As it was recently my birthday and I was kindly given a few books, I thought I would talk through which books I received. If you follow me on Instagram (@georgiaellenreads) then you may have seen that I showed these books in my first ever reel, and if you don’t follow me but do like my bookish content here, maybe go take a look.

Without further ado, here are the books that I was kindly given.

Skincare – Caroline Hirons

I often watch clips of Caroline doing segments on This Morning and I love her no-nonsense attitude and clear explanations. When I heard about her book, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to learn more about skincare from a reliable source. I have had a flick through the book and had a bit of a read, and it seems amazing. There are plenty of clear explanations and pictures, and a lot of content is covered. There is also a glossary of terms and brands which is super useful. I know that this will be the kind of book that I keep close at hand (my bedside table perhaps) and will refer to whenever I want some guidance.

Loveless – Alice Oseman

I have never read any Alice Oseman, and I haven’t read a lot of YA in a while, but I see a lot of people on bookstagram talking about Oseman’s books or showing their pretty colours and covers in photos. Therefore, I have decided to give one of her books a go. From what I have seen, Oseman’s books are inclusive and have LGBTQ+ characters, so I am definitely keen to read this one to see what it’s like and to expand my reading and understanding. This novel focuses on a character called Georgia who is preparing to go to uni and wants to have some of the romantic experiences that others are having but is also learning about her own sexuality. I believe this includes the possibility of her being aromantic or asexual and it will be interesting to learn more when I read the novel.

The Princess Bride – William Goldman

One of my friends bought this one for me after we were discussing the film. This is a novel that I often see in bookshops and I always think, I should read that one day, but never have. Now that I have a copy of the novel I’m really excited to read it. I first saw the film when we studied it in our year 9 English lessons at school and it is a classic film that has so many great elements and I often hear it referenced in TV shows. I’m looking forward to see what the book is like compared to the film, and I think it’ll be a fun read.

The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern

About a year ago, I read The Night Circus and really enjoyed it, so when this came out I knew I would want to read it at some stage. The hardback looked pretty big, so I decided to leave it for a while. Then, when I saw how beautiful the cover of the paperback is, I knew I wanted to ask for it as a present. I haven’t heard a lot about this book, so I will be going in without any preconceptions, but I’m intrigued by it.

The Binding – Bridget Collins

I have heard a lot of good things about this novel, so I am very excited to read it. I recently read The Betrayals by Bridget Collins (which comes out in November) and I enjoyed that, so I am keen to find out what The Binding is like. From my knowledge of it so far, a man is in charge of binding books, but these books have a twist: each one holds someone’s unconscionable memories. When the man finds the book belonging to himself, he has a choice to make. This sounds so interesting and imaginative and I can’t wait to read it.

A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes

It wasn’t until a few months ago that someone told me about this book because of the topic of my undergraduate dissertation. I didn’t have enough time (or space) to use this book then, but I immediately added it to my list. The novel is about the battle of Troy, but from the perspective of various females, including deities and mortals. At university, we studied a module where we traced the epic through time, beginning with Homer’s Odyssey. I loved that module and went on to write my dissertation about Penelope and one chapter centered around modern, feminist retellings of Penelope, so this novel is perfect for me. Penelope is just one of the women that Hayes evokes in her novel and I am interested to learn about their stories.

Sh**ged Married Annoyed – Chris & Rosie Ramsey

This book comes from my favourite podcast. Chris and Rosie have the ability to make me laugh out loud (literally) and I used to love listening to the podcast whilst walking to and from uni. One of my housemates at uni also used to listen to the podcast and so she bought me this book for my birthday and I am so ready for how much it is going to make me laugh. I have been listening to the podcast from the start, and I am still about 20 episodes behind, but I love it (although sometimes I do skip the gross stories) and I can’t wait to see how it translates to a book. I couldn’t resist a little read the other day and I think this will be a brilliant read.

If you haven’t listened to the podcast, I do thoroughly recommend it.

Thank you for reading this post about my new books, I look forward to reading them soon and hopefully there will be a review for each one when I do.

Have you read any of these books?

G x