This year is just flying by, so much so that I can barely keep up, but nevertheless there is always time for reading. September was very good in terms of the quality of books that I read, because out of the three that I did read I’m certain that two of them are going to make my list for top ten books of this year.
The first book that I read was Circe by Madeline Miller, and I’m still reeling from how good that book was. The Song of Achilles is one of my all-time favourite books, so much so that I included it within my dissertation, which of course meant that I couldn’t wait to read Circe. Thanks to my job and brilliant colleagues, I managed to get a proof of Circe which doesn’t get released until 2018. Miller has definitely earned her spot as one of my all-time favourite authors, and I can’t help but pray that she continues to write her beautiful stories. Circe is a tale of love, family, friendship, and the lack of all three. It demonstrates the power of words and will, the importance of independence and self-worth, and the threads that tie the present day to the classics. Miller has managed once more to take a well known tale and reword it, forging a new legend without denying the old.
And clearly that wasn’t enough Classics for me, as I followed that up by reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt. If you haven’t already seen it, I wrote a full review for it a couple days ago (which you can find here). Overall, it was yet another fantastically written book by a brilliant author, one that I hope to read more of soon.
Which brings me to the final book that I read – or rather, finished reading – this month which was The Feminine Mystique by Better Friedan. This was a non-fiction pick for the Feminist Book Club that I am a part of, and whilst I think it is important and very good for what it is, I did struggle with keeping up my enthusiasm for reading it, especially with the sections that are extremely dated. Certain comments made on gender and homosexuality meant that I was put off by a book that played a huge part in female empowerment, especially in the workplace and outside the home, which definitely affected my reading of it.
And that concludes my very short update on my reading for last month. I’ve got some exciting things lined up for October, and I’m already well into an extremely good book, so I can’t wait to see where it takes me. In terms of challenges, Betty Friedan ticked off the ‘feminist book cover to cover’, and Circe ticked off ‘a blue cover’. I decided to use The Secret History once again for ‘a friend’s favourite book’ as this was a book that literally everyone had recommended to me and said that they’d love.