Okay so I only read three books this month but one of them was a collection of plays and I read four of those plays so I'm going to go ahead and say that I actually read six books this month and no one can stop me!
This is actually a book left over from my dramatic writing module in my second year of university, when we used it to study Top Girls and The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and it's kind of a mixed bag in my opinion. I really didn't like The Beauty Queen of Leenane when I read it for uni so didn't re-read that this month but I did re-read Top Girls. There were parts of Top Girls that I liked but overall I'm not sure it's really my thing and Blasted and Shopping and Fucking are both really very much not my thing. Honestly, the only play in this collection that I actually liked was Hysteria by Terry Johnson and even that was a little hard to read in places. This book might end up in the cardboard box at the bottom of the stairs with all the other uni books I don't want but haven't found homes for yet.
Why were plays of the '80s and '90s so bloody horrible and depressing??
2. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
I think probably a lot of people who like Shakespeare would agree with me that although his work is wonderful to see performed it's often quite difficult to read. It makes sense, obviously, they're plays not books and they're really only going to make perfect sense when performed anyway, but this Penguin version of The Tempest has a few chapters of introduction before the play that actually made it much easier for me to understand and envision The Tempest while I was reading it. I did see an amateur production of The Tempest years ago when I was in school but I don't quite remember that version being as funny as the actual script is...
If you've been wanting to read any of Shakespeare's plays then I'd really recommend checking out this particular series from Penguin because of those introductory chapters and I'd definitely recommend The Tempest if you're a fan of magic or drunkards stumbling around desert islands (I am definitely a fan of both).
3. Heist Society by Ally Carter - 4/5 stars.
I was a little apprehensive going into this book because I read Ally Carter's I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You a few years ago and found it quite disappointing, but I couldn't resist this story about a teenage con artist and her teenage con artist friends. I'm really glad I gave Heist Society a try because I ended up really enjoying it. It's a lot of fun and really what more do you want from a book about a teenaged professional thief? If you're into contemporary YA with a fun adventure plot then I whole heartedly recommend Heist Society. I might even end up reading the two sequels during Read Women Month.
Have you read any of these books? If you have then let me know what you thought of them in the comments.
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