Well... decided to make another thread like the one I did last year.
I feel like this year has had a lot of books that made me think "What the heck is this ending even?"
This thread is as long as last year's thread, so you might decide to only read about the books that you are interested in.
Again, some of the books are like... "I forgot what even happened in this one"
Daughter of Fortune (Isabel Allende)
Well... I started reading it in 2022 and finished reading it early this year.
That book made me realize that Isabel Allende books are maybe not for me, even though I did like some parts of it. So I'm probably not going to read her other books. (but maybe... I will give her a second chance)
I'm not an expert in Chinese history or culture, but there is a Chinese character in the book. And some of the stuff about that character seemed historically accurate to me.
One thing that bothered me about the book was the part about the 17 year old, who in a flashback had an affair with an older opera singer. (a lot of books, I read in 2022, had that thing with 17-year-olds in relationships with older men. And I felt like I was the only one bothered by it.)
Anne Of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
I guess a lot of people are familiar with that book series or Anne With An E.
It's weird how I have forgotten a lot of stuff that happened in the books, but I did like that book and it gives me the nostalgia of Astrid Lindgren books.
Babette's Feast (Karen Blixen)
The book that the first Danish movie to win an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was based on. And it is a movie that I actually enjoyed watching. (Apparently, there is going to be an American remake of it, and it better not be trash)
And yes, Karen Blixen is that person, Meryl Streep played in the movie "Out Of Africa", which was based on her life. (I remember learning about Blixen in Danish class and we watched Out Of Africa in class.)
I read that book in Danish, even though despite the fact that the author was a Dane, it was actually originally published in English.
I liked the book too.
The Giver (Lois Lowry)
I know this book has a movie adaptation and I'm not interested in watching it because of how the main character was aged up and stuff.
This book is a reread though. And I remember that I read the book because someone had said that the book was a good YA dystopian book (and "not a bad Hunger Games ripoff" ).
I guess the reason why I read that book again had to do with ATEEZ's Guerilla and also their album "The World EP. 1: Movement". Or at least the songs "Cyperpunk" and "Sector 1" reminded me of that book. There was a part of the book that reminded me of a line in Sector 1 that goes "알고 싶어 사랑한다는 게 무엇인지 어떤 느낌인지"
I like the book, even though I'm not that interested in reading the other books in that series.
Crying In H-Mart (Michelle Zauner)
I expected that this book was going to make me cry, (not in H-Mart though because there is no H-Mart in my country) but it didn't.
It is a memoir written by Michelle Zauner, a Korean-American musician, who is the lead vocalist of a band called Japanese Breakfast. I listened to some of Japanese Breakfast's songs and I like the song "Be Sweet".
I liked the memoir, even though I remember reading one part of the memoir where she talks about making a Korean dish and she compares the consistency of one of the ingredients to... well... something disgusting... and I was thinking "what the heck?" and it also made that sound less appetizing.
Akira (Kasuhiro Otomo)
I read some volumes of that manga series. Even though the volumes, I read, seemed more "Americanized" because of it having to be read from left-to-right rather than how mangas are usually read.
I haven't watched the movie, but I when I watched ATEEZ's Bouncy music video, I could tell that there were some references to that movie. Mostly because I have seen some scenes from that movie from "Top 10" videos on Youtube and stuff. Maybe I'm going to watch that movie one day.
The Little Prince (Antonie de Saint-Exupéry)
I read that book for the first time this year.
I know that it is a book that is very popular (heck, even in Korea, it seems popular) and is actually the second most translated literary work, trailing only The Bible.
Here is maybe an unpopular opinion... I actually don't get the hype about this book. I don't think it is a bad book, but perhaps I had too high expectations for it.
I know that there was some The Little Prince TV series that had aired on my country's television, which I haven't seen that much of, and I guess I was expecting the book to be more like that series.
But I still like when kpop music videos have The Little Prince aesthetics and stuff.
The Return Of The King (J.R.R Tolkien)
I finished reading the trilogy and I think I felt like I deserved an award or something for it.
I started reading The Fellowship of The Ring in 2019, which I think was the year I got interested in LotR. (sometimes I wish I was into that book trilogy and movie franchise earlier.) But I think I was alsp having "breaks" sometimes while reading because the books are thick.
I was reading the books in my native language, which was kinda fun for me, even though confusing sometimes because of name changes of some character. (Like Denethor was called "Dun-Tór", which I think means "Rumble Thor"...)
The book made me like Faramir for some reason. (but Faramir was also kinda handsome in that movie, in my opinion)
I especially liked the part of the book, that says: "And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many." (because I'm freaking romantic)
Reading The Return Of The King made me want to rewatch that movie and fangirl over Faramir, just kidding.
I don't think I'm going to read any of Tolkien's other books, e.g. The Silmarillion. (I'm not THAT big of a Tolkien nerd)
Perfect World (Rie Aruga)
I read one volume of that manga series.
And I really like that volume.
I think that I bought that book because of the fact that one of the characters has a disability. (or at least, he is in a wheelchair because he ended in a car accident and suffered a spinal cord injury.)
One part of the manga aged kinda poorly because the 2020 Summer Olympics was mentioned. (I think the Akira mangas mentioned that too, but it was before Tokyo was selected as host city in 2013, and the Akira mangas were released in the 80's.)
I have heard that the series gets worse in later volumes, so I haven't read the other volumes.
I know that there is a movie adaptation and also a TV series adaptation. (both live action, not anime) And I'm not interested in watching those. (maybe if there was an anime series based on this, I would probably watch)
Spy x Family (Tatsuya Endo)
I read the second volume of that manga series.
I saw that manga series being sold in a bookstore in my country. The first volume wasn't there, which is why I had only bought the second one.
I had watched like 3 episodes of the anime series, so the manga made me want to watch more episodes.
I like both that manga and the anime, even though I actually haven't watched the second season. (maybe not yet)
The Travelling Cat Chronicles (Hiro Arikawa)
That book is one of the very few books that has ever made me cry...
Even though when I read it again this year, I didn't even shed a tear. (not sure why)
I still like this book.
Moominpappa's Memoirs (Tove Jansson)
Well... I like Moomins.
And I also kinda like the books too.
This book isn't my favourite in the series, but it is still fun to read.
I think I have read a lot of memoirs this year, but this memoir is a fictional one.
The Maid (Nita Prose)
I read that book because the main character seemed to be neurodiverse. (I am neurodiverse myself) Even though I have seen people saying that it seemed like the author had the character be that way to be "quirky" and stuff.
One thing I didn't like about the book
I know that this book now has a sequel, but I'm not interested in reading the next one.
Perfume (Patrick Süskind)
VIXX's "Scentist" is based on that book, so it made me want to read it.
While I was reading that book, "Scentist" was stuck in my head.
But actually, I kinda regret reading it. It wasn't my cup of tea. (or should I say "not my bottle of perfume"?)
Gentukamarið (Marjun Syderbø Kjelnæs)
A Faroese book that got nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize this year.
It has not been published in English, but one website has translated the title as "The Girl's Room". (which is a literal translation)
Or actually it is a play that has been performed on stage.
When I read it, I found it confusing. But I think that it was kinda connected to a poem collection, so maybe I would have been less confused if I read both.
Well... these were the books that I read in 2023.
