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“Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum.” 📕 Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was published in 1985, depicting a terrifying dystopian world that is not all that unbelievable. Having studied the novel as part of a Margaret Atwood module at university, I have to admit that originally I couldn’t quite grasp the concepts of her books and so my enjoyment and understanding of her stories were limited. However, after now rereading The Handmaid’s Tale, I am happy to say that I completely loved it! Perhaps as we grow older, we also grow as readers. Do you agree? 📺 My reread of The Handmaid’s Tale was in anticipation of seeing Margaret Atwood at the @hayfestival at the end of the month and also the return of the second series of the book’s tv adaptation on @channel4 last night. What a return! Season 2 opened with a harrowing sequence, played out with added poignancy to Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work and had me in tears before the opening credits had even aired. The sheer brutality continued throughout the episode and, for me, makes quite a statement on the horrifying attacks that continue to occur against women all over the world. Sometimes it takes extreme scenes to make people sit up and take notice and it made me think about so many events going on in the world, such as the barbaric act of female genital mutilation, which has previously been depicted in Season 1. In this dystopian world where women are merely seen as vessels and need their husband’s signature to acquire contraception, the timing of the show’s return feels eerie with the referendum in Ireland taking place this week. Other scenes in the show highlighted the difficulties and judgements that working mothers face, a challenge that men are never expected to experience. 📕 Season 2 is now working from new source material with the aid of Atwood as a consultant, which allows for even more scope and development of secondary characters and the ability to highlight even more topical issues. With women’s rights remaining at the forefront of so many causes and campaigns, Season 2 is proving to be as compelling and relevant as ever. 📺 Did you watch the return of The Handmaid’s Tale last night? What did you think?

“I hadn’t expected the police to turn up on my doorstep this morning. It’s only the second time in my thirty-nine years that I have found myself being interviewed by the authorities. On both occasions, it has been because of Ben. Which is odd, really, given that he’s my best friend. You’d expect best friends to take better care of each other.” 🍾 The Party tells the story of the unlikely twenty five year old friendship between Martin Gilmour and Ben Fitzmaurice, one a scholarship boy and the other a wealthy aristocrat. At Ben’s 40th birthday, an array of celebrities and politicians gather, leading to Martin’s sense of isolation once again. But Martin is certain nothing can break his bond with Ben, especially considering he has kept Ben’s secret for over two decades... 🍾 The Party is a dark and twisted tale that is full of a host of unlikeable characters, which made for compelling reading! The narrative begins with the aftermath of the aforementioned party and weaves between the past and the present with multiple narrators. As the mystery unfolded, I raced to read this book and I found myself unable to stop thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it, wondering what was going to happen next. The story is reminiscent of The Talented Mr. Ripley, a film that I loved and a book that I still need to read! Despite most of the characters lacking any redeeming features, I found they made for much more interesting and complex characters, with not everyone’s motives ever being completely clear. The ending may have been slightly anti-climactic, yet it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book. 🍾 This book was recommended by @ec.reads at the @bookstagramhay Meet Up and what an excellent recommendation it turned out to be, so thank you Elle! Quite a few of us picked this one up as it was one of the goodies available during the Meet Up, so I second that recommendation. Read it now! 🍾 Speaking of parties, did you celebrate the Royal wedding yesterday? What a fabulous wedding and a great moment in British history to witness! ❤️👰🏽🤵🏼💍🎩👑👸🏽

A very belated post for the Random Cover Buy prompt for the #grimdragon challenge. Better late than never, I guess! 🤷🏻‍♀️ So I had to really search through my books for random cover buys as I haven’t really bought that many books in quite a while! I’m quite lucky to receive quite a few books from publishers and I also have access to proof copies through work at @rossiter_books so it is really helping with my budget to not buy books! 📚 As much as I love great covers, I will only buy a book if I actually intend to read it. Even though I still haven’t gotten around to reading these books featured, I look forward to reading them all eventually! Together and Swimming Lessons were books that I bought on my first payday at work at Rossiter Books, so they feel quite sentimental to me. Not only do they both have stunning covers, the plots sound particularly intriguing and I know Swimming Lessons has received excellent reviews here on Bookstagram. 📚 Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a book I’ve always wanted to read and this was one of the first books I ever bought at @addymanbooks when I finally met Anne for the first time during the Winter Festival the year before last. Mansfield Park was another Addyman’s Books buy, which was during the very first @bookstagramhay Meet Up last year. The Cocktail Waitress was another Addyman’s Books buy and at their Murder & Mayhem shop on a meet up with @dannii.elle.reads and @bookishsteph1 if I remember correctly. We’ve had quite a few meet ups, so the actual shopping becomes a blur amongst all the book chats! 📚 The edition of Bambi was a 50p charity shop find last year and is just the most lovely cover. How could I resist Bambi?! 📚 Have you read any of these titles? Do you buy books just because of their covers or are you quite restrained with your book buying? Do let me know!

“Chain Night happens once a week on Thursdays. Once a week, the defining moment for sixty women takes place. For some of the sixty, that defining moment happens over and over. For them it is routine. For me it happened only once. I was woken at two a.m. and shackled and counted, Romy Leslie Hall, inmate W314159, and lined up with the others for an all-night ride up the valley.” 📖 Set in San Francisco, The Mars Room sees Romy starting two consecutive life sentences, plus six years, at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility. Romy is faced with adapting to a new reality and trying to cope with being separated from her seven year old son Jackson, who is now in the care of her estranged mother. The narrative weaves between the present and the past, to her former life as a lap dancer at The Mars Room. 📖 The Mars Room is a gritty and grimy account of life in a correctional facility, with none of the gloss or unrealistic scenes that can sometimes be seen in film or tv adaptations. Yet while I usually love prison stories, particularly The Shawshank Redemption and Prison Break, I found it difficult to enjoy The Mars Room. In fact, it was so depressing that I couldn’t wait to read a light read straight after this book, which came courtesy of A Grand Old Time! The detached tone and disjointed narratives in The Mars Room left me unable to connect with the storyline and its central protagonist and many of the multiple narratives felt pointless. The one positive for me is that the punchy style of writing led to this being a relatively quick read and it was one of the books to keep me company on my recent weekend trip home to Ireland! 📖 The Mars Room will be published on June 7th. Thank you to @penguinrhuk and @jonathancape for sending me an advanced copy! 📖 Do you enjoy prison stories and do you have any (including film and tv) to recommend? 📖 #circleofbookishfriends - Women Wednesday

1785. Jonah Hancock has sold his ship for a mermaid. His ownership of the novelty opens the doors to high society and brings Jonah into the thrilling orbit of Angelica Neal, the most glorious courtesan in London. The two of them begin a dangerous and delightful adventure that will change the course of their lives forever. 🧜🏻‍♀️ Mermaid Monday...Thanks to @pardonmywritings and @vintagebooks for this lovely coffee cup and print that I won recently! I really enjoyed reading The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock last year and have reviewed it in a previous post. It’s quite a slow paced story, but the writing is exquisite with a fantastic attention to detail, which ensured that I became completely immersed in the eighteenth century world within its pages. Have you read this book? 🧜🏻‍♀️ #grimdragon - That blurb, though!

My third post of the day! I just can’t stop talking about books today! 📚 Today’s prompt for the #circleofbookishfriends challenge is 10 Fav Authors and what a hard decision that proved to be! There are so many authors and books that I love, so I based my Top 10 on authors that have played a part of my reading life throughout the years, as well as the authors that I have discovered in more recent years. 📚 Enid Blyton was the first author that I devoured as a child and started my love of mystery stories. My teenage years were spent at the library finding as many Stephen King books as possible. I thought I had read quite a lot of his books until I discovered so many die hard fans here on Bookstagram. I still have a lot of King Books left to read! 📚 My school days introduced me to Shakespeare and Wuthering Heights, which has remained my favourite book. Both Shakespeare and Bronte allowed me to appreciate writing styles and it was the first time I began to take pleasure in learning quotes, many of which I can still remember now. Dickens is another favourite and after reading many children’s versions when I was younger, I loved studying Great Expectations at university. 📚 My twenties consisted of reading Harry Potter and after being able to read the first few straightaway, I then had to wait for the release of each new book, which was equally agonising and exciting. I also discovered Jodi Picoult and Cecelia Ahern, two authors who feature prominently in my book collection. 📚 My most recent favourite authors have come to be Daphne Du Maurier (as seen in my earlier post!) and the Queen Of Crime Agatha Christie. As mentioned, I’ve always loved mystery reads and both these authors fit the bill perfectly. 📚 While these authors will always remain firm favourites, I look forward to discovering even more fantastic authors in the years to come! Who is your favourite author and have you read anything by these authors featured?

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