Hello you guys and welcome to a very casual July wrap up. I have been trying to film this
video all week long, but it has been extremely crazy. I'm actually leaving on a very, very
short road trip today and I'm hoping to get editing done in the car, so if you don't mind,
we're going to do this super casually while I'm feeding my neighbor's dog.
Starting off in July, I read 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and I actually started this back
in June for, uh, Japanese June and that was all I read in June. I didn't get much reading
done at all because, again, it was another crazy month. So, 1Q84 is actually considered,
I believe, Murakami's, like, magnum opus. It's definitely his longest novel. My version
was 925 pages, though I did read it on my Kindle. I did a full review on 1Q84 but I
enjoyed the first two books, I thought they were spectacularly written, I thought the
plot was really well developed and I was very intrigued. And then for me the third book,
um, just kind of fell apart. So if you would like to see my full thoughts on the book I
will link the review below. Next up in July I read The Gate by Natsume
Soseki and this, I believe, can be considered a modern Japanese classic. This was actually
supposed to be my second book for Japanese June, but because I took so long reading 1Q84,
I didn't actually get to it and I've decided to just carry out my Japanese June TBR throughout
the rest of the summer. The Gate follows a very simple plot following Sosuke and his
wife Oyone, um, and it basically just follows their everyday lives for about a year as they
struggle to maintain their very meagre household and have to take in Sosuke's, uh, younger
brother Koroku? I believe that's who it was? I'm getting all the Japanese names confused,
guys, bear with me! I wrote a review on my blog which I will link down below, but if
you like books where nothing much happens and its just very beautifully written, I think
you'll really enjoy The Gate. If you like Japanese literature, or more modern Japanese
literature in particular, I would highly suggest checking it out because I kind of think Soseki
is where a lot of the more modern writers got their very subdued, melancholy tone and
if you like that kind of, um, very basic descriptiveness that's at the same time incredibly beautiful,
I would suggest you check this out. I will recommend you read the introduction. I don't
remember who wrote the introduction to my edition because I borrowed it from my library,
but it was very, very helpful in setting up the prose to come.
Next up in July I finished a collection of short stories called Manhattan Mayhem and
this was edited by Mary Higgins Clark. Now, I don't have my copy with me but I did haul
this a while back so I will put that video somewhere in here. This was sent to me by
the lovely Quirk Books, uh, in exchange for an honest review, so thanks Quirk, and in
all honesty, I was rather disappointed in this book. Manhattan Mayhem is supposed to
be a collection of short stories, each one centered in a different neighborhood in New
York. Now, I think I was just expecting a different kind of mystery writing. I personally
am a big fan of those kind of "blockbuster" books that are very fast paced, the action
is forever moving and gripping and this just wasn't that kind of mystery collection. If
you like very literary mystery and if you like, um, mystery that breaks a lot of conventions
and does a lot of interesting stuff, I think you'll really enjoy this collection. I do
think it's a good way to sample all of the authors that are included in the collection,
but it just wasn't for me and I ended up giving it two stars.
I'm also in the middle of a graphic novel right now which, embarrassingly enough, I
have totally blanked on the title, but I will put a think here. I'm enjoying it so far.
It's a little heavy handed, but I will probably talk about it in its own review, coming up
shortly. Alright you guys, that's actually all I read
in July. Hopefully you didn't mind this very impromptu and obviously off the cuff video,
but I've got to get going before I get in major trouble for holding everybody else up.
So, I hope you had a great reading month in July. Let me know some of the things that
you enjoyed, some of the things that you read and enjoyed down below, and I will see you
next time. Bye!