July 2025 Wrap-Up & Favorites

Source: personal collection

Hello fellow readers! I'm behind again on my wrap-up and favorites. Honestly, I don't remember much on how I spent my July so without further ado, here's the books I finished in July.

	Where Everything is Music - Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (★★★★)
	Where Everything is Music is a compilation of Rumi's poems. This is my first time reading his poems. All I know is that he's known for poems with the theme of love. I tend to avoid reading poems because they often went over my head. Not with this one though. I do have several titles that I like and I think they're beautiful. Although there's no explicit theme for this compilation, I'd say they are mostly centered around love. Based on what I read here, I might pick up his other works.
	The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel (★★★★)
	A nonfiction book about the psychology of managing your money. This book consists of twenty chapters in which each chapter opens with an anecdote on the topic in the chapter. This book is easy to understand, especially for people who have no specific background on economy like me. I recommend this book for those who want to get insight on managing your personal finance.

Review Posts in July
The Woman in the Dunes - Kobo Abe

July Favorites

Books

The Psychology of Money

Film

Sinners

A horror film which touches on religious and racial issues. I really enjoy Michael B Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld's performances in this film. It is vulgar and exciting at the same time. If you've seen a clip of Steinfeld's line you know what I mean. I find the premise refreshing which is why I was interested to watch it in the first place. Highly recommend it.

Miscellaneous

@amrazing brownies

I know it's unusual for me to include food in my wrap-up and favorite post but I discovered some foods so good it became the highlight of my month. This brownies is so good it heals me whenever I enjoy it at night after work. It's made from high quality ingredients so price-wise, it's quite expensive. However, it's so satisfying even though you only eat one piece of it. A box could last me for over 2 weeks (as long as I store it well).

Goffee Donuts

These donuts are the products of a coffee shop which I discovered while I met with some friends on the weekend. I'm glad they proposed this place because the donuts are good. The dough is potato-based. The topping combo is not that unique but the dough, it's fluffy like krispy kreme and jco donuts but not that airy that when you bite onto it there's just air instead of dough. They served it hot like they just made it as you order it which is nice. Even when it's not hot anymore, the texture of the donut doesn't change. It's a delightful discovery of the month.

There you have it. Since it's already October, I'm hoping I can quickly catch up with my wrap-up and favorites (and finish my 2025 reading challenge *fingers crossed).

[Review] The Woman in the Dunes - Kobo Abe

Title of Book: The Woman in the Dunes
Author: Kobo Abe
Translator: E. Dale Saunders
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Publication Year: 2006
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240

June 2025 Wrap-Up & Favorites

Source: personal collection

Hi fellow readers! We're now at the midpoint of the year. So far, I have updated my Goodreads reading challenge twice which is a good sign for me. My target is now to read 24 books until the end of the year. Here's the books I read in June.

[Review] A Brief History of Seven Killings - Marlon James

Title of Book: A Brief History of Seven Killings

Author: Marlon James
Publisher: Oneworld
Publication Year: 2015
Language: English
Format: Hardback
Pages: 686

*WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015*
JAMAICA, 1976 Seven gunmen storm Bob Marley's house, machine guns blazing. The reggae superstar survives, but the gunmen are never caught.
From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes a dazzling display of masterful storytelling exploring this near-mythic event. Spanning three decades and crossing continents, A Brief History of Seven Killings chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters - slum kids, drug lords, journalists, prostitutes, gunmen, and even the CIA.
Gripping and inventive, ambitious and mesmerizing, A Brief History of Seven Killings is one of the most remarkable and extraordinary novels of the twenty-first century.

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A Brief History of Seven Killings tells a fictionalized version of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. Although in this book, he’s referred to as ‘The Singer’. The book spans decades with settings from Jamaican ghetto to New York. A Brief History of Seven Killings is divided into five sections. Each section is set during specific date with the first one being in the 70s. The book is mostly set in Kingston, Jamaica. In the beginning of the book, we were given a list of characters and a brief description on who they are. I suggest marking this page because the characters are so many that it could be difficult to keep track of. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a specific character but never the Singer.

This book is complex. It has about 70 characters; some play an important role in the story, some are just there for a section and that’s it. Keep in mind that this book is 686 pages long (at least the edition that I read) so a character who seems like he/she doesn’t play an important role in the beginning, could turn up again later as a plot point. The main story of this book is basically an attempted assassination of the Singer. It did happen in real life to Bob Marley. However, there are still questions regarding the assassination. What Marlon James did in this book is he’s trying to fill in the blanks with politics conspiracy, drugs, and gang rivalry.

Honestly, the only reason I picked this book up was because it’s the winner of the Booker prize. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t pick it up because the premise of this book didn’t really pique my interest. In fact, I didn’t even know what the premise of this book until the second I started reading. The length of this book intimidates me. It took me two months to finish this book; because it was so hard for me. I’m sorry but it was such a challenge for me to read, let alone finish this book. For one, the writing style makes it difficult for me to understand the book. Since each chapter is told from the perspective of the characters, when it’s narrated by one of the Jamaican gang member, it's written in a Jamaican-English slang dialect which not everyone understand, including me. What I did is guessing based on context and it was exhausting. Also, some chapters are written in the stream of consciousness style; Often when the narrator senses that something bad is going to happen to him/her. There are pages in which the text has no kind of punctuation marks. I skipped those.

Another problem that I have with this book is the vulgarity. This book is brutal because it follows gang members and supposed to tell the harsh reality of Jamaican ghetto. Still, it doesn’t have to be that explicit. At one point, I almost threw up while reading this book.

It is such a shame though, because when I do understand what the narrators are saying, I actually enjoyed the book. The premise has promise. The intricate plot and conspiracy are thrilling to read. It could help if the writer compressed the story a bit. I don’t think it has to be that long. I feel the first few sections are slow and I got bored. Also, I don’t think all characters get enough conclusion. There are characters that I still don’t get why he/she is in the book at all. Maybe I miss it when I skipped those pages.

Anyway, overall unfortunately a Brief History of Seven Killings is not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t recommend it but there must a reason why this book won the Booker prize. If you are still interested in reading this book, may I remind you that you have to be committed to finish it. Who knows, maybe you end up liking this book more than I do.

[Review] The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino - Hiromi Kawakami

Title of Book: The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino

Author: Hiromi Kawakami
Translator: Allison Markin Powell
Publisher: Granta Books
Publication Year: 2020
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208

Over the course of his life, Mr Nishino falls hopelessly in love again and again. One woman is a colleague, another a chance encounter; one is the girlfriend of a classmate, another the best friend of Nishino’s latest conquest. Some are entranced by Nishino, others care more for their freedom, their children (or their cats).
As we come to learn of the torments, desires and delights of each woman, a portrait emerges of a complicated man whose great capacity for love may well be the cause of his downfall.

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The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino is a collection of ten short stories. Each is told from the perspective of a woman who had an encounter with Yukihiko Nishino. In each they told their (somewhat) relationship with Nishino and how he affects their lives. Though told from other person’s perspective, this book is actually about Yukihiko Nishino. Since these women met Nishino at different stage of his life, this book is more like a journey of Nishino’s life. It’s not told in chronological order so as a reader we’re the one who collects bits and glimpses of his life and assembles it into the person Nishino is. Each story could be read on its own, or as a whole.

This book opens with a story titled Parfait. This story is told by a woman who had an affair with Nishino. The affair ended years ago. Back then, she would take her daughter along to eat parfait while meeting Nishino. From the first story, we get the first look of Nishino. Despite appearing as a ghost of the past, at least we learn that Nishino is a womanizer who cannot commit. In the next story, we jump back to Nishino’s younger years and learn that there might be more to his reluctance to be committed.

What intrigues me from this book is this enigmatic figure named Yukihiko Nishino. From what I gather, he’s good-looking which makes it easy for him to attract women. He’s also charming which invites women to open up to him. However, I couldn’t seem to detect ill intention from him. I feel like he’s two timing women because they are attracted to him and he couldn’t help it; like he has this sense of duty to help these women and make them happy. I know he’s a playboy but through some of his interaction with the women I get the sense that he actually wants to be able to commit.

Hiromi Kawakami is famous for her book titled Strange Weather in Tokyo. However, this is actually the first book by her that I read so I had no expectation on how her writing would be. Since this book is structured as a collection of several short stories, it’s easier for me to digest this book. My unfamiliarity with her writing doesn’t bother me at all. In the end, I did enjoy reading this book. In fact, I’m looking forward to read her other books including Strange Weather in Tokyo.

‘It’s a simple enough thing, loving a girl,’ Nishino went on quietly. ‘I wonder it is that I’ve never been able to love any of them.’’