May and June Books

Silly me, I haven’t got a photo of for this post as I have passed on most of the books that I read to a charity shop before I finished writing this post!

Questions of Travel - Elizabeth Bishop

This May I had to hand in my last essay of the year (excluding that juicy 3hr exam in June) and after deliberating between writing about a play I thought was lacklustre but probably quite easy to write about and a collection of Bishop’s complex poetry that I rather enjoyed, I chose Bishop. It worked out I got a good grade and I rediscovered my love for reading and analysing modern poetry. This collection is thought provoking and lays Bishop’s soul bare. I really enjoyed it so it’s more than likely that I’ll be delving into more of her work in the future, or at the very least revisiting this collection. The book is not pictured as I was fortunate enough to have the collection provided by my university in an anthology.

Another Man’s City - Choi In-ho

Orwellian? Kafkaesque? Perhaps a dash of both but there is also a little The Matrix added in for good measure. Another Man’s City follows K (oh look a casual Kafka reference) as he tries to find out why his world suddenly feels like its populated with fake versions of the people around him, including his Wife and Daughter. Personally, I felt like the premise was interesting, but the execution felt a little underwhelming, and I found myself stopping and starting the book rather than getting hooked and devouring a short 190 page novel in one sitting.

The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster

A Renaissance Play that isn’t Shakespeare! Yes they do exist, and The Duchess of Malfi is a rather good one. As I had to read this play for uni I have of course analysed the play to the moon and back so I’ll keep it brief as I could quite easily write a rather long essay on it! The play is set in Italy and follows a Duchess who breaks societal expectations and decides to re-marry for love not status…of course being a tragedy expect death…lots of death.

When Adam Opens His Eyes - Jang Jung-il

This Korean novel was rather controversial on its publication back in the 90’s, but from a modern western perspective it’s not really that shocking which makes for an interesting read. Adam is on the cusp of adulthood and while he waits a year to retake a university entrance exam so that he can get into a top university he uses this time to find freedom and to learn about the world around him. When Adam Opens His Eyes is quite clearly a bildungsroman but it is also a story about a country on the edge. In the late 80’s Korea hosted the olympics and found itself struggling to uphold democracy while still reeling from the horrors of the Gwangju Massacre of 1980. In short it was a testing time and this is reflected in Adam’s navigation of his life and the encounters he finds himself in.

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - J.K. Rowling

Not going to lie I didn’t read this book…Stephen Fry read it to me. Yes I have finally jumped on the Audible hype train. Previously I have always felt like I just didn’t have time to add audio books into my life but my morning makeup routine has become the perfect moment to delve into audiobooks as its a relaxing and therapeutic process that is also a productive use of time. Perfection! And I have already started listening to Chamber of Secrets!

Book Club: July is Good Omens

"‘Let’s start the book club again,’ Cate said for the fourth time with a knowing smile on her face.

Yes I am rebooting the Book Club because I need to force Charlotte (my sister who I used to share this blog with) to read as she only picks up a book once in a blue moon. So it goes without saying, I need to save her from the bookless life she is currently living! So each month we will pick a book to read and you can read along with us, on the first Sunday of each month we will then make a video about the past months book where we discuss what we think of it and you can join in with the discussion too!

Yay, sounds like fun? Stay tuned for the book reveal which has technically already been revealed in the title of this blog post.

This month we are reading…Good Omens!

March and April Books

Oh it has been a rather busy two months, I am nearing the end of my second year of university and the pressure is mounting up. I feel like Atlas crumpled under the weight of the world, oh what i would do just to release the tension for a short while. Alas I only have until the second week of June and then I am free for the rest of summer! I can do this!!

here are my March and April reads

Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney

I made it my mission to finish the last chunk of this book off as soon as possible, which I achieved which then gave me some time to read a million and one poems for uni (I exaggerate, which should be no surprise, a million and one…no university could be that cruel). I enjoyed the book but I think it wasn’t as good as Normal People, which is to be expected really as in anything people get better as they gain experience, and seeing as Conversations with Friends was Rooney’s debut novel, it would be weird if it was better than Normal People.

The Strange Library - Haruki Murakami

Murakami is my ride or die author, when I want to read something I know I’ll love it always has to be one of his books, and because I was feeling rather bored with all the texts I was having to read for uni I took a short respite in the pages of a Murakami. The Strange Library is a very short book (can’t be spending too much time away from studies now can we!) and the edition I have is beautifully designed with a plethora images that make this book a whole experience to read.

The Lonely Londoners - Sam Selvon

This book is a succession of snapshots of immigrant life in London during the 20th Century and it’s written in a Caribbean dialect to reflect the characters the book focuses on. And while I can appreciate the innovations Selvon makes I found it rather boring, and the constant flitting between characters was rather jarring for me personally. I had to read this book for uni and I think its safe to say I won’t be reading it again and I probably wont check out Selvon’s other works either.

Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino

Invisible Cities is not just a novel by any means. It’s a poetic study of the human experience. Framed by a conversation between the famed Venetian explorer Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Invisible Cities explores 55 different cities that may or may not be imaginary or in the very least a description of Polo’s hometown Venice. This novel isn’t for everyone, and at first it wasn’t even for me as it had remained on my bookshelf for about 3 years prior to me picking up again this April! But as I’m in the midst of a creative writing module for my degree I decided to give it another go and I loved it. If you want to read abstract literature that doubles up as a masterclass in description writing then get reading.

The Dubliners - James Joyce - A Solid 85% of the book!

Bleak, haunting and unrelenting The Dubliners is a collection of short stories that follows the disenchanted inhabitants of the Irish capital at the beginning of the 20th century. Another uni book but unlike most of the texts I’ve had to read this year I actually really like The Dubliners, and the stand out story for me has to be A Painful Case which I actually wrote and essay about (simply because I liked it the most and somehow my tenuous link to the essay subject paid off). I haven’t quite finished all of the short stories as I have had to write my own short story for uni this month which has taken a little longer than I thought it would (I had to do quite a lot of research for it!).

Books I Haven't Finished (Yet!)

I love reading, it is one of my favourite things to do, but sometimes life gets in the way. So here is a collection of books that I have started reading but am yet to finish.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

I started reading this book years ago, and I mean years. There is photographic evidence of me reading the book on one of our family holidays to Greece, when I was 10! So that was way back in 2003! I think I got up to something like chapter 11 or 12 and then I just stopped, I lost where I was in the book and the next time I picked it up I just couldn’t remember what had happened in the story. 15 years later I still haven’t read the book. Will I read it someday? No, I’ll just get Stephen Fry to read it to me on audible.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Quite often I have a love hate relationship with classics, their language is beautiful but archaic, they are problematic in their depictions of Women, other ethnicities and social issues when read from a modern point of view. And so on. But Dorian Gray, I really wanted to love it, and maybe I just attempted to read it at the wrong time, but I found it, dare I say…boring.

1Q84 part 1&2

I love Murakami, I love what I’ve read of 1Q84 so far, but I started reading the book at a really stupid time, just before I started my French module in Uni. That year came and went so quickly and I then had to start reading what has felt like 1 million books for this years studies and as such 1Q84 has sat patiently on the shelf, same for Killing Commendatore too. I promise I’ll get to you two this summer!

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I received a ebook copy of this book before it was published, I read some of it, but for a reason I can’t remember I stopped reading it. This book has since been so hyped that I’m kind of curious to get back into it and finish the story as I did get quite a way into the narrative.

A Discovery of Witches

Having watched the Sky TV Series based on this book I naturally bought it immediately and started reading it, however it is a rather large book and there have been several novels that I have had to prioritise reading as they are in my course and most likely in my exam in June. So I will have to rediscover A Discovery of Witches this summer.

Le Petit Prince

I set myself the goal of reading a French book in its entirety last year, I failed but I did get quite a ways into Le Petit Prince which is probably the most famous French book from the 20th century. I will dive back into it as I still want to achieve this goal, and hopefully it will also help improve my french so that I can start reading more complex french novels!

So that’s all the books that I started reading and haven’t quite got round to finishing. I wonder how many of these I can get finished this year, shall I aim to get them all read in 2019? Let me know in the comments section what you think!

January & February Books

This post is about all the books I’ve read in January and February, pretty standard really and the title already told you that so this section is obsolete really, so perhaps we’ll just get into the content then…

Oh and before you judge me for only reading six books these past two months I actually read a few more than what’s in the picture but seeing as they were either in uni reading materials or online they can’t be present in this cute little pile of physical books.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Oh, how I really wanted to love this novel. I love the Gothic genre and the fact that this was a young female writer’s first novel, in a time where men prevailed and she had the “apparent audacity” to publish it under her own name! In places, there are intense moments of wonder (often when the wretched monster is speaking) and there are also dragging moments of boredom (do you really need to ramble on so much about mountains and nature – I get some of it and the symbolism, but just a little less would have been appreciated). Overall, Shelley’s work is a classic, a necessary read but I don’t think I’ll ever pick it up again.

The Sandman by E.T.A Hoffman

Weird, disturbing and has inspired so many people from authors such as Neil Gaiman to ‘evidence’ for a psychological theory by none other than Sigmund Freud! The Sandman is at its heart a Kunstmärchen, a Fairy Tale, and not the Disney kind folks, one of the traditional ones where people die and have to endure harrowing acts of violence and misfortune. The Sandman mixes so many different themes but at the heart is the effect of childhood nightmares on the adult psyche (and now you know why dear old Freud was interested).

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World by Haemin Sunim

This book is a nice relaxing massage for the mind. I read it one afternoon when it was all rain and wind outside and I have never felt so chilled out while reading. Haemin Sunim is a Buddhist monk, of the Zen/Seon sector which I’ve mentioned that I have a deep interest in in the past, so my reading of this book is perhaps to be expected. I feel like I will return to read this little book of wisdom time and time again and I can’t wait to read his newest release too.

I’ll Go On by Hwang Jungeun

The story of two sisters and their childhood friend as one of the sisters navigates pregnancy doesn’t really sound like riveting stuff, but let me tell you that this book is one the best books I’ve read for a very long time. It explores three very close but different lives and the effect of past actions and relationships on current thoughts and behaviours. I’ll Go On is also full of Korean cultural references that have allowed me to get a deeper understanding of society as a whole. Thoroughly enjoyable and really thought-provoking, I may have also shed a tear or two.

Winter Woods (Part 2) BY COSMOS & Vanji – Webcomic

Winter Woods is a webcomic inspired by Frankenstein, but instead of The Monster, an alchemist creates a sensitive young man who has lived for more than a thousand years when the story opens. He slowly finds himself falling in love with a woman called Jane who teaches him what it means to be truly alive.

The artwork in this webcomic is absolutely stunning and the story is so uplifting and cute, so you should definitely check it out on Naver Webtoon.

Mr Salary by Sally Rooney

Here starts my Sally Rooney binge, this is a short story and like Rooney’s other work it explores relationships and more specifically complicated and unlikely relationships. Fast and interesting I really enjoyed this introduction to Rooney who is fast becoming a literary sensation.

The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

Having read A Study in Scarlet many years ago (which I enjoyed…I think) I was relieved when this book was part of my uni course. However, I didn’t really think much of it. If anything I think The Sign of the Four was a little contrived, Conan Doyle was clearly writing about the British Empire and her pursuits in India to cash in on Victorian anxieties about The Indian Rebellion of 1857, which was finding itself as the subject of many literary works of the time. Published in cheap magazines and read by the masses, The Sign of the Four was predictable and romanticised a country (that Doyle never stepped foot on!) in turmoil for mass-market appeal. I don’t agree with that at all! What a load of rubbish!

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People is a good book, I really enjoyed the experience of reading it but on retrospection, a few things stand out as problematic, and of course, no book can be perfect (except if your name is Haruki Murakami lol - ignore me!). But overall I can tell why everyone has been reading Normal People and I’m looking forward to what Rooney writes next.

The Beach of Falesá by Robert Louis Stevenson

Clearly a product of its time, this short story is laced with racism and ignorance despite the fact that Stevenson had immigrated to Samoa and wrote this short story to reflect the reality of life in the Pacific. I found it rather boring and cringe-worthy, the only redeeming factor was Uma’s defiance of her husband once in the whole story. I had to read this short story for a uni essay, so it’s safe to say I will never read it again.

3/4 of Conversations with Freinds by Sally Rooney

Due to a mass deadline at the end of the month, I didn’t get to finish the final book in my Sally Rooney binge! Never mind, I’ll finish it this month instead so you’ll be seeing this one properly in March and April’s book post.

Let me know what books you’ve been reading recently!