Reading Recap: October '25

 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Like most things I downloaded on my Kindle, this was a palette cleanser in between a string of chunky books. Murata's style definitely caught my attention, and I'm excited to read Earthlings, but I wish that the characters were more fleshed out. It felt more like a pitch than a complete story.

    To be honest, I didn't love the ending. It's one of those situations where I understand what Murata was trying to say, and why she went about it in the way that she did, while still wishing that it could've gone differently. I appreciate that Keiko never lost her characterization. Murata reminds me a lot of Delphine Lecompte; both write about women being trapped in retail, feeling a step behind what it means to be human. I'm not sure if that's an insult. / ★★★

 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

YESSS GILLIAN. Gone Girl is a rare case of a book making me want to rewatch the adaptation. That's literally Ben Affleck. I could picture him in every scene, and I wish I had a time machine just so I could get 90s (very self aware) heartthrob Affleck for the flashback scenes. I don't love Rosamund Pike, but reading the source material gave me a new appreciation for her performance.

    That's not to say that the movie is better than the book. Of course the book is better because the audience is able to live inside the characters' heads, not just see a snapshot. Margo and Nick's relationship was strangely dynamic. I can't stop thinking of the "cool girl" monologue in relation to other media, but. Well. You'll hear more about that next month. / ★★★★

 

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The first official book club book has been defeated! We've been reading this since mid-May--it's weird living in a post-Dostoevsky world. I didn't like it as much as I expected, which may say more about the method (90 page chunks spread over 6 months) than the content. It's still a solid, respectable 3.5 stars. The most fascinating part (aside from Dostoevsky naming the most controversial character after himself) is the rumored concepts behind the book's sequel. Once you do a little research, everything starts to fall into place: Alexi's slow-blooming characterization, relationship loose-ends, and the off-balance pacing. Can you imagine if this was another 900 pages? I'm not sure we'd ever finish. Although the DeviantArt community is small, it's passionate. Fuck, now I actually have to acknowledge the other Dostoevsky books on my shelf. And stupid Anna Karenina. / ★★★½

 

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

I was very close to abandoning this book 200 pages in, which almost never happens to me. The language surrounding Dolores and her experiences transitioning out of childhood offput me, especially from a male author, and I only stuck with it because the recommendation came from a YouTuber whose taste I trust when it comes to books about complicated women. It wasn't all uphill from there, but the last 200ish pages really drew me in. I loved seeing Delores struggle to grow and adapt to the "real" world. If that was the whole book, it probably would've been 5 stars. My 3 stars doesn't mean it was bad, I just had a different experience with it, and despitet he blurb on the back boasting that it feels like a woman's writing, it doesn't. The compassion Lamb feels toward Delores wavers, and sometimes I question why he wanted to write this book. I'm glad Delores got her her happily-maybe-sometimes-ever-after. / ★★★

 

4 books — 2034 pages — avg 3.38 ★