September in review

Hiya!

No time like almost mid-October to post a September wrap up, right??

What I’ve Been Reading…

Dark Emu – Bruce Pascoe

I finally read this brilliant book! Naturally, as soon as I bit the bullet and got my own audiobook copy, the library hold I’d been waiting 9 months for came in…ha! Well, I’ve read it now and am delighted to have supported this brilliant man and his dedication to sharing the history of the country I call home.

I sent most of this book in awe of the brilliance that is (and was) Aboriginal agriculture, aquaculture, construction, and civilisation in pre-colonial Australia. The rest I spent feeling upset and frustrated at how that Australia was deemed ‘lesser’ and the atrocities Aboriginal-Australians have faced since.

I would urge every Australian to read this book and learn about the rich history of this country we live in. It’s hard to describe how Pascoe manages to educate not only on how advanced Aboriginal civilisation already was when this country was invaded, but also on the subtle (and not so subtle) ways our First Nations people were taken advantage of, looked down on, and grossly mistreated by the colonials. I only wish this was the history we were taught in high school…

The Last Migration – Charlotta McConaghy

What a cracker of a book! A gripping story and a scary look at what the world could be if all animal species were going extinct.

This has everything you want in a contemporary drama, compelling writing, a thread of mystery, edge-of-your-couch chapters spent being thrown around boat-vs-ocean style, and an exploration of the relationships we build (and test) with the people we meet.

This mini review was originally posted over on my Instagram account!

This book was gifted to me by Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. Click here to read an extract!

Transcendent Kingdom – Yaa Gyasi

This. Book.

I loved Homegoing, so I was ecstatic to receive Yaa Gyasi’s most recent novel from Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review. And OH BOY it didn’t disappoint.

Unlike Homegoing (which is written from ~14 perspectives), Transcendent Kingdom is a more typical prose from a single perspective. This shift in style loses none of Gyasi’s lyrically beautiful writing though, and this time she is tackling addiction & recovery, and the ways it can affect not only the addict but their family too, in different ways.

This book was enthralling, I wanted to sink in and keep turning the pages as Gifty’s past (and her family’s) was unravelled.

If you haven’t picked up a Gyasi novel before, I can highly recommend this one – it’s a bit easier to digest than Homegoing given it stays with one main perspective throughout, and the writing is simply gorgeous. I switched between the audiobook (thanks to Libro.fm!) and the physical book for this reading and both were A-MAZ-ING.

Other books I read…

Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson (paperback, brilliant short read)
Not That Kind of Girl – Lena Dunham (audiobook, didn’t love it as much as I thought I would!)
Metamorphosis (and other stories) – Franz Kafka (listened to Metamorphosis on audiobook and enjoyed Benedict Cumberbatch’s narration…tried to read the rest but didn’t finish…)
Again, Again – e. lockhart (paperback, easy YA read)
Call It What You Want – Brigid Kemmerer (paperback, another easy YA read – preferred this one!)

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What I’ve Been Watching…

I am still rewatching Brooklyn Nine Nine because it just really doesn’t get old, you guys!

We also got back in to some Disney films, with a Toy Story marathon with two of our mates (yes we are all grown adults who pay bills), plus introducing my bestie to the brilliance that is Moana!

What I’ve been crafting…

As promised here is a pic of my little knitting adventure from last month, now that it has reached it’s new home with my baby niece!

I also made this image to put on a card for Father’s Day because I think puns are great

Of course, there were also a few shop products created, too!

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So that’s my month in a nutshell! How was your month?

I also played a LOT of Stardew Valley when motivation and energy was low, love myself a chilled game to wander about in 🙂

I’d love to hear what you got up to in September (and early October…) in the comments below!

M xx