November Book Report
i finished SIX books this month:))
It’s been soooo long since I’ve read this many books, but for some reason I really knocked it out of the park this month:))
Books I finished in November:
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
Books I’m in the middle of:
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
I won’t lie, I’m struggling through this one… I do love her writing! Just a slow novel, that I’m slowly working through!!
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
I loved Babel and Yellowface! Interesting premise and magic system so far!
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
Another Murakami! If you can’t tell, I’m making my way through his canon
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
Third book in her series which I am obsessed with!!
The Wise Man’s Fear
This is a re-read for me, but my first time listening to it. With the amount of story-telling, I really enjoyed the audiobook version of this book. I think it improves the listening experience, and I normally really prefer bound paper for my reading medium!
If you love fantasy and haven’t read this series, its well worth your time. Even if you don’t love how male fantasy writers write women (side eyeing one person in particular who read this lmao) I believe Rothfuss does a supreme job, especially after reading a female author’s blunders with female rep this year…
Recommend if: you have love for the genre of high fantasy. This book does everything it sets out to do. I have no notes, just sublime fantasy time in this one:)
Kafka on the Shore
My second Murakami novel! I liked this one a lot more than Norwegian Wood, mostly because Norwegian Wood is very, very sad. Additionally, Kafka on the Shore leans into surrealism with talking cats and a truly astounding plot that, somehow, weaves together tightly by the end of the novel, which I enjoyed.
Murakami’s writing is superb! I really loved the narration style in this book, it reminded me of David Mitchell’s control over language and style!!
Recommend if: you’re feeling bored with ‘novels’ and are in search of something a little to the left of ‘normal’.
Ancillary Justice & Ancillary Sword
Ann Leckie…. How have I never heard of her before two weeks ago?? I read this series like I was still in high school and could rebound from all nighters spent reading! I simply couldn’t put these two books down and read the second one in one day!
These books are part of my homework for my next novel, but I did not expect to fall madly in love with Leckie’s writing style and space opera world!
The main character was once a massive Justice, a ship that operated as an arm of the Radch, a people determined to annex as many planets as possible and bring them ‘civilization’. However, something goes terribly wrong and only a tiny piece of Justice of Toren, a single ancillary, is left to fend for itself and survive.
Recommend if: you have the desire to devour three books whole and be starved for more!
Everything is Tuberculosis
Hi. John Green went so hard on this novel and made me cry. He weaves history, research, and personal stories seamlessly into a defense for continued TB research. It’s a novel you walk away from and can’t stop thinking about until you can finish it, and then, long after you finish it, the words within still linger.
There’s something so deeply moving about the author, someone who had no first hand experience with TB until late in life, seeing the destruction it is causing in the world and demanding change. If you don’t know the Green brothers, I don’t know what your algorithm is showing you, but you’re missing out.
Recommend if: you think tuberculosis is a disease we eradicated a century ago. Because it’s not. It’s still here. It could be completely wiped out and we are choosing not to have it cured world-wide.
If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
Did you know that Sappho was primarily known for her music? Sappho is identifiable on clay pottery, because she is always depicted holding a lyre.
None of her music survived to reach us. Only fragments of her poems were miraculously preserved.
Reading this book reminds me of how much is lost to time, lost to translation, but it is also a testament to the resilience we have as humans to continue to love artists in spite of only having tattered remains of their work.
I have a soft spot for Ancient Greek poets and playwrights. Homer, Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus, and now Sappho. But almost all of the plays written by these playwrights are lost to time. Like all of Sappho’s music, I’m filled with hope that we discover some of what the Ancient Greeks wrote, but I’m also encouraged by the care and attention historians put into revitalizing what remains.
Recommend if: you’re curious about Ancient Greek poetry. The footnotes in this book are excellent!!
In Summation
Read!!!! Read everything under the sun!! I feel so much better, can literally feel my brain expand, when the breadth of my reading expands outside of my ‘comfort zone’. I need to read more nonfiction, more poetry, more surrealist fiction, more sci-fi, more fantasy, more, more, more! I hope within this mixed bag of book reviews you may find your next read:)