Books I've read so far in 2024 and the joys of writing

 Hello, 

Two blogs in two days Molly?! I hear you proclaim, 

I know, doesn't write for six months and then writes two posts... Like buses really.  I love blogging and sometimes when life gets busy it's so easy to forget about the joys of writing. I've recently been taking courses in literature and I've been really delving into creative writing for the first time in the past few months. I realised recently how much blogging helps with finding my own narrative voice and just finished a course on BBC Maestro an online learning platform where industry experts guide you in their field. It was incredibly informing and was called Writing Children's Picture Books with Julia Donaldson. In that time I have read dozens of picture books, marvelled at the prose and craft and enjoyed the beautiful illustrations that you find everywhere in children's literature. I'm now learning about Writing Love Stories with Jojo Moyes and Writing Poetry with Carol Ann Duffy and I'm absolutely loving both courses. I love how interactive they are. As someone who learns better listening than reading, I love how easy it is to watch the courses and there is coursework to do if you so wish, to cement your learning.  

In January I took a five week course online with Oxford University Continuing Education Department on the Bronte's. As someone who had never read a single book from either Charlotte, Emily or Anne, I can now confirm I have read three (and a half, I haven't gotten round to finishing The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall and so I will not add it to the list below). I really enjoyed the challenge of delving into literary criticism for the first time in nearly seven years, since finishing A Level English Literature. I loved reading texts that were really out of my comfort zone and usual reading repertoire.  Getting to grips with the themes, voice, plot, structure, characterisation and contexts of a text again was so exciting and really used a part of my brain that I hadn't used in a while. I must say I didn't enjoy the course even half as much as the BBC Maestro courses and it has everything to do with how they were taught, whilst all of these courses are taught online, I find video courses that are so four dimensional and engaging, much more inspiring than simply reading most of the course and contributing to online forums (which most of the Bronte course that I picked, was). I know the department had other English courses on offer, that were taught in real time over video call, but these were much more expensive than the others, so not as accessible for everyone and with feeling even weaker in January I didn't want to commit to learning in certain time frames. For this reason I am a big fan of the BBC courses as I say, because you can access them whenever is best for you. 

Another big part of my life in the last month or so, (since we moved in to our new home really) is reading more about how to delve into the world of writing and submitting stories. As someone who doesn't come from a literary or bookish family (something I'm glad of, it's nice to explore your own passions), I had no idea how to delve into such a wonderful but complex world of agents, editors, publishers, literary competition's, submitting to literary magazines etc. Since then I have submitted eight poems and six short stories to various differing competition's or to magazine's accepting submissions and I have LOVED every minute of it. I had so little idea about all the different roles in the publishing world, from Booksellers to Literary Scouts - there are so many different cogs that make up an extraordinary machine; the world of books! If you are reading this in the UK and are equally as interested as me in this world but have no idea where to start I recommend The Writer's and Artists Yearbook wholeheartedly. This is a book that is published each year with amazing articles from published authors of all genres with advice and tips. It has pages of information about book festivals, book charities, competitions, a list of agents and what submissions they accept and more.  It really does have everything you need to know as a novice like me. 

I thought I'd write down the books I've read so far this year and my thoughts, so without further ado: 

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I must say I loved this novel and consider it the best out of the three I have read from the Bronte's. Published in 1847, it follows the life of Jane, an orphan who is raised by her Uncle and then later with her Aunt and Cousin's. It follows her path of attending school, becoming a governess, falling in love with someone considered 'above her station', trying to leave this relationship before it begins and finding herself homeless, then taken in by a kind family who have more connections with Jane than she realises. I won't write anymore about the events that shape the ending, as I don't want to ruin the book for anyone. I recommend trying it, if you haven't already. I really like the style of narration that was so different for the time period and rather challenged how people thought a novel should be written. The inner world of Jane is so brilliantly conveyed, with her thoughts and emotions leaping off the page. 

2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - Another classic that I was really looking forward to getting into, it follows the lives of a family who live in the Yorkshire Moors. Most of the characters within the narrative are flawed and we follow their journey's through life, why they make the decisions they make and where this leads them. There is so much violence and despair in this novel, alongside a desolate setting it is easy to see why it is considered a classic of gothic fiction. Whilst I am glad I read it, I didn't particularly enjoy the dark themes, though can appreciate the sheer skill and craft it took to write it. So different to Charlotte's work, Emily's voice concentrates on what causes humans' to act badly, the importance of nature and the chain of cause and effect. It has such captivating supernatural elements also, it is definitely worth reading even it isn't what you would normally read. 

3. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte - Anne Bronte's name was not one I had personally heard as much as Emily or Charlotte's, before taking the course I mentioned earlier and I was fascinated to read her work, again so different from that of both of her sisters'. This novel focuses on a Governess from a middle-class family who goes to work as a governess for a large family (A role that was one of the few open to middle class unmarried women in 1800s England). It clearly shows the obstacles a governess faced at the time and highlights in particular the loneliness that was keenly felt, being not able to engage with servants or other staff but not able to truly engage with the family either (other than in your role). This was a role that could often be undermined by the parent's of the children in the governesses care, and was more isolating remembering that in this role it was common to live with your employer's family and only see your own family a few times a year. It is a novel the shows a very specific profession at a very specific time, from the viewpoint of someone who lived it. I found it so useful in exploring the historical context of the Bronte's and whilst I probably wouldn't re-read it, I found it fascinating.  

Other than these I have read half of The Tenant (I think I started to become disenchanted with my course at that point, then caught covid and it was the final book left), many many different children's picture books, a few short stories from the anthology Bed Time Stories For Stressed Out Adults which I really recommend, even if you aren't stressed out. I found it can be very hard to find a really good anthology of short stories (something I have gradually realised since reading the book of ghost stories I reviewed in September). This anthology has some of the best short stories I've read and is beautiful. I am half way through Matilda by Roald Dahl (A true classic!) and I am also half way through the wonderful Sorrow And Bliss by Meg Mason, a book I read for the first time last year and loved so I'm re reading. I have also read The Children's Writer's and Artist's Yearbook 2024 it its entirety and re read parts all the time. 

So yes, it is fair to say I am dipping in and out of all sorts of books at the moment, but I really don't think there is anything wrong in that. Sometimes what captivates you one day, will not the next and inspiration can strike anywhere. I really believe if you enjoy reading, just read - whether it's a book, magazine or article - all reading enhances vocabulary, helps imagination and aids communication.  

I hope you have been enjoying reading and learning as much as I have this month and if you fancy, do leave a comment and let me know what I should read next. 

Write (very) soon,

Molly