May in books
#7: When in doubt, write what you know
May may have been a clusterfuck of a month, on several levels that I may or may not delve into at a later date, but if there was one somewhat redeeming feature, it was the quality of the books I read. Compared to the two preceding months, it was a relatively slow reading month but there were a fair few mitigating factors, so I think five was still a respectable amount to get through — quality over quantity was certainly my truth.
Some I’m still gathering my thoughts on, others I simply cannot articulate the power of (I’m looking at you, Enter Ghost), but here are all the books I read last month:
~Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
For better or worse, it was impossible for me to read this without constantly comparing it to Mona Awad’s Rouge. Thematically, the two are overwhelmingly similar; their critique of the beauty industry and its exploitative nature, the cultish aspect of the industry, the imposition of Eurocentric beauty standards, complex parental relationships. I loved the exploration of second-gen Chinese-American identity — for me, this did what Paper Names couldn’t in that sense.
The comparison with Rouge ended in the final third; where Awad opts for fever dream-y magic realism, Huang dove into the world of body horror to drive home her message. I loved it: a heavy but immersive read, though with some triggers that I wasn’t expecting, so if you do pick it up, proceed with caution.
~Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
One of the greatest books I have ever read (and I’ve read a fair few in my time). Still digesting it, a process that I suspect will take a while, but it might just have dethroned This Is How You Remember It as my top read of the year. Truly a masterpiece; one that pushed me to dog-ear (a habit I used to stand firmly against but it was unavoidable), and mere on-page annotations were insufficient, so I started taking notes and writing out analysis… in a notebook.
A must-read on the Palestinian experience — a unique one that I’ve not come across before. Though I’ve only read two books from the list, given its pertinence to the current state of the world (and, of course, its literary quality) it’s definitely worth the Women’s Prize for Fiction; not long to go until we find out!
~The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
This was my first Ferrante in a while, and oh how I’ve missed her and her unabashed explorations of the more unsavoury parts of the female experience, at whatever life stage. It was turbulent and disturbing and infuriating and everything I want and expect from her. Adolescence dissected into its irksome and unattractive parts, through the lens of a dubious yet loveable protagonist — just so good. An abrupt ending, to say the least, but it fit the rest of the narrative so well; I think this might be my favourite Ferrante so far.
~The Amendments by Niamh Mulvey
I’m not entirely sure what my expectations of this were, but it certainly strayed from them, though not in a bad way. A multi-generational tale about Irish women was always going to be a winner for me: the social commentary woven in with the humanness of desire and shame and longing was so well-executed. I was particularly fond of Brigid — through her, Mulvey gave a voice to the group of women who are often overlooked in ‘feminist activism’, those who said activists often brand as needing saving from themselves. Each generation of woman reflected the changing politics of Ireland at each epoch, though not necessarily in the way you’d expect; that keeps you, as the reader, on your toes which I absolutely loved.
The slow trickling in of the twists were perfectly timed and the twists themselves had me sobbing (though the PMDD hormones likely contributed heavily there). The non-linear timeline, though occasionally difficult to follow, worked so well in weaving the past and present together. A beautiful story, deeply flawed but loveable characters and absolutely gorgeous prose — hard to believe it’s a debut.
~Exile by Aimée Walsh
Similar to Bodies, this was a poignant exploration of trauma and the way it impacts our relationships; with ourselves, with others and with the world around us. This is another one that will take a while to process but I’ll review it in full over on bookstagram at some point. Highly recommend, but proceed with caution.
Hall of Shame:
Saving the worst until last, I though it worth mentioning that I really tried with Norwegian Wood but it ended up being my first DNF of the year — I started it for a book club (not my own, important disclaimer) but couldn’t bring myself to read beyond the 35% point. I love a no-plot-just-vibes read, but this delivered neither; just a few isolated instances of beautiful imagery. The second Murakami I’ve attempted and the second that I’ve not been able to finish, safe to say he’s not for me.
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Given that it’s now Pride Month, my goal is to read primarily queer literature this month, and I know that means I’m in for a good reading month. See some of my favourite books by/about members of the LGBTQIA+ community below (it’s slightly outdated but they’re all still bangers):
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Life-wise, my expectations for June are low (May well and truly humbled me following the bliss of April; note to self, keep your joy private lol), I think the main thing I need to focus on this month is adjusting and recalibrating. That being said, I’m hoping the sun might cure some of my malaise, but British weather is not to be relied on.
Anyway, I still wanted to get something out this weekend, because I haven’t flexed the writing muscles enough recently, so I hope you enjoyed these bite-sized (?) thoughts.
Until next time x
P.S. I’m posting this without editing (scary) so forgive any SPAG errors.