It's the end of a decade but only two years of me starting to read again. Still, it's something to celebrate!! I've made it two whole years!!! I probably could've finished more books this month but the holiday season slowed me down. Also I wanted to keep the total amount of books read at a good whole number.
December Book Reviews
If Cats Disappeared from the World (Genki Kawamura)
4.5/10 This was a weird limbo of a book for me. I don't know if its the writing style or the translation that's throwing me off but there's something about the painfully plain and stilted phrases that makes it such a bore to read. The contents don't really help its case either. It feels like it's trying to be an introspective, emotional piece; it is after all, about a man reflecting on his life as it comes to an end. But the protagonist isn't very interesting or likeable. There are some aspects where it seems like he's trying to be "relatable" : he works in an unchanging government job, he has a hard time forming meaningful relationships, he's estranged from his parents etc. But then they add in aspects where it removes him from that audience surrogate role where he has personal and specific issues with his dad or his fervent love of movies. It's a weird balance that neither makes him more sympathetic nor interesting to read about. Even the draw of the book, the titular disappearance of cats, was dealt with in a really disappointing way. Overall, I think it had the potential to be a nice short story that ruminates on all the different components that make up a person's life but the execution unfortunately fell short of the concept.
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (Agatha Christie)
8/10 Not much to say about this one except I just love Miss Marple. I'm always delighted by her concept: a quaint, Victorian elderly lady who only knows village gossip stories but manages to solve cases no one else can. I love her approach of solving cases by studying the human condition rather through logic puzzles just because methods of committing crimes may change but motives never do. There's a foreword by the author who says Miss Marple is more suited for the short stories (compared to Poirot who 'demands a full length novel') and that's definitely the case. She shines in this format, and Tuesday Club Murders is my favorite example of it.
Horrorstor (Grady Hendrix)
6/10 I really liked the set up of this one. It reminds me of a really good creepypasta/SCP of an endless Ikea that people are trapped in. And the beginning did deliver on those expectations, it had a great atmosphere that also reminded me of House of Leaves, another horror story that's based on a architectural space. There was some fantastic use of the storeroom space and tension that came from the setting. Unfortunately, the 'ghost' or antagonist of the space was revealed really early on and I think that ruined a lot of the mystery for me. I was hoping they'd center the horror more around the space itself but the latter half of the story almost entirely was just based on this ghost of a prison/asylum which number one, is as about as cliched as you can get and number two, could've been set anywhere else. The protagonist and the fellow characters were just okay for me. The whole fake product pages were a nice bonus but I wished it could've transitioned into horror more subtly. A book with a great beginning and an average ending.
The Bride Test (Helen Hoang)
6.5/10 This was a cute book! I enjoyed reading it. It's the typical set up of a Cinderella romance novel, complete with convenient contrivances and unlikely coincidences but cute nonetheless. Bonus points for a POC protagonist and actually giving her problems and points of views that would match her background rather than making her POC for the sake of it. I also enjoyed having a lead on the autism spectrum and I thought it was portrayed rather well. The main thing I didn't really mesh with was that this book was........TOO horny. I know some people prefer more smut in their romance and maybe it's because I don't read too many romance novels myself, but I was thrown off with how much of their relationship was based on physical attraction. The lead literally gets a boner the first time he meets her. I would've liked it if the relationship was developed more, instead I felt like it was really rushed and I couldn't really enjoy the process of them falling for each other over the general smut teasing. Still, despite its problems, I found it a fast, entertaining and easy read.
The Moth Presents: All These Wonders (Catherine Burns)
8.5/10 A really fantastic collection of stories from the podcast based on people from different walks to life talking about a single moment in their life. Although the majority of stories were from authors, comedians or other public speakers, there were a few that were from regular people with regular jobs. And although the majority of the stories were of extraordinary events of everything from the death of a loved one to the first flyby of Pluto, there were also a few that were just a mundane event plucked from the everyday. And while I enjoyed both of types, I do appreciate the little outliers because I felt like it made the concept that much more meaningful. I cried about every other story when reading it, it was so real and emotional. The only reason I was debating between a four and a five star was because it also felt a bit like TEDtalks. It's short and punchy but even as I was tearing up, I also felt on a meta-level it wasn't as impactful as a full story with a connected narrative. Still, it's an incredible, well-written (spoken?) collection and I loved reading it. "I find myself born into this universe. It's a wonderful place. It's a strange place. It's also a scary and sometimes lonely place. And every day in my work, I try to discern through its noisy manifestation, its people, dogs, trees, mountains, stars - everything I love - I try to discern the eternal music of the spheres."
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs (Caitlin Doughty)
6/10 "The flames are the great equalizer." The second book of hers that I've read this year as it turns out. I didn't like this one as much as 'From Here to Eternity' but it wasn't a bad book. It's definitely targeted more for younger readers, which is the main reason why I thought it was just okay. Still, I think it's pretty enjoyable to read and it has some interesting questions and answers. Not much to say actually...it was alright.
0 comments:
Post a Comment