Recent Reads
Weekly Thoughts #4 Everyone!
1st of October, the month of Halloween, the month of remembering, closures and beginnings. The month of crunched leaves and dried flowers. Hot teas, and chocolates, pumpkins and squashes. Clowns, ghosts and banshees. Calm inner monologues and dread.
Old books and new stories. The month of cosy socks and insomnia. Pitch black and giant blood moons. Good night tales and sleep paralysis demons. Whistling after dark and what comes after. Salt on the window sill and curved pumpkins. Fuzzy socks and knitted jumpers. Midnight Margaritas and White Roses. Cinnamon rolls and chocolate muffins. Welcome!
Past Reads; New Book Reviews
The past week I have managed to write and post my book review about the cosy, japanese literature gem ‘What You Are Looking For Is In The Library’ by Michiko Aoyama*. I’ve tried to give a spoiler free and an in-depth segment with spoiler thoughts on the novel. I also wanted to highlight and shout out to the author, the translator and the illustrator of the book, and showcase their work. If you are interested, please have a look here. I have also tried to give some additional recommendations for book lovers, who loved this novel the same way I did. I am definitely picking her other works up, including the Japanese editions in the future.
I have also finished the first volume of the Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, the Leviathan Wakes* a few days ago. Review is coming soon this Friday so keep your eyes peeled! There is a short review I have posted on goodreads that you can read until the longer one gets posted, if you are interested. It contains most of my main thoughts and feelings about the book. In short, I enjoyed it very much. It’s not my first time reading it, although I never managed to finish the full series. I’m planning to do it now and document it along the way. That’s because a new series called: Captive’s War just got published with the first volume titled: The Mercy of Gods* and I wanted to finish Expanse before I start the new addition of the family. But oh boy, the Mercy of Gods looks so good also, I’m absolutely pumped.
Current Reads: Booker Prize Shortlisted and Japanese fiction
My current read is Orbital by Samantha Harvey*, which is shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 2024. It is a collection of thoughts, a meditation on six astronauts’ life, point of view, past, present and future, executing their mission on the International Space Station. It’s a short read with 207 pages, easily devourable in one or a few sittings. I’m roughly at 60% now and I completely understand and agree with having this novel being on the shortlist. The prose is magnificent, it’s philosophical, it’s extremely picturesque and art-admiring, which is a fresh addition for science-fiction in my opinion. It is not plot-driven, although there is one. It’s just not sitting in plain sight, but it can be misleading for readers who choose this book based on its labels, like: novel or science-fiction. I would definitely highlight that it is more like a bouquet of thoughts and essays rather than a plot-driven space opera. I’m a little bit worried that I won’t do justice with my stumbling, fiddling words but I will try my best to convey my honest thoughts when I write the review.
I’m also reading Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto*, although not the translated version but the original, Japanese edition**, キッチン, 吉本 ばなな. I’m rather slow at reading, as my proficiency is somewhere between around N4, which is just one step higher from the lowest. Nevertheless, I’m trying to be patient, as reading in Japanese is known to be a marathon, rather than a sprint. What is interesting, is that I understand way more than I thought, which apart from lifting my spirits it also pushes me not to give up. The other thing that keeps me going is my slowly growing tbr list of japanese books and manga that I’m dying to finally get to. This being said, it’s probably going to take me for a while, before I can post a review about it.
Next Reads: Horror, horror and more horror…
It’s October, the month of the spooky, so obviously, I’m going to read horror books. I already have my 3 candidates for October: (To see the books’ synopsis just click on the links)
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King* – Like many other book lovers, I have also read quite a few books from Stephen King, but not Salem’s Lot. Seeing that a new movie is coming out in a few days, the decision was made to read it way before September.
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk* – I got this book as a surprise gift from my best friend with a gentle warning that I should start, (and she means it), I really should start reading Chuck Palahniuk, so here I am. Absolutely pumped and excited for it
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno** – It was harder to find this book than I thought. I have seen this novel last year popping up everywhere on my feed, let it be youtube, instagram, whatever. I finally gave in. If a book haunts me for no particular reason it’s usually either because they have good marketing and the book gets pushed out a LOT, or because it needs to be read by me. I hope this book belongs to the second category. We shall see. And finally, the 4th book I want to read this October is, The Fisherman by John Langan*. I have grabbed the ebook edition a long time ago and now it’s the perfect time to read it.
As usual I have included all the books mentioned here as a curated bookshop.org list*, except for the titles that can’t be found there. Scroll down, or if you are reading this from my email subscription, please visit the website for the book recommendations, or just click on the links for each book mentioned here.
Have a look at my 10 Unnerving Books for October* list if you are looking for more spooky books, or all the books I have read or was interested in September*.
If you like my work please consider supporting my page by either buying me a cup of coffee or contributing towards a book on my wishlist or just using my affiliate links to buy the books recommended by me. It would mean a tremendous lot because this way I can make sure that I can keep my website safe, up and running. I am posting new reviews every weekend.
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*Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
** Further Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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