It’s summer break and binge reading is now in session! This past quarter, I read 42 books or 12749 pages, which brings my mid-year total to 70 books or 21302 pages (last year I read 78 books in the entire year!), of which 85% were by women authors and 72% by authors of colour. I read one of my favourite books in my life, received the hottest ARC of the year, and was featured by Penguin Random House, which boosted my lil bookstagram to 2k — it’s been a good quarter in books.
Going into the third quarter, I think I want to rein myself in a bit. I’ve been absolutely flying through books and not even stopping to write monthly reviews (trying out this quarterly thing right now). For some books, one quick read through is all I need, but for others, I need more time to process, especially for those I’m too emotionally invested in, which are always harder to find the words for. Maybe in November or December I’ll reread all my 2022 favourites.
In other news, I designed the perfect crochet checker tote the size of three hardbacks. I needed a bag small enough for my small self, but big enough to hold multiple books or a book and some knick knacks. I entertained the idea of selling a small drop (like ten bags, aspirationally) since people have been wanting them, but work is picking up so I’m taking my time making bags in my spare moments that I’ll probably just give away to friends instead of rushing for a drop.
Best reads
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: “Two childhood friends, once estranged, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives.” Have you ever felt so awash in your emotions that you’ve been lost for words? So you find other ways to express yourself, to try to catch that nebulous thing and make it physical, visceral. Well, I felt for Sam, Sadie, and Marx viscerally. This was the story of friendship I wanted A Little Life to be, what The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is for love, an epic story of creative collaboration I’ve never read before. One of my favourite books of my life.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Unknown magazine reporter Monique is given the opportunity of a lifetime when reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo seeks her out for an exclusive story. This one lived up to the hype. I’ve now read TJR’s two most popular books and Evelyn Hugo is my favourite. Just like when I read Daisy Jones and The Six, Evelyn Hugo had me wondering whether what I was reading was based on a true story — not on an Evelyn Hugo-like figure specifically but on showbiz and celebrity romance publicity stunts in general. I was fascinated by Evelyn Hugo’s career moves and relationships. This book had ambition, drama, glamour, and so many different kinds of love. Of course there were the grand Hollywood love stories with the highest highs and lowest lows, but there were also the steady loves and friendships.
Babel by RF Kuang: A dark academic historical fantasy that retells the British Empire’s quest for colonisation through the magical power of translation. The language-based magic system is so clever. The meaning of words lost in translation are manifested in silver bars, and these silver bars power the world. At the heart of it is Babel, Oxford’s institute of translation, where we meet our cohort Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty. This book is for anyone tired of the whiteness of dark academia. There’s lots of time in the classroom spent on Latin, Greek, and other languages, there was a bit of a lull toward the end of the first half, but everything else was straight fire. Fans of The Poppy War will not be disappointed. No one does historical fantasy like RF Kuang. Look out for this one in August and believe the hype.
Honourable mentions
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: A memoir and essays on indigenous wisdom and ecological science. This was such a grounding and restorative read, steeped in both culture and science. It’s a book about gratitude, reciprocity, and plants that has the potential to shift your relationship with the earth — and the people on it — entirely. I’ll be returning to this one time and time again to take little reminders as I need them.
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe: The story of the family behind oxycontin. Absolutely. fascinating. Anyone who’s into investigative journalism will probably have heard of this book. The part about Arthur Sackler’s art collecting might have gone on longer than necessary, but overall, definitely lived up to the hype! See my mini review here. Up next on my TBR is Dopesick by Beth Macy; while Empire of Pain focuses on the Sackler family, Dopesick focuses on the impact of the opioid crisis on communities and individuals.
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio: A personal memoir and individual stories of undocumented Americans, told with fierce love and care, brilliance, and humour. Truly, I was surprised by how funny Karla was! At one point, she says that she’s not a journalist because she gets way too involved for that, and you can tell through the time she takes with the people she interviews, through her writing, and through her actions. This is not an interchangeable immigrant story.
Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos: On the surface, this book is just four short essays on memoir-writing, but really, it’s for anyone who has a story to tell, which is everyone. It empowers you to tell your story even when other people might call it indulgent. It challenges you to interrogate the story you’ve been telling yourself about yourself… by writing your sexual life experience in five sentences, then again but differently, over and over and over and over (you’re gonna have to read the book to figure out that one!). I picked this up on a whim not realising it was about memoir-writing, which is not something I’m trying to do, but I still got a lot out of it as someone who documents her life on the internet.
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir: Sal and Noor are best friends, or they were until their big fight, but now they need each other more than ever as Sal scrambles to save his family’s motel while dealing with his mother’s failing health and his alcoholic father, and Noor scrambles with her college apps to get away from Juniper, California and her tyrannical uncle. This was an emotional one. Throughout the book I had the overwhelming urge to pluck Sal and Noor from their circumstances and keep them safe. The way the book makes heavy topics accessible to young people reminded me of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin: A baby is abandoned at a widowed bookseller’s shop and brings together a small town. This was a love letter to bookstores and a wholesome read that reminded me of The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. After loving Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, I went back to read four of Zevin’s backlist titles (+ Elsewhere, Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, Young Jane Young). AJ Fikry was my favourite of her backlist, but Tomorrow is in a league of its own!
Popular reads
The Secret History by Donna Tartt and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro were two dark academia novels I restarted several times before finally listening to the audiobooks, and now that I’ve gone through them once, I want to try them again physically. The Secret History was narrated by Tartt herself and her voice for Bunny was super grating, which I know was done on purpose — brava! My challenge with reading this book was getting lost in all the details and pretentiousness, but now that all that is familiar, I’m eager to dive back in with a reread. I felt similarly about Never Let Me Go. Surprisingly, I found myself less interested in the sci-fi elements and morals and ethics, and more interested in the character dynamics. I’d also like to reread this one.
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason and Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors were two sad girl reads that were bleak and depressing. They were fine but I didn’t get much out of them. Didn’t live up to the bookstagram hype for me.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry and The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata were two contemporary romance novels I enjoyed. They’re very different, but for both I loved the banter and got a little bored in the later parts when the couples got together and started getting all mushy — the usual.
I wanted more from If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha. For a short book, it felt spread a little thin. There were too many POVs and too many themes that were brought up but not explored. The only POV I was interested in was Kyuri’s since she felt like a more active character; I had little sympathy for Miho, and Wonna’s storyline felt disconnected from the rest. The way If I Had Your Face tried to tackle big topics and issues in Korea in a few pages reminded me of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo, though the writing styles are completely different. Kim Jiyoung felt a little more fleshed out in terms of cultural commentary. If I Had Your Face was still a solid read, but not as literary as I hoped it would be.
Shelf additions
Babel by RF Kuang!!!!!! Thank you Goodreads giveaway gods!!!!!!!! I had already resigned myself to having to wait until pub day on August 23 to read this and was physically and emotionally pained every time I came across galley brags on Twitter and Instagram, and now I have become the problem. In other RF Kuang news, here’s the galley cover reveal for her upcoming literary fiction debut Yellowface — out 2023 — and she’s already started writing her next novel — some magical academic romance in hell?? This woman doesn’t rest!!
Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim was one of my top reads last year. Highly recommended for anyone who loves sweeping historical fiction, an epic cast of characters, or Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. I was blessed to receive an ARC last year, and this past quarter I won a signed and personalised final copy. Juhea was so sweet and had me choose between the US and UK editions, and even though my ARC was the US edition, I chose the US edition for the final too — the cover is too gorgeous to pass up! She also signed and sent two collections she was published in for the full Juhea experience :’)
Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho was one of my top reads from the previous quarter and I was considering buying a copy, but then I won one! Looking forward to giving this a reread and marking it up.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin was kindly gifted to me by the publisher. You already know how much I love this book. The fact that it has such a stunning cover is just the cherry on top (see the design process).
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang was also kindly gifted to me by the publisher. I knew I had to read this YA academic fantasy romance as soon as I heard it was set at an “elite Beijing international boarding school” — I went to a Beijing international school for eight years! There were plot holes but it was super entertaining and fast-paced, and I loved recognising the little Beijing international school easter eggs. Can’t wait for my international school friends to read this in October! I think it’ll be a YA booktok hit. See my full review here.
A few buddies and I were supposed to read Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan together in February, but only half of us got around to it and I was not that half. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype for them, but fortunately for me, Cindy offloaded her copy to me, after all the trouble she went through tracking down a paperback edition!
I received What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri from the publisher just a few days ago so no thoughts to share yet, but I’m looking forward to this short story collection from animal perspectives on environmentalism, identity, and more. Another stunning cover!
And finally, the books I bought myself. I panic bought the original edition of Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren when the new edition with a new cover was announced. I’m not crazy about the original cover but the new cover is hideous. I managed to find an original edition for $9 off some Goodwill’s eBay, then opened it up at home to find it signed?? Best panic buy ever. Love and Other Words was one of my top reads last year and is my favourite friends-to-lovers romance of all time. So much better than People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.
I’ve been meaning to read Ursula K Le Guin for years. Her collection The Wind’s Twelve Quarters will be a good way to ease myself into her work. I’m particularly keen to read “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” based off this review.
While writing this post I convinced myself to buy the gorgeous illustrated edition of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, oops.
I bought the Hayao Miyazaki catalogue to commemorate my two visits to the Hayao Miyazaki retrospective at the Academy Museum. It was only open from September 30, 2021 to June 5, 2022 and the museum didn’t allow any photography for that particular exhibit, but all the art in the exhibit is in the book, so if you didn’t get a chance to visit, the book is a great alternative. What the book wasn’t able to capture were the installations. When I entered the exhibit through Totoro’s tunnel with the theme music playing overhead I almost cried.
PS: 2022 Q1 reads