Pilgrim At Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
I bought this book as an Easter present to myself after reading one of Annie Dillard's short stories; Holy The Firm earlier this year. I fell in love with Pilgrim At Tinker Creek, straight away and found myself transported to Dillard's house in the Appalachian mountains. The book is mainly about the way that nature and animals coexist with eachother and hummanity but it's also about some bigger questions, like why do we know so little about a world that we think we have dominion over and what does it mean to truly exist in the present? I think this is my new favourite book. "Time out of mind is nevertheless, cumulative, informing the present. From even the deepest slumber you wake with a jolt - older, closer to death, and wiser, grateful for breath. You quit your seat in a darkened movie theater, walk past the empty lobby, out the double glass doors, and step like Orpheus into the street. And the cumulative force of the present you'd forgotten sets you reeling, staggering, as if you'd been struck broadside by a plank. It all floods back to you.

A Story of a Soul by St Therese of Lisieux
The first e-book on Turning Pages! I read e-books a bit slower so this one took me about 4 months to finish but I think it's a worthwhile book to read slowly. St. Therese of Lisieux was a 19th century Carmelite nun who is most known for her personal philosophy called 'the little way'. After finding out about St Therese's writing I decided to read her autobiography which she wrote before she died at the age of 24. I found this book to be a very wonderful and moving read, although it's not the first Saint biography I have read it was the first written in such a personal and emotionally honest way. I think I will revist this book alot in the future, or at least my favourite quotes. "Then I thought of my heart as a tiny ship with white and graceful sails gliding down the middle of a path of gold, and I resolved that I would never sail it out of sight of Jesus, so that it might voyage swiftly and in peace toward the shores of Heaven."

The Fifth Sally by Daniel Keyes
For a book written about a woman with "multiple personalities" in the 1980s, I did't dislike it as much as I thought I would. I didn't really enjoy reading it though. I really love Daniel Keyes' most famous work - Flowers For Algernon, so I picked up The Fifth Sally because I thought I would feel the same.. but instead I think I realised that even if I like the male writer, they can still be bad at writing about women. I found the book quite interesting at first but it became very drawn out and uncomfortably sexual for a book about a woman with chilhood trauma. The first miss on Turning Pages!

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I have been hearing about this book since the dawn of time it seems as it's my mum's all time favourite book. The expectations were high and wow it delivered! Reading this was genuinely transformative, the characters are so full of life you have to stop reading at times because it gets too real. So beautiful and totally going on my favourite list too, if you haven't already - go read it!!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Another one from my sisters bookshelf that I've been meaning to read for a while. Never Let Me Go is simple book in a way as it just follows one charater reminising about her life, but I didn't find that to be a negative at all, I found I really loved the way it was told. Like any book about love and friendship it's going to be heartbreaking but I didn't expect it to be that sad - it fully encapsulates that dull ache you feel when you can't change the outcome and just have to accept what's coming your way.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Finally got round to reading this after I bought my own copy at a second hand bookshop - my sisters version is so annotated and highlighted you cannot even form your own thoughts. I found myself unable to put the book down after I had started, it's scary how addictive dystopia can be - especially when so many politicians today seem to share 'Gilead-like' aspirations. The only draw back about the book I found was that I had already seen most of the tv series (stupidly) which meant some moments just lost their orginal shock for me but it was still a really compelling read, nonetheless.