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Pas tout à fait Booktube : janvier
Feb. 9th, 2018 09:52 pmSince I'm back to posting semi regularly and since I've been quite satisfied with how my reading has been going the past month, I'm tentatively bringing this back. (We'll see how long it lasts)
Wrap-up (books I read this month):
#1 Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, which is a retelling of The Tempest and part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. I haven't read many Margaret Atwood (this one is only the second one I've read, the first being The Blind Assassin) but I most definitely plan on reading more of her novels because I love her writing. Since I enjoy a good retelling as well, especially when it comes to Shakespeare, this was a perfect read. It was eerie and poetic and harsh.
#2 Welcome to Night Vale, a novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. A very entertaining story which hit all the right spot for the WTNV fan that I am. I was curious about this format and wondered whether it would work as well as the original and I was not disappointed in the slightest. Everything is as strange and disturbing and amusing and charming and creepy as it's supposed to be. We do have Cecil talking to us even though he's not leading the story. Speaking of, the two leads are two female characters and they are incredibly cool and real and solid. So far from the cliched writing we still get to see so often (then again, unsurprising when you consider who wrote the novel).
#3 The Religion of the Force, which combines two themes I absolutely love and find fascinating but alas this book absolutely did not work for me. I thought it was poorly written and not as smart as I thought it would be.
#4 Le 30 février et autres curiosités de la mesure du temps by Olivier Marchon. Oh, this one, on the other hand was both a lot of fun and so interesting! It's about the different ways we measure time and the many, many oddities that occurred throughout History to measure it.
#5 Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories compiled by Roald Dahl. I actually picked that one by mistake. I thought that the ghost stories had been written by Roald Dahl, not just edited by him. My bad. I enjoyed the book, though. Many of the stories were predictable (not because they were badly written, mind you, but they were clearly written at a time when people could be surprised or scared much more easily than we can nowadays? Although there were a couple that did creep me out) but they were still very enjoyable and the style is one that I can't get enough of. Someone over at GR summed it up perfectly when they said it was an "excellent book to curl up with when you have a mug of tea, a quilt and, if you can arrange it, a thunderstorm outside". It was always very atmospheric.
#6 Les délices de Tokyo by Durian Sukegawa. That novel. Oh, that novel. So incredibly charming, so languid, so beautifully written. It's a very touching story. Be aware, though, it'll make you crave dorayaki something fierce ;) I missed the film when it was released and plan on getting my hands on it one of these days. If it's even half as charming and touching as the novel is, it's definitely worth it.
#7 The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie. I've been an avid reader of Mrs Christie's ever since I was a teenager but back then I only read in French so it's a bit like I'm discovering her novels all over again.
#8 La porte by Magda Szabó. I'd seen raving reviews of this book and since I've been meaning to read more books by non-English speaking and non-French writers, I thought I'd pick that one and, even though the writing is really interesting and the setting is as well, I couldn't get into the story at all due to the two main characters. It's definitely a problem when you dislike the main protagonists in ways that prevent you from getting into the story.
Book haul (books purchased or offered):
L'autre qu'on adorait by Catherine Cusset, which sounds very moving. It's not exactly the type of book I'd normally read, I don't think, but I'm trying to branch out a little so I thought I'd give it a try.
Le mystère Henri Pick by David Fœkinos, this one intrigued me and sounds like it could be pretty sweet (as well as a lot of fun), it's about books and the impact novels can have on people. I didn't need to know much more ;)
Down and out in Paris and London by George Orwell. I realised I hadn't read much or Orwell's apart from 1984 and thought it would be as good time as any to try and remedy it.
Reading (well, you know):
Celle qui fuit et celle qui reste by Elena Ferrante, third volume in the My Brilliant Friend series. I think I rambled enough in my last post so I won't add more but suffice to say that I'm enjoying this new installment tremendously. I'm almost done with it and trying to make it last a little longer but I suppose I'll finish it tomorrow. Still need to pick up my next read but I'm leaning towards Orwell (*point above*)
Wrap-up (books I read this month):
#1 Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, which is a retelling of The Tempest and part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. I haven't read many Margaret Atwood (this one is only the second one I've read, the first being The Blind Assassin) but I most definitely plan on reading more of her novels because I love her writing. Since I enjoy a good retelling as well, especially when it comes to Shakespeare, this was a perfect read. It was eerie and poetic and harsh.
#2 Welcome to Night Vale, a novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. A very entertaining story which hit all the right spot for the WTNV fan that I am. I was curious about this format and wondered whether it would work as well as the original and I was not disappointed in the slightest. Everything is as strange and disturbing and amusing and charming and creepy as it's supposed to be. We do have Cecil talking to us even though he's not leading the story. Speaking of, the two leads are two female characters and they are incredibly cool and real and solid. So far from the cliched writing we still get to see so often (then again, unsurprising when you consider who wrote the novel).
#3 The Religion of the Force, which combines two themes I absolutely love and find fascinating but alas this book absolutely did not work for me. I thought it was poorly written and not as smart as I thought it would be.
#4 Le 30 février et autres curiosités de la mesure du temps by Olivier Marchon. Oh, this one, on the other hand was both a lot of fun and so interesting! It's about the different ways we measure time and the many, many oddities that occurred throughout History to measure it.
#5 Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories compiled by Roald Dahl. I actually picked that one by mistake. I thought that the ghost stories had been written by Roald Dahl, not just edited by him. My bad. I enjoyed the book, though. Many of the stories were predictable (not because they were badly written, mind you, but they were clearly written at a time when people could be surprised or scared much more easily than we can nowadays? Although there were a couple that did creep me out) but they were still very enjoyable and the style is one that I can't get enough of. Someone over at GR summed it up perfectly when they said it was an "excellent book to curl up with when you have a mug of tea, a quilt and, if you can arrange it, a thunderstorm outside". It was always very atmospheric.
#6 Les délices de Tokyo by Durian Sukegawa. That novel. Oh, that novel. So incredibly charming, so languid, so beautifully written. It's a very touching story. Be aware, though, it'll make you crave dorayaki something fierce ;) I missed the film when it was released and plan on getting my hands on it one of these days. If it's even half as charming and touching as the novel is, it's definitely worth it.
#7 The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie. I've been an avid reader of Mrs Christie's ever since I was a teenager but back then I only read in French so it's a bit like I'm discovering her novels all over again.
#8 La porte by Magda Szabó. I'd seen raving reviews of this book and since I've been meaning to read more books by non-English speaking and non-French writers, I thought I'd pick that one and, even though the writing is really interesting and the setting is as well, I couldn't get into the story at all due to the two main characters. It's definitely a problem when you dislike the main protagonists in ways that prevent you from getting into the story.
Book haul (books purchased or offered):
L'autre qu'on adorait by Catherine Cusset, which sounds very moving. It's not exactly the type of book I'd normally read, I don't think, but I'm trying to branch out a little so I thought I'd give it a try.
Le mystère Henri Pick by David Fœkinos, this one intrigued me and sounds like it could be pretty sweet (as well as a lot of fun), it's about books and the impact novels can have on people. I didn't need to know much more ;)
Down and out in Paris and London by George Orwell. I realised I hadn't read much or Orwell's apart from 1984 and thought it would be as good time as any to try and remedy it.
Reading (well, you know):
Celle qui fuit et celle qui reste by Elena Ferrante, third volume in the My Brilliant Friend series. I think I rambled enough in my last post so I won't add more but suffice to say that I'm enjoying this new installment tremendously. I'm almost done with it and trying to make it last a little longer but I suppose I'll finish it tomorrow. Still need to pick up my next read but I'm leaning towards Orwell (*point above*)
