#got open water by caleb azumah nelson + my brilliant friend by elena ferrante + columbine by dave cullen. wanted to get lolita too but they

[steelycunt]

just bought three new BOOKS because i had 10 quid worth of credit from my loyalty card and also a gift card i got for christmas...there is nothing quite like it!!

[devitalise]

hello miss imo 💞 can you let the good people (me, first and foremost) in on your july reads & perhaps even a mid-year reading wrap up (fav so far + most disappointing 🧮)

hello hi 🤭😁 i got the app so i can sprinkle in emojis (it always starts unironic but apple kind of did something). ok so:

july wrap up:

a room with a view by e. m. forster: 3/5. went right back to edwardian era fiction in my attempt to be more Rounded 🧘🏾‍♀️ cute romantic read right on the cusp in terms of language of the time wouldn’t go older than this.

tell me i’m worthless by alison rumfitt: 5/5. i’ve spent the year trying to read horror, and then i read what is now my favourite horror book. trans characters, haunted house, actually scary and menacing? cracked it. one of my top of the year. visceral reading experience. (cw: fascism, transphobia, antisemitism, sexual assault)

real life by brandon taylor: 4/5. love this style of prose. very intimate, tender and quiet read that was introspective without being boring. think this is a debut too? impressive. (cw: sexual assault)

my brilliant friend by elena ferrante: 3/5. lovely prose, very absorbing. first in a series so not completely blown by the narrative, but i suspect every look on white female friendship has referred back to this. (cw: sexual assault)

seven days in june by tia williams: 5/5. 😁😁😁😁 LOVE. one of the most convincing romance books i’ve read in a while. so real and raw—unflinching. just yeah 🥰🤭 (cw: chronic illness, drug use and addiction, alcoholism)

the republic of false truths by alaa al aswany: 3.5/5. this is like a fictionalised retelling of very real events in egypt. appreciate for having expanded my worldview, not sure it stands as a work of fiction on its own. decent. (cw: sexual assault)

giovanni’s room by james baldwin: 3/5. classics girlies HATE me i’m sorry! 😟 the strength of the writing did not meet the narrative for me at all. didn’t emotionally connect but will try another baldwin book i swear

the man who watched the trains go by by georges simenon: 4/5. 1930s thriller spanning several european cities? sign me up. such a well constructed story

2022 mid year check in:

ok so i’m gonna talk about the books i’ve been talking about since i’ve read them 🤭😋🫣. open water by caleb azumah nelson always in my mind whenever i read 2nd person it sticks with me. also: transcendent kingdom by yaa gyasi 🥰🥰 top 2 of the year for me

disappointments… most notable my year of rest and relaxation. mexican gothic was clunky. the other black girl 🤨😐

i’ve read 170 books so far this year so i can absolutely go on but 🤭 i’ll go back to what i’m currently reading which is mouth to mouth by antoine wilson