Back to the wheel for June! I have moved to a new flat this month so deliberately have done less spins as I know I can't get as much reading done.
Spin 1
Prompt: Instagram poll
I put up a poll on my Instagram stories between Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng and When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton and the former won hands down with 77% of the votes! Overview: This book follows an American-Chinese family living in Ohio in the 1970s. It's a multigenerational story that shows the upbringing of Marylin and James, then their marriage and lives with their children. Lydia is their favourite child who goes missing; we see how the family starts to unravel as they cope with their loss. Prediction: 4 stars
Spin 2
Prompt: Contemporary
I was very happy to see this prompt come up as I needed to read Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan with my bookclub friends! This fitted our theme of 'for fans of Sally Rooney'...
Overview: Ava has moved from Dublin to Hong Kong in an attempt to find happiness, but so far is having no luck. We follow Ava's ups and downs through her relationships with Julian - a very wealthy British banker with an unbelievably lavish apartment and severe emotional issues - then Edith, an incredibly successful young woman that Ava wants to be with, but also wants to be.
Prediction: 4 stars
Spin 3
Prompt: Big book
The Poisonwood Bible by Barabara Kongsolver is one of those books that you see on the shelves in your mum's bedroom for years on end. I'm finally committing and at just over 600 pages, it's perfect for this prompt!
Overview: Set in 1959, this book is told by the wife and daughters of an evangelical Baptist who decides to take his family on a mission to the Congo. The family soon discovers that everything they brought from home, from their cooking supplies to their religious preachings, are vastly different in Africa.
Prediction: 4 stars
Spin 4
Prompt: Most beautiful cover
I don't tend to buy books based on how they look. But Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires just happens to be completely stunning and I've been dying to read it for a while.
Overview: This book is a collection of stories about black identity. Each one is utterly different in tone; some humorous and others poignant and tragic. All are linked in that they touch on black culture and what it means to be black in a so called 'post-racial' era.
Prediction: 3.5 stars
Spin 5
Prompt: Highest rated (owned)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett is another book I've been hearing about for years and years. I've avoided the film for years also as I am always keen to read the book first. With a 4.47 rating on Goodreads, this is the highest rated unread book on my shelves.
Overview: In 1960s Mississippi, Southern society girl Skeeter returns from college with dreams of being a writer. She chooses to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent white families. Only Aibileen, the housekeeper of Skeeter's best friend, will talk at first. But as the pair continue the collaboration, more women decide to come forward, and as it turns out, they have quite a lot to say.
Prediction: 3 stars
Spin 6
Prompt: Thriller/horror/mystery/crime
I was so happy to land on this prompt so I could pick The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. I bought this book on a whim when I saw a good deal but have since heard the most fantastic reviews and many readers saying it is amongst their favourites of the genre.
Overview: Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happy in her crib. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
Prediction: 4.5 stars
Spin 7
Prompt: Dystopian I wouldn't technically class Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell as a dystopian, but it's sci-fi and the closest I could get without buying a new book.
Overview: Cloud Atlas is the infamous novel that boomerangs from different reality points to display a wide range of diverse characters in many different eras, past, present, or future; many of which are utterly mind-bending. The book pushes the boundaries in forcing the reader to answer the fundamental questions about reality and identity.
Prediction: 3.5 stars
Spin 8
Prompt: Booktuber 2019 favourite
I was hoping to find a book that I already owned and luckily, Booksandlala mentioned Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff as her second favourite book of last year!
Overview: Kady's planet is invaded and she needs to evacuate. Told through a variety of mixed media (including: emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more), Kady and her ex, Ezra are communicating from separate ships.
Prediction: 4 stars
Plenty of the books here I have been meaning to get to for a long time, so I'm really excited to finally read them!
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