*This post originally written for email newsletter*
I read a ton this month. I was super burnt out last semester, as it was my first in my Master’s program and online due to covid, so for my six weeks of break, I read for fun as much as I could. Overall I read 61 books in 2020, but this year my goal is 100 which probably won’t happen but I like the challenge. Some minor spoilers for books written a very long time ago.
This month I read 10 books.
Fiction
- Possession by A.S. ByattI won’t lie to you and say I read all those poems, even though as an English major I probably should have. I liked this novel though, it took a while for me to get into but the ending left me in tears. 4 out of 5 lost love letters.
- Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NgI read this in one day. I could not put it down. I loved it. I read Little Fires Everywhere last year and I loved it too, but I think because I went into this book with no idea about the plot and no expectations it just completely took me by surprise. 5 out of 5 science textbooks.
- The Girls by Emma ClineI received this book as a birthday gift years ago and had been siking myself about reading it ever since. No idea why. I liked it a lot, the prose was magnificent and it felt like an unflinching portrayal of being a young teen girl. Also, listen to the podcast You Must Remember This for an awesome series on the Manson murders. 4 out of 5 cults.
- Normal People by Sally RooneyI haven’t watched the show. I liked this. I tried it on audiobook first and could not get through it, but after reading Conversations With Friends and loving it I thought I’d give it another chance. I still like her first book more, but think she writes really interestingly about the millennial experience. I don’t understand how Connell and Marianne can have these deep conversations philosophical conversations after sex but not talking about their feelings/relationship for two seconds. Could’ve avoided a lot of hurt feelings. 3.5 out of 5 hulu adaptations.
YA
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa BashardoustThis was a very good, sapphic retelling of Sleeping Beauty inspired by Persian stories. Some points were a little predictable, but overall I thought this was a really interesting take on what it means to be a villain in a story. 4 out of 5 lesbian fairies.
- Winterwood by Shea ErnshawI loved her debut, The Wicked Deep, and this had a similar vibe. Her writing is so atmospheric and beautiful, and she weaves magic into the real world seamlessly. This book did get repetitive at times, and the bug plot twist seems to be very obvious, but I still really enjoyed following along as the characters figured out the mystery. 3.5 out of 5 moonstone rings.
Non-Fiction
- How To Do Nothing by Jenny OdellI hate social media and want to quit it every day while also being a slave to it forever. I think I expected something different from this book. Still, it is a very interesting take on activism and self-care in how it pertains to the modern technological world. 3.5 out of 5 cabin retreats.
Classics
- Rebecca by Daphne Du MaurierI love Gothic literature and want to study it for school. I still can’t believe it took me this long to read this. It was great! Everyone knows this. I still need to watch the new Netflix movie, though I’ve heard bad things. 4.5 out of 5 sunken boats.
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte BronteThe first book for my Victorian Gothic seminar this semester. My third time reading it. Still amazing, of course. Last semester I wrote a paper about Jane Eyre and Twilight. 5 out of 5 women in my attic.
Memoir
- In The Dream House by Carmen Maria MachadoI still think about Her Body and Other Parties every single day. I will buy and read anything this woman writes. This was so inventive and horrifying and beautiful and it makes me insecure that I will never be as good of a writer. 5 out of 5 traumatic road trips.
Lunar Chapters 