The Book Club: A Journey in Rediscovering Reading

Okay, I might need a better name for this, but it’s a work in progress. However, as the name suggests, let me welcome you to The Book Club!

Reading has always been something I’ve loved however, over the last few years, I fell out of love with it due to real life. Slowly I’ve been making my way back to it throughout the year. Picking up the odd book here and there from shops in town or online and adding more to my Kindle collection, I’ve certainly been building a small mini library.

I’ve found myself reading more when I’m on the go over the last few months. Be it on the way to or from work, when I’m on a break or if I’m travelling somewhere for the day. I’m not the quickest of readers so it does tend to take me some time to read, although I’ve been getting slightly quicker over the last couple of books.

Now, the point of this little book club, that anyone can join is to ultimately have fun. Discover and explore themes and genres you haven’t before as well as finding your new favourite authors and books. I partially wanted to use this as a way to share books I’m currently reading, ones that are on my to-be-read list and ones I’m looking forward to picking up in the future.

I also wanted to use it to set myself a challenge. The challenge is easy, and it’s to read one book a month. In a way, it’s a sort of motivation to get back into reading and from there I can just keep going.

The Current Read

Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future

I’ve been in a Final Fantasy mood recently when it came to gaming so why not catch up with a book that accompanies one of my favourite games. Without spoiling the book directly, if you’ve played through the game, this has been a lovely read so far. Alongside the additional artwork, it’s what I was hoping it would be. While it’s a shame this was never made into the actual downloadable content for Final Fantasy XV itself, the book does the perfect job of filling the gaps. If you are a Final Fantasy Xv fan, this is a book to certainly consider picking up!

The To Be Read Pile

I tend to pick books up for my Kindle more than I do physically, but I have added several physical books to my collection recently that I’m looking forward to getting into.

Novelist as a Vocation – Haruki Murakami

While I am fairly new to Murakami’s writing, I’ve only heard good things about his works from those I know who have read his books. Intrigued to find out more I picked up Haruki Murakami‘s Novelist as a Vocation online recently. I have read a little bit more about the book, and it is, rather than being a story, more about Murakami and an insight into his life as a writer.

Without going into the book too much and based on the blurb it appears it’s going to be an interesting and insightful read.

Almond: A Novel –  Won-pyung Sohn

This book has been on my radar for some time and has been over my For You page on TikTok on many occasions.

A book that has been recommended by BTS members over time, caught my attention on multiple occasions. Finally, I gave in and picked up a copy. The story follows Yunjae who was born with a condition called Alexithymia, a condition that makes it difficult to feel emotions. Then suddenly, his world is turned upside down on his sixteenth birthday which happens to fall on Christmas Eve. Struggling to navigate life after the events of that day, Yunjae then struggles to find his place in the world around him. Discovering new people helps him process what happens before he experiences more life events for the first time.

Of course, there’s a lot more to the story than just what I’ve described above, but I also really don’t want to give too much away, but, I honestly can’t wait to dive into this book.

The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

This I will admit is a book I picked up purely on the fact the cover caught my attention when I was looking for something completely unrelated when I was out shopping the other day. All that I know is that this is a series and there are several books in the series out now with more on the way. I didn’t look more into what the book is about as I wanted it to be a surprise and go into it without really knowing anything. For £5, it’s worth the gamble I’d say. I’ll certainly have to report back again if it was worth it once I’ve finished reading the book.

So, these are the current books that I’m reading or about to read. I’m looking forward to diving into each one over time and starting to get back into the swing of things with reading. I’m slowly building up a wish list of books on Amazon that I’m interested in that I can go back to when needed.

I feel for a starting point, I certainly have a good selection to start with. I still don’t have any set themes, genres or topics I want to particularly read about but more just aiming to read what interests me or grabs my attention.

As for my Kindle library, I’ll be honest it needs a good sort-out to figure out what I have and haven’t read. I know there’s got to be a few hidden gems hiding away on there too.

What are you currently reading? Do you have any recommendations for others looking for something new to read? Drop a comment below!