Hello Loves!
I really let the ball drop on my Monthly Reading Wrap-Ups!
I read so many books in September that by the end of the month I felt lazy or overwhelmed to sit down and talk about all the books and then as October ended..that feeling just got worse! Procrastination is my number one nemesis.
:(
And now here we are.
At the end of November and I have three whole months to write about.
And I know, if I don't play catch-up now I'll feel terrible later.
So today I am going to sit down with my Reading Journal (thank God I make notes and keep up with my book journaling) and write down all my thoughts about allll the books I've read in the last three months.
So grab a cup of coffee or chai and get cozy and let's talk books.
Let's Begin.
BOOKS OF SEPTEMBER 2023:
I stepped out of Indian Books in August and all I wanted to do in September was read from around the world and maybe take a break from Indian Lit. I was also in a major mood for thrillers. Alas, every thriller I picked up was more or less a total flop.
I read 22 books in September and here are my thoughts and reviews on them.
1. The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan: This one sound liked something I would love. A summer camp ends in a blood bath and two girls survive. The killer is caught and is in jail...or is he? Months after the massacre, the two girls are once again terrorized by the horror of that bloody night. Will they make it?
Now, this was giving Scream and Slasher sorta vibes and I was alllll there for it. Sadly, by the end it was a massive letdown. It was a little unexpected, I'll give it that and the end does have a very different kind of twist, the sort of thing you won't see coming, but for me, this was the kind of ending I didn't even want.
Not for me.
1/5
2. Not That Kind of Place by Michael Melgaard: This is a story about a man, whose sister went out for a routine run (back in the 90s) and never came back home. A few days later, her body is found but her murder is never solved and has remained a cold case, the kind that true crime documentaries are made about.
Sounds perfect.
I liked some aspects of this book immensely. Seeing the aftermath of a tragedy like this, what it does to the family and the community at large and how the life of the sibling left behind is thrown off course. I also really liked the writing.
But..I think I went into expecting something different and got something entirely different. This isn't exactly a straight forward thriller. It's literary fiction, something I love but I realized back in 2021 that this is a genre I just do not like. I like thriller and I like lit fic, but when they come together it just doesn't work for me. This one too wasn't what I signed up for and went in hoping. You don't get an answer and the crime is not exactly solved in the end.
Again, not my cup of tea.
2/5
3. The Haunting of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes: After reading two duds back to back, I needed some comfort and turned to this cozy and comfy middle grade read. This book is about a young girl, Aveline Jones, who is off to spend her Spring Break with her aunt in a small coastal town. Here she senses something off, the old house feels spooky and a mystery is afoot. She makes friends with the owner of used book store and his nephew, who help her get to the bottom of the mystery.
I adored this book, it was both spooky (mildly) and cozy and it's perfect to read this time of the year.
4/5
4. All the Little Bird Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow: The only book I read from the Booker Long List this year (shocking)! I honestly wasn't smitten with the list this year and didn't really want to read any books from the long and eventually short list.
This one I quite loved.
It's about a mother and daughter, mostly about the mother,- called Sunday, who is..on the spectrum for sure, which back in the late 1980s (when the book is set) couldn't have been easy. So we see her try to raise her daughter (who I wanted to physically reach inside the book and slap) and go about her life, a new neighbour moves into the house next door and over the course of one summer, life changes in a million ways.
I loved Sunday and I will think of her for a long, long time. This book is simple and will break your heart. To see people walk all over Sunday will give a rage headache. I liked it. A lot.
4/5
5. Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle: This graphic novel..or is it a travelogue or sorts..was on my TBR for years and I finally read it this year. I enjoyed it immensely and learnt quite a few things about Burma and the life and struggles of it's people. Told from the perspective of a French expat living in Burma for over a year, we see the lives of it's people under dictatorship, we see the problems plaguing the people and meet a host of colourful characters. Glad I finally got around to reading it.
4/5
6. Hey Wait by Jason: Another graphic novel was read, this one is short and sparse yet moving, it is about a young boy who loses his childhood friend and how loss trickles down to his life as an adult. Heartfelt and kinda sad, this one was an odd read but decent.
3/5
7. The Dream Builders by Oindrila Mukherjee: I loved this book. So very much. This is a tale of modern India, set in a Gurgaon-esque township, a set of inter-connected stories about a vast cast of characters, the haves, the elites and the have-nots and those living on the periphery of our lives. I love when books do this, we jump from perspective to perspective and see the whole picture in the end. So good and this book worked this style so well. I cannot recommend it enough. Definitely one of the best books I've read all year.
4.5/5
8. The Book of Fire by Christy Leferti: Set in a small town in Greece in the aftermath of a deadly and devastating forest fire, we meet members of this town as they try to find their way in this new and altered world. Grappling with loss and pain and the anger directed at a local developer who they think started the fire.
This book is such a good look behind the headlines we read every year. A wild fire spreads and burns down homes and ruins lives and takes lives. We watch in horror as a wave of fire takes over whole entire neighborhoods. But we don't often see the aftermath and see people go back the ruins and start their lives again. This book did a brilliant job of showing the anguish, pain and helplessness of those affected by these fires. I really liked it.
3.5/5
9. My Husband by Maud Venture, trans. by Emma Ramadan: This one was popping all over IG, seemed like it was the kind of books "Cool Girls" read..whatever that means.
It's about a wife who is OBSESSED with her husband, like she is totally and completely enmeshed with her man and can't do or think or be without thinking about him. It was high key absurd and very cringe. There is a twist in the tale, which is fairly enjoyable. I liked it...didn't love it. The whole mooning over her husband was just ick. If you can look past that and get to the end, you might enjoy the twist more than I did.
2/5
10. Holly Horror by Michelle Jabes Corpora: We had the last of our rainy days and I reached for this one hoping for some serious horror vibes. They were met..kinda. This is about a young girl and her family who move into a haunted house that the mother has inherited. The town is full of stories and myths about this house, where in the 1980s a teenager went missing and was never found. Fun. Just what I needed. The vibes were good in this one and the writing was good too but by the end..it just didn't land.
2/5
11. The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matin: Boy! This was a letdown and then some! A couple moves into a notoriously haunted home, where a man killed his wife and attacked his daughter. So they move in and start fixing up the place and strange things begin to happen. This book made me so mad. It's so stupid and the twist in the end was...unexpected perhaps but really dumb.
Meh.
1/5
12. A Welcome Reunion by Lucinda Barry: This is a short story, a part of the Amazon Originals series. It's an extended epilogue to the author's previous book, which I haven't read, so most of this was a little unknown for me, but still, I got a fair idea of the overall story line. Obviously, will work better if you've read the book.
2/5
13. Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier: Another gorgeous little graphic novel was read and loved. This book was so warm and fuzzy and the art was lovely. Perfect fall reading about a family and ghosts and mild spooky cozy vibes.
4/5
14. The Braid by Laetitia Colombani: This was such and easy and quick read that just pulled me in. It's about three very different women, living in different corners of the world and how they are connected by- Hair.
A woman in India donates the hair.
A girl in Italy runs an wig making factory.
A woman in the US..or was it Canada, loses her own hair due to chemotherapy and buys said wig.
I loved reading about all these women and seeing their stories come together.
Rather nicely done.
4/5
15. You Are Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron: This one was fun. Set in a camp..well..it's more like an experience camp..let me explain. It's a campsite alright, where a legendary 80s horror flick was filmed, I am thinking Jason and his kind. And now the people who run the place basically scare the crap off the guests, so it's like a immersive experience sort of place...till the fake scares and blood and gore turn all too real.
This was fun and breezy and gave me the vibes of the horror films from the 80s and 90s.
OK. I enjoyed the ride and the supernatural turn was good too.
3/5
16. The September House by Carissa Orlando: Boy, this book had some serious hype. Like everyone and their second cousin was reading this. And it sounded sooooo damn good. An older couple moves into their own home for the first time in their lives and every September, shit hits the damn fan. The house "come alive" or the dead come back and seriously haunt the hell of the inhabitants. Like the walls ooze blood and shit. It's hardcore.
Now. Hear me out...if this were happening to me, I would run sooooo fast. I don't care if I had to live in my car, I would leave. I don't care about home loans or any of that real stuff. I would leave. And the haunting here is pretty hardcore, kids who bite you, women who wail and angry spirits all over. So consider me shocked when the woman, our main character, is pretty chill about it. She's like 'it's only one month in the whole year' I'll be fine. Really? Sis, are you OK?
Pretty absurd. Far fetched and I just couldn't suspend my disbelief enough for this nonsense.
1/5
17. The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson: Brilliant. Read this now. Or save it for Christmas. It's bloooooody good. A novella..you know what, go in blind. Just read this.
4.5/5
18. Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison: A horror novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. An estranged daughter comes back home to celebrate her cousin's wedding and the past and present collide and we find out just why she left her loved ones behind.
Spooky, unsettling and really nicely done. If you like books about strange family dynamics, cults and Satan, this is a good book to jump into.
4/5
19 . Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbag, trans. Srinath Perur: A re-read and an absolute banger. If you haven't read GG, read it now.
4/5
20. The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura by Waka T. Brown: This was a middle grade book which was very folktale-y and moody and whimsical. About monsters and fitting in and family and lores. Enjoyable.
3/5
21. An Order from the Skies by Imayam, trans. by Vasantha Surya: A collection of gorgeous short stories which I enjoyed for most part. Some more than others but overall this was a good collection, and I look forward to read more Imayam in the future.
3.5/5
22. The Haunting of Delhi City by Jatin and Suparna Bhasin Chawla: A collection of stories all set in Delhi and all ghostly, perfect for rainy days and cold winter nights. I loved these stories. LOVED it. Pick it up if you enjoy some spooks.
4/5
That's all for September. A mixed bag for sure. A lot of one star reads and some good finds.
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BOOKS OF OCTOBER 2023:
October is my month for Pujo reads and then towards to the end of the month I like to jump into my Halloween Reads. This year too I read some Bengali books (I re-read some Ray stories) and then slipped into some scary books.
I read 16 books in total and let's jump into them.
1. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, trans. Eric Ozawa: This book was such a hug. It felt like a warm, perfectly brewed cup of chai on a cold rainy day. If you love books about books and bookshops..go read this now. It's about a young woman who has had a bad break-up, quits her job and is sorta forced to move in with her eccentric uncle who runs the family bookshop. It's endlessly comforting and charming.
4/5
2. Dirty Tricks by Layla Simon: Read something smutty after agessss, hell might be the first time this year.
This was alright. Nothing special and very, very heavy on trauma and gore. Thoda weird only. Not what I was expecting.
2/5
3. My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon: I really enjoy this author's books, they are always a mix of thriller and horror and I am all for it. This one I was looking forward to so much. It's about a woman, who had a very traumatic childhood and was low key abused by her mother and has only a fleeting, almost estranged relationship with her. Her mother is now dying and wants to spend the last few days of her life with her daughter and her family (husband and two daughters). And somehow the woman agrees (which in itself made me roll my eyes so hard, like this is your very messed up and abusive mother, who by the way is some famous artist- so she isn't exactly destitute, so you can tell her to get lost). So mom moves in an bizarre shit starts to happen.
This was tense, scary but eventually wholly predictable.
Not the best.
2/5
4. The Changing Man by Tomi Oyemakinde: This one had the right vibes, perfect for Halloween. A boarding school in England and the legend of a Changing Man. You see him and then you change. oooooo. Scary. I was enjoying this and then somewhere in the middle I just..tuned out and the ending and the big reveal was just..not the best.
2/5
5. Slime Doesn't Pay by R.L. Stine: What is Halloween without some R.L Stine? This was nostalgic and fun. A good time.
3/5
6. The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall: Really enjoyed this one. A boarding school in the US, our main character finds herself at a loose end when her parents haven't paid her school fees for the year, so she agrees to be a live-in companion to a classmate who basically lives in a bubble..she is allergic to everything and does her classes online and lives in her own home on campus. An easy fix to an embarrassing situation. Only..things are not that simple and some freaky things are happening. A ghost and a real threat to her well-being.
I liked this and the message (which I don't want to spoil) the book leaves you with.
Good stuff.
3.5/5
7. The Zamindar's Ghost by Khayaal Patel: An Indian horror novel, yes please! Well, this one was more thriller than horror but still. This was fun. Historical fiction, set in Ooty and a ghost is on a killing spree. This was read very quickly and enjoyed quite a bit, I did guess the killer very easily but it was still a good ride.
3/5
8. Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter: Loved it.
Read Review HERE.
4/5
9. Didi by Nirupama Debi, trans. Alo Shome: I saw this pop up on IG and I am so glad it did because I had never even heard of it before! This is the story of Surama, whose husband marries for the second time- which was legal back in 1913 but generally frowned upon. She then goes on to have a very close and loving relationship with her sister wife and almost no relationship with her husband. A very odd living situation if you ask me..I don't know how women did it back then. Have this grace and just strength to go on.
I really liked this and I want to hopefully read more by Nirupama Debi.
4/5
10. You Beautiful Thing by Saffron A. Kent: Another romance was picked up and this was nice. Spicy but also sweet.
3/5
11. Nava Durga- The Nine Forms of the Goddess by Nalini Ramachandran: This was my Dussehra read and it was perfect. A look at all nine Goddesses that we worship in Navratri. I really enjoyed this and it's perfect if you want your kids to learn about the nine devis of Navratri.
4/5
12. When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra: This one seemed perfect. A creepy haunted house, a cult classic (ish) horror film, a fandom and theories and then a missing girl. Had just the right elements but for some reason it just didn't work for me. It was kinda odd.
2/5
13. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James: Usually I am a big fan of the author and her stories but this one just didn't hook me in. Not my favourite by her.
1.5/5
14. Common Yet Uncommon by Sudha Murty: Classic Sudha Murty feels in this one. Inter-connected stories set in the same village. We meet a group of good, kind, sometimes flawed individuals and become engrossed in their lives and stories.
Enjoyable and comforting. Pick it up if you enjoy Murty and her easy and simple story telling and spending time with some sweet people.
4/5
15. All Hallows by Christopher: This started off so well and the vibes very perfect, spooky and creepy but then it started to drag in the middle and I was sooooo bored.
2/5
16. The Woman In Me by Britney Spears: It's Britney Bitch! I was soooo happy when Britney was freed from her horrible conservatorship. Her parents give me the serious sort of ick. I was curious to read about her life in her own words and see her world from her perspective. It's tragic how the world and society view women, the fact that she was placed under such control of her parents and people like Kanye get to be total assholes and clearly disturbed but no one questions if they should be placed under some protective order! Funny being a woman.
I liked this. It was way shorter than what I was expecting and she doesn't go into tooooo much detail about her life..but that's a call she made and I more than respect that. Go Britney.
3.5/5
October was a slower (for me) reading month, some hit and some misses.
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BOOKS OF NOVEMBER 2023:
I was supposed to be writing a whole ass book this month or at least make some serious dent in the book at any rate. So I knew reading would slow down and I was OK with it. But then..my building started some serious repair work and my peaceful home went from serene and a perfect spot to write to a loud, noisy and dusty hell hole.
So writing went on a break, also Diwali happened and writing was at a full stop and some books were turned to for comfort.
Here is everything I read this month.
1. Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri: This was my most anticipated read of the year. A new Jhumpa book is cause for celebration and putting aside everything else and reading just this. Now, I pre-ordered this and it arrived on the 27th of October and I immediately started reading it at once. But I didn't finish it in October. This was a roll-over read into November. That in itself should tell that this isn't something I was head over heels in love with.
Shocking.
A Jhumpa Lahiri book I wasn't obsessed with..yeah that doesn't happen in my world.
Yet it did.
With a heavy heart I have to report, I didn't love this.
I liked it. Sure. It was nice. It just wasn't magic and when it comes to Jhumpa I expect magic.
3/5
I am going to re-read some classic Jhumpa and get over this setback.
2. Sakina's Kiss by Vivek Shanbag, trans. Srinath Perur: Uff! This book was amazing. I read and loved Ghachar Ghochar and this one just as good. Set in today's India, this is a story set over a couple of very tense days in a middle class family's life. Old family secrets, changing social mores and a family- even a small nuclear unit at odds with each other. Shanbag writes a tight and deeply moving portrayal of families today. So familiar and so relatable. So so so good. Pick it up, you won't regret it.
4.5/5
3. There's No Way I'd Die First by Lisa Springer: A horror obsesssed (I can relate) girl throws a party and hopes that her horror podcast reaches new heights, only as the night progresses people start dying one by one. Will she survive? Will she be the final girl? This book had good bones and a decent plot but overall it was painfully easy to guess who the killer is and the reason behind the killings.
Letdown.
2/5
4. A Boy Called Dustbin by Arjun Krishnakumar, Art by Yamini Ravichandran: This was such a trip down memory lane. A young boy moves into a new home and has to make new friends, it's set in the 90s and it took me back to my own childhood. Making mix tapes, exam and results stress, family issues and building friends..God I miss it so much. It was fun and different to see the same things from a guy's perspective.
Sweet and nostalgic.
4/5
5. Penance by Eliza Clark: I picked up this book when things got especially loud and dusty in my building and I needed some way to escape the chaos. This book did that and then some. I started reading and could not stop. It's a book within a book. A fake true crime novel. A group of young girls torture and kill a classmate and a true crime writer is doing a deep dive hoping to understand why they did what they did. So there are conversations and journal entries and Tumblr posts and interviews. It's very immersive and so brilliantly done. You think you know something..you have a read on the girls and then things look different from another angle. Really clever and such a trip. It's the kind of book that makes me stop and think..about a whole bunch of things..victims, bullying, what makes a bully and of course the current culture of true crime obsession.
So good.
4/5
6. The Sage with Two Horns by Sudha Murty: Read these mythological tales during Diwali and it was the perfect sort of things to read.
3.5/5
7. Tinkle Origins Vol. Six: Pure, unadulterated nostalgia and feels.
Read this for Children's Day.
5/5
8. Pretty Boys are Poisonous by Megan Fox: Squeezed in this volume of poetry by Megan Fox, this was powerful and moving and came from a very hurt part of her heart. You can feel her pain, hurt and anger in these words.
Decent.
3/5
9. The Bewitching of Avaline Jones by Phil Hickes: Picked up the second book in the series, this time Avaline is on holiday and has made a new mysterious friend. This was nice..but not nearly as good as the first book.
3/5
10. Amrita Imroz by Uma Trilok: Picked this up for Non-Fiction November. A biography about the enduring and controversial love between Amrita Pritam and her partner of over 40 years Imroz. I knew next to nothing about them..their relationship, so this book was a treat to read and get to know these extraordinary individuals.
4/5
11. The House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher: Picked up another horror novel and this was a miss too. A haunted home and some creepy underground children and family secrets.
Meh. Not for me.
2/5
12. The Owner of a Lonely Heart by Beth Nguyen: A memoir about mothers and daughters and displacement and war and being a refugee. Felt timely and moving and made me stop and think about how even the closest relationships are so often decimated by trauma and distance. I did feel like certain points were repeated over and over and over again and like a review said on Good Reads, this could have easily been an long essay and really a book.
2.5/5
13. God of Ruin by Rina Kent: Picked up some smut, I read a ton of Rina Kent last year when I had a Kindle Unlimited subscription and I had to read this book, which is part of a series I was reading. This wasn't good. At all.
2/5
14. 15. and 16. The Babysitter's Club Graphic Novels
Kristy's Great Idea
The Truth About Stacey
Mary Anne Saves the Day
by Ann M. Martin & Raina Telgemeier: These books are so cute! And so wholesome. The urge to go back in time and start a babysitter's club with my girl gang is so high. I loved these books as a kid and these graphic novels are just soooo darling!!!
Love it.
4/5
17. Jataka Tales, Amar Chitra Katha: I am knee deep in childhood nostalgia and read this slim volume of some Jataka Tales. Sweet, simple and wonderful.
4/5
18. Fish in a Dwindling Lake by Ambai, trans. Lakshmi Holmstrom: I have read two books by Ambai and have loved both of them, this one was an absolute delight to read too. Ambai writes short stories about journeys, mainly women, sexuality, relationships and places and people. Wonderful and always a pleasure to read. If you haven't read her work before I cannot recommend it enough. It's so good. I read this in like a day.
4/5
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And we are done.
3 months worth of reading and reviews.
Uff!
I have been writing this post for hours, now I am going to go eat a slice of cheesecake and chillllll out.
56 Books were read and some were very loved and others were hated with a vengeance.
OK, I am off.
Have a good one folks.
