Reading Wrap-up: April, 2019

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What with spending most of my time on my move last month, I only read eight books and two short stories in April. Hopefully, since the move will be over in about a week, I’ll have more time to absorb books. Until then, I left Minnesota behind today and am making the long drive currently to Ohio.

But before I get into the books I read last month, a short update on my challenges for the year.

Reading Resolutions

(my original post of my resolutions)

  1. Read 1 Indie book a month: I didn’t do this. I started a book, but I have yet to finish it.
  2. Read 2 short stories: I did do this.
  3. Read more challenging books: I did some of this, but not as much as I wanted.
  4. Reread some books: I didn’t do this, but mostly because all my books are packed in boxes…hopefully next month I will have my books all unpacked

Reading Challenges

(my original post on my challenges)

  1. The Year of Asian Reading Challenge: I read a total of 27 of my 51+ books. I only read four books this month by Asian authors (two of which were the last volumes of Death Note), but I’m still ahead in my goal
  2. Back to the Classics Challenge: I read a total of 7 of 13 books, as I only read one book for this challenge. Though I have only 6 books left for more than half the year, so I’m not too concerned.
  3. Pages Read 2019: I read a total of 2,289 words this month (I need to read about 4,000 a month), making my total words 17,121 out of my 48,000 words. Not amazing, but not as bad as it could have been considering how busy I was. Hopefully next month I can catch up.

Finally, unto the books!

1 Star

  • Death Note #11-12 by Tsugumi Oba (released 2006)
    • my review for the entire series.

2 Stars

  • Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (released 2017)
    • I got through about half of this book before I gave up. I tried, I swear I did, but this is one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. It shouldn’t be, but it was to me. The setting is interesting, the characters are mostly interesting, and the pacing isn’t horrible. And yet nothing seems to happen even when things happen. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book and had it contained more meanings and deeper understanding of the world, I could have probably finished it. My main problem is that this book is filled with things that happen. But, like real life, things happening is not enough to be interesting. Where are any powerful themes? Recurring tropes? I’d take anything…
  • Pericles by William Shakespeare (released 1606)

3 Stars

  • Perelandra (Space Trilogy #2) by C. S. Lewis (released 1943)
    • I’m going to wait to do the review for this book and its prequal when I finish the last book.
  • “Facts Concerning The Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family” by H.P. Lovecraft (released 1920) (short story)
    • I’m not sure whether to take this story as a horrifying tale of a family going mad, or a slightly racism quest to discover a race of white apes in Africa. Either way, it’s a strange tale. It’s certainly not my favorite among Lovecraft’s short stories, but I didn’t hate it either.

4 Stars

  • Out of the Silent Planet (The Space Trilogy #1) by C.S. Lewis (released 1938)
    • I’m waiting to review this until I finish the entire trilogy.
  • Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles #1) by Philip Reeve (released 2011)
  • “The Temple” by H.P. Lovecraft (released 1925) (short story)
    • Hm…I wonder if this narrator is German (he certainly reminds us enough until I felt like going insane along with all the other characters in this short story). Anyway, this story hints at the existence of some great force found beneath the ocean (a.k.a., Cthulhu), perhaps the first one Lovecraft published.

5 Stars

  • A Hero Born (Legends of the Condor Heroes #1) by Jin Yong (released 1957, translated to English in 2019)

While there were certainly books I read this month I wasn’t a massive fan of, I did read a lot of books I enjoyed. I’m finding I’m reading a lot more classics recently…I just must be in a mood for classics.

What books did you read this month? Have you read any of these books? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, follow my blog for more musings and, as always,

Best wishes in your life full of adventure,

Madame Writer

5 thoughts on “Reading Wrap-up: April, 2019

  1. I wonder if Pachinko seems boring to you because of differences between Eastern and Western storytelling? I mean, people keep telling me that anyway – that modern Japanese or Korean storytelling, for example, is far more introspective, meditative, and, um, less action-oriented. I wonder if that’s true, and if it’s the reason why you found it boring? I don’t really know, though, since I haven’t read Pachinko. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I would say that’s possible, except I read so many Eastern books (from Chinese, Japan, Korea, etc.) and usually I prefer them to Western books. So that can’t be the reason I found this book boring. Plus, the style of writing feels more Western, even if the story is about Korea/Japan. And one of the reasons I disliked this book was because it lacked introspection. But I’d be curious to know what you think, if you ever read Pachinko.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I’m currently reading Pachinko and I know what you mean. I’m about 1/3 of the way through and I keep thinking about how nice everyone is (well, except creepy Hansu). The book needs something like a good villain to spice things up. But maybe Japanese imperialism is that villain? Don’t know. Hopefully the other 2/3 of the book will be more engaging.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. A villain…I agree. A strong conflict would have made the book much better. If you finish the book, you’ll have to let me know if the much-needed villain ever pops his head into the story.

      Like

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