguist is a sort of a self-help/tips and how-to for translators who either have their own translation business or are considering starting one. It has a lot of interesting tips and anecdotes, but in the end I found it really hard to rate it because I didn’t really have anything to compare it to. However, I really enjoyed reading about translating and the book did inspire me to think more about entrepreneurship, so I gave the book 4/5 stars.

Books on my February TBR:

• When the Doves Disappeared by Sofi Oksanen (currently reading)
• Terrifying Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (currently reading)
• An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Never Trust a Happy Song by Natalie Bina
• Night Film by Marisha Pessl
• Lost In a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

Firstly, I have two review copies on my February TBR: When the Doves Disappeared is the second novel by Sofi Oksanen to be translated into English (the first one being Purge) and it will be released on February 10th. It’s set in Estonia in the 1940s and portrays the lives of Estonians in the conflict between Soviet Union and Germany. Never Trust a Happy Song is YA novel about a studious teenage girl attending a prestigious summer program but who is thrown into the society of people who don’t necessarily value academic success over everything. The book will be republished as an e-book on March 14th.

I picked up the e-book of Poe’s Terrifying Tales on a whim and I’ve been enjoying reading the creepy tales although Halloween is long gone. So far I’ve only been reading the stories during breakfast time, but I think I’ll save the rest for the evenings, because it suits the mood better. My collection of Oscar Wilde’s plays is down to its final play, An Ideal Husband, which is also the longest play in the collection. After the small disappointment of A Woman of No Importance, I hope that this will settle the score. Another book from my collection is George Orwell’s 1984 which I bought on sale in the beginning of January. I can’t wait to read one of Orwell’s greatest novels and I think I’ll need a bit of dystopian in my February.

Lastly on my list are two library loans: Night Film by Marsiha Pessl and Lost In a Good Book by Jasper Fforde. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Night Film, which is a mystery novel surrounding the suicide of the daughter of a famous director, and I can’t wait to delve into this monster of a book (it’s over 600 pages). Lost In a Good Book is the sequel to The Eyre Affair, and I’m so glad that I can finally continue with the series and see what type of shenanigans Thursday Next has before her. The blurb at the back is certainly intriguing!

That is it for this post. You should expect to see the reviews for The Graveyard Book and If I Stay soon, so if you’re interested, keep your eyes open for those as well as other bookish posts. In the meantime, let me know what was your favourite book in January!

Cheers! x