January Books List

(1)  The Submission by Amy Waldman
The Submission is set two years after 9/11 where a panel of judges (including one widowed by the tragedy) are about to choose a winner to construct a memorial for those who died.  All of the submissions are anonymous, and the winner's name is soon revealed to be that of an American Muslim.  Thus ensues lots of political and moral debating from both sides of the spectrum with everyone and their Gran wanting to comment on the decision.  It's an interesting concept which brings to light all manner of issues (ranging from racism, religious rights, freedom of speech etc) to the surface and forces the reader to have a good old think about where they would stand and how they would conduct themselves in this situation.  Only downside to this book is that I did feel like the characters could have been fleshed out a lot more so that the reader could perhaps relate to them, rather than their painfully apparent stereotypes.  [3/5]

(2)  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
I enjoyed The Night Circus so much.  It's beautifully written and sucks you in from the very first page.  It's centered around two young magicians, Ceila and Marco, who are forced into a deadly challenge, of which an elaborate travelling circus is the venue for their duel.  From the wonderful descriptions of the circus, to all of the characters who become involved in their battle, it's just one of those brilliant books where you can completely lose yourself in the story.  I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy a magical fantasy read.  [5/5]

(3)  Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
This is probably one of the most gory and violent books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.  It's absolutely crazy and utterly terrifying!  If you haven't seen the film, the basis of it is set in a future dystopia where a 'program' exists for school students of a certain age to participate in a brutal fight to the death scenario, of which there can only be one winner.  Not one to pick up if you feel queasy reading about the many creative ways you can kill someone.  [5/5]

(4)  Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
Middlesex is a difficult book to easily summarise but it deals with incest, love, gender identity and family relationships in a way in which I felt like I was getting an educational lesson from just reading the first 100 or so pages.  At times the subject matter was so alien to me that I lost track of what was going on and had to re-read some parts, so it took me longer than I expected to finish it.  The prose is mostly undeniably beautiful, if sometimes a little erratic and strange, but fits well with the storyline. Overall I'm glad I read it, but it's not something I would choose to read again.  [3/5] 

(5)  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
A light, easy going read that follows the author on her personal 'happiness project' with month by month chapters, as she takes a year to discover what really makes her happy in life.  She experiments with a few new age and ancient philosophies which was interesting, but most of what she discovered is basic common sense e.g spending more time with family and friends etc.  Still, it was nice to pick up and read in parts throughout the month.  [3/5]

(6)  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 
I loved this.  Right from the start you're plunged straight into this future world of embryos being conditioned to fit into certain castes and quickly discover the absence of love, families and parents; instead the state has control over, well everything, including birth.  I especially enjoyed the clever philosophy, memorable (now cult) quotes, and unsubtle politics throughout.  In some ways I'm glad that I waited so long to read this classic, because I can see where so many science fiction films and books have been directly influenced by Huxley's imagining of a future world.  But in reality, I probably should have read it a long time ago.  [5/5]

 What books have you been reading this month?

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