June: What Did I Read?

For the first time in a while, a really busy reading month! I've finally managed to get back to the library so I've borrowed loads of books I've wanted to read for a while, finished two books that I've been slogging through for months, and read my first ever book in a foreign language! It's been very exciting.

Another library book, I picked up The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Crime fiction is my favourite ever genre of books and I love to laugh (what a stupid thing to say- who doesn't), so this was a real delight. Each of the characters was just so sweet and I honestly just wanted to make them all a cup of tea. Also, the twists and turns in the mystery were really fun. I know some people are annoyed by the ending but honestly I'm just excited for a sequel- I couldn't get enough. Osman is very funny. I gave this 5 stars just because it was so entertaining. I love books that are just a whirlwind of escapism and this was exactly that.

Then I read Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. This gets 4 stars; it was very good but not quite best books ever territory. It was dark and disturbing in the fun way but also very tender- I do love female love. Even if it is as toxic as Merricat and Constance. Uncle Julian was a highlight for me- what a fun, mystery solving guy. Cousin Charles kind of reminded me of the Uncle from Stoker. The ending of this was absolutely horrifying but absolutely terrific. Those poor sisters. Jackson definitely has a talent for the macabre and hopefully her other book is still in the library somewhere! 

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi was incredibly bizarre but in the best way possible. I love weird things; Twin Peaks being one of my new favourite TV shows ever. And the way Choi blended the fun of a teen drama with the absolute stomach-churning horror of what happened to somebody was just genius. Now, I'll admit that the final section was just absurd but that's only enough to knock it down to 4 stars. I think I would definitely read this again I feel like there's a lot I could get out of reading it more closely. And it was really well-written. There's just something about books set in a performing arts school that is better than a book set anywhere else. And I just had such an affection for 'Sarah' and 'Karen'. I definitely want to read My Education soon.

This month I finally finished the monster that is Paolo Lins' City of God. And my god: what a monster it was. It was definitely well-written and it's obvious that Lins did all of the research that he did in the favela, but I just had some major issues with it. Mainly the characters. First of all, why were there so many of them? I couldn't keep any of them straight and I had the same issue that I had with Trainspotting: I couldn't remember all of their stupid nicknames. Plus some of the violence in this was just horrifying. And unnecessary: that scene of an unnamed character who appears once to murder his baby was deeply disturbing on so many levels. The many, many rapists who made up the leads were also unappreciated and I was so annoyed by the fact my absolute least favourite survived almost until the very end. But at the same time, Lins absolutely brought the City of God to life in this and his language was brilliant. So it gets 3 stars and I will never read it again.

For months now, I've been trying to keep ahead of my French class as we read Delphine de Vigan's No et Moi. There were many times that I almost fell behind but I made it! And although I could barely read more than 4 pages a day, I got through the entire book. In French. I'm so proud of myself you wouldn't believe. In English, I probably never would have read this. But I'm glad I did. De Vigan clearly had a lot to say about homelessness and she did so in a very clever way. The voice of a 13 year old was weirdly well done and I just wanted to hold Lou's hand and tell her it would all be okay. I almost cried many a time. The language was strangely beautiful at times. This novel was very alive, although it fell apart for me at the end. Whilst I think what No did was absolutely the right move, the way it happened was incredibly out of character. And having the last page of the entire heartfelt, important story be a 17 year old boy kissing a 13 year old girl was just gross and unnecessary. That absolutely did not need to happen and the page before it was miles better. But a good book all the same; solid 4 stars. Not sure how much there is to be analysed thougha. My French teacher wants us to read more of her books, and I probably will.

Remember I said that I was falling down a Margaret Atwood spiral? Cat's Eye was my second step. And it was just as incredible as The Blind Assassin. It was definitely a painful experience- Atwood brought the toxic female friendship just a little bit too close to home- but I really loved it. Art has always been a hobby of mine, so the way she brought it into the story was delightful to me. I felt so protective of Elaine throughout and the story was so heartwrenching. Like I said in my last post, Atwood clearly cares a lot about her female protagonists and it's beautiful to read. And I'm pretty sure that this book gave me a religious awakening; when Elaine thought she had been rescued by The Virgin Mary and was thinking about praying to her, it just felt so real. 

Should I even review Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club? The rules say that I shouldn't but I'm going to do it anyway. I have yet to watch the film but I am looking forward to it: I am a Brad Pitt lover at heart. This book was a dark, hallucinogenic nightmare and I never had any idea where it was going. Aside from the fact I knew the major twist all along because who doesn't these days? It was honestly kind of horrifying but it's an absolutely incredible take on toxic masculinity. 4 out of 5 stars. I'm genuinely a huge Marla stan. 

I'm sorry if this makes me a disappointment to literature, but I was kind of let down by Ariel by Sylvia Plath. Some of the poems were incredible, beautiful, meaningful works of art. And the rest, I can admit, I definitely was not smart enough for. But I did really like Lady Lazarus, if that's not too basic. 

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce was everything I was expecting and more. Because I knew it was a literary masterpiece, but I wasn't actually expecting to enjoy it. As with Ariel, I was thinking it might have been too clever for me. And also too early 20th century. But I loved it. Such beautiful language, such a wonderful protagonist, such brilliant musings on art and life and love. Plus the thoughts about religion- I had my second awakening of the month. That several page monologue of the priest talking about hell genuinely reached down into my soul. Also, for some reason, the line 'O, come all you Roman Catholics That never went to mass' really means something to me. Perhaps it reminds me of my dad, or I'm just being too deep about a joke song from a book. But I loved this book. Nobody does literature quite like the Irish.

I think I would've liked Tayari Jones' An American Marriage much more if the ending and central three characters weren't so awful. Because it's an interesting concept and the families of these characters were really interesting but I just could not enjoy the story when the ones I'm supposed to be sympathising for are so ridiculous. I get an unlikeable protagonist, but these lot were just stupid. How are you cheating and then moaning about being cheated on? Why are you stringing two men along for literal years? Why are you such a wet blanket? All questions I had. And the ending was a real copout, as though the author wasn't sure which angle to take and decided to just go for all of them. But the writing was really beautiful and this story truly gets under your skin (I'm certain that I cried) so I gave it 3.5 stars out of 5. I think this author will go far.

Promising Young Women by Caroline O'Donoghue proves exactly the point I made when talking about A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The Irish make great literature. I'd been wanting to read something by O'Donoghue for a while and when this appeared in the library, I snapped it up. Just pointing out: it has nothing to do with the film. But it is terrific: 5 out of 5 stars. The way the atmosphere slowly shifts from slightly unconventional rom-com to straight up psychological horror was masterful. And Clem. My god he's slimy. His character arc was just awful I hate him so much. But I love Jane and the agony aunt angle was so much fun I've never really seen that before in literature. Also I appreciated the insight into the working world of Literature graduates and Marketing. Again, some of the elements of were extremely bizarre but I love things like that. Give me wacky and almost unbelievable any day of the week. Modern Gothic is alive and well in this novel.