29 Things That Make Me Happy: Reading

Day 16...

Reading

So before I get started let me just apologise for the delay in this post. Had I known that the after math of my birthday would have been so great I would have scheduled this post on Monday too. Truthfully I'm a little bit under the weather but nothing that can't be managed and handled. Today's "Thing That Makes Me Happy" is reading... Especially on rainy days where I just want to lay down and rest, reading is like the perfect form of escapism for me. From novels to journals to blogs, I can spend hours reading and have been known to finish some pretty massive books in days if not hours. Once I bought a Harry Potter book at the airporty (Order of the Pheonix I think) to take on a family holiday to Portugal from London. I started it at the airport and was over 3/4's through before we arrived at the villa! Lol

I also started a "Read with Reni" monthly on this blog which I was convinced no one ever read until one of you lovely readers, Tunrayo, told me about some books she was reading which had been featured there. Just goes to show that if you love doing something you shouldn't ever stop.

Here's a couple of my "Read with Reni" book reviews..

And The Mountains Echoed- Khaleed Hosseini

Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl Review: Read with Reni

So the month is over now and that means the review of Gone Girl is now due. Let's hop straight to it shall we. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is hands down the most intriguing book I've read this year. And I know you're probably thinking "Calm down Reni, you've only read like 2 books..." But that's not entirely true, I've read tons this year already, it's pretty much all I do with my time these days. I really don't want to give too much away because it's one of those books that's absolutely ruined if the plot is given away.

So what's it about? It's about a man Nick Dunne whose wife, Amy suddenly goes missing with no clues, mixed messages and of course the prime suspect is none other than her husband. It's told equally from both their vantage points with alternating chapters for each of them. It's so full of twists, turns, dead ends and horrifying betrayals and revelations and I think the writing is just brilliant.

"I've suffered betrayal with all five senses."- Amy Dunne

I'm not really a fan of mystery novels but this is definitely not your typical mystery, it doesn't follow the regular flow of events and I think that's what makes it all the better. I've never read any of Gillian Flynn's other novels and so I can't really say whether or not this type of literary genius is the norm for her or not but I would definitely be reading more in the near future.

It seems to have an underlying theme of "What do we really know about each other?" running through the entire prose not only between the husband and wife but through their relationships with everyone around them and that was a little scary for me and made me think quite deeply about how much I truly know about my friends. 

"Tell me. What can it hurt, tell me everything, because you and I can't go forward with this pretend story."- Nick Dunne

It tells a very true story about how very often, guys and girls alike pretend to be a different version of themselves to try and impress members of the opposite sex but of course this is never ever sustainable. Unfortunately, or not, we only know as much information about a person as they offer to give us and some times there's no way of verifying if this is the true version of themselves or one of their many characters.

"Pretty soon Cool Girl became the standard girl [....] Every girl was supposed to be this girl, and if you weren't, then there was something wrong with you."- Amy Dunne

It also shows how the dynamics of relationships change as time goes by and as people are confronted with things they never thought they would have to face.

"There's something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold."- Nick Dunne

All in all I'd describe the book as very realistic, it shows the flaws in human relationships and the lengths some people would go to to make sure that they are understood and appreciated. Of course not everyone goes to the extreme but I can't really say much more without ruining the book so I'd stop there.

Did anyone else read it? If you've written a review to it recently or in the past then feel free to link below or drop a comment and let me know what you thought of it.

The book for April is "On Black Sisters' Street" by Chika Unigwe. Buy it, download it, borrow it... Just make sure you're reading with Reni ^_^

Reni xx

Read with Reni: April's Choice

So if I'm honest I'm not sure how many people are actually "Reading with Reni" or if anyone is at all but that's alright. However, just incase there actually are some interested people out there then this seems like a perfect time to say thank you for joining me! We're more than halfway through March now but there's still enough time to read the book of the month "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn if you want to. Honestly, I finished it in 2 days or something, it was that captivating. It's been my favourite book so far this year but more on the "why's?" in the review I'd be posting later. Oh and if you're wondering what on earth "Read with Reni" is then find out here.

Remember how I said the book for April was going to be the reader's choice? Well I've set up a poll so go on and vote for the book you would like to read next month. If you would like to suggest another book then feel free to do so in the comments section, I always welcome suggestions.

April's Book Should Be...?

On Black Sisters' Street- Chika Ungwe

The Casual Vacancy- J. K Rowling

No Longer At Ease- Chinua Achebe

free polls

Also don't forget, if you write or have written a review to any of the books here then feel free to link-up at the bottom of my reviews post.

Reni xx

Read with Reni: February Review "And the Mountains Echoed"

So February is over now and that means that it's time for the very first book review on "Read with Reni". The book for February was the amazing Khaled Hosseini's (author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns) "And the Mountains Echoed"

Now I must admit, I read the entire book before the first week of February was even over, that's how much I liked it! So what's all the hype about you ask?

Well, it's a deeply moving story about a brother and sister Abdullah and Pari, who get separated from each other when they're young, it's set mainly in Afghanistan and spans years and years of their history, including the Taliban.

"You say you felt a presence, but I only sensed an absence. A vague pain without a source. I was like a patient who cannot tell the doctor where it hurts, only that it does."

Hosseini really intricately weaves the story of the siblings into the fabric of many other peoples lives and there are many "Aha!" and "Oh my goodness!" moments to be had as the plot unfolds in a truly masterful way. I had so much writers envy when I was reading it.

"You want a story and I would tell you one. But just the one. Don't either of you ask me for more"

Honestly, I found it difficult to put down once I started reading it and I'm not necessarily the type that has to finish a book in one sitting. It all depends on the awesomeness or lack of. I would say it's quite easy to read as well as the story flows nicely. I'd be honest, there were a couple of "What does this have to do with anything?" moments but I guess it was all to paint a thorough picture.

I don't know how to tell you my favourite part of the book without spoiling it too much but trust me when I say this book had me blinking furiously to hold back the tears.

"They tell me I must wade into waters, where I will soon drown. Before I march in, I leave this on the shore for you. I pray you find it, sister, so you will know what was in my heart as I went under."

"And the Mountains Echoed" is as uplifting as it is heartbreaking and it really does show the complexities of human beings as emotional creatures so would I recommend it? I'm sure you can already guess that the answer is a loud and resounding yes!

Has anyone else read this book yet? What did you think about it? Feel free to link up below if you have a review on it already.

The book for March is "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. Buy it, download it... You know you want to Read with Reni!

Read with Reni: Bloggers Book Club, Re-Introductions

*Pinch, punch, first of the month* to all of you my lovely readers! I hope January was an amazing start to the year for you and it's set the tone for the rest of the months ahead. If you remember, I very randomly decided to start an online bloggers book club "Read With Reni" but I didn't really put much thought into the structure of it at the time. Partly because I was having a "Eureka!" moment and didn't want to ruin it by overthinking things! Haha. So anyways, now I've had the chance to sit down and think about how I'd like things to go this year so here we are, formally re-introducing "Read with Reni" with all the bits and bobs attached!

What is it?

Well, it's simple really, it's an online book club open to any and everybody that like me, sometimes just wants to get lost in the pages of a great book. We'd be reading one book a month and on the first of every month, I'd put up a review of sorts of the previous month's book. I say "of sorts" because personally, I hate spoilers! My review might be in the form of a short story the book inspired me to write, or some part of the book that really struck a chord with me. It would not always be a structured typical review so I promise it would have as little spoilers as possible, for the sake of the people who might not have finished reading it yet.

What do you have to do?

Absolutely nothing! Well except read of course, and that itself is optional. There's no pressure to join and nothing to subscribe to. If you've read a particular book and want to share a review on your own blog then that's great! I'd have an open link-up at the end of each of my reviews so we can all share our thoughts! And if of course you don't have a blog, you can drop as many comments as you want. I'd always be there for related discussions etc. 

When do we start?

NOW! It's a little impromptu but why wait another day? We've already missed January!

And possibly the most important question...

What shall we be reading?

I'm going to try and make the choices as mixed and diverse as possible, reason being I really want to widen my horizons. It would mostly be a mix of classic, modern and african literature and I'd announce the books at the beginning of every quarter of the year. There would be three 'Readers Choice' months in April, August and December where readers get to decide through a poll what books they would like to read that month. More info on that later.

The books for this first quarter are

February: And the Mountains Echoed- Khaled Hosseini

March: Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn

April: Readers Choice- TBC

I hope you guys are as excited as I am for this to get properly underway. I can't wait to get tucked in to Khaled Hosseini's amazing writing this month. If you would like to suggest a book to be in the poll for the "Readers Choice" months feel free to drop a comment or send me an email at lilactintedviews[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Hope you have a lovely weekend and an even better month!

Reni xx

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway! There's another winner to be announced tomorrow!