This month I’ve been…

I typed the title of this post and then just sat and stared at a blank screen for five minutes trying to think of something, anything, that I’d actually done this month. September seems to have gone past so quickly that I couldn’t possibly have accomplished anything note-worthy. Then I remembered why – I spent a week of it sunning myself by a pool in Turkey. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was lazing in 40°C heat with nothing more serious to worry about than whether it was time to reapply sun cream yet (which when you have skin as pale as mine is still quite a serious worry and the answer is always, always, always yes).

There is a post coming about my exploits in Turkey. It’s all written, the photos are chosen and edited; I just need to bring them both together. And although that is literally a five minute job, right now it seems like the most hellish task ever. So I just keep putting it off. But here are some teaser photos to whet your appetite.

Apart from that week spent holidaying I don’t think I’ve achieved much at all. I had my contract extended at work and I now finish on 23^rd December (and is making me seriously panicky about when in going to get my Christmas shopping done. I don’t want to be that person stress buying on Christmas Eve) so that’s nice but hardly exciting. I had intended to go on a serious healthy eating binge (if you can binge on healthy eating – bit of an oxymoron) but chocolate fingers happened. And I had also been hoping to have my flat all finished (pictures actually in frames rather than blutacked to the glass, that kind of thing) but that hasn’t happened either. So the interiors post I’ve been promising since the beginning of time (read: July) is being put off yet again.

So back to the old standby of talking books books books instead.

This month I’ve been buying…

I have hit my bank balance hard buying lots and lots and LOTS of books. See that picture at the top – all new purchases. Which when you consider I was out of the country for a week is really quite something. If you prefer everything in list form (which should be everyone really. Nothing’s quite as satisfying as organising your life into lists) here are all those books I’ve bought this month:

1. In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

I saw this a lot of places when it first came out (and by a lot of places I mean Instagram) and having never read anything by Judy Blume I thought, well, why the hell not?

2. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

I intend to work my way through the entire Bronte back catalogue after The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was such a success.

3. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I finished The Virgin Suicides and knew I absolutely had to read more by this guy. And literally the first book store I went into had this on offer.

4. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

I’m in two minds about whether I actually want to read this book but I thought I’d buy it anyway because it was a £1 and I needed to increase the number of hardbacks that I own.

5. Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

For someone who proclaims Thomas Hardy to be one of their favourite authors I really haven’t read that much by him. Time to rectify that.

6. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

This book caught my attention but I didn’t even pull it off the shelf originally as I had great will power and was determinedly sticking to my book shopping list. But the next day I coincidentally read that it had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and so returned to buy it. So much for willpower.

7. The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin

I’ve read plenty of the poetry classics but need to read more modern(ish) stuff.

8. A Storm of Swords (Parts 1 and 2), A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons (Parts 1 and 2) by George RR Martin

(I’ve clumped these all together so that the list looks less hellish). These have been on my to-buy list for soooooo long but people just haven’t been donating them. But clearly a lot of fantasy fiction fans had a clear out this month and I managed to complete my collection for £10.50. It does slightly bother me that A Feast for Crows is a different imprint but I just love that version of the cover so much more. And I think I’m stupid enough that I’d actually replace my whole series with the new covers if the chance presented itself.

9. Ariel by Sylvia Plath

Another part of my effort to read more modern poetry.

10. Babylon Revisited by F Scott Fitzgerald

I’m a bit on the fence about F Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby didn’t exactly sweep me off my feet) so I like a nice skinny book I can try again with.

11. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift

10p!!!! This was 10p!!!! Whoever heard of a book costing 10p? Whoever heard of anything costing 10p?

12. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

Almost entirely bought because it’s bright green. And I’ve heard a few things about the character of Becky Sharp which make me think I’d really like her.

This month I’ve been reading…

And alongside buying books I’ve actually managed to squeeze in the time to read a few as well. And some really good ones at that. How could I ever choose between The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Virgin Suicides and Wild for a favourite this month?

1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (sort of)
3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
4. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
5. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
6. The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin
7. Ariel by Sylvia Plath
8. Wild by Cheryl Strayed (not pictured because I’ve already insisted my mum borrow it)
9. The Secret History by Donna Tartt