Hi there, friends! 

How times flies, it's already September :O

Hope everyone had a great month of August, with the best to come in what remains of 2022.

Sharing my reading update...

August 2022: Ministry of Moral Panic

The short stories' format is always easy to manage and the slice-of-life themes conveyed in this book are rather endearing and quite uplifting, in a humorous manner. It's always interesting reading real life stories from perspectives that differ widely, although it's based on my neck of the neighbourhood. For visitors/ readers from other countries, they might glean some interesting insights into life in this part of the world through this book.

September 2022: Dumb Luck

For this month, I'll be reading my first Vietnamese novel, written by Vũ Trọng Phụng (edited and translated by Peter Zinoman). Banned in Vietnam until 1986, this 1936 novel supposedly provides a critical and satirical glimpse of late colonial Vietnam.

Have a lovely September ahead, folks!  <3

 MichaKu:
@Kura2Ninja: Aru Shah sounds interesting, did you also read the former books ? Are they as good ?

Yeah, they're good. But since they're basically books for tweens, I don't know if you're going to like it, hahaha. If you're interested in retellings of Indian classics, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions is a good one, if you haven't read it already.

During the summer, I traveled a lot so I read little, 2 classic books and another contemporary French novel.

William Faulkner is my favorite novelist from the USA, so I wanted to read "The Sound and the Fury" for a long time. The novel has a fragmented narrative, from different times and from multiple perspectives (inner monologues), that tell the painful story of a family and their servants in the southern United States at the beginning of the 20th century. I found this novel breathtaking, I first started it without having read anything about it but I did not understand anything. So I read a little summary to at least know the characters before continuing, personally it allowed me to really appreciate the novel.

I read "Le Journal d'un curé de campagne" (the diary of a country priest) by Georges Bernanos because I had heard a lot about this author and I had seen a beautiful movie adapted from his work. I found it also breathtaking, the writing is very beautiful, and this story of a priest, son of a proletarian who finds himself in charge of a small parish in the interwar period is very touching. The story is in the form of a diary, where the priest who wishes to bring religion back to his parish will find himself confronted with the hostility and lack of faith of the villagers.

Sophia Aouine's short novel "Rhapsodie des oubliés" (Rhapsody of the Forgotten), is a raging story that evokes the life of the young Abad, whose family, Lebanese refugee, lives in a infamous district of Paris. The book largely uses street language and presents a whole gallery of endearing characters with often very difficult lives. The idea of a work that evokes the lives of the forgotten of Paris really interests me, and even if sometimes the story is a little fast I found it tender and touching.

Hi everyone. I joined I think about a year ago but kept failing all my reading goals and feeling a bit sheepish. Ever since I got addicted to dramas, the only series I could get into was the Grave Robber's Chronicles. I used to be a book addict too.  Anywho, lately, I have been suffering from insomnia, so my only goal is to read during the times  I can't sleep. I picked up this one for some light reading to ease my way in. 

Science and six-pack abs XD

Happy September to my fellow Book Club members!  After flying through 3 Taylor Caldwell books - nearly 2000 pages - I seem to have hit a wall with my latest attempt. It is called This Side of Innocence and while I am a couple hundred pages in, it is not as gripping as the other three. I am still waiting to see where it intends to go. But I will keep plugging along! This club has done me a world of good!

 jubies33:

Hi everyone. I joined I think about a year ago but kept failing all my reading goals and feeling a bit sheepish. Ever since I got addicted to dramas, the only series I could get into was the Grave Robber's Chronicles. I used to be a book addict too.  Anywho, lately, I have been suffering from insomnia, so my only goal is to read during the times  I can't sleep. I picked up this one for some light reading to ease my way in. 

Science and six-pack abs XD

Was it good??

 namsham:

Was it good??

The main character was childish and a mess, her love interest was boring, and some of the dialogue was cringe. It got good ratings on Goodreads, but I guess I'm in the minority. I would rate it a 2/5 if I could even drag myself to finish it. It's way too long for what it is. 

The good news is that I gave it up for this, which so far has been far more interesting.


 Sold at the first line " A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves." XD

 

 hHey guys! It's been months since I visited here haha sorry I just got too busy in my textbooks that i didn't get enough time to focus on my beloved novels. Although I did manage to read a few and am gonna read a few more in my upcoming holiday. Anyways gonna write my thoughts about the ones in read in the past months :

The sevens dial mystery by Agatha Chritie

I've probably never told y'all before but i love Agatha Christie. I'm pretty good at guessing who the killer is in murder mysteries but I am always wrong in her novels. She always manages to surprise me and i love the way she creates this whole environment and scenarios. Like it always feels like a spider's web. I obviously loved this one too.

My rating : ⭐⭐⭐

The god of small things by Arundhati Roy

This novel is about familial saga surrounding around two twins from Kerala specifically set in the time period of 1969. It discusses a lot of taboo hidden topics in a Indian family of a typical Indian family but it mostly talks about the practice of untouchability in India. More like it showcases it in the most beautiful way possible. The writing of this book is so poetic. Every issue is written so subtly yet it hits your heart. Unfortunately, i only got time to read this novel in between period breaks in school and due to the commotion the students caused, i couldn't concentrate and appreciate the beauty of the writing more. There's one particular scene that's sucked in my mind. I won't describe it since it would be a spoiler but my god it's forever gonna be with me.

My rating : ⭐⭐⭐


SAYE by Wu Zhe

This novels is about a high school student Jiang Cheng who's got quite the temper and how he has to move to a small town in a small highschool in middle of highschool because he found out that the people he has spent 16 years of his life were not his real parents and now he has to live with his alcoholic dad in this small town cuz his adopted parents - well abandoned him. Oh that's just the premise of the story. The story is about how he meets love in this isolated miserable place - Gu Fei who himself has his own set of problems but with love they heal each other.

See basically i love hurt/comfort so this novel was written for me ok. The novel is both sad and fluffy. It showcases a lot of harsh realities pretty well, doesn't sugar-coat anything but the main couple is the absolute cutest. Like I love them so much, both individually  and together. And the main thing is there's no power imbalance, no misunderstandings, they actually know how to communicate. They might not be the best at it since they are just teenagers but they atleast try. I love the fact that they switch, I'm just so tired of seeing gay couples in the media just sticking to one role, like if i I wanted hetreonormitvitty i would have gone to watch a straight drama no ?

Anyways i just love everything about this novel. It's pretty dark tho so like read the trigger warnings before reading it.

My rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Heaven's official blessing by MXTX

Oh my god the absolute love of my life. This is my recent read and I'm just obsessed with it. It's just perfect. ok it's not really perfect but the minor flaws can be avoided cuz the main story is just so ???? good!!!

I'm not gonna tell the plot of this one cuz it's gonna be long lol just know that

"The scrap collecting god who is the laughing stock of the three realms is married to the scariest ghost kind in existence : crimson rain sought flower!!! Haha"

That was in the official synopsis. Ok so this novel is so much more than a love story, it's a fantasy about gods and ghosts ok but it's so much more than that. It's a story about gods but I think it explores human emotions way better than any novel about actual humans could. It has a lot of themes but it's main theme is about kindness : how overuse of kindness can destroy you, how you should use it. How not everyone in this world is kind but some...really are...

This novel has just such greats themses, humane characters ( despite them not being human haha ), plot twists and the romance oh my it's so good.My rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

 Ashu:
Hey guys! It's been months since I visited here haha sorry I just got too busy in my textbooks that i didn't get enough time to focus on my beloved novels.

Glad to see you back here and in the feeds!
I'm also a fan of Agatha Christie and similar types of murder mysteries and I did enjoy Arundhati Roy's novel when I read it years ago, though I don't remember much now.

Intrigued by your comments about the other two books you read!

Happy Fall fellow readers!  Doesn't feel like fall where I am, but that's what the calendar says.  XD

A New York Times Best Seller and a book Entertainment Weekly said was best in a decade.  Absolutely gripping, enlightening, terrifying, and well researched.  The core story is a widowed mother of 10 who was "disappeared".  PRK weaves together all of the pertinent characters and details magnificently.  



This is an uplifting book that has taken me awhile to finish.  


 The Butterfly:
This is an uplifting book that has taken me awhile to finish.  

I like how you manage to swift from dark, gripping and terrifying to uplifting and healing so fast!

 penel:

I like how you manage to swift from dark, gripping and terrifying to uplifting and healing so fast!

Just like my drama watching! XD

(Emojis still don’t work in forums I guess lol)

 The Butterfly:

Just like my drama watching! 😄

Exactly!!! 🤣

This month I reread the graphic novel anthology Mañana. I skipped a few stories on my second read and really enjoyed rereading some of the others.
I finally finished Dragon Wing by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I'm not tempted to read the second book, though there was one beautifully haunting scene here (if anyone is familiar, it's the exploration of the statue). I have a feeling I'll end up rereading that chapter at some point. There's a strong feeling of wisdom in some of the dialogue that I appreciate.
I already read the webnovel, but of course I have to read the official translation as well. Surprisingly one my favorite archs was also the part I struggled to get through. Still not sure why. Maybe I'm tired of Xue Yang? Or maybe I just remember it too well. It's easier to rewatch shows if I can't remember the storyline. Maybe it's the same thing with reading. Anyway, when I finally got into the groove of reading, I had fun with it.

Very much looking forward to starting TGMoDC vol 3 once I finish up a few more of books. I have one major book I want to finish first so I can return it to an ex co-worker before I start it. Also reading a few graphic novel anthologies as well, which is always fun. Might even finish one of them today, though I'll probably update it next month instead if I remember.


 Ashu:
Heaven's official blessing by MXTX

Oh my god the absolute love of my life. This is my recent read and I'm just obsessed with it. It's just perfect. ok it's not really perfect but the minor flaws can be avoided cuz the main story is just so ???? good!!!

Ahhh I love the review. I'm waiting until all the volumes are out before I start this though I did already watch the donghua. Can't wait to give it a go!

Happy October! I'm starting a new book for a new month! Edward Rutherfurd's London: "a historical novel which charts the history of London from 54 B.C. to 1997".