Ever since a few years ago when I finished university, along with all the required reading & so little time that goes with school, reading for fun has felt like such a luxury! As part of making more time for myself I’m making sure I spend a lot more time digging into great books- these are a few of my favourites so far

City of Thieves is beautifully written and set during the Nazis’ siege of Leningrad. The main characters meet when they’re captured for looting & deserting, but instead of being executed they’re given a chance to save themselves- if they can gather a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake. In a city completely cut off from supplies the challenge seems impossible.  I loved this book because it was the first time I’ve read about Russia in a historical fiction, and it was fascinating!  The characters that you meet are incredibly interesting and are surviving in such a terrifying time in history. I couldn’t stop reading it (which led to a few very late nights!) and it sparked an interest in me for this time in history, for learning more about Russia, and reminded me of how exciting it is to read from the perspective of different cultures.

You would think that the discovery of  first human cells that could divide without end, making them  immortal and a turning point in modern medicine, would be an incredible victory for medicine. From development of the polio vaccine to in vetro fertilization, “HeLa” cells have led to incredible discoveries- but HeLa cells are named for Henrietta Lacks, the woman they were taken from, without her consent. The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks is about the author’s journey to give Henrietta’s story a voice by painstakingly gaining her family’s trust while navigating the world of medicine, race and ethics from a different time. It’s equal parts a tenderly told story about the human side of science and mystery of who Henrietta Lacks really was. It’s a little slow in parts, but overall I loved it!

After my first peek into Russian history with City Of Thieves, I wanted to understand more about the end of the tsars in Russia and about the start of WW1. Nicholas and Alexandra is a gorgeously detailed historical work that reads like a novel, and has had me glued to its pages since late February. I’m still working through it – and it’s a long read at almost 700 pages – but I’ve found every moment of it spell binding. From Rasputin’s power over the Ttsarina to Alexis’s struggle with hemophilia, there is so much mystery to explore. I can’t wait to read more every night!

What are you reading?