for the book ask!! 3, 24 🌸
3. What were your top five books of the year?
hiiiii good question good question
in no particular order:
📖 braiding sweetgrass by robin wall kimmerer. this book... her writing voice, she spoke so tenderly about life and nature, and it was the first time i read anything about the environment that actually introduced the idea of reciprocity and a practical yet optimistic approach to the climate crisis.. very life-affirming. i'd recommend this book to most ppl i know who read, and specifically you!
📖 bloodchild and other stories by octavia e. butler. she... has to be one of the smartest authors i've ever read and is probably my fav scifi author.. short story collections are almost always a mixed lot, but i loved these. each one felt very carefully worked on and complete in its own way. i love butler's ability to take a concept and weave a story that carries it across.. but heavy trigger warnings, especially for the first and titular story.. dont get me wrong i cant stop thinking about it (the wonder!).. but also .. i cant stop thinking about it (the horror!)
📖 the brothers karamazov took me almost a whole year to finish so i can't not include it.. a masterpiece.. they are literally my best friends, all 3 of the brothers... the fucking thing is that, whether an old man in 19th century russia or even by contemporary standards, i heavily disagree w his views on religion and politics, but unlike other religious artists (of all mediums), he actually uses religion to communicate life and love in a way that resonate and confront me despite, despite, despite. love how and author can sometimes reach through centuries and distance and past the layer of translation between us and still speak to me right in my soul. also if you wanna read it in greek ρε η μεταφραση του αλεξανδρου ειναι τοσο μιμαμπλ και αστεια, εχω κυριολεκτικα φτιάξει ενα εξελ με τις βρισιες και τους χαρακτηρισμους που ειχε το βιβλιο γιατι ηταν τοσο καλα που επρεπε να τα σημειωσω. ήξερα οτι θα τα παμε καλα με αυτη τη μεταφραση οταν ειδα οτι τον καραμαζοφ αντι για μεγαλογειοκτημονα τον λέει τσιφλικα.. λαικ.. που αλλου... ΠΟΥ αλλου...
📖 beloved by toni morrison... a masterpiece.. a masterpiece! my second morrison and it only further affirmed that shes one of my favorite authors of all time.. head in hands... head in hands..
📖 the left hand of darkness by ursula le guin. i got my friend to read this book recently and have been talking to them abt it again, it's literally such a great book to discuss w fellow nonbinary and trans ppl.. i do think le guin was a genius and the way she talks abt gender and gender roles is endlessly fascinating, but it's also a story about love, patriotism, duty and sacrifice... and it's good..
honorary mentions: station eleven, notes of a crocodile, the haunting of hill house, we need new names
24. Did you DNF anything? Why?
yes T_T i dnf'd loveless by alice oseman just this month.. this book didn't have much of a plot, it's mostly a slice of life story telling a single character's coming out journey - i craved something with more than that going on, personally. it got tiring and i didn't have the patience for it.
