kaisrexci:
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Completed: 02-22-21
I only read 17 pages on the first week, restarted last Friday, and finished it in 3 days.
Apparently, it's a YA contemporary that I could have enjoy more when I was younger lol. The introduction to other characters was nice and all, but I was more interested on how the mystery will unfold so first half felt kind of slow. The journal itself was the highlight for me, I found myself googling the places mentioned and fascinated by it. Though I got the few words that are close to English/Spanish, I just wished the Italian phrases/sentences were translated so I wouldn't have to guess when I'm not online to look them up. Lot of things happened in a short time so the romance was actually whirlwind. The lead character's grief was, of course, a delicate matter, but overall, the story was lighthearted easy read.
Tuscany and gelato is a very tempting combination!
Maystols:
woa I just discovered this it's such a great idea, sadly I'm late for this month but this just motivated me to start reading something again , I used to read a lot as a kid but got more lazy as I grew up :') at school they always made us pick up one book every 1 or 2 weeks to read it used to be my favorite activity
Welcome! We all try to motivate each other to read more :) Looking forward to your input ^^
woa I just discovered this it's such a great idea, sadly I'm late for this month but this just motivated me to start reading something again , I used to read a lot as a kid but got more lazy as I grew up :') at school they always made us pick up one book every 1 or 2 weeks to read it used to be my favorite activity
Welcome :). I just got back into reading coz quarantine.
Lady Nimue:
You could also try audiobooks. For classic books in the public domain, there are available free audiobooks for them.
Audiobooks are very useful when you don't really have time to sit down and read. I used to listen to audiobooks while working out on excercise bike for example, lol.
Anyways, quick update because I kinda broke the rules and read more than I inteded to do. Initially I planned to read only two books (Kafka and Mishima), but ended up reading two more, because my favorite publishing company released a new book that fit my field of interests.
Ewa Strusińska - Miła robótka. Polskie świerszczyki, harlekiny i porno z satelity (roughly translated to Nice handiwork. Polish porn magazines, harlequins and porn from satellite tv. I have no idea how to properly translate this title because it has polish neologisms and my english sucks lmao). It was fun and kinda depressing, very nostalgic for sure, like pretty much everything that concerns that particular era in history of my country. It was the time of economic and political transformation when we basically went from soviet model of communism to democratic form of government and free-market system. And culturally it was such a messy time lol. After years of prohibitions, restrictions and bans on "rotten" products from the West, people truly went WILD on possibilities and novelties. It was an era of kitsch, bizarreness and excessiveness and the book tells about it through the pespective of rapidly developed porn buisness from that time. I've learned some new informations (like the fact that the most important company in Polish porn industry was created by the gays lol), but that is pretty much all I can say about this book. Meh.
Karolina Bednarz - Kwiaty w pudełku. Japonia oczami kobiet (Flowers in the box. Japan through women's eyes). I loved this. It was a very feminist book as it tells about variety of women issues in Japan. From the discrimination at work, misogynistic traditions and social expectations, domestic abuse, motherhood to less "obvious" topics such as mental health, sexualization of young women/kids in art and entertainment industry, abortion, LGBT+ rights, disabilities. Really insightful and interesting read. The only thing that bothered me was the way the author entwined in her point of view/subjective thoughts sometimes, like she wanted me to feel a certain way about something. When I read non-fiction I expect objectivity, facts can speak for themselves.
I've decided to go "classy" for march, so I'm gonna (finally!) start In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Idk if I will read the whole series because it's lenghty as hell and currently I prefer shorter books (300 pages in the ideal), but I used to read a huge (like 1000+ pages) books all day every day, so maybe Book Club will revive that long lost love in me, who knows!
So, for now, let's say that Swann's way is the only book that I will definitely read next month.
penel:
Great idea! I've read so many books this way ^^ It's time for both of us to revive this habit :)
I failed to apply it 4 days ago. Maybe some time then.
You could also try audiobooks. For classic books in the public domain, there are available free audiobooks for them.
That's also a good option. I never try audiobooks before but my friend often used this option.
