Like most people in lockdown, I’ve been getting back into reading to pass the endless time I spend at home. Last week my gal pals and I started a book club, and I can’t wait to start our first book Crazy, Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.
If anyone is looking for books to add to their reading list, look no further. If you’ve read these books already, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Set in Tokyo, this novella follows 36 year-old Keiko Furukura, who’s worked in a convenience store for all her adult life. Keiko is happy with her life as it is, but faces the pressure of social expectations and family concern. This novel looks at the pressure to conform and to be normal, aswell as society’s perceptions of what a successful life looks like.
If you enjoyed “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine”, I reccomend this book. A great critique of a normative society.
“The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of.”
A chilling, gothic novella that is narrated from the point of view of the childish but eerie Merricat. This was my first taste of Shirley Jackson and I loved it!
One of my favourite scenes is in the first chapter, where Merricat walks through town to collect her shopping. Through this mundane task, Jackson paints a picture of the intense hostility between the locals and the Blackwood family, creating suspense and intrigue.
The prose is written so well for a short novella, and it instantly hooks you from the very first page with the simple statement: “Everyone else in my family is dead…”.
This is one of those books that deserve a re-read, to really unwrap the layers. At the heart of it, it’s about two people who’s destinies intertwine. Henri, a French soldier and cook chosen by Napolean Bonaparte himself and Villanelle, the web-footed, cross-dressing daughter of a Venetian boatsman. This love story is painted against the backdrop of the Napoleonic war, blending historical fiction with magical realism. It’s one of the most unique writing I’ve read in a while and I can’t wait to discover more from Jeanette Winterson.
“Somewhere between fear and sex passion is. Passion is not so much an emotion as a destiny.”
Set in an alternative 1980s England, Charlie spends his inheritance on the first commercial AI robot. In this version of history, Alan Turing lived therefore accelerating technological advances that don’t even exist in 2020 yet. But that’s not all – Britain loses the Falklands War, Lennon survives and JFK is alive.
This book doesn’t offer anything that hasn’t been explored before in sci-fi. The book often goes off on a tangent, with pages spent fleshing out this fictional Britain, and yet none of it is relevant to the main plot. The alternate timeline ultimately felt gimmicky and McEwan’s exploration of AI felt basic. It’s hard to believe that this is the same guy that wrote Atonement which I loved so much!
I would be really surprised if this doesn’t get picked up for a film adaptation. This Richard Curtis-esque romantic comedy is about two people who haven’t met who share a flat – and a bed. Leon is a nurse working night shifts and he rents his room and bed to Tiffy, a book editor who works 9-5. Neither have met due to their opposing schedules and so they communicate via post-it notes left around the flat.
The writing style felt basic at times but the story was heart-warming and I was rooting for them all the way through. This is an easy, feel-good read that left me smiling.
“Some people are beyond aromatherapeutic help”
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