Over the past 2 years or so, (basically since I developed epilepsy) reading has become a absolute nightmare for me. After each seizure my brain has felt less cognitively on point. Struggles with concentration, forgetting what I’ve read, losing track of the story line, mixing characters up etc, have made reading more of a chore than a pleasure.

This has been a huge loss to me. I’ve gone from reading a book a week for my MLitt degree, teaching weekly creative writing classes and writing in my spare time. It has felt very sad that I can no longer do these things with as much ease as normal.  For a while I actually gave up on my brain and didn’t bother to read. However, that was silly. After speaking with doctors I was encouraged to try and force my brain to try and read. To retrain it. So that’s what I have been doing. It’s been hard, frustrating and at times impossible but it is definitely getting easier the more I read. I read in snack size portions, merely a few pages in a session but boy is it helping! I am falling in love with reading again and the book shaped hole in my soul is full again.

My only 2020 resolution is to read 3 books a month. So every month on this blog I shall write a quick book review of the three I have read.

This January has been the month for the following books….

I began with ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney. A story of a complex relationship between two teenagers, Connell and Marianne. The story follows them into adulthood as they weave in and out each other’s lives whilst cultivating an intense bond.

The second book I read in Jan was ‘The Salt Path’. This is a true story about a married couple who lost everything, their home and livliehood and Moth (husband) is terminally ill. With absolutely nothing left to their name and not much time, they decide to walk 630 miles on the West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset via Devon and Cornwall. The blurb puts it perfectly ‘living wild and free at the mercy of sea and sky, they discovered a new, liberating existence – but what would they find at the journeys end?’

Lastly my third book was Penelope Lively’s ‘Life in the Garden.’ This was a bit of a cheat book for me to read as I was actually re-reading it. Nevertheless though, it was great. Lively reflects on gardening, art, literature and life. All my favourite things rolled into one book, definitely worth a re-read.

I have my three books picked for this month (February) and reading has commenced. I need some recommendations for March so if any readers of this blog have any please comment and share your ideas with me. Thank you in advance!