Review: The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

★★★★☆ I am so happy to have finally read this book, and I am looking forward to continuing my J. R. R. Tolkien reads with the Lord of the Rings trilogy!

Full disclosure, I have attempted to read this book (and the Fellowship of the Ring) many, many times. Every time I’ve picked it up I have gotten about 20% of the way through and then given up. However, this time was different. I was looking for a new audiobook (I’m now on Scribd and I would definitely recommend it to all you audiobook lovers out there), and The Hobbit popped up on the home screen. I am so glad I decided to hit play, because this book was so wonderful (I know I am probably the very last person on earth to read this book).

I think the main thing I enjoyed about The Hobbit was the feeling that the narrator of the tale was talking right to me. The writing style was so captivating (although more so in the audiobook version for me), and it helps that the narrator, Andy Serkis, was absolutely brilliant. His Gollum is so good and very, very creepy (as it should be since he is the voice of Gollum in the movies!)

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

I felt such a kinship with Bilbo and his conflicting desires to be on an adventure, and also be back at his cosy hobbit hole drinking tea and eating cake. I don’t think I have ever related to a character so strongly before, since I always want to be both exploring and adventuring, and also cosy and warm in the comfort of my own home. As you probably already know, Bilbo is joined by thirteen dwarves and the wizard Gandalf in his hobbit hole, and the adventure truly unfolds from there. Bilbo and his team come across goblins and elves and all sorts of magical, wondrous creatures, not to mention, the dragon Smaug. And of course, they get into all sorts of trouble and mishaps on their travels to the Mountain.

This is truly one of the most wholesome, and quite unexpected novels filled with a journey that keeps taking turns you don’t expect. If you’re like me and you’ve been putting off reading this book for no good reason, or the physical books aren’t for you, then I would definitely recommend the audiobook!

Have you read The Hobbit? Please do let me know your thoughts in the comments, or over on my Instagram @kell_read ✨✨

Review: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Re-Read)

★★★★★ TW this review mentions r*pe.

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To Kill a Mockingbird, written in 1960 by Harper Lee follows Scout, a young girl who lives in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. We follow the lives of six-year-old Scout, her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a lawyer. The plot of the book works its way from Scout, Jem and their friend Dill’s fascination with Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, the towns recluse, to the alleged rape of a white woman, Mayella Ewell by the “coloured” man Tom Robinson. This book is a powerful discussion of discrimination and racial inequality, but it’s swathed in the warmth and comfort of the point of view of a young girl who doesn’t quite understand everything that happens around her. This coming of age story is an easy read, yet imbued with deeper importance.

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

This book is such a comfort read for me, and honestly, comfort is what I wanted and needed when I picked this up again. Perhaps the fourth reading of this book, it has such a nostalgia to it that I have to be honest, my thoughts and feelings about this book are deeply embedded in my nostalgic comfort I get from this book. Scout (Jean-Louise) Finch is such a wonderful point of view to read from, she brings an innocence and a completely unbiased view of the world to the reader, which makes this book an easy read, despite the seriousness of its content.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

I find it hard to write reviews for books I’ve re-read. My thoughts and feelings are ones that have been developed over years, and having read this as a young teenager, again as an older teenager and again now, there’s a lot of history between me and this book. Things that I still think, years after my first read - I love Atticus, he is a wonderful role model for his kids and honestly, he is one of my favourite literary characters. I still find it so strange that his kids call him ‘Atticus’ and ‘sir.’ I couldn’t imagine calling my dad anything other than Dad.

“I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”

I loved re-reading this book and chatting to the lovely Myrthe at @sunflowerwinters, and honestly, picking this book up again was like claiming into a cosy blanket. Do you have any books that are your ultimate comfort read? Let me know in the comments, or find me over on Instagram @kell_read! ✨

Spring book recommendations

When I think spring - new blooms, fresh air, light breeze. hair in my face, droopy hats, damp grass, warm afternoons. new light, new life, a time to refresh, restart, rejuvenate, I think these books.

As an Australian on bookstagram, once spring begins, our feeds are full of autumn. As others are embracing the changing leaves and the cool change, our world is warming and brightening. Here are some reads that make me think of spring. The make me think of the transformation from cold to warm, dark to light. These books put me in the mood for a picnic, or a lunch in the sun. They make me think of the sun softly warming your skin while you read, with the smell of new flowers and freshly mowed grass surrounding you. The sound of buzzing bees, and chirping baby birds. What book do you think of when you think spring?