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 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(?)
borrowed from library
Babel - RF Kuang
Dear Dolly - Dolly Alderton
Everything I know about love - Dolly Alderton
A breath of life - Clarice Lispector
The Poppy War - RF Kuang
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
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
Madonna in a fur coat
Pride and Prejudice
Moonsoul
I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman
A Room of One’s Own - Virginia Woolf
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
read
Dear Dolly - Dolly Alderton (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
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