I’m a pretty awkward person when it comes down to it. Not great at the whole social interaction thing. I feel as though I have the ability to stop a conversation dead by saying the wrong thing every time. I’m also the kind of person that would rather go along with a lie I told in order to save face. So, I kind of empathise with the main character of my final read of 2022.
Picking up the right book at the right time makes all the difference to your enjoyment levels. If you pick up a sure-fire hit at the wrong time then it can become a nightmare. I won’t say that December was the worst time for me to pick up this book but it certainly didn’t make it easy. She and Her Cat is the kind of book that I should have been able to read over a couple of nights or in one day over the weekend. What actually happened is that I slaved over this book for about a week. I’ve been so tired that I couldn’t manage more than a few pages a night. It was painful. I really wanted to read it but I just couldn’t. Last night, I decided to power through and finish it. I’ve been struggling at work today but at least it’s done.
I went to take some photos yesterday and couldn’t find one of my latest reads. It’s not the first time that it’s happened but I’m normally able to find it after a bit of rearranging. I could not find this book anywhere. So, I decided to start organising my books. Starting with collecting ones that I could get rid of. I admit that I’m a bit of hoarder when it comes to books. Even if I don’t like a book or am unlikely to reread it, I’ll hang onto it for all my life. I have books from university that I still own for no reason. I’ve always lived in a house full of books and it just feel natural to keep them. But I was ruthless and managed to get the first box full of stuff I didn’t need. Here’s hoping I can keep this momentum going and get my madness down to a less chaotic level. Oh, and I did find the book eventually. It was inside a little pouch that I’d recently bought along with my Kindle. Past Laura really isn’t really my favourite person right now.
I’m really happy with how all of my reading at the moment. I don’t know whether it’s just that I’m coming out of a very recent slump or that I’m just reading better books. Whatever it is, I’m very pleased with how it’s all going. I’m not necessarily as fast as I normally am but I’m definitely inspired by the novels I’m finishing. The latest one was a book club pick but also a book that I’ve wanted to read for ages. Longer than I actually realised. When I was about halfway through the paperback version, I realised that I had bought a Kindle copy of this book in 2016. So, I’ve been meaning to read this for 5 years and had forgotten all about it. My Kindle is full of books like that. Ones that I buy when they cost 99p but forget about moments later. At least I can finally cross one off the my list of unread ebooks.
Yesterday was Haruki Murakami and I’ve seen plenty of people on Instagram picking up his books this month. I decided that I wanted to pick something up and decided to finally get round to this short collection. I’m not as well-versed in Murakami’s short stories as I’d like to be. It’s not about their quality but more about my attention span for short stories. I typically need a longer narrative to keep me going or I just lose my pace. I have lost count of how many anthologies I own but have never read more than one story. So, I was determined to keep to my “read more books from my shelves” resolution and finish this one.
I finished this book fairly late on Friday night so was feeling pretty smug that I wouldn’t have to rush to get anything finished today. I was going to have a relaxed day and try to get ahead with my next read. Did I? No chance. So, I’m hoping that I can get this written in super quick time and get a fair chunk done before bed. Will I? Well, considering I’m still get my head around my latest read, it doesn’t bode well. I was really looking forward to reading this one because I’d really enjoyed Convenience Store Woman. Although, I know that it’s an incredibly divisive novel. One of my friends absolutely hated it when she read it and I get it. It was the weird story of an outsider trying to find away to fit it. There wasn’t a great deal of plot and it did cross the quirky line quite dramatically. I assumed that Earthlings would also fall into this divisive realm of literature.
I was incredibly excited the moment that I found out that there was going to be a sequel to Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold. It was one of my favourite books of 2019. In fact it was number 2. Only beaten by the exquisite comedy of Richard Ayoade‘s examination of the film View From the Top. The first book, adapted from Kawaguchi’s play of the same name, was such an unusual but engaging book. I had never read anything quite like it, so getting the chance to revisit his work was most welcome. It was released at an great moment and really helped pull me out of my reading slump. After taking a week or so to finish The Thursday Murder Club, it only took me a couple of nights to get through this. Hopefully, this means I’m back to normal. Definitely a good thing because my non-review bookish posts ideas aren’t exactly inspiring.
Imagine that I’m feeling pretty smug right now. Not only have I finished another book this month but I’m posting my second book review of the week. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a position to write two reviews in the same week. But I’ve had a productive weekend. I finished The Turn of the Key in a couple of days and managed to get most of the way through this book by Sunday evening. By that time, I was also ahead with my blogs for the week. I wrote my Sunday Review, Tuesday Review, and Book Review in no time. Guys, I think I’m actually becoming productive. All these years that I’ve been talking about it and it might actually be happening. Although, I know for a fact that the multiple reviews in one week won’t keep happening. I may be smug but I’m not delusional.
I saw this book in a bookshop a month ago and immediately wanted to read it. But, considering my TBR list is so huge, I decided against it. Until a few weeks later when I couldn’t resist anymore and bought a cheap copy. I couldn’t wait to start reading it. As soon as I’d done with Love, Nina I did it. And, if I hadn’t already passed my GoodReads challenge score, it would have been a perfect read. I finished it in 3 days, which for me is kind of miraculous. Does it help that I’m on holiday this week? Certainly but let’s not take away from my achievements.
It became very apparent at the start of this week that there was no way that I was going to finish the book I was currently reading for this post. So, on Tuesday lunchtime I had a mad dash around the charity bookshop next to work to find something I could finish in a day. There were plenty of possibilities on offer but, having recently seen this on Instagram, I felt the discovery of this book was fate. Not only is the book gorgeous but it’s something I’ve only heard great things about. So, I bought it and started reading it immediately. I didn’t get as much reading done last night because I ended up dropping my phone outside my friend’s house. I ended up spending the time I had put aside to read desperately trying to find my phone and arrange to get it back to me. Still, thanks to a lunchtime of ignoring my coworkers and just reading, I finished the book in time. Now I just need to get this post written.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 