Book Review: How To Stop Time by Matt Haig

Book Review: How To Stop Time by Matt Haig

Sunday 30 July 2017

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At the start of July, I was lucky enough to attend a meet and greet talk with Matt Haig at Liverpool Waterstones, along with a couple of my friends. Matt Haig is an author who has inspired me on multiple levels over the course of the last few years and the prospect of a new release was far too much for me to resist a naughty purchase (despite being on a month-long book ban…)

I read The Humans around a year ago, after having had it recommended to me by one of the friends I attened the meet and greet with. I read (the vast majority of) Reasons to Stay Alive whilst on a flight to Paris to see a friend. Both books appealed to me for entirely different reasons and from then on, I was hooked. I loved Haig’s style of writing- almost effortless- and the way his words actually MEANT SOMETHING to me. I resonated with him in so many ways. Simply put: I loved his books.

How to Stop Time made me feel exactly the same way.

Bravo, Matt.  

Listening to Matt Haig speak about his book before I’d read it definitely made a difference, I would say. I was able to understand the characters a little more whilst I was reading it. This book was read whilst sunning on a beach in Barcelona and the paradise sure made for an easy read. Tom Hazard, the protagonist of the book, is a newly employed history teacher in a local secondary teacher and seems just like any other middle aged man of the times. Except he’s not: he’s actually over 4 centuries old, having suffered from a genetic condition for the entirety of his life. This condition works in such a way that he never ages: the years pass and he does not get older. Tom has lived through the times of Shakespeare, bore witness to the witch trials on a particularly personal level and lost loved ones to the black death. Sounds ideal, right? Wrong.

This was one of those books that I had to force myself to put down and have a breather from, just so that I could savour it for that little bit longer. I loved the way the book portrayed the passage of time and flipped from the present day back to the past, to show how Tom and his character had developed and experienced over the years. I loved the casualness of Tom’s encounters with historical beings- my personal favourite being the chapters involving Shakespeare and Fitzgerald, but then, I am a literary fiend by heart. I found myself wishing that Tom was MY history teacher at school, as after a rusty start he managed to bring history to life in a way that inspired even the most uninspired of learners. I was incredibly emotionally invested in the book, in a number of different ways and the characters were built marvellously up into interesting and relevant ones. The story is beautifully crafted and comes together with the most stunning conclusion that honestly left me wanting more and cursing myself for reading so quickly.

If I could erase my memory of this story just to read it all over again, I would do so in a heartbeat.

5/5

Life: Making Those Absolutely Essential Life Changes

Life: Making Those Absolutely Essential Life Changes

Thursday 27 July 2017

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The last 18 months have been pretty difficult for me.  

Admitting that is tough enough in itself.

I’ve had some amazing experiences, such as graduating with a BA in French Studies and also completing my teacher training, as an Outstanding practitioner. I’ve met some amazing new people- some who I know will be friends for life- and experienced wonderful new things in my daily life.  

But there have also been some negatives…

I’ve lost people who I thought would always be in my life.

I’ve made silly mistakes that I’d take back in a heartbeat.

I’ve had health complications that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

I’ve been working all the hours God sends, trying to achieve this end goal of becoming a fully qualified Primary School Teacher. I have finally achieved that end goal, but not without difficulties and without taking the plunge and getting rid of everything and anything toxic or negative from my life. It’s past the halfway point in the year and I am happy to report that things are looking bright. I thought I’d share a few things that I’ve learnt over the last year and a half, and how these things have shaped me into a more positive and happy person.

I have learnt to say no to things when I don’t want to do them.

In the past, I have been what I’d probably refer to as a people pleaser. I would agree to pretty much anything, if it meant making other people happy. Most of the time, it resulted in everyone being happy but me. If I want to stay at home, binge watching Gilmore Girls and eating salted popcorn over a night out in Liverpool, then quite frankly, that’s my prerogative. No one is going to guilt trip me or make me feel bad about making my own decisions any more. 

I have learnt that true friends are there for you always, not when it’s just convenient to them.

Working 55+ hours a week really helps you discover quickly who your real friends are. Your real friends check in on you when they think you’ve been working too hard. Your real friends are there to be a shoulder when you need to rant. Your real friends don't just speak to you when it suits them. Real friends understand that friendship is a two-way street, and if they’re there for you, you’ll likely be there for them. I know exactly who the people I can trust are now and I’m actually quite thankful for this, even if it meant losing people who I thought were friends along the way. I'm done with always being the one to reach out to people if they're incapable of returning the favour. 

I have learnt that sometimes, you just have to let go.

Sometimes the hardest things to let go of are the things that have the most detrimental effect on your well being. Letting go of someone who meant everything to me at one point was the hardest thing I’ve had to do this year, but it was also the best decision for my health and my happiness. Past me would have hoped to reconcile this friendship at some point, but sometimes letting go entirely is the best thing for all parties. In my case, enough is enough. 

I have learnt that laughter is the best medicine.

Over the course of the last six months, I have gone from a miserable, shell of my former self back to the happy, smiling and cheerful person that I used to be. Life is not perfect- it isn’t now, it wasn’t in the past, and I know that it won’t be in the future, but having friends, family and experiences that make me happy and bring laughter to my life is the key to making everything come together in the end.

Do you know what? I've learnt that actually, I'm pretty darn happy in myself. 

And that's absolutely fine by me.

Goodreads: A Quarter Of A Years Worth of Recently Reads

Goodreads: A Quarter Of A Years Worth of Recently Reads

Monday 24 July 2017

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It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a wrap-up… well over 2 months in fact, but that does mean that I’ve got 2 months’ worth of books to wrap up so this might well be quite a long one!

MAY

May called for some big names, as far as books were concerned, as well as a debut that read as thought it was written by a well-established author. Reading Big Little Lies was a bit of a must for me, as I wanted to delve into the TV show and I have a strict rule requiring that I read the book first. I LOVED the book and the show wasn’t awful either- I’ve reviewed the book in full here if you want to read more of my thoughts on it. I would definitely recommend, regardless.

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris was another absolute cracker of a read: we all know I love my psychological thrillers and quite frankly, B.A Paris is one of the masters of the genre.  I’m planning a full review of this one at some point in the next few weeks, but if you like a good thriller or a book with a twist at the end, then this is definitely the one for you.

I’ve reviewed my last book of May, Miss You by Kate Eberlen, in full and again, it was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The cover of the book compares it to One Day by David Nicholls, which I think is a fair comparison considering the plot and the style of writing. I would say that it’s as good as One Day, in a completely different way. My full review is here if you want to have a read.

JUNE

June was a month for contemporaries and even more psychological fiction. I started off with What Alice Knew by T.A. Cotterell. This one wasn’t the BEST book I’ve read, but it also wasn’t the worst. I have quite a few thoughts on the book that I’m planning on exploring in more detail next week, but I will say that there were certain aspects of the story that I found to be a little unbelievable and frustrating. I gave the book 3/5 on my goodreads reviw, although I must admit that I was quite generous. It could have gone either way with me, unfortunately it went the way I hoped it wouldn’t.

By contrast, Sister Sister by Sue Fortin was a book I really CAN get behind. This one was creepy and thought-provoking and had me questioning every character, every motive and every possibility. I love a book that allows you to get lost in its pages and this was definitely one of those page turners.

Sarah Dessen and I have had a long and thorough relationship, books-wise. She’s the author I’m probably most attached to, of all the books I’ve ever read. Her contemporary YA books are few and far between nowadays – we’re lucky to get a book from her every three years- and I understand why; life just gets in the way of writing. Every time she announces a new book, however, I have absolutely no doubt that the book will be everything I need, and Once and For All was absolutely no exception to that. I have read every book that Sarah has written, some of them multiple times, and she continues to write stories that touch me to the core. This book was the same. I loved the characters, I loved the plot, and I love Sarah’s writing style more than anything. She has such a way with words and simple sentences from her sound melodic. My review of this will be up this week, but in the meantime, go out and buy the book if you haven’t done already.

We all know Patrick Ness. You’ve probably read or watched A Monster Calls and blubbed throughout. Perhaps you’ve also read a few of his other books as well. I’m yet to be disappointed by a book by him. Until, recently, I kind of was. I say kind of, because his newest book, Release, was actually blooming good. Except for ONE little catch- it had a sort of side-story that just baffled me beyond belief. Again, I’ll be sharing my thoughts in a stand-alone review in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that if you want to know more before buying it for yourself.

JULY

At the end of June, I was invited to participate in the book tour for The Things We Thought We Knew by Mahsuda Snaith. I re-read bits of the book in July, so I’m including it in this month’s reads. I LOVED this book. It explored issues that I’ve never come across before, in a writing style that I instantly found myself attached to. READ. THIS. BOOK.

I couldn’t go a month without a good old fashioned psychological thriller, could I? Clare Mackintosh’s I Let You Go was probably one of the first books I ever reviewed on this blog, so I definitely have a little bit of a soft spot for her writing. I don’t think you’ll be all that surprised to hear that I See You did not disappoint me and I have a Clare Mackintosh shaped hole in my heart again!

All The Bright Places is one that I’ve had in my amazon basket for what seems like forever, so I thought it was about time that I bought myself a copy and gave it a read. This was one of those books that you need to devour in a single sitting, and I did just that, with the exception of the last 40 pages or so. It was a devastating book, with a beautiful and interesting tale following two incredibly different but fascinating characters. The relationship formed between the two protagonists was a pure one and the end result was simply devastating.

On 4^th July, along with a few friends, I went to a Waterstones event in Liverpool involving Matt Haig. I’ve read a few of Matt’s books- Reasons to Stay Alive and The Humans- and the release of his newest book How to Stop Time really interested me. Listening to Matt speak was an amazing experience and reading this book added to that experience. The book is interesting, incredibly unlike anything I’ve read before, and full of unimaginable wisdom. A truly remarkable book written by a truly remarkable author. My full review of the book will go live on Sunday, and I have A LOT of thoughts about it to share with you all.  

What have you been reading recently? Let me know!