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This year I couldn't read that many books because of the thesis, but I read some, aside from everything I recommended under the section On Reading, from my profile in case you want to check it out.
· A Little Life- Hanya Yanagihara: my controversial opinion is that it was meh. I was expecting to have a divisive opinion like almost all of the people who read it but I thought the conversations were a bit monotonous and because there's a behavioral pattern that goes for 800 pages, I sort of already knew what to expect. Like every time Jude feels a little bit of happiness I would go in my head like all right, what's the other traumatic event that follows?😒 It didn't need to be 800 pages long but I still enjoyed the plot.
· Blindness-José Saramago: José Saramago is such a good writer for chaos. Loved Death with Interruptions as well. I think these are two of my favorite books.
· Carmilla-Sheridan Le Fanu. Loved it. I'm biased because I love vampires, but still. Now I want to read Carmen María Machado's edition I found out exists because someone commented it to me under their post.
· Cat Person-Kristen Roupenian. One of my favorite short stories.
· Heaven-Mieko Kawakami: the descriptions of bullying were pretty brutal but there's something about this book that made me go meh. Maybe it's because I thought it was so matter of fact that I didnt feel the prose was particularly moving.
· How To Win Friends And Influence People-Dale Carnegie. (My humiliation rituals are not for you to comment on). I've applied some of the advice and it works, who would've known?
· Soy Una Tonta por Quererte-Camila Sosa Villada. Read this collection of short stories after her book Bad Girls, which remains superior before my eyes, even though I enjoyed most of the stories.
· The Garden of Time-JG Ballard. Read this because I wanted to understand that MET Gala theme. Enjoyed it.
· The Yellow Wallpaper-Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Probably my favorite short story ever.
Jan 1, 2025
Related Recs
The books I'm donating + the reasons I'm giving them away:
Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne: Picture this. I'm a child whose father used to be rich in the 1800s. "Papa, would you read to me before a I get tuberculosis?" my father would always read me this story before bed. When he died, my evil uncle took all the fortune for himself, leaving me to die at an orphanage. Except I didn't die. I got hired to do forced labor for a mine. With only but this book to entertain myself. This is the only way I could see myself liking this book. No internet. Children without phones, inhaling the dust of the mines they're under. Very boring otherwise. Beautiful edition, though.
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, John Gray: One thing about me from the past? I would read anything that claimed to have sold millions of copies out of simple curiosity. The only thing I registered from this book, is that you need to speak to men like they're babies.
El Almohadón de plumas y Otros Cuentos, Horacio Quiroga: a short story collection, mostly about death. This Uruguayan author has been compared to Edgar Allan Poe. No idea if he also married his underage cousin. I liked maybe two or three stories out of the 12 that are in this book. Very boring. Not worth keeping.
La Rebelión De Las Ratas, Fernando Soto Aparicio: I consider this book to be very important because it displays a heartbreaking depiction of poverty under capitalism in Colombia, particularly when gringos first arrived to this country, entitled already, to the mines they would extract resources from. It's a heartbreaking and emotional thing when the author talks about poverty, but it gets constantly disrupted by the severe Madonna-whore complex he got going on, especially when he wants to talk about tits. It's giving "she breasted boobily down the stairs".
Soy Una Tonta Por Quererte, Camila Sosa Villada: Another short story collection. Wasn't for me. Loved her book Bad Girls: A Novel and I've recommended it before. I don't think short stories are for me, unless there aren't many. I liked two or three stories. The rest were fine but I didn't love.
Untamable, Glennon Doyle: I read it and liked it. It's messy and interesting enough. Got it. It's time for someone else to get it.
Heaven, Mieko Kawakami: The descriptions of bullying in this book are very brutal. Maybe this is a cultural shock, but the problem is that they're so matter of fact, I struggle to care. It's almost as if the author distances herself by having it be examined under a very clinical lens.
5d ago
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Joan Didion.
Camila Sosa Villada.
Mona Awad.
Ottessa Moshfegh.
Yukio Mishima.
Mary Gaitskill.
Books I'm currently reading and liking so far:
A Little Life-Hanya Yanagihara.
Carmilla-Sheridan Le Fanu.
Hunger-Martín Caparrós.
Books I've read in the past and liked:
Mist-Miguel de Unamuno.
Bad Girls-Camila Sosa Villada.
Bunny-Mona Awad.
Death In Her Hands-Ottessa Moshfegh.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation-Ottessa Moshfegh.
Animal-Lisa Taddeo.
This Is Pleasure-Mary Gaitskill.
Running With Scissors-Augusten Burroughs.
Cultish-Amanda Montell.
So You've Been Publicly Shamed-Jon Ronson.
Rosario Tijeras-Jorge Franco.
Educated-Tara Westover.
Maus-Art Spiegelman.
Sep 24, 2024
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1. 🐰Bunny by Mona Awad
2. 🌕 The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
3. 🐍 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
4. 🕷️ Moon Witch Spider King by Marlon James
5. 🏛️ Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
6. 💍 Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
7. 💰Trust by Hernan Diaz
8. ⛴️ What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
9. 💛 Yellow face by R.F. Kuang
10. 🥲 Real Life by Brandon Taylor
11. 📥 Temporary by Hillary Leichter
12. 🔪 Death by a Thousand Cuts by Shashi Bhat
13. 🌳 Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
14. 🏊🏻♂️ Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith
15. ⏱️ Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodniov
16. 🙏 Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein
17. 🧛🏻♂️ Dracula by Bram Stoker
18. 👯♀️ Sisters by Daisy Johnson
19. 🌺 Twice Lost by Phyllis Paul
20. 🍑 The Membranes by Chi Ta-Wei
In all honesty, everything was good and worth reading! #7 through #17 are all on equal ground. Happy reading!
Dec 20, 2024
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