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pixie_rings) wrote2024-04-24 12:22 am
pixie_rings) wrote2024-04-24 12:22 am
Entry tags:
Reading Log #1
So.
I recently (read: last March) got back into actually reading real, physical books. Utterly shocking, I know. The thing with university is that it utterly destroys any wish you had to read in the slightest, given that all you do for work is read (and write). I probably read about two books in my entire four years of university. But it's not just that, it's also just the toxic allure of the internet. Scrolling, especially of the doom kind, is so easy that hours pass in what feels like mere minutes. It's actually quite scary, really, how much time I waste simply scrolling through Tumblr (or utterly destroying my mental health on Twitter). And, let's face it, fanfic is good and fun but it's not the same as a book at all.
So, finding myself with at least forty-five minutes of time to spare in the mornings and evenings on my twice-weekly bus commute to my part time job, I thought I might as well stop staring out the window and listening to podcasts and, like, actually read. It made perfect sense. And so I did.
I was so, so happy to realise I hadn't lost the joy, it was just lying dormant, waiting to be dug up again. It was such a relief, it was like coming home. I'd been missing books, I realised, like there was just a fundamental part of me missing. I used to read so much, what happened? (Well, see paragraph 1.)
I read fifteen books last year. Some were truly great, some were pretty good, others were fine (I do try very hard not to read things I know I won't like, I don't want to waste my time on things I don't find good). I did shimmy out of my comfort zone, which was excellent, and read genres I never had before, being very much stuck in my fantasy bubble. Fifteen might not seem like a lot, but I'd rather read fifteen and allow every word to settle than skim one hundred books like some booktoker who doesn't absorb a single word. There's no point reading to boast. I finished some books I'd started and simply forgotten and picked up some brand new ones.
The downside to this rediscovered love of reading is that, since I also volunteer at a secondhand bookshop, I keep bringing home more books. I will read them, I swear! It's just going to take some time, that's all. I'm a fast reader, but I'm not a prolific reader, and most of my reading is done in 90 minutes on two days of the week. That said, I'm trying to get better at reading at home, as well (as well as juggling my fanfic writing and chronically online tendencies). I admit I do use Goodreads to keep track and do their little reading challenges, but I set mine low. I don't have anything to prove.
It's a nice adventure to be back on, I must say.
Books I read last year under the cut:
Leningrad: Siege and Symphony by Bryan Moynahan
A pretty solid read. The contrast between the horrific events of the siege and Shostakovich writing his Leningrad symphony was very interesting. It always takes me longer to read non-fiction over fiction.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover
The novelisation everyone loves best, and I can see why. It's genuinely a phenomenal read, and even if you know the outcome it doesn't matter, the inevitability of Anakin's fall is still agony. The prose is gorgeous. The only sore spot is Padmé, she is done so dirty in this, just as much as in the movie. I started it in 2022 and put it down because ADHD was kicking my ass. Finishing it had me sitting there, staring into space, trying not to cry on public transport.
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Started this about... two years ago? No idea why I put it down. Honestly I need to reread it, but it was so good. I love dragons, I love history, what's not to love about this?
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
The third book in my absolute favourite book series The Memoirs of Lady Trent, this was no exception. I had so much fun reading it, and it was wonderful to get to know Isabella's son finally. Also, we get to meet my favourite character in this one, Suhail. I love him so much.
The Charioteer by Mary Renault
I'm slowly trawling my way through old queer literature, and after years of searching I finally found this in a charity shop. Reading a queer novel written in the 50s with all the hindight of 2023 was a strange experience, and one I'll no doubt be repeating. In the end, the issue with it is simply that there's only about one likeable, memorable character in the whole story. Alas.
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
Sometimes you have to read a children's book, and somehow I'd reached the ripe old age of 32 and not actually read any Moomin books. Enjoyable, though some of the formatting in the translation felt stilted. I would have gone insane for this when I was seven or eight, I just know it (and I did, in a way, because I loved the Moomins anime as a child).
Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide by Ben White
I'd been putting off learning about this for years. I knew the broad strokes, but I needed more detail. This was an excellent, if exhausting place to start. It is simple, factual and clear, with all the information you might need, and is a good offering if someone is coming in to learning about Palestinian oppression with no other information whatsoever. Made me righteously angry.
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
Pure swashbuckling, let's face it. It's so funny that it's considered a classic when it was the Victorian equivalent of pulp, or modern day booktok garbage. It was a jolly good time, if one overlooks the Victorianness of it all.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My favourite of all the books I read last year. It catapulted itself into my pantheon of favourites. I couldn't put it down, but the weight of it was crushing. Liesel and Max are some of the best characters ever committed to paper. It only took about three hours total for me to finish it, and I treasure it now.
Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich
I don't know how else to put it but Chernobyl is one of my weird dark fixations (I think we all have them). Reading this was sometimes diffcult, but necessary. It is necessary to remember that the things we find interesting had real, human impact, and these people's lives were still completely upside down a whole decade later. I think I will always remember the dog.
The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta
Probably the worst book I read last year. It was vapid and empty, the themes fizzled into nothing and in the end it was just... a waste of time. I get that the author was attempting some vague ooh aah kind of ending but it just was a wet fart, honestly. And the characters were boring and unlikeable.
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
Possibly the definitive book on the matter. It is dense but in the best way possible. Reads fast despite the subject matter, detailed and sharp. I learnt so much from this one, highly recommended.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This was out of my comfort zone; I don't really read crime novels, but this stunned me in a good way. The concept is excellent and the way the book is laid out is intriguing, not to mention the story itself. The unreliability of every single narrator, the way the book lures you into sympathising with the protagonist, and then the doubt it plants in you... Good stuff.
In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan
I had to spoil myself a little before I read this one, because I don't think I could have survived if I hadn't known Isabella and Suhail get married, because I love them so much. Again, just another wonderful installment. And I'm definitely putting off the last book, because I don't want it to end.
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
Ending the year on a necessary downer. It deepened my knowledge of the conflict, which isn't a conflict, it's an oppressive regime attempting to extirpate the native population for its own gain, and an arm of US Imperialism. It really opened my eyes even further than they already had been. Palestinian suffering has been continuous and brutal for a century now. My only gripe is that there is so much to cover Khalidi is forced to not go as in-depth as he should, and thus teeters on the edge between complete history and overview.
I recently (read: last March) got back into actually reading real, physical books. Utterly shocking, I know. The thing with university is that it utterly destroys any wish you had to read in the slightest, given that all you do for work is read (and write). I probably read about two books in my entire four years of university. But it's not just that, it's also just the toxic allure of the internet. Scrolling, especially of the doom kind, is so easy that hours pass in what feels like mere minutes. It's actually quite scary, really, how much time I waste simply scrolling through Tumblr (or utterly destroying my mental health on Twitter). And, let's face it, fanfic is good and fun but it's not the same as a book at all.
So, finding myself with at least forty-five minutes of time to spare in the mornings and evenings on my twice-weekly bus commute to my part time job, I thought I might as well stop staring out the window and listening to podcasts and, like, actually read. It made perfect sense. And so I did.
I was so, so happy to realise I hadn't lost the joy, it was just lying dormant, waiting to be dug up again. It was such a relief, it was like coming home. I'd been missing books, I realised, like there was just a fundamental part of me missing. I used to read so much, what happened? (Well, see paragraph 1.)
I read fifteen books last year. Some were truly great, some were pretty good, others were fine (I do try very hard not to read things I know I won't like, I don't want to waste my time on things I don't find good). I did shimmy out of my comfort zone, which was excellent, and read genres I never had before, being very much stuck in my fantasy bubble. Fifteen might not seem like a lot, but I'd rather read fifteen and allow every word to settle than skim one hundred books like some booktoker who doesn't absorb a single word. There's no point reading to boast. I finished some books I'd started and simply forgotten and picked up some brand new ones.
The downside to this rediscovered love of reading is that, since I also volunteer at a secondhand bookshop, I keep bringing home more books. I will read them, I swear! It's just going to take some time, that's all. I'm a fast reader, but I'm not a prolific reader, and most of my reading is done in 90 minutes on two days of the week. That said, I'm trying to get better at reading at home, as well (as well as juggling my fanfic writing and chronically online tendencies). I admit I do use Goodreads to keep track and do their little reading challenges, but I set mine low. I don't have anything to prove.
It's a nice adventure to be back on, I must say.
Books I read last year under the cut:
Leningrad: Siege and Symphony by Bryan Moynahan
A pretty solid read. The contrast between the horrific events of the siege and Shostakovich writing his Leningrad symphony was very interesting. It always takes me longer to read non-fiction over fiction.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover
The novelisation everyone loves best, and I can see why. It's genuinely a phenomenal read, and even if you know the outcome it doesn't matter, the inevitability of Anakin's fall is still agony. The prose is gorgeous. The only sore spot is Padmé, she is done so dirty in this, just as much as in the movie. I started it in 2022 and put it down because ADHD was kicking my ass. Finishing it had me sitting there, staring into space, trying not to cry on public transport.
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Started this about... two years ago? No idea why I put it down. Honestly I need to reread it, but it was so good. I love dragons, I love history, what's not to love about this?
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
The third book in my absolute favourite book series The Memoirs of Lady Trent, this was no exception. I had so much fun reading it, and it was wonderful to get to know Isabella's son finally. Also, we get to meet my favourite character in this one, Suhail. I love him so much.
The Charioteer by Mary Renault
I'm slowly trawling my way through old queer literature, and after years of searching I finally found this in a charity shop. Reading a queer novel written in the 50s with all the hindight of 2023 was a strange experience, and one I'll no doubt be repeating. In the end, the issue with it is simply that there's only about one likeable, memorable character in the whole story. Alas.
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
Sometimes you have to read a children's book, and somehow I'd reached the ripe old age of 32 and not actually read any Moomin books. Enjoyable, though some of the formatting in the translation felt stilted. I would have gone insane for this when I was seven or eight, I just know it (and I did, in a way, because I loved the Moomins anime as a child).
Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide by Ben White
I'd been putting off learning about this for years. I knew the broad strokes, but I needed more detail. This was an excellent, if exhausting place to start. It is simple, factual and clear, with all the information you might need, and is a good offering if someone is coming in to learning about Palestinian oppression with no other information whatsoever. Made me righteously angry.
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
Pure swashbuckling, let's face it. It's so funny that it's considered a classic when it was the Victorian equivalent of pulp, or modern day booktok garbage. It was a jolly good time, if one overlooks the Victorianness of it all.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My favourite of all the books I read last year. It catapulted itself into my pantheon of favourites. I couldn't put it down, but the weight of it was crushing. Liesel and Max are some of the best characters ever committed to paper. It only took about three hours total for me to finish it, and I treasure it now.
Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich
I don't know how else to put it but Chernobyl is one of my weird dark fixations (I think we all have them). Reading this was sometimes diffcult, but necessary. It is necessary to remember that the things we find interesting had real, human impact, and these people's lives were still completely upside down a whole decade later. I think I will always remember the dog.
The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta
Probably the worst book I read last year. It was vapid and empty, the themes fizzled into nothing and in the end it was just... a waste of time. I get that the author was attempting some vague ooh aah kind of ending but it just was a wet fart, honestly. And the characters were boring and unlikeable.
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
Possibly the definitive book on the matter. It is dense but in the best way possible. Reads fast despite the subject matter, detailed and sharp. I learnt so much from this one, highly recommended.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet
This was out of my comfort zone; I don't really read crime novels, but this stunned me in a good way. The concept is excellent and the way the book is laid out is intriguing, not to mention the story itself. The unreliability of every single narrator, the way the book lures you into sympathising with the protagonist, and then the doubt it plants in you... Good stuff.
In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan
I had to spoil myself a little before I read this one, because I don't think I could have survived if I hadn't known Isabella and Suhail get married, because I love them so much. Again, just another wonderful installment. And I'm definitely putting off the last book, because I don't want it to end.
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
Ending the year on a necessary downer. It deepened my knowledge of the conflict, which isn't a conflict, it's an oppressive regime attempting to extirpate the native population for its own gain, and an arm of US Imperialism. It really opened my eyes even further than they already had been. Palestinian suffering has been continuous and brutal for a century now. My only gripe is that there is so much to cover Khalidi is forced to not go as in-depth as he should, and thus teeters on the edge between complete history and overview.