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**Moby-Dick or, The Whale, by Herman Melville** started
**The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison** started
**Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence** finished
I knew next to nothing about modernist literature, other than Joyce. This was a great read. Not as erotic as the blurb suggested, more a social critique, though I liked the poetic parts too.
**1984, by George Orwell** finished
Revisited after ~15 years, reading most other Orwell’s books and a lot more political history, as well as parts from *The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell’s 1984 by Dorian Lynskey*. I’ve recognized more references and the structure similar to *A Clergyman’s Daughter* to name a few examples.
Was it a good read? Yes. Realistic? Partially. Comparing it to accounts from North Korea which is about as close as it gets. Overrated? Sure as hell.
ENDED
**CAMASCA: Un lugar consagrado al dios, by Melvin Cantarero**
Yeah, this was lesser than what I thought it’d be. I usually prefer books on the shorter end, partially because I’m lazy and partially because there’s less chance of “useless” (not only in terms of serving the narrative, mind you) sections in them. But with this semi-novel trying to explain the town’s history, its local myths/legends, *and* a particular family’s history (it’s semi autobiographical), you end up with things spread thin. It’s never terrible, but I felt extremely detached from any named character, which is doubly concerning given how I can connect with characters in single-page stories.
STARTED
**Una historia divertida, by Emily Henry**
(Original title: Funny Story)
Joined a book club and this is what we ended up choosing after we landed on “romantic comedy”. This is not my usual jam for literature, and, three chapters in, I guess this won’t be a taste shifter for me. It’s mildly amusing, but I feel that since I’m not a white woman from the US Midwest, finding the little details from the protagonist’s life relatable, I just won’t be giving more than a chuckle.
P.S. Reading this in the form of a machine translated document since the one local bookstore which carried it had it at an “expensive” price. Strangely that lets me guess what idioms Henry was using, though I highly doubt I’m guessing some clever wordplay.
Finished:
**The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Sallinger**
Somewhat liked it, but was a bit frustrated reading, which I think was mainly due to wanting better for Holden, and give him the talk, that he got from his former teacher, much sooner. Related somewhat to the feeling of being a lost teenager, not really a child and not totally a child, and being not in control of ones emotions.
**Book 5 of Paradise Lost**
So I ventured on. The age old question of free will vs. predestination. It’s still very hard read, and I was very tired when reading it, so might not have fully understood
I started:
**Once and future king, by T.H. White**
Never really been much into the whole King Arthur mythos, but somehow still found it kind of fascinating with its longevity and I sort of knew, that I’d have loved it so much had I entered it the world when I was younger, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
This week I read **Call and Response, by Gothataone Moeng**. It is a collection of short stories about the lives of ordinary people in Botswana. Very good.
Hello!!
I finished reading:
**Northanger Abbey** by Jane Austen.
I enjoyed it but I’m not sure it’s my favourite of her works. I think that’s still Pride & Prejudice or Emma.
**Lyrebird** by Jane Caro.
A detective novel that actually went into some really murky territory and handled it sensitively. My first detective/crime novel actually.
I started reading:
**The Picture of Dorian Gray** by Oscar Wilde.
My first impressions are good. I haven’t met the man of the hour yet, but I like the writing style and the author’s voice.
Finished:
**All the Lovers in the Night, by Mieko Kawakami**
Started:
**Return of the Crimson Guard, by Ian C. Esslemont**
**Shards of Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold.** Returning to an old favourite! Yay!
**The Martian, by Andy Weir.** A truly outrageous amount of effort for potatoes
**Embassytown, by China Mieville.** No matter how hard I try I have only the vaguest idea of what the Hosts are supposed to look like.
**Lorna Doone, by R. D. Blackmore.** I know I owned a copy of this as a child – I was the kind of kid you COULD give books like this too, I’ve always been fine with old/idiosyncratic diction – but I have no memory of ever finishing it, so I’m kind of going in blind even though I KNOW I’ve read this before