Recent Reads Reviewed #13

Baby Zebra Rescue by Tamsyn Murray - 3/5

I bought this alongside a few other books in Poundland a while back. It drew me in because of its pretty cover, and I anticipated that it would be a quick read. We follow Zoe, and family who are opening up a new zoo and we get to hear stories of the different animals there. Zoe finds her feet at the animal park while a baby zebra goes missing. While I struggled to keep engaged in the simple narrative, overall it was a sweet story.

Garden Friends: Plants, Animals and Wildlife that are Good for Your Garden by Ed Ikin - 4/5

This was a fascinating book about plants, animals and wildlife that are good for your garden. I picked it up from the library because I’ve been getting more into horticulture lately. I certainly gained a new perspective about how biology and the interactions between different organisms can make a difference in gardening. The language of the book was a little hard to follow in places, mostly due to the specific terms used that I was unfamiliar with. However the illustrations were charming and broke up the chunks of text nicely. I would recommend you give it a read!

The Mystery of the Strange Bundle (The Five Find-Outers #10) by Enid Blyton - 5/5

This was my first Enid Blyton book I had read in a long time but I thoroughly enjoyed it. We follow the finder-outers in their latest mystery. The authors writing makes reading such a pleasure and I genuinely laughed out loud at the humour sometimes in the book. I’ve read a few more books from the author since, but this title still remains memorable.

A Sea Change by Veronica Henry - 5/5

I borrowed this book from the library and wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. Initially I thought it was going to be a fluffy romance but it had a good moral to the story which developed after two strangers meet at a seaside. The author captured my attention quickly and I flew through this ninety page book. There were some darker elements and a bit of grit to the characters but the ending was very pleasing. I recommend you give it a read!

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith - 4/5

This was quite an extraordinary reading experience for me because the book was out of my comfort zone and the authors writing style wasn’t like anything I’d read before. In places I found the writing hard to digest and I didn’t get it one hundred percent of the time but I appreciate the format was imaginative and experimental. 

In between the short stories Ali Smith has discussions about how important libraries are and I was very much interested in this topic. I generally enjoy short stories and many stayed with me in this collection because of their surreal quality as well as having an important message. Overall I can see myself recommending this book and taking more interest in the author. I borrowed this title from the library.

What are you currently reading?

Which of these books interest you most? :-) Xx