August Books
A little late posting this but I decided to post it anyway…
Judging my the amount of books in this post it would seem that during August I became superhuman with the power to read super fast. Alas, this is not the case, as nearly all the books I read this month were short stories ranging from 21 pages to 50 or just over a 100. The goal was to get back on track with my Goodreads 50 books in a year challenge so that is why I read so many short stories. Clever huh?
Kong’s Garden - Hwang Jungeun
I read Hwang’s I’ll Go On earlier in the year and fell in love with her storytelling style so when I found out that like Hang Kang she had written a short story that was part of the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection from Strangers Press I knew I had to get my hands on it too! What follows is the mystery of a girl who disappears and Cat that takes up residency at the narrators place of work.
Left's Right, Right's Left - Han Yujoo
Another short story from the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection from Strangers Press. Left’s Right, Right’s Left takes place on a staircase as the narrator is trying to flee an assault within the span of a minute. As she flees she recalls memories from years gone by. This little story had an intriguing premise but it felt like something was missing, something I can’t quite put my finger on.
She Must be Mad - Charly Cox
A collection of poems that I received from Netgalley some time ago. She Must be Mad is a self-aware study of womanhood, the transition a modern girl makes to become a modern woman. It’s a tough emotional journey but the poems that are beautifully and wittyly written reflect the bittersweet moment wonderfully.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime - Oscar Wilde
Witticisms abound in anything that Wilde wrote and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime is no exception. The eponymous story follows Saville as he attends a party and has his palm read by a chiromantist, his fate is to become a murderer. Saville in a farcical twist decides that he must murder in order to carry on with his life and marry his sweetheart. Highly recommend reading this for a little chuckle.
The Memory Police - Yoko Ogawa
A wonderful insightful and powerful read which had me weeping at its closing sentence. This is a book that you must read and I wrote a longer review on this blog so check that out and get this book in your life.
https://www.catecrafter.com/blog/the-memory-police-book-review
Diary of a Murderer - Kim Young-ha
A smart collection of shocking short stories, Diary of a Murderer (the title story) is a masterful stroke of genius and it is of no surprise that the short story was adapted for film in 2017 in Korea. The story follows a old man who gave up being a serial killer but as he has aged so has his mind, he gets diagnosed with Dementia and to try and keep track of his life he writes a diary. I won’t say anymore but it’s well worth a read and I’ll be watching the film asap.
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Classic, thematic and very much a story of its time. As many will already know this anthropomorphic tale is an allegory for communism, but more specifically the Soviet Union. Animal Farm is a quick read but it packs a punch and leaves you thinking long after the last page.
March Yarn - Mieko Kawakami
Kawakami’s short story March Yarn is a simple and quick read. Like a lot of the Japanese novels or short stories I have read this one also falls into the Slice of Life genre that has a little sprinkling of strangeness. A husband and wife stay at a hotel and the wife has a strange dream. I won’t say much more as it may spoil the atmosphere of the story.
Basically this month was my attempt at clawing back my goodreads challenge of reading 50 books in a year. So August was populated with tiny fiction, and I bloody did it!!