Hello fellow readers! it's September already and for some part of the world that means summer is over and fall is coming. In August I went to my hometown for six days and I read quite a lot while there. Here's the list of books that I read in August.
Books read in August
 |
The War of the Worlds - HG Wells (★★★★) |
I don't think it's too much to say that HG Wells is one of the pioneers of science fiction genre. The War of the World is considered as one of the classic science fiction novel which features alien invasion. After reading the book, I have to say that this book is definitely ahead of its time. I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it for those who want to try reading science fiction.
|
|
 |
We Were Liars - E. Lockhart (★★★) |
We Were Liars is a beloved young adult novel. It was hyped when it first came out and it's been on my wishlist for a long time. When people said that it's best not to know anything getting into this book, I agree with them. Though the mystery is predictable for me, I do like the writing style. It's refreshing and poetic. I've written a full review of this book if you want to read more of my thoughts about it.
|
|
 |
Soppy - Philippa Rice (★★★★) |
Soppy is a cute little comic book about relationship based on the author's own experience. It's revolved around their lives after they moved in together. Like I said before, it's cute and interestingly enough, Rice only used black, white, and red for the color scheme. If you're in a committed relationship, perhaps you'll find this book relatable.
|
|
 |
The Night Guest - Fiona McFarlane (★★★★) |
The Night Guest is a book that I didn't expect to like as much as I do. It's thrilling and the character, Frida, is fun to read. She's manipulative and mysterious. She makes you question what you read. I enjoyed reading this book. I've also written a full review of this book if you want to check it out.
|
|
 |
Psychedelics: Vintage Minis - Aldous Huxley (★★★) |
Psychedelics is a part of vintage minis series. This one is taken from an essay originally titled 'The Doors of Perception' written by Aldous Huxley. In this essay, Huxley documented his experience taking four-tenths of a gramme of mescaline.He took the mescaline in the presence of an investigator. After taking the mescaline, apparently Huxley saw mundane things around him in different ways, unfiltered you might say. He compares his perspective with the way some 'exceptional people who're gifted' see things. It appears that the mescaline kind of give him an enlightenment. In this essay he also discussed many correlation between mescaline and religions. This essay is a fascinating insight to the mind of Huxley, really. Especially after knowing the effect, Huxley still didn't encouraged or discouraged the use of recreational drugs. If you're interested in the correlation between recreational drugs and spiritual enlightenment, I recommend reading this book. After all, it is quite an influential book in the 1960s.
|
|
 |
The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman (★★★★) |
This book is a part of Penguin Little Black Classics series. This one collects three short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which consists of The Yellow Wallpaper, The Rocking Chair, and Old Water. I wanted to read this book for such a long time, especially the titular short story because it is considered as one of the important piece of feminist literatures. The Yellow Wallpaper is about a woman who spent summer with her husband and her husband's sister in a colonial mansion. They stayed at the mansion as a treatment for her 'temporary nervous depression with a slight hysterical tendency'. As a physician, her husband prescribed rest cure as her treatment. Instead of getting her better, her mental health was deteriorating. She was told to take it easy. She wasn't allowed to do anything and she was confined in a room which has yellow wallpaper. To keep from being bored, she started to watch the wallpaper until she believed that the wallpaper is moving and that there are women creeping behind it. We read as the woman slipped into madness. It's frustrating to read how patronizing the husband was. The scary thing is, the husband might think that he's doing the right thing and doing it out of love. It's as if women are so used to being look down that he didn't realize that he wasn't helping her. Honestly, I'm really impressed with this short story. You have to read it yourself to know what the yellow wallpaper means to understand why it's important. The two other stories are also fun to read too. Though The Rocking Chair falls more into the horror genre and Old Water is more into the unsettling type of story. These three short stories are different but in my opinion they have a theme, horrific tales. I highly recommend this book for anyone to read.
|
|
 |
The Lover's Dictionary - David Levithan (★★★★) |
The Lover's Dictionary is a unique book. It's about a love story between a man and his partner which told in a dictionary format. It's different from any kind of book that I've read so it's refreshing. As usual, I love Levithan's writing. I won't tell anything much here because I've written a full review for this book.
|
August Favorites
Books
Soppy
The Lover's Dictionary
All in all, August went pretty good for me. I finished some books that had been on my TBR for a long time. I spent most of my free time reading and watching Grey's Anatomy. I thought I was going to stop watching Grey's Anatomy after Patrick Dempsey left the show but I was wrong. Honestly, I wish I spent more time reading rather than watching Grey's Anatomy. That show is becoming my guilty pleasure. Anyway, that's all for this wrap-up. How about you? Did you read good books in August?
No comments :
Post a Comment