A Month of Translated Fiction | July 2024 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
This month I caught the reading bug and read 21 books: 9 novels, 6 novellas, and 5 manga volumes. My best reading month yet! Don't ask me how, I'm pretty sure I spent all of July in a fugue state. And everything, everything, was from the library this month. I didn't read a single book off of my physical TBR. My library really just came in clutch this month. I'm glad that they're starting to stock more novellas and more translated works. I know I requested that they add a few of the books below on their shelves and I'm very happy that they listened!
Okay, this post is going to be long enough as it is, so let's just get into it!
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Novels
1. Tidal Creature by Seanan McGuire
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.53 CAWPILE
Page count: 464 pages
Day(s) read: 7.01 - 7.09
Final thoughts: Book three in the Alchemical Journeys series. I liked this much more than book two, Seasonal Fears. You'll recall that I actually unhauled my copies of Seasonal Fears and Middlegame a few months ago, and I still stand by that decision despite enjoying this installment in the series. My main gripes with this series as a whole is that it was pitched as a series of companion novels that you can read independently of each other, but really it's a series about the same two characters: Roger and Dodger. They take over every other storyline present. You can tell that Seanan McGuire really loves them as characters because they never seem to have a day off. Also you can tell that this book is clearly the set up for the finale, so that dimmed my excitement a little bit. But yes, I will be finishing out the series.
2. The Plague by Albert Camus
Translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert
Means of reading: Audiobook
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.64 CAWPILE
Page count: 322 pages (10 hrs 52 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 7.04 - 7.06
Final thoughts: So incredibly depressing, but I knew that going into it. At the beginning it kept making me think of the biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, and then the novel directly referenced that story so it doesn't feel like a misnomer to say that this book is an allegory for divine justice. It seemed like the book was trying to dissuade us as the reader from sinning and potentially causing divine retribution, but having the story told from the ordinary people of the town really just highlighted the injustice of it all. The little folk will always bear the consequences of the 1%, and so on. A little on the nose, but still a master work.
3. The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2.5 stars/4.56 CAWPILE
Page count: 330 pages (8 hrs 9 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 7.06 - 7.08
Final thoughts: Eh. Not really my cup of tea, which is disappointing because for so long I thought this might become a new favorite of mine. I'm glad that I held off on purchasing a copy for myself before reading, at least. Ropa, our MC, had a very strong and distinct voice, but I didn't really jive with her unfortunately. The plot was interesting enough, but the worldbuilding was practically nonexistent. It was never explained what the time period was (I figure it's modern day since Ropa has a cell phone) or what happened to Scotland to turn it so desolate. I was left with way more questions than answers, but the intrigue was so low that I don't care about continuing in the series to get said answers.
4. The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa
Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.14 CAWPILE
Page count: 288 pages
Day(s) read: 7.10 - 7.16
Final thoughts: So sad! I need to stop picking up cat books because I always end up crying over them. Reading about pets just makes me too damn emotional, especially when things happen to them! At least some of the stories in this novel (short story collection?) ended happily, but the sad ones were just a massive punch in the gut. Aside from the emotional impact, the writing was beautiful. I always enjoy the prose in Japanese literature, so that should come as no surprise.
5. Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
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Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.01 CAWPILE
Page count: 405 pages
Day(s) read: 7.11 - 7.17
Final thoughts: Another excellent retelling of Hindu mythology, though I do think I enjoyed Kaikeyi more, overall. As always with mythology retellings (aside from Greek and Norse, at this point) I learned something new about a culture I hadn't previously studied, and my interest in reading the primary sources has been piqued. My only issue with this book is that I felt the characters fell rather flat. I didn't feel much, if any, connection to them. I did really enjoy the plot and the way the timeline was laid out.
6. The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin
Means of reading: E-book
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.64 CAWPILE
Page count: 336 pages
Day(s) read: 7.14 - 7.16
Final thoughts: I thought this was so cute and fun! It had been a while since I'd read a just-for-fun middle grade fantasy, and I really enjoyed my time with this one. I feel like a lot of whimsy authors are drawing inspiration from Studio Ghibli more and more these days, and I for one am not mad at it because I love Studio Ghibli and any book that gives me those same feelings is a book I want to read. While I was reading this, I kept thinking "It's Howl's Moving Castle meets Disney's animated classic The Sword in the Stone" and I have decided that that is exactly how I'm going to be pitching this book from now on. Goodreads says that this is the first in a duology, so I'm excited to read the sequel in a couple of years!
7. Slewfoot by Brom
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.11 CAWPILE
Page count: 305 pages
Day(s) read: 7.18 - 7.19
Final thoughts: This is one of those "I support women's rights and women's wrongs" type of books. I completely understand why Riley from Riley Marie on YouTube loves this book so much. It wasn't quite it for me like it is for her, but I did still really enjoy it. Well, maybe enjoy isn't the right word for a book like this...grim satisfaction, maybe? I really liked Abitha as a character, but I didn't care much about the wildfolk and that whole storyline.
8. Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin
Translated from the Chinese by Bonnie Huie
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 2.5 stars/4.11 CAWPILE
Page count: 242 pages
Day(s) read: 7.19 - 7.26
Final thoughts: This was pretty mid for me, to be completely honest. I understand how important it is and was when it was first published, and there were a handful of lines that were so beautiful, but overall the story had a rather negative impact on me. Objectively, it's an excellent book. It's insightful and thought-provoking, and something that I think would make a wonderful subject in a college course. But subjectively it made me feel very depressed which is the exact opposite of what I need in my life right now. I might revisit it a few years down the road, if my mental health gets better.
9. The Promise by Damon Galgut
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.67 CAWPILE
Page count: 269 pages
Day(s) read: 7.20 - 7.28
Final thoughts: Again, pretty mid. Which is wild since this won the 2021 Booker Prize. I totally get why, too. It just wasn't my personal taste, and there isn't really anything I can do about that? I was having trouble keeping up with the narration shifts. It was mostly 3rd person but sometimes randomly it would shift to 1st person, and I could never figure out if it was the POV character's inner monologue, or if it was our omniscient narrator addressing us the reader directly. It was weird.
Novellas
1. The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada
Translated from the Japanese by David Boyd
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.71 CAWPILE
Page count: 116 pages
Day(s) read: 7.01 - 7.02
Final thoughts: Heckin' weird. Just a funky little book. But I think I liked it? It wasn't a "shout from the rooftops, absolute new favorite" good book, but I see why it's so beloved. There was zero plot. Just vibes. Except even the vibes were questionable sometimes. I definitely understand why Ariel likes this book so much, weird little books are her jam. I don't think I can pinpoint exactly what I enjoyed myself, I just did.
2. Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
Translated from the German by Joel Rotenburg
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.63 CAWPILE
Page count: 83 pages
Day(s) read: 7.02 - 7.03
Final thoughts: If you want to read about the absolute worst torture and suffering a person can go through, then read this! But seriously, read this. It's so good, I can't explain it. I am incredibly emotional, even now after nearly a month. I don't want to think about what Zweig had endured in his life to come up with such a concept. I don't want you to know anything about this story before reading. It's so short, but there's so much to unpack. Please, please just read it!
3. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
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Means of reading: Audiobook
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.63 CAWPILE
Page count: 188 pages (5 hrs 30 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 7.07 - 7.08
Final thoughts: This is one of those books that everyone says should be required reading, and I guess I don't really understand why? No doubt it was extremely radical and controversial when it came out in 1899 (wild) and so I can appreciate it for all it's done, but reading it through a modern lens hurts a little bit. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that the ending left me less than thrilled. The writing, however, was superb.
4. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
Translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.50 CAWPILE
Page count: 105 pages
Day(s) read: 7.09 - 7.10
Final thoughts: I really just said yee-haw with the sad books this month, because holy heck was this sad! I mean, I knew it was going to be, but I wasn't expecting the ending. And I will also say that reading this plunged me into a history rabbit hole about Palestine and all that's happened around it. So now I have context for this story and that just makes me even more sad. Someone please give me more Palestinian literature to read!
5. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky
Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.44 CAWPILE
Page count: 126 pages (2 hrs 8 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 7.17 - 7.18
Final thoughts: Despite the main character turning into a literal bug, this is probably one of the most realistic horror stories I've ever read. I mean seriously, what in the capitalist hellscape is this? The man wakes up as a beetle and his first thought is how he won't be able to work. I've seen two avenues of discourse on The Metamorphosis: one, that overworking can strip away your humanity and leave you useless to the greater cultural economy; and two, that this book discourages people from remaining unemployed as they are essentially leeches on the people around them. I personally fall into the first camp because I've seen people in my life hospitalized from overworking themselves trying to make end's meet. Anyway. Terrifying.
6. The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Garza
Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Booker
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.83 CAWPILE
Page count: 136 pages
Day(s) read: 7.27 - 2.29
Final thoughts: Another weird one. A good weird, I think? I was left with a lot of questions, not so much "what happened after?" questions, but more so "did I even read this right?" type of questions. I feel a little too small brained for this story. I didn't really understand the meaning behind the book. What I do know is that I need to read Amparo Davila's work, so there's that, at least.
Manga
1. My Dress-Up Darling vol. 8-11 by Shinichi Fukuda
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 800 pages
Day(s) read: 7.09, 7.26
Final thoughts: I'm just really enjoying my time with this series. I believe I'm now fully caught up with what's published in English, so it'll be a while before I can read volume 12. As I've said before, I don't care much about the romance, but it's still cute. What I do care about are all of the mini worlds that Shinichi Fukuda makes in the manga/anime/video games that Marin cosplays from. I would very much like Coffin to be a real video game, thank you very much!
2. Spy x Family vol. 11 by Tatsuya Endo
Means of reading: E-book
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 208 pages
Day(s) read: 7.12
Final thoughts: Absolutely ridiculous and yet I'm having the time of my life. Anya is so adorable, she's trying her hardest to make friends with Damien. Every time it seems she's made a breakthrough, she ruins it by getting cocky and it's hilarious. This volume had a lot of action and suspenseful moment, and I'm very concerned for how volume 12 is going to play out.
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Total page count: 4,723 pages (25 hrs 39 mins audio)
Best book of July: Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
DNFs this month: The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
No unfinished books this month
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Whew, and that's all for July! If June felt like it was over in the blink of an eye, then July felt like it dragged at a snail's pace. Maybe it was just the amount of books I read. I'm planning to really slow things down in August, and tackle some big books.
Until next time!
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