A month of reading

1. (not pictured) When God Was a Rabbit - Sarah Williams

I wasn't sure about this one, a number of people had recommended it but I suspected it wasn't for me.  Yes, I admit it; I judged a book by it's cover.  Unsurprisingly the old adage was correct, I really shouldn't have.  It was a pacy book and at no point felt like a struggle to read, the relationships between the characters are complicated at times, but touching as well.  This book hasn't changed my life and I don't think it is one of those books that everyone MUST read but is a good in between book when you've finished a really brilliant book and don't know what to read next. I've lent this one to my mum (hence not pictured) and I'm vain enough to not lend people books that I don't think reflect well on me!

2. The Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman

I read a review of this book on another blog and thought I would give it a go.  The story is set in the office of a failing newspaper, each chapter is written from the view point of one of the members of the office outlining the personal and professional politics, power struggles and ambitions of the staff.  I'm indifferent to this book, which sounds so much more damning than I really want it to.  It is a good book and I didn't struggle to get through it and at no point did I want to give up on it, but the characters were whiney and selfish and I struggled to find a redeeming feature amongst them (I am aware this was a necessary part of the plot, but it doesn't mean I have to like it).  Don't let me put you off this book but borrow it from the library, don't buy it new. 

3. The Confessions of Katherine Howard - Suzannah Dunn

Utter, utter meh.  My (not so) secret shame is an interest in the Tudors and I thought this one might be good.  It was eye meltingly dull I don't give up on books readily, and I didn't with this one but it came close a couple of times.

4. One Day - David Nicholls

This book didn't come to my attention until the film came out, now anything associated with Anne Hathaway makes me yawn, equally anything that is over-hyped switches me off so I wasn't that inclined to read it.  However last weekend my lovely sister-in-law gave me a copy, the copy she had received as part of World Book Night and I'm really glad I got over myself and read it because it was great.  My assumption had been that because Anne Hathaway was involved with the film that the character of Emma Morley would be a bit soft, but no, she was switched on, sarcastically funny and so well written.  This book was great because it portrays what I'm sure we've all experienced; the struggle to identify what we really want to do with our lives and how to achieve it.  Go forth and read this book!

So what have I learnt this month via the medium of books; I am very snobby and judgemental when it comes to choosing books, but equally am happy to admit when I'm wrong about these judgements so that's sort of ok, right?

What books would you recommend?