February's list...

February started last week and believe it or not, I bought multiple books since 2018 has started... I have started a few and just bought the others just because I wanted! Not sure how I am going to make it to Ireland with the cases of books, between the weight and the amount I currently have and the ones I'm planning on getting... Anyways, it's not, for now, I have time to figure it out!

February, the shortest month of the year, also means my brother's birthday which is coming tomorrow! Come back the 8th for a special quick post on him!

The list isn't going to be long, only five good books, I had to buy just because I didn't feel like I could walk away from them!

Little one... At Swim-Two-Birds from Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan)
"A wildly comic send-up of Irish literature and culture, At Swim-Two-Birds, is the story of a young, lazy, and frequently drunk Irish college student who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dublin. When not in bed (where he seems to spend most of his time) or reading, he is composing a mischief-filled novel about Dermot Trellis, a second-rate author whose characters ultimately rebel against him and seek vengeance. From drugging him as he sleeps to dropping the ceiling on his head, these figures of Irish myth makes Trellis pay dearly for his bad writing."

Everyone has either read or heard about the story, the novel, and the author... If you haven't, I would tell you to go check it out because this is a great book no matter how famous or unfamous it may be!

The next three novels were written by Anne Enright, I got into her writing, giving me the urge to read more from her.

Little two... The Gathering
"A dazzling writer of international stature, Anne Enright is one of Ireland's most singular voices. Now she delivers The Gathering, a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family haunted by the past.
The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him- something that happened in their grandmother's house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations, she shows how memories warp and secrets fester. As in all Enright's work, her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction, and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light."

I read the first page and it captured me fast... Quickly fell in love with the way she writes!

Little three... Yesterday's Weather
"Enright's characters are haunted by the ghosts of the lives they might have led- lit by new flames, old flames, and flames that are guttering out. A woman's one-night stand is illuminated by dreams of a young boy on a cliff road, another's is thwarted by a swarm of somnolent bees. A pregnant woman is stuck in a slow lift with a tactile American stranger, a naked mother changes a nappy in a hotel bedroom, and waits for her husband to come back from the bar. This collection includes some of Enright's best love stories as well as her latest works."

It's something different, something dark and yet brilliant. It's something you rather not get into, but still, do cause you are drawn to every story.

Little four... The Green Road
"The children of Rosaleen Madigan leave the west of Ireland for lives they ever could have imagined, in Dublin. New York and various third-world towns. In her early old age their difficult, wonderful mother announces that she's decided to sell the house and divide the proceeds. Her adult children come back for a last Christmas, with the feeling that their childhoods are being erased, their personal history bought and sold."

It says that Anne Enright is addicted to the truth and it shows in every sentence. And that makes every detail more important than anything!

Little five... Ghosting from Jennie Erdal
"Ghosting moves from startlingly vivid evocations of an austere Scottish upbringing in Fife to superbly rendered portraits of the people- the young and beautiful, the titled, and the eccentric- with whom Erdal worked at a London- based publishing house. None is more affectionately or intriguingly drawn than that of Tiger himself. In temperament, Tiger and Erdal couldn't have been more different. Yet their relationship weathered storms of all kinds, from temper tantrums to serious financial reversals, with a tenacious bond that is both a wonder and an enigma."

Despite the fact that I love reading, and despite the fact that I don't set myself a specific schedule when it comes to reading, I read whenever I can, which is not too much lately... But hopefully, 2018 will be your year. The year where you will be escaping real life...

"Fairy Tales are more than true not because they tell us that dragons exist but because they tell us that dragon can be beaten." - Neil Gaiman

~Bella