A Day in Bookland

November seemed to go on forever and I’m glad is over. To give you an idea, it feels as if most of the fun things I did didn’t happen in November but a long time ago.

Maybe you don’t know this about me but I collect different edition of Jane Eyre and when I learnt that Vintage was releasing the new Brontë series I just couldn’t say no. 

The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories  by Angela Carter { Goodreads } Published by Penguin Classics in 2015 75th Anniversary paperback edition; 162 pages { BookDepository } The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Angela Carter in which she gave new life to some of the most famous fairytales, mainly Beauty & The Beast .

The Madman's Daughter  by Megan Shepherd { Goodreads } Published by Harper Voyager in 2013 Paperback edition; 360 pages { BookDepository } Juliet Moreau’s life changed forever when her father was involved in a heated scandal regarding “medical” experiments and she was cast out of society alongside her mother. Now she works as a maid but one night, everything changes again and she learns that her father is indeed alive and lives and works on a remote island. Juliet decides to travel to that island and prove that the accusations were wrong. On her journey, Montgomery, her father’s young assistant – a boy she knew when she was little – accompanies her and while on the ship, they pick up a shipwreck survivor, Edward, another young man. When they arrive on the island, something isn’t quite right and Juliet is mortified to learn her father has been working on several experiments vivisecting animals to make them look and behave like humans.

The Awakening  by Kate Chopin { Goodreads } Published by Vintage in 2011 Paperback edition; 221 pages { BookDepository } Edna Pontellier is a 28 year-old woman, married and with two children. However, she isn’t happy and when she falls in love with a man called Robert, who she met during her summer vacation, something changes within her; something awakens. I was introduced to Kate Chopin last year when I had to study her for my North American Literature course and although we read another text by her I already knew I was going to have to read The Awakening this year for my Gender & Literature course. All my attention, while reading this, was on gender and what the author had to say about what it is expected in a “good woman”.

When you have a mahoosive TBR just like mine – although I know I will always be reading which means my TBR will never cease to exist  – sometimes deciding what to pick up next can be quite a task.

Today I wanted to show you all the books I've been accumulating during the past two months and a half. Some of them were new releases I was very excited for; others are books that have been on my radar for a while and I finally decided to bring them home with me and others are books from authors I've read and wanted to dive into more of their works - Woolf for instance. There is also a mix of so many genres and I wish I could read them all at once and it's a pity I can't.

Cruel Beauty  by Rosamund Hodge { Goodreads } Published by Balzer + Bray in 2014 Hardcover edition; 342 pages { BookDepository } Nyx Triskelion’s homeland has been ruled for over centuries by a monster by the name Ignifex. Thanks to her father and the bargain he struck with the demon she has been betrothed to him her whole life. And now, with 17 years old is time for the marriage to happen. She is to seduce him, to gain his trust and kill him in order to free the kingdom. However, when the time comes Ignifex is not exactly what Nyx was expecting. Beauty and the Beast mixed with Greek mythology? I’m in! What could go wrong? Everything, apparently. When I learnt about this book I got it immediately. I’m a sucker for Greek mythology and the premise of it being linked to the well known fairytale was enough for me. Yet, what it looked like a promising debut, turned out to be just that: promising but nothing more. I’m confused and mad.

October was… paradoxical. University started at the beginning of the month and I was so ready for it. I’m still ready for it and I’m loving every second but I’m drowned in work and I don’t even wanna think how my levels of stress will be in the next couple of months if they’re pretty bad right now. At least I’m enjoying what I’m doing so that’s okay, I guess. The clocks have gone backwards and although autumn is my favourite season of the year, I dread the darkness. I feel the days are slipping away from my hands and it doesn’t help me de-stress. I go to my classes in the afternoon and it’s a bit daunting to leave the house when it’s already pitch black and I would rather be home, warm and on my pyjamas.