tanpopo

bookshelf

5 min read

currently reading

  • The Burning God - R. F. Kuang

borrowed from library

  • Howl’s Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
  • Half a Soul - Olivia Atwater

in queue

  • The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

to borrow

  • The Priory of the Orange Tree
  • Daughter of the Moon Goddess

to be read

  • Letters to a Young Poet
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Moonsoul
  • The Lonely City
  • Blood Over Bright Haven - ML Wang
  • The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin
  • A Fate Inked in Blood - Danielle Jensen
  • The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
  • Dreyer’s English - Benjamin Dreyer
  • Circe - Madeline Miller

Read

Dear Dolly - Dolly Alderton

  • rating: 3/5
  • finished on 8/2/25
  • quick read on the plane
    • love the way she approaches each letter
    • as a late 20s girl still navigating life, i still pick up small nuggets of wisdom reading through each entry—even if i completely do not relate to them
    • short entertaining read! the columns were definitely… girlhood(tm). how does she write about girlhood so well??!! - i say this lovingly

Madonna in a fur coat - Sabahattin Ali

  • rating: 5/5
  • finished on 20/2/25
  • i’m fucking sobbing and i finished it 20 minutes before i started work

It was a short, quick read I started reading on the train to Sydney and I know I’m not a washed reader just yet because I didn’t really have to force myself to continue reading like it was a chore (unlike other books I tried to read during The slump).

Although I fell asleep quite a few times while reading, it wasn’t because of the prose; I was simply tired from work lol I thought I’d be struggling to read cuz it was a classic but it was easier than I expected. The translate text was clear and concise. I don’t know how he managed it but I really felt the setting on both perspectives despite having zero idea on what Ankara looked like.

The general tone of the book was somber, but there was a thin layer of warmth and yearning. It is still a love story but despite that, the book had like this blue-gray tinted filter over it. It’s romantic, even if Maria says it isn’t. I highlighted quite a bit of sentences that resonated with me. What moved me completely though was the last few pages that I couldn’t stop reading through even if I should’ve been getting ready for work that day lol The ending was personally satisfying and it left my heart both full and empty at the same time.

The Poppy War - R. F. Kuang

  • rating: 4.5/5
  • finished on 23/2/25

The Dragon Republic - R. F. Kuang

  • rating: 3/5
  • finished on 27/2/25

Did not finish

A Tempest of Tea - Hafsah Faizal

  • dnf at 50 pages lmao!
    • i couldn’t resist looking at reviews and i fear my vibe check was correct all along… i lowkey disliked arthie, i couldn’t connect to her and everyone sings high praises of her ‘chaos’. pretty much 70% of the 50 pages i read was glazing arthie of how badass she is… with nothing to show for. her mind is all VENGEANCEEEE but her backstory didn’t feel compelling to me. i didn’t feel empathetic to her cause and belief.
    • unfortunately the teahouse, that was in the BLURB; the SELLING POINT, was only mentioned on the first part of the book until she set out on an adventure with her buddies, and idk you alr lost me there
    • the attraction b/w arthie and mateo felt really forced from the get-go. it was clear they want to check the ‘enemies to lovers’ off the trope checklist.
    • ANYWAY, for 50 pages I sure did have a lot to say! lmao i thought whether if i should continue cuz irdm reading below than my average personal preference BUT you know what’s worse than a bad book? a boring book. but yeah i figured it’s a dnf for me sawry
    • i really should stop falling for YA books. i feel like i’ve outgrown them… many years ago..,

An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures - Clarice Lispector

  • for someone who hasn’t read for YEARS, i fear it’s not my time yet for classics… i’m sorry as much as i want to experience this myself (because the synopsis is right up my alley!!) reading this makes me feel like my brain isn’t fully formed yet
    • will borrow again when my braincells remember how to actually comprehend english literature

Everything I know about love - Dolly Alderton

  • the way she writes about her transformative years from childhood to young adult reminds me of a western coming-of-age story
    • she went through A Lot. my asian ass honestly can’t relate cuz what do you mean girls at 17 all think about losing their virginity (whoah there) but all i could think was ‘yeah good for her…’
    • i didn’t know what i was expecting when i picked up the book but i’m pretty sure this reads as an autobiography(?)
  • DNF note: I dropped when i got the vibe i’m not picking up anything at all and i’m already at 150 pages in. as i said in the point above, i literally can’t relate at all even if i open my mind and suspend my disbelief. i didn’t want to waste more of my free time reading something like this. Then I went to goodreads and felt validated upon reading the book doesn’t get any better and the readers didn’t get anything at all from it lmao

Funny Story - Emily Henry

  • the self yearns for 2000s romcom tropes
  • DNF note: again, it doesn’t get any better. i felt an ounce of chemistry from the couple but that was it. i was about 250 pages in and miles wasn’t really growing to be a compelling male love interest lol