I decided to do a little wrap up and tell you what I read in August 2023. Even though I read only 7 books, there were some solid heavyweights in there that are now my favorite books of all time. I just realized as I wrote this that in my August 2023 reading wrap up video that went up on Wednesday (you can watch it here), I said I’d read 6 books, forgetting the book that disappointed me the most among this lot. You’ll see which. 😛
Category Archives: Booklists
My Favorite Book Quotes of All Time – Part 3 | Some Great Quotes from Books
The quotes in this post are some that I found to be profoundly relatable as they called to me. I will try to express what they represent for me and my love of reading, which, although not at the ‘I’ll die without books’ level as before, is still quite intense. I’ve spoken about how I note down these quotes in the previous posts but these days, my arthritis is so bad, it’s making me want to curl into a ball and stay there. But hey! Who’d do that when there’s so much work to do and so many books to read? 😀 (send help)
Can You Say You Enjoyed Reading Sad, Grim, or Unsettling Books? | Monday Melodramatic Musings
If I look back upon the past few years and my modern reading, I see books that made me cry become my favorites more than those that made me laugh. I see books that talked about unsettling topics become my favorites. I see books that dig up some long-buried emotions and reactions from deep within me. How can I say that I “enjoyed” reading them? And if I said that, does that make me some kind of a sociopath? Do I thrive on sadness? On the dark? Surely not!
My Panicky Reading Habit & Truth of Being a Bookworm… And Eventual Resignation
It would be a cliched, self-important, tone-deaf thing to say if I said that being a bookworm isn’t easy. Quite contrarily, it is one of the easiest things in the world. All you have to do is have a reading habit, no matter the genre or the frequency of the books you read, and you can be called a bookworm. Over the past 1.5 years or so, however, I’ve discovered a new dimension to my reading, to my existence as a bookworm, which probably says more about me as a person than about me as a bookworm. But since both are intricately linked and interwoven… That’s a whole conundrum in itself.
The Treatment of Book Influencers – A Little Rant
If you write a book, people will show their awe for you. And fittingly so, because writing a book is no mean feat. It doesn’t matter that the reviews for the book aren’t what you thought they would be. Completing a book and putting it out into the world is a huge thing, an achievement in itself. And who knows, maybe years down the line, this very story might age well and catch on? So that isn’t something that you should worry your storytelling brain about.
When the public is this supportive of the world of books, I wonder why every person in this world doesn’t get the same amount of respect.
Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai | Blog Tour Stop
Hello and welcome to my blog tour stop for Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s newest book, Dust Child! I was supposed to write a post about the progress I’ve been making on this story. Instead, here I am, writing a full review because of how invested I was in it. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai does it again with this book, infusing it with a gentle understanding and compassion that makes me such a huge fan of her writing. I read Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s debut novel The Mountains Sing in December 2022 and it marched its way onto my favorites of the year list. That (and more) made the author an instant favorite, propelling Dust Child into my most anticipated book releases of 2023 list.
The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar | Book Review
There are some books, very rare, that grab at an issue and twist it until it’s nothing but a bunch of bare threads. Everything that constitutes it is out in the open – circumstances, decisions, relationships, reasons, strengths, weaknesses, heartbreaks – all of it. For us women, especially, each of these threads are as important as the other, because we simply cannot afford to be shortsighted. And yet, push us far enough and we will harness all our strength and push back so hard, you’ll find yourself questioning your reality. Putting all of this – a complex web of feelings and thoughts and decisions – into one book is a feat in itself. And Rajasree Variyar does it in fabulously in The Daughters of Madurai.
DramaQueenAThon Announcement – International Women’s Day 2023 | March 2023 Tentative TBR
Every time International Women’s Day rolls around, the question that many misogynists (most of these men) ask: “Why is there a special day for women? Where is the special day for men? Is this your idea of feminism?” This is so tone deaf and ignorant on so many levels that it becomes something that we are left with no choice but to ignore. Instead, we focus on celebrating women and feminism, to bring to the front all the women inspiring us in a million different best ways and more. And what can us bookworms, who are on social media, who have a pinch of a following do? Hold readathons in celebration! Which is why this year, DramaQueenAThon – the original edition – has made a comeback.
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai | Book Review
Historical fiction is a difficult genre to write in, especially because the times are so far back in the past that you have to be extremely careful with your research. You can’t disrespect the past while you write your story, and you have to get things exactly right. But when authors do get it right, they manage to blow you away in more ways than one and in ways you’ll often not see coming. Among this population of authors is Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, who, after seven years of research, published the book The Mountains Sing, a story set before and during the Việt Nam war. I became an instant fan of her when I finally read it in December 2022. And not just because of the book.
2022 Reading Recap | Favorite Books, Books I DNFed, and Least Favorite Books!
I don’t want to start off yet another blog post with how shitty 2022 started off, although by mentioning this, I’ve actually done what I said I wouldn’t. But it’s a big reason why my reading saw so many crests and troughs throughout the year, so it’s unavoidable, really. I’ve already spoke about how blogging went for me in 2022 (here in this blog post). Today, I’ll talk about how my reading went. I’ve been writing this blog post for what feels like decades and only now am I getting to upload it. But better late than never, right?
The Melodramatic Bookworm 