Authors I Want To Read More Of

In a few days time, I have a post going up about my most read authors so far. I’ve read multiple books from a lot of different authors so I’m not going to share all of them in that post otherwise we’ll be here forever. Because of that, I thought it might be nice to talk about five authors I’d really like to read more of.

I should mention that all of these authors I have read at least two books from already and that none of them made the top read list. Let’s go.

Daphne Du Maurier

As I’m writing this post, I’m currently in Cornwall, which is where Daphne Du Maurier lived so it’s only fair that she was first on this list. I’ve read four of her books already and she’s one of my favourite authors, so I think I should read some more.

What am I reading next? Frenchman’s Creek.

Laurie Halse Andersen

I recently just met Laurie Halse Andersen and she was honestly the loveliest author ever so I really want to read more of her books now. I’ve read two already—Speak and Wintergirls.

What am I reading next? The Impossible Knife of Memory.

George Orwell

I have a bit of a hit and miss relationship with Orwell. I absolutely loved Animal Farm, but I hated 1984 when I first tried it and never ended up finishing. I’ve read three of his books in total, but I am going to get through them all someday.

What am I reading next? 1984…again.

Melina Marchetta

I’ve read three Melina Marchetta books already and I loved all of them so it seems only natural that I read more of hers.

What am I reading next? Looking for Alibrandi.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ah good ol’ Fitzgerald! I’ve read three of his books already, not including my rereads of Gatsby but I really love them. I know some people really aren’t fans, but I think he had such an interesting life and I’m interested seeing that in his books.

What am I reading next? The Beautiful and Damned.

What are some authors you'd like to read more from in the future?

TBR Shame

The other day, one of my bestest friends in the entire universe Rachel posted this amazing post on book shame and why it shouldn’t exist. I wanted to talk about another type of book shame, in particular, TBR shame. I’ve wanted to write a post about this for ages but I could never quite find the right words for it until now.

I don’t think TBR shame/guilt should exist.

It’s actually funny that I’m writing this now because up until about two months ago, I was one of those people who suffered from serious TBR guilt. I had 500 unread books on my shelves at the start of this year. I know what you’re thinking—that’s a ridiculous amount of books, you’ll never read all of those, you should never buy another book, whatever!

The thing is, I don’t fell guilty about owning that many unread books anymore. Yes, I still want to get through the books I own and I’ve been cutting back on my buying habits but I don’t worry anymore. I used to actually feel disappointed with myself for owning that many unread books, but something clicked one day.

I like having unread books on my shelf. The thought of having zero TBR books is actually terrifying to me. I can’t live book to book. I need to read two or three books at the same time, and have something waiting for me that I’m excited to read. I like being able to pick whatever book off my shelf because that’s what I wanted to read right then rather than just the only thing I had on my shelf.

I understand that some people might like living book to book. They might like going out and purchasing a new every time they finish one, but that just isn’t for me.

I think the idea that you have to be guilty or feel ashamed that you have unread books on your shelf is ridiculous. If you want to have twenty or two hundred unread books on your shelf, I think it’s up to you. You’re the one who decides which books you are going to read and when you are going to read them. I don’t think you should ever be ashamed of that.

Anyway, that’s just my two cents, let me know what you think and remember to check out Rachel’s blog, it’s honestly one of my favourites.

Books With Layered Perspectives

In my review for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall the other week, I mentioned that I’d be doing a post on books with layered perspectives. Just before we get started, I wanted to give you a quick definition of what this means to me—in simplest terms, it’s a story within a story. This may involves letter or diaries or whatever else, but that thing frames the novel so that the reader sees it in a particular light. I hope that made sense…let’s get started.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

In this, Gilbert Markham is writing to his friend Halford about the new and very mysterious woman who moved into Wildfell Hall, Helen Graham. He and Helen become friends, and halfway through the book, Helen gives him her diaries which Gilbert then includes for Halford/us to read. Even without this, it’s an absolutely gorgeous story and you should all read it.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

This is about to get real confusing. Frankenstein starts with some letters from explorer Robert Walton to his sister in England, then he saves Victor Frankenstein and in return, Victor shares his story of the monster he created and within that, the monster also tells Victor his story. If that’s not confusing enough, ? is repeating this entire story to his sister. Can you say complicated?

Atonement by Ian McEwan

This is the book that made me fall in love with this technique. The thing about Atonement is the way this layered perspective narrative is written makes it really difficult to guess that it is in fact, a layered perspective. I don’t really want to share too much about this one, but the time you reach the end, you will simultaneously love and hate Ian McEwan.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

I’m sure a lot of you are aware of this one. A grandfather is reading the book, The Princess Bride, to his grandson so not only do we get the story of the grandfather and his grandson but also the novel, The Princess Bride. It’s confusing and beautiful and the movie is absolutely perfect.

So these are a few examples. I know there are a few more out there but these are the ones that have stuck with me. Let me know if you know of any others or if there’s a different narrative style you really like.

Writing Resources: Insulin and Other Diabetic Stuff

Hello there, gorgeous people!

If you clicked on this post then you’re probably either a) a writer or b) one of my friends. Either way, I’m glad you clicked on it. Today, in part two of my Writing Resources series/project/thing, I’ll be talking about the nitty gritty of Type One Diabetes.

Firstly, if you have no idea what this is or who I am, click here to read the introduction post I did. Secondly, check out the first part where I talked about things non-Diabetics shouldn’t say to Diabetics. Now, let’s get started.

I’m talking mainly about the more medical side today. I’m going to try and keep everything in the most basic of terms, but if there’s anything you don’t understand please feel free to leave me a comment or e-mail me. Also, I mentioned this in the first post, but this is just my experiences—every one has different symptoms and effects and opinions and preferences so please just remember that.

The first and most important thing…Insulin. This stuff saves lives, literally—it’s the only reason I’m still alive. For those of you who might not know, insulin is created in your pancreas and is pumped through your body to keep your blood sugar at a reasonable level. Those of us who are diagnosed with Diabetes have a pancreas that decided to stop producing insulin for no reason, because of that we need to inject insulin.

There are a few different ways we can do this. There’s the typical syringe method, though I’ve never met a Diabetic who has willingly done this as it means measuring up your own doses. Secondly, there’s this invention called an ‘Insulin pump’—it’s basically this little machine that is attached to your body (usually stomach or legs) that administers insulin. I use the third method, insulin pens. This is basically a ‘pen’ that has (usually) about 3mL of insulin in it. You attach a little needle to one end, turn a dial on the other (depending on the amount o what to inject) and there you go. Each person has their own preference, I’ve only ever used the pens but I like them and they suit me, and my lifestyle.

Secondly, we have blood glucose metres/blood sugar metres/monitors/many other things. These are the ‘finger pricks’ that many non-Diabetics have told me that they are terrified of. They aren’t the worse things in existence, really. So these are little (or big) machines that tell us the amount of glucose in our bodies, which then tells us how much insulin we’ll need. Basically, we put these little strips into the machine, prick our fingers and squeeze out enough blood until the machine makes (usually) a (very loud) noise.

Here’s a fun fact. Despite the fact I’ve tried this many times, you can’t just guess what your bloods (little slang term) will be. Attempting to do this is something that will make your care team very angry with you. Doing these tests suck because sometimes you end up doing them up to six or eight times a day. I have these little red dots on the sides of my fingers from testing so much and I’ve seen other people whose fingers have gotten infected. No, these tests don’t actually hurt that much but it is a daily reminder that you are different to your friend, which sometimes, sucks more than the disease itself.

I’m going to do yet another post just on blood sugar levels—what’s a good level, what’s not, how certain levels make you feel and all that. I feel like this one is getting a bit longer and I don’t want to bombard you all with too much.

I hope this post helped you somehow. Let me know if there’s another topic you’d like me to discuss or find other resources about. Thank you all for stopping by!

*Bonus content: Googling 'blood sugars' all turns out to be a fun time.

The Next Few Weeks

As I'm sure you pretty much all know by now, I (being Ely) am travelling to the UK this month. In fact, I leave for the airport in about five hours, which is kind of terrifying. Yes, I'm packed but my room is still mess so guess what I'm doing for the next five hours?

Anyway, I wanted to do a quick little update/post on what's happening. Here's the thing, I don't know how much internet I'll have. I'm spending a lot of time with family in June/July, and I don't want to use up all their internet. Besides, I'll be busy sightseeing and looking after my little cousins.

I'll try and update you all as much as possible, but I just don't know how often that will be. Thank you for all of your support!

#JuneTopicAThon TBR

You might be like 'Ely, haven't you already posted like six TBRs for the month of June?' and you'd be right, but the thing is, dear readers. I really, really like TBRs. I also have a eight hour flight, followed by about six hours stopover plus another twelve hours flight ahead of me tomorrow so I feel like I deserve this.

This particular TBR is for the June TopicAThon which is hosted by the lovely Miriam of Between Lines and Life. The read-a-thon will be running for the 8th of June until the 14th. The hashtag #JuneTopicAThon will be on Twitter etc. I'm not entirely sure how active I'll be on social media, due to that long haul flight but also because jet lag and the fact that I'll be staying with family that week. I'll try my best to do an update at least once a day.

As the name suggests, this read-a-thon involves picking a topic of books and then reading books from that topic in the week. For example, you could pick all fantasy books, or all books by Jane Austen or whatever. I decided to pick literary fiction as my topic. You might know that I read mostly YA, with some classics thrown in, so I thought I'd branch into a genre I don't usually read from this week.

I've picked ten books out, which I know is a lot for one week. Yes, I am a speed reader but ten books is even too much for me. I just wasn't really sure which ones I would end up reading so I wanted to give myself some options. Naturally, these will all be on my e-reader so I can read whatever takes my fancy at the time.

That was a really long introduction, wasn't it? Should we actually talk about the books?

1 - 4. Purple Hibiscus/Half of a Yellow Sun/The Thing Around Your Neck/Americanah all by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I think these are all of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's published novels at the moment. I really like Chimamanda as a person, and I've previously read the first 150 pages of Americanah which I loved (but sadly it had be returned to the library) so I think it's time I read at least one of her novels.

5. How To Be Both by Ali Smith

I haven't read any of Ali Smith's work either, but I've heard some great things about her. How To Be Both is the one I've heard most about so I figured it'd be a good place to start.

6. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

I've seen this one everywhere the last couple of months and I've almost picked it up so many times. I know absolutely nothing about it except that it has a pretty cover!

7. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

I've never read any Jeffrey Eugenides either, but I've been meaning too for ages. I've heard some pretty good things about this one, so I thought I'd give it a go.

8. Re Jane by Patricia Park

This is a modern day retelling of Jane Eyre set in Queens. What's not to love?

9. The House Girl by Tara Conklin

I believe this is 1850's America and it has something to do with a girl trying to leave slavery...maybe? Honestly, it's the cover that reeled me in.

10. The Children Act by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan is one of my favourite authors, and Atonement is one of my favourite books of all time so this needed to happen. The only reason I haven't read this already is because it was ridiculously expensive at Dymocks.

So those are my ten options for the #JuneTopicAThon. I don't know which I'm going to start with, or how many I will get through but check back after the 14th to see my wrap-up! If you're participating, let me know what you're reading.