What books/comics/mangas etc. Did you read in June?
I’ve re-read the first Harry Potter. It’s been so long since I last read it. I felt that it really wasn’t poorly written. Sure it’s a children’s book but i looked reading it. And I’ve started reading flatland
Are there people out there that say it’s poorly written? That’s just not the case at all. It’s a very well-writte book, and that really does help when you dive back in to re-read it after a while.
I guess it’s just a couple people i know IRL that keep insisting that Harry Potter is poorly written. Maybe they’re just upset at the little world building inconsistencies with the Time-Turner and what not, and are not thinking about the language side of things.
Makes sense!
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub - loved it
When We Were Young by Richard Roper - liked it mostly
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - excellent
Family of Liars by E. Lockhart - good, but not as good as We Were Liars
The city and the city - China Miéville.
I finished:
- The Harlem Renaissance by Cary D. Wintz
- L’Âge des low-tech by Philippe Bihouix
- High Rise by J.G. Ballard
- Elle et son chat by Makoto Shinkai
- Judaism: A Very Short Introduction
- Berlin Stories by Robert Walser
I just finished No Longer Human last night. Haven’t breezed through a book like that in quite awhile!
That’s a good one. The prequel to it, The Flowers of Buffoonery, was just recently published. It’s short, but I recommend it.
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Always Coming Home - Ursula K. LeGuin - I absolutely loved this book. I’m still keep thinking about the Kesh people that this book explores. Very strange read, absolutely recommended.
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The Fifth Season - N K Jemisin - Really enjoyed this book. The way it uses perspective was really great. The ending felt okay. I’m definitely going to be picking up the next one sometime soon.
Currently reading Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, which has been a fascinating read thus far, but I’m only halfway through.
After that I’m planning on reading Among Others by Jo Walton (I loved her Thessaly series)
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I have read Our Revolution by Bernie Sanders.
I can recommend it to anyone who are interested in the politics of US. Bernie talked about the main problems in the US. He talked about discrimination, the corruption, populism, wealth distribution and the negative effect of far capitalism overall.
The best bit of the book in my opinion, that you will understand why’s the society so against socialism’s ideas, even if it would significantly improve their life in many cases.
A few Animorphs and the Well of Ascension. I have a few active challenges on Storygraph.
I love Storygraph. Way better than Goodreads imo.
Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe - I really enjoyed this book telling two connected stories that occurred 100 years apart in parallel, centering around a lighthouse in Newfoundland that collapsed into the ocean and the search to find it.
The Weight of Air by David Poses - Autobiographical book advocating for harm reduction approaches in treating addiction. I was sad to see that the author passed away last year, it’s clear that his book has helped a lot of people.
Manna - Marshall Brain
- A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. The audiobook was narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal, the author of the Lady Astronaut books. She did a great job voicing the plucky heroine.
- Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism–and What Comes Next by Bradley Onishi. Pretty much what it says on the tin. A history of white Christian nationalism from the civil rights era to today and why the heck did 80% of evangelicals support a president who was the embodiment of everything they oppose?
- Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward. A good psychological thriller with lots of plot twists.
- In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. This was a re-read and Bryson never disappoints.
- The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa by Jonathan B. Losos. Interesting read.
- The Blighted Stars by Megan E O’Keefe. A lot of different plot lines in this character driven survival story. A solid 3.5 out of 5.
- Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe by Philip Plait. The author paints beautiful pictures of what it would be like to observe the wonders of our solar system and the universe close-up.
I “read” a lot of audiobooks, so I go through titles pretty quickly.
I read The City & The City by China Mieville and some bits of Psychogeography by Will Self.
I would recommend the first one, especially if you like detective stories (and games like Disco Elysium).
I’m not sure about the second, it’s a collection of columns and the throughline isn’t as good as I’d hoped.
Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher - Edward J. Watts
As the title says. The author tries to stress the fact that the book is primarily about her life and work, which always gets overshadowed by her death. It was pretty good as both a book about her, and general Alexandrian life in her age, but quite short (around 150 pages)
Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome: An Anthology - Ian Michael Plant
Contains fragments from ancient women writers about various topics. It was good, but sadly not much was preserved through time, the fragments were often very short.
Oooh this is right up my alley. Was it also an entertaining read, or was it a little dry/difficult to get through? Non-fiction can be really hit or miss for me
Depends on how interested you are, I guess. The Hypatia book wasn’t dry at all, and it’s a pretty good showcase on how people actually used philosophy as a lifestyle. I just wish it had more, but you can only get so much from a limited source. Hypatia was mostly written about to discuss her violent death than how she lived.
The other book I honestly wouldn’t recommend if you’re not actually interested in the topic, because the contents will not entertain anyone by themselves. There are a couple of mostly complete poems and letters, but for the vast majority, the only thing that was preserved was a handful of lines. But to supplement that, the authors provide an introduction to every writer beforehand, so you can get a sense of what was accomplishable for women in that period. It’s a good book in that sense, but not very entertaining by itself.
Tte Hypatia one I recommend wholeheartedly to anyone who’s interested.
Hopped around a few different genres but really enjoyed all the books I read in June:
- The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent
- The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
I read the Broadbent one! How did you like the second book compared to the first? I feel like the one thing that kinda fell flat is that every fight was described as the hardest fight ever, so when the last battle came the author was just rehashing those same descriptions.
Still, I enjoyed the story, and those books were far more well-written than most in the Romantacy genre.
I really enjoyed it! I’m not sure I liked it as much as the first one, I think the pacing in that one for me was a little bit better, but am excited to see what Broadbent writes next in that world. I’m newer to the Romantacy genre (have only read the ACOTAR series and Fourth Wing) but have already had a lot of fun with the books I’ve read so far.
Working on three body problem. I dont know if anyone else have a hard time with translated works, but I always feel like some part of the book is missing when translated. Like iboixk up on a few context clues that something should be known.
Anyways I’m enjoying it, just lots of extra lookin things up, makes it a bit tedious.
Yeah, I’m about a third of the way into it and thinking that the translation presents a small barrier.
I’m reading on a ebook, so I get clickable footnotes sometimes, usually though it’s mostly for common facts a chinese reader would have. Dont know if there are different translations or not.
