Trying to juggle nursery graduals, a household all battling the flu bug, a teething small person, Christmas and the hoopla that comes with it left very little time for reading this month! I only managed to finish two books, these were two fantastic books, I might add. I also gave up on one of my book club books Moon Tiger because as I have found out, December is no time to try and force yourself to read, there just isn’t the time.
The books I read were –
- “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman
- “The Hearts Invisible Furies” by John Boyne.
Lets start with, “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman. I started reading this book as an e-book whilst on holiday back in October, but I just cannot get on board with the reading on electronic devices, I need a book, something physical to hold. So, I reserved this at the library and read in it about four days or so. This book was heart warming, touching, sad and funny. Gail Honeyman clearly did a lot of research around how childhood can have a lasting impact on us and how we go onto form relationships in adulthood. As a social worker, I found it was really sensitive in it’s approach to children and young people who have had dealings with “the system” within their lives. I loved both Eleanor and Raymond as characters, they were well thought out and I wanted to know more and more about them both. In all honesty I didn’t want this book to end, I believed in the characters and deeply cared about them. It is a difficult read in places, so there are trigger warnings for abuse, suicide and violence. I would definitely would recommend this book, its been shortlisted for the Costa Book Award category of First Novel and quite deserving.
The second book was “The Hearts Invisible Furies” by John Boyne. What a fantastic book this was, it was captivating and despite its length it didn’t lose momentum. I am very jealous, that a lot of people on bookstagram have managed to read this in two days, I can see why. The story follows Cyril Avery, who is adopted at birth and lives with Charles and Maud Avery, the novel follows Cyril throughout his life from a young boy up until he is an old man. The book begins in Ireland in the 1940’s, governed by the church, the opening chapter is harsh and it doesn’t really let up. Ireland, Amsterdam and New York lend themselves to the novels backdrop. There are a lot of twists and turns in this book, which I won’t go into as I don’t wish to spoil the intricacies of the plot line which John Boyne cleverly thought out. As with the above, it was a difficult read in parts, it was heart breaking, highlighting loneliness, friendship, unrequited love and a sense of belonging. There has been a lot of buzz about this book on bookstagram and quite rightly so, it’s fantastic and I would definitely recommend it.
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