March Reading Wrap-up:

Hello, and welcome back to another monthly wrap-up. In March, I managed to read 9 books whilst trying not to have a breakdown over uni and my current life situation. I’m feeling much better, though!

Unfortunately, I don’t have any reviews for the following books. But, as always, you can check out my Goodreads page, where I always write a lil mini review when I finish a book! Let’s get into the wrap-up…

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THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES | 3 STARS:

William Harrison Ainsworth‘s The Lancashire Witches is a hefty book that writes on the Pendle witches. It’s quite a messy book, in terms of plot, with summoning of devils, selling souls, witchcraft, burning at the stake, and all that fun stuff. King James I even makes an appearance.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as I would have liked. You know me, I love witches, especially the Pendle witches – I’m from Lancashire after all. But, my god, was this overly drawn out. Ainsworth likes to waffle – a lot. It could have been edited, with unnecessary chapters cut out. I did, however, enjoy how Ainsworth engaged with witchy stereotypes. He went all out, with cauldrons, brooms, familiars, and anything else you can imagine.

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2019: A Year of Re-Reading

I don’t usually re-read books.

I’m one of those people who get stressed out by the idea that there are *so* many books I want to read but time is a thing and I find new books to add to my TBR every other day. So, instead of re-reading books, I just read new ones.

But I want that to change this year. I’ve been really pretty down in the dumps recently and I thought: what better way to cheer myself up than by re-reading old favourites?

They’re favourites for a reason: they make me happy. I need them now more than ever. So, 2019 is officially my year of re-reads. I’ve already started on a few, but I’ve got a lot I want to get to. To make sure it happens, because, knowing me, I’ll probably get distracted by new books, I thought I’d write a post. It kinda means I have to do it then.

Let’s get to it…

Revisiting the Brontës: Wuthering Heights

Apparently, 2019 is the Year of Re-Reads for me. There are a lot of books I plan to revist this year – a dedicated post will shortly follow – and the Brontës are at the top of my list. I finished reading their novels in the summer of 2017. I miss them. A lot. As I’m studying Emily’s Wuthering Heights into two weeks time, I thought now would be the perfect time to start this journey again!

So, I’ve already reviewed Wuthering Heights, as well as all the other Brontë novels (I actually have a page dedicated to my Brontë posts, so maybe have a gander when you’re free), so this will be more a discussion than anything else.

I specifically wanted to annotate my book during this re-read. I previously annotated the Wordsworth Classics edition but I was reckless back then: neon highlighters and rough handwriting. It isn’t pretty. I want a matching set with thoughtful comments, neat underlining and the occasional heart next to my favourite passages. So, long story short, I bought the Penguin Classics edition as the paper is quite thick (so the pen doesn’t seep through) and the margins are quite large, allowing me room to write all my thoughts down.