L I F E
This March, I celebrated my 28th birthday! I don’t really celebrate birthdays anymore but this year, I decided to go see My Neighbour Totoro in theatre! I love how they brought to life the story and magic of Ghibli to stage! Bravo to the team bringing Totoro to life, I gasped so loudly when I first saw him on stage.
B O O K S
In March, I read 6 books!
For transparency, every book marked with * are titles I received for free as I currently work at PRH UK. Books marked **are PRH UK books but I purchased them with my own money.
Eternal Shadows
When the King of Darkness dies suddenly, a battle ensues among those next in line. One wielder of each element is selected by the land to compete in six deadly games. The winner takes the crown. Unaware of being one of the last Light wielders. Aurora has no idea what she’s up against and when the old King’s son, Sterling, takes an interest in her, she is in a fight for her life.
Everything I hate in a book, I found it in here. Overuse of cliché tropes and an embarrassing main character that lacks any real character development. Like, girl, if you don’t stand up for yourself…..
I don’t even want to talk about Sterling or I will throw up.
Our Sunny Days, Volume 1
Sung Ho settles for life in the Korean countryside when he suddenly becomes a single father to a baby girl. With no support, he finds himself butting heads with Kwon Haebeom, the grumpy village head, who seems to have it out for him. Can the two move past their first impressions and find friendship in each other?
BEST MANWHA EVER. When I discovered this was coming to print in English, I almost cried. If you’re new to BLs, then let this be the first one you read. It is sweet, hilarious and so wholesome. A beautiful found family surrounding the small village of Nuldongmae. His bald ass baby is the cutest manhwa baby ever!!!!!! This is also the same author of Unromantic Romance which is another amazing webtoon!
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human
A body horror novel about parasitic hives that are found all around the US which offer struggling humans a new community in exchange for loyalty to the Hive. Crane is a young autistic trans man who has been following the hive for a few years now and finds himself going through an unwanted pregnancy where the hive is determined he goes through with the pregnancy.
This book genuinely left me so shocked. A lot of reviews describe this book as splatterpunk which I’ve not read before and while this book is incredible, it has made me aware that I don’t think this is a genre I’ll be reading that often. It is a gory page turning read. I will be definitely looking into more of Andrew Joseph White’s books.
I actually read this as part of the Trans Right Readathon, but I ended up getting sick just as the readathon started so this was the only book I managed to read. 😦
The Water and the Wild*
A novel in verse about a young girl in grief moves to Ireland where her father is now buried and discovers a secret within the father’s hometown.
Fia and the Last Snow Deer is one of my favourite books and Eilish Fisher returns with an even more powerful sequel. Rowan and her mother move from the US to Ireland in hopes of finding peace in her father’s home town – the one he had left so many years ago. But something is odd about the town and The Wall that surrounds it. An open secret amongst the people that they must fix the wall or else. When Rowan sneaks beyond The Wall, she discovers a horse and for the first time in forever, she feels at peace. But will this peace come at a cost? I would’ve loved to have seen the same illustrator for Fia and the Last Snow Deer, but there’s something so haunting about David Rooney’s art that fits so perfectly for this story. I was immediately enthralled. I can see Eilish Fisher becoming a classic children’s author in the future.
The Anthropocene Reviewed** (Published by Ebury but I purchased the e-book)
A collection of personal essays from author John Green. Originally a podcast, he reviews different aspects of our human-centered history and rating them on a five-star scale.
I decided to read this on a whim as I noticed it was the only John Green book I haven’t read. (I had read most of his fictional books as a teen! Yes… I was a 2012 Tumblr girl…..) I was mainly put off from reading this as I had listened the podcast over lockdown so I was already familiar with a lot of the content. However, there are six new exclusive pieces to the published version! It was great, especially if you’re new to John’s non-fiction work but I would recommend listening to the podcast!
The Amberglow Candy Store** (Published by Michael Joseph but I purchased the book)
At the end of Gloaming Lane, there lies the Amberglow Candy Store, only open between the full moon and the new moon and manned by a half-fox man called Kogetsu who promises confection that changes the lives of his customers. Customers range from a teenage girl worrying about her strained relationship to a struggling first time mother. The stories are lovely and offer a great reflection on the complex nature of human relationships as Kogetsu watches the aftereffect of his creations, eager to understand how humans work.
That’s it for this month! Tell me what went on in YOUR life this month! What sort of things was important for you this month? New obsessions? New TV shows? Or book? Any new song recs (I’m always open to new music!)? Best books you read this month?
as told by zaheerah 