Books books and more books

Hello and welcome back to Ezra’s Journey!

As this is only my third blog post, I realise that you guys still have a lot more to learn about me. You already know about my inability to motivate myself to go to the gym and my journey with veganism (more on that next time), so this time I thought I would tell you about what I love to do the most: read and write.

Not to be that cliche person, but reading and writing have been my passion ever since my adolescence. English classes were always my favourite part of school, so much that I decided to take English Literature and English language at A Level and even an additional A Level in Creative Writing. Then naturally, because why not, I decided to study English Literature at university. It fit the theme I was going for.

I used to want to be an author (if I’m keeping with the cliches, it was Stephen King who inspired me) or even a journalist. But I soon realised that being forced to write and read sucked all the joy out of my only real hobby. I knew that if I didn’t want to grow to hate those things, then I had to make sure I wouldn’t pursue them as part of my career. I decided quickly that I would write for myself and read the books I wanted to, not what I had to.

My favourite genres to read and write are definitely fantasy or thriller, but as I grow older I definitely lean towards books which are more non fiction, theoretical, or autobiographical. I always struggled reading novels and poetry written before the 20th century, which made up pretty much my entire degree. Sometimes it really was a lot of effort.

Some of my favourite books of all time include:

• We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

• The Green Mile - Stephen King

• Women Talking - Miriam Toews

• Silka’s Journey - Heather Morris

• Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

We Need To Talk About Kevin was the novel I based my dissertation around, arguing that motherhood as a concept is a performance. Although it’s definitely one of my best-loved books, I can safely say I never want to read it again after spending my entire third year of university analysing every sentence.

I don’t write as much as I used to anymore, and that’s something I definitely want to change, but I always try to find time to read. The best books I’ve read recently were I’m Glad My Mum Died by Jennette McCurdy and The Immoralist by André Gide. I gave Spare by Prince Harry a go and got about half way before I decided it wasn’t worth finishing. Make of that review what you will.

One of my goals for 2023, besides not procrastinating going to the gym as much (this is still a problem…), is to try to read one book per month. Currently, I’m reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I’m not the biggest fan of the dense paragraphs and writing style, but I’m persevering with it because I loved the movie so much. I’ll let you know how I got on with the book next month!