Hello 🙃
Today I'm super excited to share with you some of the books I've read this year, hoping they can inspire you for your future readings. This year I set myself the goal of reading more, and I have to say I'm very happy with how much I'm progressing. By the way, if you want to follow me to give each other inspiration, you can find me on Goodreads [ link here ], a fantastic platform where we can keep track of the books we read, leave reviews and participate in reading challenges.
And now, as anticipated, I want to talk to you about some of the books that I have read recently and that particularly struck me:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ferite a morte, 10 years later [Serena Dandini]
Ten years after the release of his controversial book "Ferite a morte, 10 years later", Dandini returns with a reflection on social and cultural change regarding gender violence. Through a series of narratives, testimonies and reports with numbers in hand, it examines the progress made and the challenges still present in the fight against violence against women . A book that unquestionably deserved 5/5 stars from my side. It is an engaging, raw, touching and enlightening read, which certainly left its mark on me. Worth reading for anyone, even (especially) younger kids.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Making Wounds Bloom [Delphine Pessin] (not sure about the title in English)
Capucine is a young girl of seventeen, with a tumultuous past and constant anxiety. He embarks on an internship at a retirement home, where he meets Violette, an elderly woman who recently moved in and is full of nostalgia for the life she left behind: home, family and even her beloved cat. From the wounds that life has inflicted on the two women, an unexpected feeling of friendship and unconditional trust flourishes, but above all a delicate story is born, which flows pleasantly.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Talking at Night by [Claire Daverley]
Talking at Night tells the overwhelming love story between Will and Rosie, two souls who have attracted each other like magnets since adolescence. In their world made of 90s melodies, long walks in the moonlight and whispered confidences, a deep bond is woven that is destined to defy time. However, an unexpected tragedy disrupts their path. But it is precisely from this tragedy, and from the strength of their feeling, that an unexpected resilience is born. This book is a touching reflection on love and friendship, a story of second chances, of regrets and hopes, of spoken and unspoken words that decide the fate of the protagonists.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Don't swipe right [LM Chilton]
Gwen, struggling with a messy love life, immerses herself in the dating app Connector in search of a soul mate. However, all the boys she dates are soon found dead, putting Gwen in danger. How to Kill Your Soulmate has the potential to be the perfect book: a mystery with a light and flowing plot, which explores the dynamics of online relationships and transports the reader into a dark and intriguing world. I really appreciated the captivating atmosphere of Gwen's first-person narration in this book. What I appreciated least was probably the ending, which in my opinion was not very realistic. Perfect to read under the umbrella!
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Funeral Songs for Almost Dead Girls [Cherie Dimaline]
The novel tells the story of Winifred, a girl of almost sixteen who lives with her father in the Winterson cemetery. As Winfred prepares to spend a hot, lazy summer, word slowly begins to spread that the cemetery she lives in is haunted, and her life takes an unexpected turn. With a fairly engaging narrative, the novel explores the meaning of life, death and love in a decidedly evocative way. I found it slightly trivial at times, but still a nice book to read.
⭐️.5 for mercy Everything I Know About Love [Dolly Alderton]
Folks, I'm definitely going against the grain with my two stars, I know.
I had very high expectations from this bestseller, defined as "a perfect sentimental and sexual education manual for a millennial who has already become a cult", which were not satisfied.
SPOILER WARNING (then don't say I didn't warn you)
There are elements in the book that seem completely random, such as scattered recipes with no clear purpose and emails/letters from unknown authors. Personally, I found the story more like a boring narrative of a privileged English girl who spends the first part of her youth getting drunk and the second part trying to make sense of her life. While this may seem interesting, the writing comes across as banal, as do the descriptions of the relationships and situations Dolly faces over the years. In particular, I found the chapters on the author's "checkpoints" at 20, 23, 25, 28, and 30 to be rather banal and unhelpful. If you are looking for a similar story but with a deeper transmission, I recommend reading "The Chronology of Water
I hope that these brief opinions will be useful to you in choosing your next readings.
If you have good books to recommend, please write to me!!!
Happy reading everyone!
Xx,
Giulia