13th May: In a New York Minute

Written by Claudia Carroll, In a New York Minute is a short story that follows Irishwoman Amy's love life when she moves to New York. Searching for her perfect 'New York Minute', we experience an array of Amy's first dates in Manhattan until she realises that she may have been looking in the wrong place.
After having owned this on my tablet for quite some time now, I decided to finally read it, although I didn't realise just how such short a story it was. As chicklit goes, it was ok, but pretty average. It didn't entirely full me with confidence to entice me into reading more of Carroll's novels.

10th May: A Midsummer Night's Dream

With the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death on April 23rd, the BBC held an event to commemorate his work called Shakespeare Live. As much as I would have loved to, I didn't get the opportunity to see this either in person or as it was broadcast. I did, however, lock myself in my room a week later where I  reveled in the greatness of Shakespeare's work in all its forms, as performed by many great names of the industry.
Watching this show reminded me how much I do actually enjoy Shakespeare's work. Until this point I had only ever read a couple of his plays in school where I had to study them, but it's just not the same as enjoying them in your own time. It only seemed natural then to spend some time taking in his plays for myself.
Besides being one of the few works by Shakespeare that I actually own, A Midsummer Night's Dream appealed to me the most because it is such an iconic piece and quite light hearted compared to some of his other works. As I was reading it I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't take too much concentration to understand it. Shakespearean writing isn't always the easiest to get in to. I also really enjoyed the story, it's a great comedy with some fantastically written characters. I think perhaps I'll give my brain a rest before delving into more Shakespeare, but I will definitely return to his works in the future.