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hexenprinzessinHello hello, I'm back!
(And happy snake year! *slither slither*)
A while ago I went to the library to pick up some books, and I do declare, I showed a lucky hand in my choices that time! Pretty much all the ones I got gave me a good time and/or something interesting to think about. This doesn't happen often, I must have been blessed >;D A sign from the universe perhaps that I should go to the library more often~
(And happy snake year! *slither slither*)
A while ago I went to the library to pick up some books, and I do declare, I showed a lucky hand in my choices that time! Pretty much all the ones I got gave me a good time and/or something interesting to think about. This doesn't happen often, I must have been blessed >;D A sign from the universe perhaps that I should go to the library more often~
I’m not gonna write in too much detail about Konbini ningen (Convenience Store Woman) by Murata Sayaka which was among this first batch of library books I got as well because I read it in December (and this post is gonna be long anyways hvsihaiaj), but it’s a really entertaining read! Especially for my fellow autistic ladies and AFABs because the main character is one of us :,D (Once again, it’s not explicitly mentioned sadly, but it’s quite obvious haha) You should give it a go if you haven’t, it’s short and sweet too.
Also I read three volumes of Raeliana which I’m really enjoying as well! ^o^ It’s a Korean Isekai Romance webcomic, good for a quick, light read.
(I’ll focus only on library books and leave out audiobooks too because we’d be here forever aaa)
“1984” by George Orwell 👁️
People's reception of this novel is remarkably diverse. The arguments about who actually read it and who only lies about reading it, about who understood the book and who didn't... it's tiring, honestly, but interesting. Interesting to see how divise this novel seems to be. The reader's own mindset and politics always play a big role in what they take away from a book, but with 1984 this seems to be especially pronounced.
I get why my fellow leftist peeps would criticize this book, so would I (and will, in a little bit :P). But if you read it applying the aspects of the Big Brother regime not to an abstract dystopia or an “enemy power”, but instead to our Capitalist society as it shows itself, now more than ever… it is quite accurate in a lot of points. Not a very entertaining story at all in my opinion, but many of the gripes the main character has with his society were the same ones I have with the real world, down to such details as artificially generated music which hit all too close to home right now. Orwell himself however quite clearly wrote it as a not-so-subtle statement against the Soviet Union under Stalin while focusing alarmingly little on other kinds of fascist regimes... (Bro literally said on one point that he couldn't bring himself to hate Hitler, ummm...)
Nonetheless, it surprised me how much Orwell seemed to be onto something here in a few regards, given what an awful person he was. But then again, my main irks, like the way he writes about women and “the proles” in this book… are pretty telling alright. As for the latter, at least the main character Winston acknowledges that "the future is in the proles", but the way they're described is from this upper-class lens where they simultaneously get underestimated and weirdly romanticized for their... simplicity I guess. The Party putting the proles under the least surveillance out of everyone is laughable if you compare that to how working-class people are treated in the real world (but then again, who knows what other telescreens Winston missed).
This is another reason libraries are great, you can read books by authors whose name you don’t want to spend money on, but whose works you might still be kind of interested in reading lol
“Butter” by Yuzuki Asako 🧈
(This cover is so pretty! 💛)
The main character Rika is a journalist who gets the chance to regularly visit Kajii Manako, a woman accused of having killed several of her lovers, in jail, hoping that she can get an exclusive interview with her. In their coverage of the case, the media have continuously slammed Manako for her weight, wondering what could possibly attract men to her (🙄).
Rika herself cannot help being drawn in by Manako’s charisma and her seemingly unshakable confidence, and getting inspired by her love of decadent gourmet food. But what is the right balance for Rika when moving towards savoring her life more, and how can she reconcile Manako the manipulative alleged killer and the fruitful inspiration she nonetheless gains from her?
What an appetizing book this is! And while food is a big focal point, it goes beyond that. I also ate up the critical observations about the patriarchy and how carelessly people can cause harm and limit others, even when they care about them, even under the guise of caring about them.
When you read the premise it might sound weird, but it’s a hopeful story about discovering what your wants and needs are, and learning to enjoy life respecting them, in spite of the expectations of society and the people around you. This is very much what I’ve been trying to make my motto the past few years, so it was very up my alley :,)
The descriptions of different foods and the way the main character experiences eating them, made my mouth water so many times, and that doesn’t happen easily (despite most of the meals sadly being very un-vegan)! The author has such a way of describing the joy of eating something delicious, the reasons why something else is disappointing in comparison, cooking and eating as a holistic experience.
A warning though that it deals a lot with body image, including weight mentions. The book is critical about fatphobic sentiments, and the message is to learn to accept your own body and to not shape your life around being skinny, but ultimately through the lens of a character who is far from plus-size, while the rare female character we get who is bigger is a manipulative person imprisoned for possible murder… Also it takes place in Japan, where popular standards as to what is considered an “acceptable” weight/body might be even narrower than they are in a lot of other countries. I’d advise you to use your own discretion if this topic is in any way triggering to you.
[Another kind of random thing about this book that helped me personally: one character stays at the house of a (borderline) hikikomori who’s let the place go to absolute filth and she just… cleans it. Within a few days or so. I was like wow, it’s actually possible to clean a place even when it’s in such a state.
For a long time, especially in my teens it was pretty much impossible for me to clean my room because I was incredibly depressed and school drained all my energy… It’s not filthy or anything, but very messy and full of stuff. It’s been weighing hard on me how much I’d have to do to get it in a state where there’s enough space and where I’d feel good being there. But thinking of how that hikikomori character’s house was described and how with the right kind of zest you can even clean up such a place… it motivated me so much lmao (that and seeing cute room tours on YouTube and such things)
Suddenly, I just started to clean up and actually have fun doing it??? It’s baby steps, but I never thought I’d get to such a point ❤️]
“Keeper ‘n Me” by Richard Wagamese 💙
(This one's the German translation. I need to buy the English original at some point~)
What a wonderful book, I don’t even know what to say to describe it…
I’ve been wanting to read books by Indigenous authors for a while now, and then I just found this at the library because I liked the cover, and took it with me without too much thought. After reading a few pages, I knew this one was special. Despite there being such sadness in the main character's story which mirrors the fate of so many Indigenous people throughout the years, from the beginning this book is filled with hope and lets you know that it will be alright.
The author Richard Wagamese was Ojibwe Canadian (he has sadly passed away). He was placed in the foster system as a child, which separated him from his Native roots. Only in his 20s was he able to reunite with his family. All of this also goes for the main character of the book, Garnet Raven. We follow him as he finds his home through the unceasing love of his family and new-found friends, and his own conviction to learn about his culture.
The principles of Ojibwe tradition mentioned in this book really are it, that’s all I can really say to sum up my feelings. As for everything else, read for yourself if you like a book filled with kindness and true heart, in a completely non-kitschy but profoundly touching way. We really need literature like this with the way things are, about strong community spirit and genuinely connecting with other people and with nature. And we need to be kind and respectful in whatever way we can. Every bit of kindness, honesty, openness, and respect matters.
“1984” by George Orwell 👁️
People's reception of this novel is remarkably diverse. The arguments about who actually read it and who only lies about reading it, about who understood the book and who didn't... it's tiring, honestly, but interesting. Interesting to see how divise this novel seems to be. The reader's own mindset and politics always play a big role in what they take away from a book, but with 1984 this seems to be especially pronounced.
I get why my fellow leftist peeps would criticize this book, so would I (and will, in a little bit :P). But if you read it applying the aspects of the Big Brother regime not to an abstract dystopia or an “enemy power”, but instead to our Capitalist society as it shows itself, now more than ever… it is quite accurate in a lot of points. Not a very entertaining story at all in my opinion, but many of the gripes the main character has with his society were the same ones I have with the real world, down to such details as artificially generated music which hit all too close to home right now. Orwell himself however quite clearly wrote it as a not-so-subtle statement against the Soviet Union under Stalin while focusing alarmingly little on other kinds of fascist regimes... (Bro literally said on one point that he couldn't bring himself to hate Hitler, ummm...)
Nonetheless, it surprised me how much Orwell seemed to be onto something here in a few regards, given what an awful person he was. But then again, my main irks, like the way he writes about women and “the proles” in this book… are pretty telling alright. As for the latter, at least the main character Winston acknowledges that "the future is in the proles", but the way they're described is from this upper-class lens where they simultaneously get underestimated and weirdly romanticized for their... simplicity I guess. The Party putting the proles under the least surveillance out of everyone is laughable if you compare that to how working-class people are treated in the real world (
This is another reason libraries are great, you can read books by authors whose name you don’t want to spend money on, but whose works you might still be kind of interested in reading lol
“Butter” by Yuzuki Asako 🧈
(This cover is so pretty! 💛)
The main character Rika is a journalist who gets the chance to regularly visit Kajii Manako, a woman accused of having killed several of her lovers, in jail, hoping that she can get an exclusive interview with her. In their coverage of the case, the media have continuously slammed Manako for her weight, wondering what could possibly attract men to her (🙄).
Rika herself cannot help being drawn in by Manako’s charisma and her seemingly unshakable confidence, and getting inspired by her love of decadent gourmet food. But what is the right balance for Rika when moving towards savoring her life more, and how can she reconcile Manako the manipulative alleged killer and the fruitful inspiration she nonetheless gains from her?
What an appetizing book this is! And while food is a big focal point, it goes beyond that. I also ate up the critical observations about the patriarchy and how carelessly people can cause harm and limit others, even when they care about them, even under the guise of caring about them.
When you read the premise it might sound weird, but it’s a hopeful story about discovering what your wants and needs are, and learning to enjoy life respecting them, in spite of the expectations of society and the people around you. This is very much what I’ve been trying to make my motto the past few years, so it was very up my alley :,)
The descriptions of different foods and the way the main character experiences eating them, made my mouth water so many times, and that doesn’t happen easily (despite most of the meals sadly being very un-vegan)! The author has such a way of describing the joy of eating something delicious, the reasons why something else is disappointing in comparison, cooking and eating as a holistic experience.
A warning though that it deals a lot with body image, including weight mentions. The book is critical about fatphobic sentiments, and the message is to learn to accept your own body and to not shape your life around being skinny, but ultimately through the lens of a character who is far from plus-size, while the rare female character we get who is bigger is a manipulative person imprisoned for possible murder… Also it takes place in Japan, where popular standards as to what is considered an “acceptable” weight/body might be even narrower than they are in a lot of other countries. I’d advise you to use your own discretion if this topic is in any way triggering to you.
[Another kind of random thing about this book that helped me personally: one character stays at the house of a (borderline) hikikomori who’s let the place go to absolute filth and she just… cleans it. Within a few days or so. I was like wow, it’s actually possible to clean a place even when it’s in such a state.
For a long time, especially in my teens it was pretty much impossible for me to clean my room because I was incredibly depressed and school drained all my energy… It’s not filthy or anything, but very messy and full of stuff. It’s been weighing hard on me how much I’d have to do to get it in a state where there’s enough space and where I’d feel good being there. But thinking of how that hikikomori character’s house was described and how with the right kind of zest you can even clean up such a place… it motivated me so much lmao (that and seeing cute room tours on YouTube and such things)
Suddenly, I just started to clean up and actually have fun doing it??? It’s baby steps, but I never thought I’d get to such a point ❤️]
“Keeper ‘n Me” by Richard Wagamese 💙
(This one's the German translation. I need to buy the English original at some point~)
What a wonderful book, I don’t even know what to say to describe it…
I’ve been wanting to read books by Indigenous authors for a while now, and then I just found this at the library because I liked the cover, and took it with me without too much thought. After reading a few pages, I knew this one was special. Despite there being such sadness in the main character's story which mirrors the fate of so many Indigenous people throughout the years, from the beginning this book is filled with hope and lets you know that it will be alright.
The author Richard Wagamese was Ojibwe Canadian (he has sadly passed away). He was placed in the foster system as a child, which separated him from his Native roots. Only in his 20s was he able to reunite with his family. All of this also goes for the main character of the book, Garnet Raven. We follow him as he finds his home through the unceasing love of his family and new-found friends, and his own conviction to learn about his culture.
The principles of Ojibwe tradition mentioned in this book really are it, that’s all I can really say to sum up my feelings. As for everything else, read for yourself if you like a book filled with kindness and true heart, in a completely non-kitschy but profoundly touching way. We really need literature like this with the way things are, about strong community spirit and genuinely connecting with other people and with nature. And we need to be kind and respectful in whatever way we can. Every bit of kindness, honesty, openness, and respect matters.
