Amy's Blog

I love charity shops. They're a great resource for books, whether you're an occasional reader or a prolific reader. You can find books on everything for really cheap, the books I found this month ranged from 10p to maximum £1.50. I thought I'd share some of the charity shop book bargains I've found this month. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte : I don't actually own my own paper copy of " Wuthering Heights ", so when I decided to pick one up when I next saw one in a charity. I'm also a sucker for a nice cover. The Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan : I read some of Frankopan's work for university assignments and wanted to give this one a go. It was the first time I'd seen it in a charity shop and for £1.50 I thought I'd give it a try. America's Queen, by Sarah Bradford: I've always been fascinated by the Kennedy assassination and Jacky Kennedy. This was the first book I've seen on Jacky and I'm excited to give it a go. Pe...

Classics can be intimidating. They sit in their section in the bookshop/library/charity shop and you don't know if you're wise enough to approach them. However, over the last few years, I have endeavoured to tame these wordy monsters and make my way through them. Being brought up in a house full of books and BBC adaptations, it was inevitable I was going to pick up a classic one day, although it can be daunting choosing where to start. Hopefully, by sharing my adventures in the land of classics and a couple of tips, you might be able to give them a go too. Classics Journey My journey into classics started when I was around 14 years old. For an English class, I had to read a book, preferably a classic and give a presentation on my book of choice. I went for " Pride and Prejudice " by Jane Austen, being familiar with the story from a young age having watched the BBC adaptation. I didn't touch a classic again until I was 17, I was too busy with YA to give the cla...

One of my goals for February was to vary my reading, incorporating graphic novels into my reading choices. I managed to read a fair few and I'm on the lookout for more. Admittedly, I'm still fairly new to the world of graphic novels so I'm trying everything to see what I enjoy. I'll split the graphic novels into their own section after the novels/books. I also wanted to implement some more poetry in there too although I didn't get to read too much of it, I will try harder next month to read some more. Books Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami, 4 stars Set in Tokyo, Toru is a college student who is caught between two very different women as he tries to adapt to the world of higher education. This book haunted me for a while after I read it, Murakami's writing is wonderful and his characters are intriguing. For every moment of heartbreak, there is some hope in this story, it is an emotional rollercoaster that I would highly recommend. Nineteen Eighty-F...