Let's go straight to the books:
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
4. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
6. White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
7. Woke, Inc. by Vivek Ramaswamy
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A dystopian novel where society trades freedom, individuality, and deep emotion for comfort, pleasure, and stability. I've often seen this book being compared to 1984 by George Orwell, and I plan to read it sometime. Finally read this month. For me, 1984 is >, but this book also raised some chilling questions and gave food for thought.
"I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
Yeah, this. I don't believe in God, though.
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
A gentle, interconnected novel about lost souls who receive unexpected book recommendations from a mysterious librarian, helping them rediscover purpose and direction. I didn't expect much, but ended up enjoying this. Recently, I've been finding Asian literature like this quite comforting. Jotting down these lines for some motivation. Very simple, but they are good for me.
"I will draw art that people will remember"🤍
"And that's how I discovered another way to find a job. Filling out CVs, sending them off, getting interviewed and waiting to be chosen is not the only way to go about it. You can do it like this, too. Just get on with the task in front of you, and people will see what you can do.
"Everybody is connected. And any one of their connections could be the start of a network that branches in many directions. If you wait for the right time to make connections, it might never happen, but if you show your face around, talk to people and see enough to give you the confidence that things could work out, then 'one day' might turn into 'tomorrow.'"
"This didn't just come to you. It happened because you did something for yourself. You took action and that caused things to change around you."🫶🏻
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
A witty exploration of science that explains how the universe, Earth, and life came to be. Got this book from a book fair last year. Picked this up because I want to be smarter. Am I smarter now? Ahem... Anyway, so good of the author for making complex ideas accessible and entertaining.
And something to remember from the book: "Nobody knows quite how destructive human beings are, but it is a fact that over the last 50,000 years or so, wherever we have gone, animals have tended to vanish, often in astonishingly large numbers."
Humans!😔
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Set in a small cafe where customers can briefly travel back in time, this novel reflects on love, regret, and the power of accepting the present. Another comfort book.
"Water flows from high places to low places. That is the nature of gravity. Emotions also seem to act according to gravity. When in the presence of someone with whom you have entrusted your feelings, it is hard to lie and get away with it. The truth just wants to come flowing out."
Is this true? Thinking..💭
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
A gothic tale of vanity and moral decay. Dorian Gray remains eternally youthful while his hidden portrait bears the scars of his sins. Wanted to read a classic, and this happened to pop up in our book chat conversations. Thought, why not? While I find the Harry character insufferable, he made sense and made me think.
"Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect—simply a confession of failure." What do you say to that?
"There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating—people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing." Right.
"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame." So true.
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A tender, melancholic story of loneliness and fleeting love, following a dreamy narrator whose brief connection with a young woman leaves a lasting ache. So much crying in the book. Oddly, I didn't find it annoying. Actually liked this book. Will probably read again.
"Listen. You describe it all splendidly, but couldn't you perhaps describe it a little less splendidly?"🤭
Woke, Inc. by Vivek Ramaswamy
A critique of corporate “wokeness,” arguing that social justice language is often used as a branding tool rather than a genuine moral commitment. Judging from the book, he seems a proud American, speaks highly of capitalism, the American dream. I can hardly relate. Says "capitalism and democracy are the mother and father of America. " And these are in tension with one another. That wokeness perverts the American Dream into American nightmare.
I gotta be honest here, I only read it cuz I got the book free in a giveaway. Didn't find the arguments compelling.
That's all for this year.
But No, I am continuing with Dostoyevsky. Spending the last day of the year rereading Notes from Underground. Last time I read it, didn't like it. This time, its funny, enjoying every page of it. Something happened, Girl?😵
Comments
Post a Comment