All The Books I Have Read This Year (So Far) Part 1

As an author, I hate giving book reviews because I know how sensitive I am to mine so I rarely ever tell you what I think about a book... until now.

Upon starting this list, I realised I read too much to be able to put 6 months in one list so in this list, I am going to cover January to March and from now on, I will put this out as a quarterly list.

Spare - Prince Harry

I loved this book. It had so much heart in it and yes, I appreciate he used a ghostwriter but I am actually of the belief it is better to use a ghostwriter than to try to write it yourself if writing is not your thing. You need the passion to write and if you don’t have that, it’s OK that you still have a story that you want to tell. A secret I’ve never told is before Am I Ugly?, I approached a ghostwriter with my manuscript as I had no confidence in my own writing. She read it and told me that I don’t need a ghostwriter, that it is all there and it just needed polishing. She is genuinely the reason I am an author. Anyway, back to Spare. I was worried I would find this book boring because so much of it had been spoiled in headlines in the media but actually, all those headlines had spun the truth in such a way that reading the real story was even more fascinating. There was also a lot that they didn’t write about it and it made me curious how many had read the whole book and not just the juiciest snippets. I don’t think anyone could read it without having compassion for him. I understand he comes from privilege but he also was born into a position where he was never allowed a voice, an opinion or free will over anything like which job he wanted to do. The remaining feeling I had when I finished the book was I just felt sad for him and my remaining thought was that I was so glad he met Meghan because it seemed like she empowered him to make decisions he’d always wanted to make. And that’s the way a relationship should be - it makes you stronger and more confident to be more you! Removing the royal aspect, it brought to light so many important conversations about family estrangement and I think many people who have difficult relationships with their families would be able to relate.

Idol by Louise O’Neill

This was a book recommendation from a friend and that’s important to note because I haven’t actually read a book by someone who knows me well. I have taken recommendations from YouTubers, influencers online and even just a random magazine but this book is proof I need to do this more. Upon finishing this book, I confidently said that this was already the best book I would read all year and I finished this book two weeks into January. It still holds true, halfway through the year - I was right! So deeply unforgettable. There is only one other author I have read, and upon finishing the book, felt the urge to binge-read all of their other books and that I did and had no regrets. Perhaps it’s because of the content of this book was hugely relatable to me but this book whisked me away. I was standing outside meetings wanting to finish the chapter, going into my bedroom to just be alone and listen to the audiobook, I just wanted life to stop so I could finish this book. The main themes for me were about the complexity of female friendship, along with important conversations about the disparity between the life of an influencer and the reality of their life. The discussions about cancel culture were especially poignant and I love an ending where everything isn’t tied up and made perfect. It ended on a note that felt true to the story. I am an overthinking person and therefore there are few books that provide me true escapism, and this book was that for me.