Drama-Lovers Book Club

This month I read Dictatorship: It's Easier than You Think

It was an interesting book, but it felt like it left out a lot of context for the sake of its message, which was a little disappointing. I have recommended it to one person, but I don't think it's something I would generally recommend to most people. I find the snarky sarcasm kind of entertaining, and it was a pretty informative read. There were some ways of looking at dictatorships I wasn't accustomed to, but they were fairly interesting. Also it was missing some dictators that I was hoping to see mentioned :(

I'm reading a few other books at the same time too, but haven't had a lot of time to sit down with them as I became too obsessed with a drama and actually had a busy social life this month. Hopefully I'll finish one of my other books next month.

Hey y'all! For August, I did a lot of reading but officially completed two books (*), both from Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling/Trinity series: Storm Echo and Resonance Surge. With these two, I'm now caught up with the series. I liked both books, but I'm a little concerned with the way the author is now making the couples go the insta-love route; most of the romances in the original series (Trinity is like a spin-off or a season two) had more build-up and were more organic. The world-building and overall series cohesion is still really good, though I think it's more than time to move the Scarab arc along. Thankfully, after Resonance Surge, it looks like there may be some forward movement on that front. 4/5 stars for both books.

(*I also did quick and dirty rereads (i.e., heavy skimming) of all the books in the series, except for Last Guard, which is on hold at the library. I love the Psy-Changeling world and I never get tired of revisiting.)

Can I mention Wattpad stories

3 books for the month of August :

I embarked on "Our share of night" ("Nuestra parte de noche"), after reading several good reviews about the author Mariana Enriquez. This rather dark and gothic novel evokes occult societies and the evil that has plagued Argentina in recent decades but also partly in England. The story is long, dark but very gripping, and we are very attached to the fate of the rather ambiguous characters. What I also liked is that the story is not disconnected, there are many references to the history of Argentina, a country I want to discover more. I want to read her little stories " the dangers of smoking in bed".

I still read some Polish literature as I have a Polish friend with whom we sometimes discuss books and whom she had met Olga Tokarczuk. So I read "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" ("Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych") . It is a detective novel, where mysterious crimes occur in a small hamlet in Poland and we follow the investigation through the eyes of our heroine, Janina Doucheyko, a resident of the hamlet, animal lover. I didn't really hook, maybe because I found it was very talkative and the characters weren't very nuanced. I read it quickly and didn't think about it too much.

Then I read "mother of milk and honey" ("Madre de leche y miel") by Najat El Hachmi, a Spanish author of Moroccan origin. The time of the story alternates between Fatima's childhood in a small village in the Rif in Morocco, and later Fatima tells of her departure with her daughter for Spain, and describes her Catalan life. It is really a very beautiful novel with strong characters that evokes several types of domination that Fatima will face (patriarchal society, racism, poverty). And it is a novel that speaks so beautifully of Fatima's maternal love for her daughter but also of the great love that binds Fatima to her mother, it is the first time I have seen it so well told. Moreover, the author dedicated the book to her mother.

Good-bye September, Hello October!

This month I read a dense non-fiction political book and a religious devotional book.  The one fiction book I read was a collection of stories by Hilma Wolitzer.    There were stories she wrote for magazines going back to the 1960's and as recent as the pandemic.  Bit of a mixed bag.  I will admit to buying it for the title.  

Finally I got to read again, this time a bestseller from Japan from Michiko Aoyama called "Frau Komachi empfiehlt ein Buch" or in English would be "What you are looking for is in the library"

The book covers 5 slice of life stories of people who are a bit lost or want a change of direction in their life, somehow end up in a public library and then would always get an extra book  from the librarian after they talked to her and basically that book begins to change everything. Fabulous stories about life and the power of books, highly recommended !!! 5 out of 5 !

 MichaKu:

Finally I got to read again, this time a bestseller from Japan from Michiko Aoyama called "Frau Komachi empfiehlt ein Buch" or in English would be "What you are looking for is in the library"

The book covers 5 slice of life stories of people who are a bit lost or want a change of direction in their life, somehow end up in a public library and then would always get an extra book  from the librarian after they talked to her and basically that book begins to change everything. Fabulous stories about life and the power of books, highly recommended !!! 5 out of 5 !

Oh this sounds interesting!  Putting in my book wishlist!

 The Butterfly:

I will admit to buying it for the title.  

I'm intrigued with this title too! I may try to find it and check it out for myself.