hey, it’s the world’s most inconsistent blogger! march and april have been super hectic months and in between landing a new job, reading everything i can get my hands on and breaking my tailbone i’ve not really had a whole lot of time or energy for blogging. that said, i have come up with a thousand posts that i want to work on, so i’m hoping to get my groove back.
let’s take a whirwind tour of march and april…
– books i read –
- smashed – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – classic Ito, what more can be said?
- anne at green gables – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – this was sweet, but i don’t think i’m going to continue on with the series.
- the death of vivek oji – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – the writing style is immense, but some parts of the storyline just didn’t sit right with me. incest storylines make me want to vomit.
- the strange tale of panorama island – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – the art style here was incredible (!!!) and i could pore over it for hours. i think if i were more familiar with the original story, i’d have enjoyed it more so I hope to revisit it after doing so.
- shooting an elephant – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – an interesting collection of essays, with the titular essay being a little more literal than expected.
- notting hill carnival – ⭐⭐ – this was a fast read, but not particularly compelling. there’s no life to the carnival and not even a wisp of chemistry between sapphire and apollo.
- paul cezanne: painting people – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a speedy exploration of his portraiture work, cannot recommend enough!
- later – ⭐⭐⭐ – ehhh. pretty middle of the road for king. i was expecting more as the other hard case titles have been excellent.
- notes on camp – ⭐⭐⭐ – interesting enough, but these kind of essays hurt my head as they’re just so damn dated.
- they do it with mirrors – ⭐⭐⭐ – a satisfying read, but just that.
- bestiary – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – bestiary’s are so funny and for what?
- poems – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a lovely collection of poetry.
- a suspension of mercy – ⭐⭐⭐ – this is my second foray into highsmith outside of the ripley series. i didn’t care much for the characters but it was a fun ride.
- fascism and democracy – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i was clearly having a moment with orwell. he’s a class essayist.
- lost dog and other stories – ⭐⭐⭐ – it was okay, not particularly memorable.
- swimming in the dark – ⭐⭐⭐ – i think i’d overhyped this and so was immensely underwhelmed. the writing was also weak as hell.
- lambeth palace library – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- love, love, loved! this was insightful, well structured and just a good time.
- her body and other parties – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i’m not sure why i didn’t give this five starts tbh. i feel like this is a collection of essays that i’ll revisit time and time again.
- titian – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – titian is so cool, but the font size in this gave me a headache.
- cheer up: love and pompoms – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – super sweet, but a little rushed. i hope there’s another volume to add some extra depth.
- three types of solitude – ⭐⭐⭐ – i guess kubrick got more out of this than me.
- the story of a fierce bad rabbit – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 2bro2b – ⭐⭐⭐ – pretty mediocre.
- the tale of mr. jeremy fisher – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of two bad mice – ⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of jemima puddle duck – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of the flopsy bunnies – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of squirrel nutkin – ⭐⭐⭐
- cecily parsley’s nursery rhymes – ⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of samuel whiskers or the roly poly pudding – ⭐⭐⭐
- the tailor of gloucester – ⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of benjamin button – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of peter rabbit – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- the tale of tom kitten – ⭐⭐⭐
- robin hood and his merry men – ⭐⭐⭐ – i wish i cared more for robin hood.
- a journey to the end of the russian empire – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – chekhov is actually hilarious. cannot wait to read the full collection of his leeters.
- she’s my knight vol. 1 – ⭐⭐⭐- a pretty average start but i’m intrigued to see where this goes and what other tropes they explore/flip.
- the sprite and the gardener – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i want a copy of my own immediately!!!! this is such a gorgeous piece, and everyone should read it!
- the sentinel – ⭐⭐ – reacher is merely a caricature of himself, maybe it’s time to leave the series behind.
- the anti-slavery alphabet – ⭐⭐⭐ – an interesting piece in its historical context.
- the absurd abc – ⭐⭐⭐ – idk why but i cannot stop reading these abc’s whenever i see them.
- the tale of mrs tiggy-winkle – ⭐⭐⭐
- those snow white notes vol. 1 – ⭐⭐⭐ – average. i’ll leave the series here.
- antigone, oedipus the king and electra – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – another old, dead funny man.
- oedipus at colonus – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – absolutely rate this too.
- the recognition of sakuntala – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i had no idea what this was going in, and i was blown away. it was hilarious, like, the kind of funny where you have to read it aloud to someone else just to affirm it.
- the complete poems of thomas hardy – ⭐⭐⭐- 15 months on, and i’ve now read every poem that good old mr hardy published. my favourite is still neutral tones, and i think this man should cap every poem at 16 lines.
- take a hint, dani brown – ⭐⭐ – i didn’t enjoy get a life, chloe brown, and yet i was compelled to finish it. i didn’t enjoy this either, but again, i felt compelled to finish it. i’ll probably give the act your age, eve brown a whirl just to try and figure out why i can’t stop reading these books.
- don quixote – ⭐⭐⭐ – this was a s l o g but i finished it after like 7 weeks but hey, now i can understand every text that references it!
- hot stew – ⭐⭐ – ugh don’t you just love shitty white ‘feminist’ analyses of sex work and gentrification. let’s just forget that intersectionality is a thing and make sex workers seem like idiots that aren’t even smart enough to work at tesco. great job fiona! 🙃
- the last thing to burn – ⭐⭐⭐ – an interesting concept that was poorly executed.
- my policeman – ⭐⭐- what a waste of my time. harry styles had better make this film worth my while.
- boys run the riot vol. 1 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i need the next vol immediately!!!!
- concrete rose – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i liked being back in the gardens, but this felt a little rushed and left me with unanswered questions.
- the gaybcs – ⭐⭐⭐ – for something that’s supposed to be wholesome and inclusive, the mark was missed quite a few times.
- frankenstein – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a pretty cool interpretation of frankenstein but i wish it had been a longer exploration of the story as it was less than half the volume and so much more could have been done with it.
- junji ito’s dissolving classroom – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a classic display of ito’s style of repetition excelling.
- frgaments of horror – ⭐⭐⭐ – really could’ve done without the transphobia in magami nanakuse.
- remina – ⭐⭐⭐ – a little cosmic horror. obviously the art was amazing but the characters and story sucked.
- the hill we climb: an inaugural poem – ⭐⭐⭐ – on paper this just felt lacklustre.
- electra and other plays – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – might just make being a sophocles stannie my new identity ❤️
- the tales of ise – ⭐⭐⭐⭐- i wish the tales and poems had been better integrated, the flipping got real annoying real quick. the tales themselves though were fantastic and i loved that i could just dip in and out of this.
- blood on the tracks vol. 1 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i literally gasped out loud, i need the rest of the series immediately.
- plays and fragments – ⭐⭐ – the translation of this was so colloquial and trying to be #cool.
- one punch man vol. 1 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a very solid 4 star series.
- vintage murakami – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – this is a murakami reader, so i only read the short stories which were new to me and they were excellent!!! can’t wait to pick up the new collection he just put out!!
- discourse on the origin of inequality – ⭐⭐⭐- this felt like it was 1000 pages long, but for the most part i agree.
- one punch man vol. 2 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- one punch man vol. 3 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- one punch man vol. 4 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- one punch man vol. 5 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- one punch man vol. 6 – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- venus in the blind spot – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – the human chair 🤩 edogawa ranpo’s story with ito’s visuals is an event!! what a cracking time
- classic poetry: an illustrated collection – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – very wholesome.
- sweet sweet revenge ltd. – ⭐⭐⭐ – after loving the charm of the hundred-year old man, this just missed the mark for me as i absolutely loathed the characters.
- drinking – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – an excellent collection of short stories, ‘the swimmer’ remains my firm favourite though and you should definitely read it immediately.
- dragman – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – i picked this graphic novel up on a whim from dave’s comics in brighton, mostly being sold on the title alone. it’s well worth a read, and the art is amazing!!
– stats –
have you read any of these? what were your thoughts?
queerying literature 