Books I've read recently

My main New Year's resolution this year was pretty straightforward: start reading for fun again. During my senior year I had so much reading for school that it sort of lost its appeal, and that made me pretty sad because I've always been a bookworm. So I decided that 2017 would be the year of the book for me, and I've been keeping a list in the back of my diary of the books I've read for fun. So far I've read six books for fun, which isn't too bad considering the amount of work and reading I've had for university. Here I'm going to highlight two of my favourites so far.

Hamilton: the Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter

As a history student, a piano player and a resident of New Jersey I've fallen deep into Hamilton-mania, which made this the perfect book to kick off my fun reading. Whether or not you've been lucky enough to see the show (I haven't yet, but I enter the lottery every time I'm at home) this is an incredible book to read. It gives you a glimpse into Lin-Manuel Miranda's mind, and personally I walked away with a new appreciation for the complexities of the musical's lyrics, story and choreography. The book walks you through the entire musical and has chapters on different characters, actors, and people who helped Miranda along the way, as well as annotated lyrics to every song in the musical. The annotated lyrics were a highlight for me as they revealed details that I'd never noticed before and pointed out homages to hiphop artists and cultural references that added deeper meaning to the musical. All in all, this is an absolute must for anyone being consumed by Hamilton-mania.

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

Nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2016, this book works on a really cool premise that I've never seen before. It's a account of fictional murders committed by the main character Roderick (Roddy) Macrae. In the book, Burnet compiles the recently 'found' account of these murders written by Roddy himself, affidavits by residents in Roddy's village, an account of the trial and journal articles about Roddy. Right off the bat you know that Roddy committed the crime, but the real questions are whether he was of sound mind, why he did it, and whether he will be found guilty in trial. It's an incredibly compelling read, in part because the book is written as if it was non-fiction and Burnet was actually compiling all these documents instead of writing them himself. I found the style of the book refreshing and the plot gripping. This definitely has some mature themes to it, and Roddy's account of the murders is extremely detailed and gory, so you might want to steer clear if you're a particularly squeamish person. If you're not though, I highly recommend this book.

If you've read either of these books, or if you've got books you think I'd enjoy, comment below and let me know!

xoxo
Alice