July was the month where the state went into lockdown. Children spent their winter school holidays at home and remained there as they returned to remote learning for the entire month. I read books by four female authors and six male authors. Nationalities include English, French-Algerian, Japanese and the United States.
1. The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien (1937) is a reread, first read at least fifteen year ago. It was still a lovely little adventure fantasy story and a great introduction into Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
2. V for Vendetta by Alan Moore (1990) is classic British dystopian in graphic novel form that was well adapted into film. ★ ★ ★ ★
3. The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo (2020) is a collection of short stories of many of the saints mentioned in the Gishaverse which are immersive and fairy tale like. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
4. The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson (1957) a collection of short stories which give a glimpse into Jackson’s writing which is eerie and also surprisingly funny. ★ ★ ★
5. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1979) is a collection of short story retelling of fairy tales, bold and unashamedly not for children. ★ ★ ★
6. The Izu Dancer and Other Stories by Yasunari Kawabata and Yasushi Inoue (1926) was a collection of four short stories, the title story by Kawabata and three others by Inoue. ★ ★ ★
7. The Art of Happiness by Epicurus (circa -310) was my first attempt at reading western philosophy. Most of his work is lost but what remains is often an encouragement to seek the science and truth and not rely on “the gods” to be the answer behind why natural weather events occur. ★ ★ ★
8. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (2016) touches on the pressure to fit in as an adult and follow the script that is expected. The main character might have also been representing someone on the autism spectrum although this was never overtly mentioned. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
9. The Outsider by Albert Camus (1942) is about a man that is indifferent and emotionless, he seems to have no agency but is also firmly well within his rights to do so. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
10. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (2018) is very similar in theme as Murata’s previous novel Convenience Store Woman but the execution is enormously different, with jarring acts of violence and refusal to fit into any mould. ★ ★ ★ ★
