The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

My rating: 4/5 stars

Reading this felt like studying the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible: it’s a look at what life is like when you live for pleasure alone. It’s bleak. But Fitzgerald’s characters are so vibrant and his language is beautiful without being distracting, so this was enjoyable for me to read, even though I was essentially watching from behind my fingers, waiting for this couple to crash in what felt like an inevitable train wreck. The ending took me by surprise, but actually it was perfectly fitting and more poignant than what I was expecting.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

My rating: 4/5 stars

This enchanting book follows the childhood of three girls who are ‘adopted’ by an eccentric travelling Englishman and sent to be raised by his housekeepers. These unlikely sisters end up attending stage school and form firm bonds through thick and thin as they navigate training and debuts with their very different personalities. A charming, delightful read that I can’t wait for my daughter to dive into!

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

My rating: 4/5 stars

I’d read Chiang’s (long) short story ‘Story of Your Life’ last year and loved it — it blew my mind and I’ve been raving about it ever since to anybody who would listen. So I was excited to delve into this collection. There’s no doubt that Chiang is a genius of a writer, in both his ideas and execution. These stories are literary sci-fi with real characters at their hearts. The opening story ‘Tower of Babylon’ also blew me away. I’ve just deducted a star because there were a couple of stories I didn’t engage with so well, and for me five stars means near perfection.