21 books I read this summer

As London turns autumnal and my last summery dress day is behind me, I want to share the books I read over the summer. Much to my own surprise, there are over twenty, spread between fiction and non-fiction. Here they are, with a little line about each.

Fiction

1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I love this book and can’t wait to share a review with you.

2. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama. A lovely, comforting book with life wisdoms that simply exist instead of being thrown at you. I want to read it again.

3. Good Material by Dolly Alderton. I’d been looking forward to Dolly’s latest book, but this didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Watch out for my upcoming review on why!

4. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. This is the book that made me want to write reviews in the first place, because I simply couldn’t shut up about it. Its depiction of love and family is incredible.

5. Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. A very good book on sisterhood on its own, but I’m afraid it paled in comparison with Hello Beautiful and Coco’s own Cleopatra and Frankenstein.

6. Babel by RF Kuang. One of my first fantasy reads in a while, by the author of Yellowface. While I enjoyed this, I wonder if it was the right conduit for its message.

7. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum. Oh, how much I loved this. It is so comforting, much like the bookshop itself. Kickstarted my ‘woman quits job to work in bookshop’ streak.

8. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Another in the ‘woman quits job to work in bookshop’ category. I loved how the setting quickly becomes familiar and comforting, and the gentle reveal of the characters’ depths.

9. More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Despite a slow start (cf the first book beginning in media res), I fell in love with the characters even more here. I will read any number of sequels Satoshi writes.

10. Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi. Subversive of society, slightly quirky. A short read, and I loved it.

11. Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Subversive of society, very quirky. A long read, and I loved it. Review coming soon.

12. I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Se-hee Baek. The sequel! Se-hee does not hide her forlorn feelings and brings her into her despair while maintaining hope.

13. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Very dystopian, quite devoid of hope. Do not recommend as a late-night read unless you want to plunge into despair…

14. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. Thought-provoking dystopian book. How much can be taken from us before we are no longer who we are?

15. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. This was my first attempt reading a Russian book, and it took me six full months to get through. I didn’t get along with it as much as I’d hoped, and I’ll share why in a separate post.

16. Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen. Really fun, probably my lightest, most summery book!

17. The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa. This was an interesting read, especially as I started this book reviews newsletter shortly after. It made me think what it means to love books.

Non-fiction

1. The Great Crashes by Linda Yueh. A detailed, yet succint, overview of the ten major recent financial crashes. I’m afraid I wasn’t much in the mood when I read this, and would love to revisit.

2. The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson. I have some spicy thoughts on this one. I might share if you promise my review won’t get back to Gary.

3. Unfortunately, It Was Paradise by Mahmoud Darwish. Here is a brilliant poet, and this collection shares his deep connections with his Palestinian homeland. This was very poignant, even more so in light of what is currently happening.

4. Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn. I needed this one.

Have you read any of these books? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments. Watch out for my full reviews in my newsletter as well!