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Harriet Toole's avatar

Adored this Ella! (And thank you so much for including my piece! 🥹). I really related to your honesty about reading here. I find that I go through phases – sometimes I'm non-stop and rush through books quicker than I could fathom, but other times, it takes me SO stupidly long to start another book that I get annoyed at myself 😅 I think it's super important to just lean into the books that genuinely appeal to you, regardless of what it feels that everyone around you is reading. There's no right or wrong!

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Ella's avatar

Thank you Harriet! LOVED your piece (and your whole substack). Definitely - I'm not scared of not finishing books anymore. It's just not worth sticking with something you're not enjoying when there are SO many great books out there!

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Harriet Toole's avatar

Ah thank you!!! That means SO very much. (And right back at you – I adore your Substack✨) Couldn't agree more re. not finishing a book if it's not for you. Life is too short to spend time and energy on a book that isn't fueling us!

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Soph's avatar

Okayyy before I dive into this piece properly - define a "good" reader ??? (Exactly u can't because there's no such thing as good and bad readers so don't be hard on yourself)

ANYWAY ! Sunrise on the Reaping abso-bloody-lutely I adored it. I read Good Material last summer for my book club read and loved that too - I've known so many Andys in my time 😭

Loved this as always and particularly love the shoes!!!

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Ella's avatar

Hahaha maybe a non-existent reader would've been a better way to put it 😅

Andy's character really took me by surprise because I thought he'd have more of a character journey but she really explored sitting with emotions and I don't think I've read a book like that before!

Thank you for reading and commenting Soph 🩷

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Caroline Beuley's avatar

I sometimes think the books we're forced to read in school or university make students feel like they don't like reading, but there's a whole world of more enjoyable books out there, and I'm glad you're finding some of them! I love Dolly Alderton too :)

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Ella's avatar

Oh for sure! Thank you for reading Caroline! <3

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Katharina's avatar

Malory Towers was my favorite book series as a child!! I still own all of them. Mine are in German though. They're called "Dolly" in because that's what they changed Darrell's name to for the German versions. And: the German series has way more books than the English original one! They kept writing stories about her as a grown up.

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Ella's avatar

No way!! I need to look into this!!! Thank you so much for reading Katharina!! 💙

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Katharina's avatar

Definitely look into it!! I actually re-read the books last year.

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Izzy | The Sunday Reads's avatar

Love this!!! 🩷🩷 hope you find some good recs :)

I def understand what you’re saying about ‘bad’ reading bc there are always different books for different people. Sometimes in school we read books that aren’t for us and it puts us off. Glad you’re working on reading again!

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Ella's avatar

100% this is so true. I think reading for enjoyment is a totally different thing from reading for learning. Equally I read some truly great novels in school - if you've never read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini it's a must read!! 🩷

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Zar's avatar

Back here again! Here is a post i just read which I think can be helpful to you https://open.substack.com/pub/ranahabib/p/how-to-read-difficult-books?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=4r7biq

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Zar's avatar

This is a wonderful post! I just started another substack where I'm reviewing different books so my next post will be books that have made a difference like your post. I really enjoyed this list! And even if the books you read is not the same like me, I would suggest reading Animal Farm. It's metaphorical, funny yet ironic.

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Ellen's avatar

Love, as always!! Big yes to Sunrise on the Reaping and also to the projector?!? Amazing 💕

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Ella's avatar

Thank you Ellen!! SOTR made me feel like I was 14 again, and that’s the only way I would accept feeling 14 again

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Ella's avatar

Thank you Ellen!! SOTR made me feel like I was 14 again, and that’s the only way I would accept feeling 14 again

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