#read 2019

[date-prisa-estamos-leyendo]

No se deje agobiar demasiado por la pena. Lo que parecen ser pruebas amargas son, a menudo, bendiciones disfrazadas.

La importancia de llamarse Ernesto, Oscar Wilde.

[booksandwords]

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 5/5

The quote: Oh my God, this is like all those romantic comedies where the girl hires a male escort to pretend to be her wedding date and then falls in love with him for real. — June Claremont-Diaz (it's accurate and says a bit about June)

You have two choices with Red, White & Royal Blue enjoy the sheer wonder and almost fairy tale nature of it or see and pick at the holes in it. I chose to let it go and all into the story, the characters and the writing. (my Goodreads review expands here on something that annoyed me until I did some research)

I spent a lot of my time reading this smiling. It's so fun Alex Claremont-Diaz is at least to start with a slightly unreliable narrator. With readers shown what he misinterprets. Henry Fox Mountchristen-Windsor is sweet. He is not at all what he fist looks like. Their emails are one of the best writing elements I've read in a while. It allows for a passion to seep off the page, for them to be themselves even when they are in their respective countries. It shows the research done by the author on potentially queer historical figures which I adored. Though some elements won't age well, pop culture references that aren't explicitly stated more implied with the understanding that we all know them. Rafael was a charming character his relationship with Alex and Oscar is one of my favourite elements.

It isn't perfect there are some sadly underused characters. Pez feels like he was introduced just to flirt widely and seduce June and play a bit of a role in the end. Cash, in particular, feels like someone who could have been more. Nora is bi and logical where Alex is emotion. They are two sides of a coin. But that was not explored enough for my liking, but that could be a personal concern I adored her. Casey McQuiston very much focused on her men. which is both a good thing and somewhat sad. It is just different for what I'm used to. But again I still give this 5. I still think it's brilliant, I still think everyone should read it.

This is a book in the same vein as The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, it is a rip-roaring good time where love conquers all at a cost. The men are fun, their supporters are as relatable as possible and it shares a message of honesty to self. Even with all the flaws that are evident in the writing, I recommend Red, White & Royal Blue whole-heartedly. There is joy, there is love and there is everything I need in a book.

[bookmonsterzero]

December 2019 in Pictures and Letters

A very belated update to conclude 2019

263. ® Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant 

264. Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia by Anita Heiss 

265. Overload by Bob Schieffer

266. In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders 

267. The Egg and Other Stories by Sherwood Anderson 

268. The Secret History by Procopius

269. The Three Graces of Val-Kill by Emily Herring Wilson

270. Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster

271. Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey

272. ® If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino

273. Poisoner in Chief by Stephen Kinzer

274. The Knight by Gene Wolfe

275. The Wizard by Gene Wolfe

276. ® Notes of Nursing by Florence Nightengale

277. ® Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo

278. ® Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin 

279. ® Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek 

280. The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther 

281. ® The Physicists by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

282. Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw

283. ® Coriolanus by William Shakespeare

284. ® Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

285. ® Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

286. ® Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare

287. ® Henry IV, Part II by William Shakespeare

288. ® The Tempest by William Shakespeare

289. ® Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

290. ® Macbeth by William Shakespeare

291. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

292. Fundamental by Tim James

293. ® Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet

294. Upaniṣads by Anonymous

295. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

296. ® Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

297. Helen with the High Hand by Arnold Bennett

298. ® The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

299. ® Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans

300. ® Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

The Blue Light (1932)

Neo Tokyo (1987)

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Out of the Furnace (2013)

Witchfinder General (1968)

Ad Astra (2019)

® Collateral (2004)

® Onibaba (1964)

Murder by Natural Causes (1979)

The Last Seduction (1994)

Joker (2019)

A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Parasite (2019)

® Green for Danger (1946)

® The King’s Speech (2010)

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966)

® The Unsuspected (1947)

® The Big Clock (1948)

® I Know Where I’m Going (1945)

® His Girl Friday (1940)

Widows (2018)

Marriage Story (2019)

Best experiences in bold, other recommended ones are linked. ® revisited.

[tiberiaschooseme]

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

“Maybe it was enough, I thought, that I knew someone like him existed in this world. Maybe it was enough that our lives had merged and diverged and left us both transformed.”

[shakesbooks]

“No,” Willem said, after they’d all stopped laughing. “I know my life’s meaningful because” -and here he stopped, and looked shy, and was silent for a moment before he continued- “because I’m a good friend. I love my friends, and I care about them, and I think I make them happy.”

A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara

[mydarlinginej]

where do you look for someone who’s never really there? always on a staircase but never on a stair.

[aimeereadsalot]

Mini Review: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Published: 1957 | Genre: Fiction / Philosophy  |  Page Count: 1168

Synopsis: Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller.Who is John Galt? When he says that he will stop the motor of the world, is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battles not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves? - via Barnes and Noble

Review: It took me two years to read this book. That really says it all, I think, but to give you some further reasons why I think this book is bad: 

1. There is no subtlety. Ayn Rand jams her thoughts down the reader’s throats like they are incapable of following her massive breadcrumb trail of clues. 

2. So sexist. So many bad sex scenes and interactions between men and women. A woman literally flings herself off a building when a man rejects her. I could go on about this for hours but alas, I am too exhausted from this book.  

3. Rand has clearly never held the concept of “show, don’t tell.” The entire book is dialogue, monologues, and an entire chapter is just John Galt talking in circles for 40 pages. Plus no one ever has, or ever will, speak like these characters do. 

4. I am way too politically liberal to have ever attempted this read, but hey. I lost a bet. What can I say? The foremost theme is basically that socialism is evil and will bring about the apocalypse. For 1,168 pages. 

Purchase: I guess if you really want, you can find the book here

Add it on Goodreads! (Or don’t, that’s fine too)

Rating: ⭐

2019 Reads: Book 23/52 | 2019 Read from Home: 15

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[themoreplacesyouwillgo]

I finished listening to this yesterday and is the reason my reading has been non existent. I fucking devour this series, I love it so freaking much!!! It's so good you guys!!