Amy's Blog

If you read a lot, then you've most likely experienced a reading slump at least once in your reading journey. I've experienced many over the years, some lasting only a few days, with others lasting months. What seems to trigger mine is usually stress, if my real life gets really hectic and there's a lot going on, then reading seems to fade into nonexistence for me. I'll not pick up a book for days, or the book I'm reading doesn't excite me anymore, and so the slump begins. There have been a few memorable slumps for me, usually happening alongside some sort of upheaval in my life. Back in 2013, I finished up high school and went onto sixth form. This was a massive change for me on many levels. There was a lot more work to do, the day became longer and many more people to meet and adjust to. I remember struggling a lot with reading back then, which wasn't great considering one of my courses was an English Literature one. Whenever I'd pick up a book I wo...

The option of DNF (Did Not Finish) was never one I used to take. I realise how overly dramatic that sounds, but when I was in my teens I rarely abandoned a book part way through, even some of the worse books I'd ever read. It's a strange feeling when I DNF a book, particularly ones that I was really excited to read. The completionist in me rises up in anger, I should finish the book, no matter what. Yet, all the unread books on my kindle/bookshelf cheer me on, in the hope, I'll finally get round to them. Sometimes we just have to abandon books we no longer enjoy, whether we are only 20 pages in or over halfway through. Recently I've only DNF'ed one book, which isn't much. I usually DNF around 3-5 each year and I thought I'd go over a few of them in this post. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova - DNF'ed in February 2019 I'll be talking about this book in my "Everything I read in February 2019" post in a few weeks, so I'll not say too m...

Here's everything I read in January 2019. I managed to read a lot more than I thought I'd be able to, January is a fairly busy month for me. There are many classics on this list, many I've been meaning to get to for a while and finally got round to doing so. Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte: 5 Stars This was my first read of 2019 and my first Anne Bronte novel. Previously to this, I had read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights by Anne's sisters and wanted to try Anne's work. I loved this book although I did find the protagonist hard going at times. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte: 5 Stars This was my favourite of the two novels by Anne. It was so interesting to see a Victorian novel discussing the taboo of a wife leaving her husband and I rooted for Helen as she did whatever she could to protect her son. The Professor, Charlotte Bronte: 3 Stars It feels almost sacrilegious to give a Bronte book anything less than 4 stars however I did not enjoy this one. Wil...