I am a self-professed book lover but sometimes I fall out of love with reading.
I then make up excuses like, "I can't find a good book," or "I'm too busy to read right now." But then, as I was aimlessing scrolling through TikTok, I stumbled upon a book recommendation, and then another. Suddenly, I found myself on the infamous BookTok, and my desire to read was rekindled!
So, in May I searched through The StoryGraph to find some books; added a bunch to my TBR list and started ordering!
Who Fears Death - Nnedi Okorafor
Rating: 4.25 stars ✨
Oooh this book! You know when you read a book and it's so different to any other book you've read and your brain goes: THIS IS WHY I LOVE READING! Yeah? Well, this was that book for me.
I laughed, I cried (a lot), I was frustrated and happy and angry! It quite literally gave me all the feels.
Set in post-apocalyptic Africa, the Nuru tribe have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke tribe.
In Who Fears Death you follow Onyesonwu's life, every step of the way (I'll try not to give away any spoilers.) She is Ewu: a child of rape. She is expected to live a life of violence and is ostracised because of her conception. Onyesonwu is different in many ways to the people around her.
As she learns of how she came to be, she also finds that she has strange abilities which can transform her physical shape into creatures and allows her to manipulate matter and flesh. But by unlocking these abilities she becomes the target of someone very powerful.
Her destiny is linked to this person and forces her on a physical and spiritual journey across the desert. The results, of which, will change the world forever.
This book was exactly what I needed to get me out of my reading-slump. The first half of the book is quite slow-paced. It teases you in and feeds you pieces of information. It perfectly matches the tone and storyline.
When Onyesonwu begins her journey across the desert the pace PICKS UP! Seriously, it was as though I was anxiously racing to a terrifying destiny with them. No time to think, or mourn, or laugh.
The ending was inevitable, it needed to happen, but left me with so many questions and wanting more.
Favourite Quote:
“I was a trapped animal. Not trapped by the women, the house, or tradition. I was trapped by life. Like I had been a free spirit for millennia and then one day something snatched me up, something violent and angry and vengeful, and I was pulled into the body that I now resided in.”
Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata
Rating: 3.5 stars ✨
I honestly thought I would love this book more. It's a short read — 163 pages. I'd say I enjoyed about 75% of it. But there was an awkward part in the middle that just made me feel uncomfortable, and I think it's supposed to raise alarm bells to the reader but our main protagonist doesn't see it. It's frustrating but also makes sense for her personality.
Convenience Store Woman questions societal norms and career prejudices that, honestly, really hit home for me (a human with a non-typical career path or job role). I really like Furukura Keiko, our protagonist. Her narrative is honest, blunt and funny. She questions what it means to be normal and why she doesn't fit the strange mould that everyone else seems to strive for. The convenience store is her safe-haven. She draws comfort from its predictability and clear structure. She has a manual that she can follow and a routine that gives order to her life. But at 36 years old, society has different expectations for Furakura's life. Then she meets Shiraha, an equally alienated man who Furukura sees as a solution to her social problems. Let me just put it out there though — I really hated Shiraha. His character grated on my every nerve and I would have enjoyed the book so much more if he wasn't in it!!
The ending was wholesome and comforting though, so I can forgive the parts that made my shoulders tense.
Favourite Quote:
“For breakfast I eat convenience store bread, for lunch I eat convenience store rice balls with something from the hot-food cabinet, and after work I’m often so tired I just buy something from the store and take it home for dinner. I drink about half the bottle of water while I’m at work, then put it in my eco-bag and take it home with me to finish at night. When I think that my body is entirely made up of food from this store, I feel like I’m as much a part of the store as the magazine racks or the coffee machine.”
The Rocking-Stone - Kathy Miles
Rating: 4 stars ✨
I found this little poetry collection on the shelf of a second hand book shop in Derbyshire. The woman at the counter gave it to me as a gift because I bought so many other books that day. The copy has definitely seen better days; its cover is worn and fading, I imagine from many hands thumbing through its pages.
The Rocking-Stone explores the everyday life of women and the myths and legends that blossom from femininity.
I think this will be a collection that will keep me coming back. I love lacing the everyday with fairytales and myths. I wish I'd read this back in university when I was writing my own fairytale inspired poetry collection for my dissertation.
Would highly recommend giving this collection a read.
Favourite Poem:
Ophelia "Some nights we are all a little mad"
June TBR List
I'm aiming for at least three books a month to get me back in the rhythm of reading. So, the three books on my June TBR list are:
The Darkest Red by Viviane Moore
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
I dipped into Girl, Woman, Other about a year ago so want to give it another try. I'm much more of a fantasy/Sci-fi reader, and slice of life style books are never my go-to, so I have to force myself to read them. I usually enjoy them; I'm just never completely sucked into the stories.
Let me know if you have any book recommendations that I need to add to my list or what you thought of these books!
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