Tags
Allein, books, Caitlin Doughty, Daniel Schreiber, Euphoria, From Here to Eternity, How the Marquis Got His Coat Back, Lily King, monthly wrapup, Neil Gaiman, reading
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Another month that felt super long. This time, I think the reason was that I went back to my thesis work full-steam, and that paired with a lot of noisy construction work (yes, they’re still going) and some pre-moving decluttering* meant that my head felt very full most of the time. Nevertheless, I got a surprising amount of reading done and I did enjoy what I read for the most part, although that’s perhaps not entirely reflected in the rating. Here’s what I read:
Daniel Schreiber – Allein ★★★★☆.5
German non-fiction that reminds me of Olivia Laing, and in a good way. Personal but perceptive, timely, and academically grounded reflections on being alone, loneliness, and the pandemic. Even though Allein is perhaps not the most original book in terms of its topic and the aspects of being alone it covers, it resonated with me both emotionally and intellectually.
Lily King – Euphoria ★★★☆☆ (not pictured)
Believe it or not, but I have taken this book out from the library at least twice before and always returned it unread. Now that I’ve finally read it, my feelings about it are mixed: I liked what King was trying to do in terms of narrative – a fragmented puzzle of several perspectives that asks questions about bias and objectivity – but I’m not sure I liked the characters and especially their love triangle very much, and neither did I think the answers King gave to the questions she raised were very deep. Euphoria is definitely a fast read, but it’s also an oddly superficial one.
Neil Gaiman – How the Marquis Got His Coat Back ★★★☆☆
A very quick reread for bookclub. I almost feel bad about counting this as a full book, but you know what? Who cares. Definitely a story that is more fun if you’ve read the novel – Neverwhere – this is a spinoff of.
Caitlin Doughty – From Here to Eternity ★★★☆☆
My sister is a huge fan of Caitlin Doughty’s Youtube channel (Ask a Mortician, just in case you didn’t know already), and since we share a certain morbid fascination with all things mummies, death, and decay, I borrowed this book from her a while ago. I’ve now finally read it and did enjoy it, but would have liked the chapters to be a bit more balanced in length and depth. That of course doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend the book, especially if your interests happen to be slightly more on the morbid side.
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Other than that, I’m still working on Les Misérables (slowly), and I’ve started another German book, Saša Stanišić’s Herkunft. Minor spoilers, but both have the potential of becoming favourite books of the year, so that’s something.
*We’re moving in May, and while that’s still a while away, there’s just so much to do!