BI-WEEKLY READING WRAP-UP (MARCH EDITION PT.1)
Hi guys, how are you all doing this fine Tuesday?
Too weird of an intro? Alright, I'll tone it down next time. I'm not even sure why I do these intros because every time it is really just me, telling you, that here I am, once again, back with another bi-weekly reading wrap up.
What have I read thus far in the month of March? I've read 4 books so far and they have caused me to experience quite the range of emotion. So let's get right to it.
First up we have a bomb of a novel, The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi.
The book is about our protagonist, Vivek Oji, and at the start of the book he has died. As if this was not evident from the title. The book explores Vivek's relationships with his friends and family during his life and ponders over the question, do you ever really know someone?
Despite its short length, this novel was filled to the brim with description, character development, and an unrelenting heaviness. Kavita's, Vivek's mother, characterization is phenomenal. She is easily the most sympathetic character in the novel, aside from Vivek of course. Throughout the book, I felt entirely disconnected from Vivek, but upon reflection I realize that this was done with purpose. It aligns with the main question of the novel, did anyone really know Vivek throughout his life?
Emezi is supremely talented and I will definitely be checking out more from them in the future. Would I recommend? 100% yes.
Next up I read The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
I literally could not tell you the plot of this book. I know that there are twins, Rahel and Estha, and at the beginning of the book Rahel is returning to her hometown in Kerala after many years abroad in the U.S and away from her twin bother Estha. But then the plot mostly dwells on the family in 1969. There are a cast of characters, all of whom I was not a fan of. We go into the history and internal workings of each member of the family and their relationship with each other and at the crux of it all, an accident changes everything.
It is very evident that Arundhati Roy is a good writer. She really is a master of words. She does a great job of making you feel as if you were experiencing everything in this particular moment in time. However, I felt constantly inundated with description that had no purpose or point. Now I'm a fan of descriptive writing. I mean Haruki Murakami and Hanya Yanigahara are two authors whom I really enjoy and both of them are very much descriptive authors. However, I must draw the line when an author starts describing pee in a toilet. The over-descriptive nature of the book added to the disjointedness of the plot. I just felt confused most of the time and unable to understand which direction we were going in. Sometimes roaming aimlessly through a book is fine, however here, it felt strange. This book made me uncomfortable, but not in a good way. In a way that I probably would have stopped reading it had I not physically owned it.
Following this, I read My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier.
Daphne du Maurier is a British novelist from the mid-1900s. Her novel, My Cousin Rachel, was published in 1951. Good lord, this book.
du Maurier is like a master of suspense. Alfred Hitchcock, who is literally known as THE master of suspense, based a few of his films off of du Maurier's novels, most notably 'Rebecca'. So I was really looking forward to reading this, and du Maurier did NOT disappoint.
The novel follows Philip Ashley, and his relationship with his cousin's wife, Rachel. Philip is raised by his cousin Ambrose Ashley and is super close to him, to the point where Ambrose treats Philip more like his son than cousin. One summer, Ambrose goes to Italy, and though he's never had any inclination to get married, he spontaneously gets married to a woman named Rachel. Philip smells something fishy about Rachel, and when Ambrose unexpectedly dies, Philip thinks Rachel might have something to do with it.
du Maurier's character development is the gold standard. The relationship between Philip and Rachel changes so slowly and occurs so naturally that you can't help but marvel at the author's skill. 10/10, would recommend.
The most recent book I finished was The Pisces by Melissa Broder.
Oh where do I start with this book? Do I start by telling you that it was the weirdest book I've read in my life? Or do I tell you that it might be possibly be the most enjoyable 3 star book I've read? Also, since it's pisces season (and written by a woman), I just had to read it.
Alright let me just start with a brief premise. So we are following this woman named Lucy, who has been in this PhD program for 9 years and after she breaks up with her boyfriend she essentially hits rock bottom. Her sister, Annika, invites Lucy to housesit for her and watch her dog while she and her husband go on vacation. Lucy goes to group therapy, goes on Tinder dates, all while trying to make progress on her dissertation. Then she meets this late night swimmer named Theo and sparks start to fly. However, this is NOT a romance. I know what you're thinking, Lucy meets Theo and then bam, romance. Nope. Thats not it.
This book is very, very, very, weird. However, it is also highly entertaining. Lucy is this self-destructive, terrible person. But I don't think the author's intention was to get you to like her. I think you aren't supposed to like Lucy, but you are supposed to see parts of yourself in her. When Lucy goes on these inner monologues on what it means to love and what it means to pine for a feeling that may not exist, you can understand where she's coming from. This book is 100% not for everyone and I would be very careful to whom I'd recommend this to. If you want to read a book about a terrible, self-sabotaging woman who is in many ways very relatable and you're okay with some visceral, at some points gross, imagery, perhaps you are the audience for this book.
So those are all the books I've read so far in March. I'm currently in the middle of a few more, but really I can't be sure of what I'm actually going to finish by the end of March. Hopefully all of you participating in this month's themed reading (mystery/thrillers, books written by women) are enjoying your selection of books! For the month of April, the tentative themes that I've selected are:
1. Books about nature, or are Spring-themed
So books that take place in the Spring (perhaps have the words 'April' or 'Spring' in the title?), or books about people and the outdoors, or also just books about nature in general.
2. Your fav's backlist (aka. A book by one of your favorite authors that you haven't read yet)
So select a few of your favorite authors and read a book that you've never read by them. For instance, one of my favorite authors is John Steinbeck, so I'm thinking of reading a book by him that I've never read, "Cannery Row". If you happen to be completing the 2021 Reading challenge, you'll notice that this is directly tied to challenge #3. You're welcome!
So, there you have it folks. If you enjoyed this, let me know. If you didn't, also let me know. I won't mind. Happy reading!
