This was the month I joined book Reddit. It all started with r/bookexchange. I’d been content creeping on Reddit for two years and enjoying the memes, but it wasn’t until I found this sub that I felt inclined to participate in the community myself. For a week I was obsessed with building my karma so that other Redditors would trust me enough to do a book exchange. After some research, I decided that 500 karma points would be a good goal to settle at, which I’ve reached, so I can chill out now. Anywho, I exchanged my paperback of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert with a Redditor for their gorgeous Vintage Classic Russians Series edition of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy! Now I just gotta read it…
Currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas with Evie and The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang // ★★★★★
The chronicle of humankind’s cruelty to fellow humans is a long and sorry tale. But if it is true that even in such horror tales there are degrees of ruthlessness, then few atrocities in world history compare in intensity and scale to the Rape of Nanking during World War II.
This is such an important book, one of the first English-language books about the Nanking Massacre–six weeks of mass murder and mass rape by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War with a death toll estimate of 40,000-300,000, yet kept out of public consciousness for decades after the war. Chang was a talented researcher and writer.
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour // ★★★★
Darren is swooped up from his job as a Starbucks barista and given the opportunity of a lifetime as a salesman at NYC’s hottest tech startup, only to find himself the only black man in the entire company. A satire of corporate America and workplace racism, about ambition, and a cautionary tale of seeking white approval.
This is the fiction book for the tech bro that only reads self-help books and memoirs by tech leaders. Not me, but it was still a fun read as long as I didn’t take it too seriously. It’s satire after all! It was off the wall, plot driven, action packed, fast paced, not subtle in the least.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi // ★★★★
This beautiful book was generously gifted to me by a friend! A series of four stories following various visitors of Funiculi Funicula, a cafe that allows you to travel in time, but only for as long as your coffee stays warm. The other catch is that whether you return to the past or travel to the future, you can’t change the present, so you can imagine that this is a more quiet, introspective read than plot-driven. Cosy, kinda bittersweet, mostly heartwarming, reads like a play. The story that got me in my feels was “The Sisters.”
The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino // ★★★★
Recommended to me by a friend! Coincidentally similar to Before the Coffee Gets Cold: another cosy Japanese translation with time travel and overlapping stories between interconnected characters, plus an air of mystery that keeps the story faster paced.
Three boys hide in an abandoned general store after their most recent robbery when a letter from the past slips through the mail slot seeking advice. About people just trying to figure out how to move through life without regrets and make a difference.
One Day by David Nicholls // ★★★★
My first reread! Didn’t love this book as much as I remembered loving it. For most of the book, Emma came off bitter and Dex was completely self-centered. I found their relationship pretty depressing actually. My favourite parts of the book were their early 20s at the beginning and end of the book. Those parts reminded me of my hope and excitement fresh out of college, and the uncertainty of things not turning out as planned that I regularly contend with now. So, this book remains on my shelf, freshly tabbed!
The Roommate by Rosie Danan // ★★★★
The book Sheena and I lovingly call The Porn Book. It’s a romance between an uptight socialite and her temp porn star roommate, and also gets into the stigma against female pleasure and the porn industry. A fast, fun read.
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (Gifted) // Full review coming soon!
A scientist and her clone with whom her husband is having an affair with clean up the mess after the husband ends up dead. How to Get Away with Murder gone wrong.
This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano // DNF-13%
A loose retelling of Cinderella following Ellen, who joins the local Quidditch team the summer after high school. The first chapter mentioned Quidditch, boba, and Avatar (The Last Airbender)–what’s not to love?? But quickly the book became too angsty, Ellen was always jumping to conclusions about other people’s intentions (one of the least interesting kinds of conflicts, imo), and the “evil stepmother” character felt forced.
What was your favourite read this month?