June Reading Wrap Up - Sylvia Plath, Martyr!, Percival Everett, Jamaica Kincaid and more

Had such a great reading month in June - sharing everything I read!
✨Books Mentioned✨
Lucy - Jamaica Kincaid
Moon Tiger- Penelope Lively
Michel the Giant: An African in Greenland - Tete-Michel Kpomassie tr. James Kirkup & Ros Schwartz
In the Fold - Rachel Cusk
Martyr! - Kaveh Akbar
The Country Under my Skin - Giaconda Belli
The Trees - Percival Everett
Selected Poems - Sylvia Plath
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Bone People- Kerri Hulme
Independent People - Halldor Laxness tr. James Anderson Thompson
Conversation in the Cathedral - Mario Vargas Llosa tr. Gregory Rabassa
✨Channels mentioned✨
‪@thelefthandedreader6632‬
✨Videos mentioned✨
Reading from the Americas Vlog: • Reading books from the...
Prompt Jar Picks my TBR Vlog: • Reading Vlog: Prompt J...
✨Follow me ✨
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Storygraph @sarahsreadingjournal
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[@TheBookThing]

Have Martyr on my TBR so it was really good to get your thoughts. I read The Trees back in May. I really enjoyed it as well but felt that the last 10% probably let it down. I’ve just read Sylvia Plath for the first time, I read The Bell Jar in June and really enjoyed it. I’m not usually much of a poetry reader but I might pick those poems up 😁

[@Sarahsreadingjournal]

@TheBookThing I hope you enjoy Martyr! It was a really interesting read and I've not read anything really touching on those themes before. Yeah, I think Plath is quite an accessible poet if you don't read much poetry like me! There's also loads of analysis of her work online, so I looked up some of these poems to get a bit more context.

[@ATPennington]

I keep seeing copies of the recent Halldor Laxness reisues in book shops and I'm always draw to how beautiful and different the covers are, but when I read the descriptions they never quite appeal to me. I really enjoyed your thoughts on Rachel Cusk. I bought her book Second Place last year but I haven't read it yet (it kept getting bumped down my TBR until I kind of forgot I had it.) If you ever record a full review of Second Place I'd love to see it. Once again an excellent video and a really interesting selection of books. This is an amazing volume of reading to get through in a single month! 😁

[@Sarahsreadingjournal]

@ATPennington ha ha, yes I've had quite the prolific reading month! Would definitely recommend Second Place- I'll try and share my full thoughts at some point 🙈 Laxness's writing style just didn't gel for me but I really want to like him so will perhaps pick up another book by him in the future!

[@mildrumpus]

I have a complicated relationship with Jamaica Kincaid as a reader. I recently met her and it didn't change my opinion much -- based on the reviews that I have heard, it seems like her fiction might be more enjoyable than her nonfiction. ("Among Flowers" is my least favorite book of the year and one of my most hated books, ever.)

[@Sarahsreadingjournal]

@mildrumpus oh no, that's a shame! I've not heard great things about Among the Flowers, so will definitely avoid that one 😅 Having only read one book by her, I'm not sure where the best place to start is. Lucy is very short, so may be a good introduction to her fiction 🤞

[@mildrumpus]

@@Sarahsreadingjournal Funny enough, a copy of her book, “My Brother,” showed up in the community bookshelf. Maybe it’s a sign. 🤷‍♂️