we are almost done with 2022 and I have recently gathered some books for myself (in a matter of a few months exactly, I didn’t buy them all at once by any means) and I wanted to make a post about them here! 2021 was a very slow year for me, I didn’t (couldn’t) read as much as I wanted to and whenever I got a book in my hands, I ended up not really reading it. However, I promised myself to read as much as I can during 2022 and I am happy to say that it is going really well. I have actually managed to finish my Goodreads goal (if you want to be friends, click here!) and I am still going strong with my reading! 💪
Let’s start the haul of my most recently bought/gifted books of the past few months!
Memoirs of Geisha by Arthur Golden
Recently I met with a close university friend of mine and reunited with her, in a way I felt so close to her in a different light, thanks to all that chatting we had about books, philosophy, life, teaching, and basically everything we could think of together. We have decided to read books together and this is our first book! I am incredibly excited about this one particularly because it has been on my TBR for the longest time and reading it with a friend will surely be delightful!
Moonlight on Nightingale Way by Samantha Young
If you know me a little, you already know that I am a huge fan of Samantha Young and everything she writes, I met this amazingly talented author with Dublin Street and I have been a huge fan ever since! The moment I saw this beauty on sale on Amazon, I had to get it! I usually read English books on my e-book reader but for a good price, I will never miss one of my favorite authors’ book! I will read this one the moment I feel ready for another steamy and heart-wrenching romance! (●’◡’●)
The Spring Girls by Anna Todd
I have never read something from Anna Todd, nor did I want to read something. However, the cover sold itself to me the moment I saw it on Amazon. I am very skeptical about this author (after that “after” series mess) and I am 90% sure that I will either hate this book or dislike this book. I do not want to disrespect anyone’s hard work and efforts but sometimes some authors and you do not match well and even though I had never read from her pen, I know that it is not for me. Yet again, the cover managed to sell itself somehow and I bought it to give it a shot.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
This beauty was a gift from my husband! I have been wanting to read this for so long but after reading lots of reviews on GoodReads, I didn’t want to just read it from my e-book reader, I needed a physical copy of it and I wanted to make sure that I could enter the world of it. I love books about books and dreams (here goes my love for Silber series) and I am incredibly excited to read this one as well! The rating on GoodReads is incredibly high and it won a couple of awards since it was published, so I wonder how I will feel as I read it 🙂
Children of Jocasta by Natalie Hynes
The time stops for me whenever I find something about ancient Greek or Greek mythology in general. The Children of ıokaste had no different reaction for me. The moment I saw it in the bookshop, I had to get it without even bothering myself to read something about it. You see, I always get books or start reading books after reading some reviews and hear about some of my favorite blogggers’ opinions about them, but when it comes to ancient times and mythology, I will get and ready anything and everything I come across despite the fact that there are times when I don’t like or enjoy the the book particularly. I am sure that I will enjoy this one though, I love when authors make characters, the ones who are less visible in old literature, more visible and open to see, giving them a choice to show themselves.
Mythos by Stephen Fry
I do not have much to say about this one, mainly because this is not a novel or a pleasure read for me. I’ve been planning on having my second degree in university from Ancient Greek Language and Literature, so here I am with another book filled with myth retellings. It is incredibly important to understand that myths are basically stories retold over thousands of years, and Stephen Fry has done an outstanding job with collecting some of the most famous myths of greek mythology. It is an “always ready to reach” for me, and I have a few of these types of books as well, though all of them have something different even with the same characters. 👌
Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson
While we are here with mythology, let’s continue with another retelling of myths. This book focuses on Heracles and Atlas, two of the most known characters in Greek mythology. It is the thirdbook in Canongate’s The Myhts series. I really like the idea of this series (focusing on a myth in each book and explore the modern language with its characters) and I would love to read more right after this one. It is a fairly short book and I am quite excited to see how Heracles and Atlas come together, how their stories interact and how unique Winterson wrote them. I do not do “tbr lists” but this will be read soon as well!
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
Have you ever considered reading a book because of the reviews and all the hype on it? I have. And here it is with The Poppy War. The main reason I’ve decided to read this book was a friend of mine on Goodreads, I usually like whatever she likes and when I saw the rating she gave, the review she wrote, I was sold. I knew I had to read this at one point no matter what. It is especially famous for the deep, dark lore, and what is better than fantasy series with well written history around the characters?
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Mishima is one of my new favorites this year. I wasn’t really curious about the classic/modern Japanese literature even though I am a huge fan of anime and manga. I’ve decided to give it a try with The Sound of Waves from him again and I’ve fallen in love with it. It was a book I didn’t like and ended up DNF a few years back, but I believe this amazing author deserves a chance. Or two. I also believe that in order to understand everything written in this metaphorical literature you need to be in certain state of mind. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the first two books I’ve read from him and I will continue with this one very soon.
Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai
Another Japanese author I’ve met this year was Osamu Dazai, his writing is much darker compared with Mishima, and he was one of the authors who has a personal side in his books. I’ve read one book from him and wasn’t much fond of it, it is most likely because I wasn’t in “the right state of mind” as I got it, however I will surely continue to read with this book in order to understand more about his writing and stories.
The Tatar Steppe by Dino Buzzati
The last book in my haul was actually a gift from someone I know at work. She gave me the book thinking that I would enjoy it and I am quite curious about it since I’ve read nothing from Italian literature ever since I graduated from school. It is about the ways humans can go through under the name of glory, the name of pride, and under the name of hope. I’ve always enjoyed books with reasons, reasons which concerned entire humanity, often ignored. As for the plan of this year, I hope to read it and let her know how I felt about it. 🍀
If you came through all the way reading this, thank you!
I really appreciate you and I hope that you are curious about the books I got recently.
See you in my next post! 💖
Luster of Books 