I was tagged by @bacchianas thank you so much! I love talking about books!
The last book I read: L’Erotisme de vivre (The Erotism of living - my proposed translation) by Alice Mendelson. It’s a poetry collection and I hadn’t read poetry in long time (and never contemporary French poetry). It was such a good read. It re-instigated my desire to write a little poetry once a week or something. Also, since I took so long to answer this, I finished Azincourt par temps de pluie (Agincourt on a rainy day - my proposed translation) by Jean Teulé. It's a small historical novel chronicling the battle of Agincourt and how it became such a disaster for the French army. It's meanly funny and, while the first part about the French planning the battle (badly) was not as gripping as I thought it would be, the battle part was really phenomenal.
A book I’d recommend: Just one? Damn that's a difficult question. I wanted to recommend Les Mystères de Yoshiwara (original title: Yoshiwara Tebikigusa) by Matsui Kesato but I realized that it isn't translated in English and that most people around here would not be able to read it. Still, if you read Japanese or French pick it up! It's a great detective story in an historical setting with a second-person narration! Otherwise, I will always recommend The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov that I don't think I need to present (The Devil arrives in Soviet Moscow).
A book I couldn't put down: The aforementioned Les Mystères de Yoshiwara, but if we are looking for another title I really like The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo. I literally devoured each title in the series, but especially The Empress of Salt and Fortune and Into the Riverlands.
A book I've read twice or more: I am not a big re-reader, I have a TBR as long as a day without bread as we say around here so I go to the next book. However, I was a theater kid in high school and let me tell you that I read those plays we were staging an alarming amount of time. Most notably I read (and acted in) Electra by Jean Giraudoux so many times that my copy looks like it fought in a war and I can still quote lines more than 12 years after the fact, including lines that weren't mine! (I played the beggar, I was always on stage since like scene 3, I heard every single piece of dialogues in that play every Wednesday for a year).
A book on my TBR: So many! I will go with The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor which has been on my TBR for a decade now and that I still really want to read... I haven't found the time nor the motivation yet.
A book I've put down: Most recently The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties by Timothy Brook. I was so hyped for this book. Unfortunately, Brook is sinologist first and foremost and it shows. This book has many basic errors about the Mongol empire and I was, therefore, worried about the veracity of the informations that were news to me. I think I will end up finishing it, when I have a bit more free time.
A book on my wish list: Mordred by Justine Niogret. It was not available for a while, but it was recently republished in a pocket edition and it came highly recommended by some of my friends.
A favourite book from childhood: I started reading for pleasure quite late, so I will go for "from teenage years" too: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. I remember liking this book so much that I don't dare re-reading it because I don't want to be disappointed.
A book I'd give to a friend: Again, just one? Maybe the integral of La Reine oubliée (The Forgotten Queen - my proposed translation) by Françoise Chandernagor so we can talk about it for hours together.
A book of poetry or lyrics that I own: A compilation of Emily Dickinson's poems called The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.
A non-fiction book that I own: A Daughter of the Samurai by Etsu Sugimoto which is an autobiographical novel about the author's life as a daughter of a samurai born just after the collapse of the feudal system in Japan and who will end up immigrating to the USA.
What I'm currently reading: But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo.
What I'm planning on reading next: Good question! I have a planned TBR for the end of year, but it's only fantasy on there. I should probably pick up a non-fiction book next (or one of the books lended by my friends...) so maybe A Daughter of the Samurai or Combattre au Moyen Âge (Fighting during the Middle Ages - my proposed translation) by Daniel Jaquet.
Tagging: @flowerynameslover @screamingvikings @queengurako @irleughlivelyatalanteangodfan @goblins-riddles-or-frocks @glysreia and anyone who would like to do it!
