July Books

Monstress vol 2: The Blood - Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

I read the first volume of this comic book a few years ago and I really enjoyed the artwork and the complex but compelling storyline. But for some reason I only got round to reading the next instalment this July and I am rather annoyed that I didn’t read it sooner, but I guess it’s better late than never.

Monstress is an epic fantasy series set in a Matriarchal world and follows Maika Halfwolf who is learning to come to grips with the fact that a demonic entity resides within her. She is also navigating a world that is at war while trying to avenge the death of her mother. Its a complex but beautiful story.

Europa - Han Kang

I love Han Kang’s writing, she is a master at her craft (whenever I write this word I always write my surname Crafter, and then have to delete the extra letters and de-capitalise the C! I literally can’t help it!). Europa is a very short story but it is brilliant nonetheless. The story touches on gender identity, the break down of marriages and friendship all in 36 pages.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

I am so getting in to the Harry Potter books, and I guess it’s better late than never. But to be honest the main reason why I didn’t read the books or watch the movies when I was younger was because some mean girls at school said that I looked like Dobby the house elf and in the P.E. changing rooms they would throw dirty socks at me. It was traumatising to say the least. But I can now put the distance between that time and now and enjoy this series at last.

Milena, Milena, Ecstatic - Bae Suah

Bae Suah is another Korean author who I love reading and this little novella is in the same series of Korean short stories as Europa by Han Kang published by Strangers Press as part of the 여유 (Yeoyu) collection. The story follows a lonely filmmaker as he navigates life and when his indie film is wins a grant his life gets a little weird. This short story kinda reminded me of A Painful Case from James Joyces’ short story collection Dubliners. I don’t know if thats just me but I did.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This was the Books & Bunnies Book Club pick of the month and while it was an enjoyable read I feel like I made a misstep reading it after watching the TV series, I should have read it years ago when I first bought it!

This past month was a rather good reading month but I am still behind on the Goodreads challenge to read 50 books this year so I think August will be a hectic month of catching up!