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Hi fellow readers. We're coming in the second half of the year. From what I see the world hasn't gotten better. I just want to survive this year. I think this is my third month of staying at home and working from home. It doesn't even feel like home because I live alone in a different city far from my family. This is unfortunate. I don't even care about being productive anymore. I'm just trying to keep sane here. The last two months, I watched a lot of TV shows as a form of escapism and now I'm getting sick of it. I'm easing myself into reading again. I'm trying to make reading as an activity that I enjoy instead of a chore and I think I'm doing good. Anyway, sorry for my rant. Here are the books I read in the month of June.
Books read in June
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Create Dangerously - Albert Camus (★★★★) |
Create Dangerously is a part of Penguin modern mini collection which collects three of Albert Camus's speeches, Create Dangerously, Defence of Intelligence, and Bread and Freedom. The titular speech, Create Dangerously was originally delivered by Camus at the University of Uppsala in Sweden in December 1957. He delivered this speech a few days after he received Nobel prized in literature. The speech encourages artists to create art that is true to what they believe in. He argued that we're living in a dangerous time where no matter what we choose to do, speaking up or keeping silent, we'll be critized for our choices. Hence, it's our responsibility as artists to challenge and provoke in accordance to what we believe in. He highlighted several points that I think is still relevant to this day. It's such a powerful speech that I think people should read.
The second speech, Defence of Intelligence, was delivered at a meeting organized by L'Amitie Francaise in March 1945, after world war II. While the last speech, Bread and Freedom was delivered to the Labour Exchange of Saint-Etienne in May 1953.
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your name. - Makoto Shinkai (★★★★★) |
This book is a novelization of the 2016 anime movie with the same title by Makoto Shinkai. Your name is such an impactful movie that I have no words to describe how much I love it. It's just that good. The story is touching and the animation is superb. It's overall beautiful. I highly suggest you to watch the movie if you haven't already. As for the plot I won't explain what it is, It's one of those book/ movie that you should just jump right in and follow through. It might get confusing at first but it'll reveal itself little by little and the ending really tug at your heartstrings. The book is actually the same as the movie. I suggest to watch the movie instead of read the book first to experience the stunning visual and moving music. However, as a person who has watched the movie first, reading this book gives off a nostalgic vibe. Reading this book still manages to spark the feelings that the main characters feel at the end of the story. I even ended up crying at the end of this book. Seriously though, watch the movie! If you can't watch the movie and prefer to read the book instead, at least try reading the book while liestening to the movie soundtrack by Japanese band RADWIMPS. That ending and the song Nandemonaiya really make a great combination.
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Austerity: Vintage Minis - Yanis Varoufakis (★★★) |
This book is a part of Penguin's vintage minis collection. The essays in this book are taken from Varoufakis's books titled And the Weak Suffer What They Must? and Adults in the Room. Yanis Varoufakis is a Greek economist, academic, philosopher and politician. He served as Greece's Minister of Finance from January to July 2015. In this book, Varoufakis explains his views on the Greek government debt crisis. As a person who's not familiar with macro economy or economy in general or following the subject (the last time I learn economy was in high school which is over 10 years ago), reading this book was quite a challenge. There are notes provided at the end of the book which explain some references mentioned in the book. However, there are events and probably simple economic terms which I'm not familiar with that are not explained in the notes. So at times I have to stop reading and do some research on the internet to understand the context. I don't mind though. It's fun to learn something new and broaden my knowledge even just a little bit. I heard of the Greek debt crisis but never really understand why, how or what actually happened. The essays in this book definitely give me some insight about it. If you're interested in the subject of world economy or already familiar with it, reading this book might be easier. But even if I'm not familiar with the subject, I still find this book to be such a delightful read.
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The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (★★★★) |
The Remains of the Day follow james Stevens, reminiscing on his life serving as a butler in Darlington Hall while having a trip on the English countryside. For those who haven't read any of Ishiguro's works, this book is slow paced and more of the character's self reflection. So it's not for everyone but if you're looking for this type of book, you'll definitely enjoy it. I've written a full review of this book which will be posted on this blog.
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June Favorites
Book
The Remains of the Day
Event
BTS Festa 2020
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For those who don't know, I'm a BTS ARMY. Never expected to fall this deep into the fandom. To make it short and simple, I'll explain a little bit what a festa is. So every year, to celebrate the group's anniversary, there's an event called a 'festa' which happens for 10 to 14 days and closed with a concert. The closing concert (or as they call a muster) is usually hold in South Korean and later on Japan also. However, because of the pandemic, this year's festa concert is hold online and it's called Bangbang Con. I realize that this is my second time 'participating' in BTS festa which means that I've been an army for two years. I love that I could mark how long I've been in a fandom because there's something memorable to remember. Usually I could careless about anniversaries in general, let alone a boyband's anniversary. It only makes me feel depressed, but BTS, man. I don't know how to explain it. I was so excited to watch Bangbang Con because usually they perform songs that aren't performed on their tour and I was right! They performed one of my favorite songs from their album Map of the Soul: 7, Respect. It's hella fun. The whole festa event is definitely the highlight of June for me.
So that's June for me. How about you? How are you doing? Hope you all stay safe and sane.
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