all the books i read in august and what i thought of them

 All the books I read in August and what I thought of them

I read ten books this month and then I forgot how to read. I am in college now and I have too much homework and also I had band camp, although not anymore (thank goodness). I am seriously overcommitted because I accidentally joined two bands and I can't back out now. Well, I could, but I'm not going to. I thought to myself, maybe the reason I've forgotten how to read is that I've only been rereading books since I got here. So me and Chaney went to the Boston Public Library, and now I am the proud borrower of The Lake and Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto. And then the T stopped working and it took me three hours to figure out how to get back. So those books had better be good, or else I'll cry.

Anyway!

✨✨✨

The Oresteia by Aeschylus translated by Alan Shapiro and Peter H. Burian

rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨

A good translation to read if you like flowery writing and courtroom drama.

👩‍⚖️👩‍⚖️👩‍⚖️

An Oresteia translated by Anne Carson

rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨

Arguably a better translation, although it does not have any courtroom drama. It is the translation that has the quote about how taking care of Orestes is not rotten work to Pylades, not if it's Orestes, if that's what you're looking for (I was).

⚱️⚱️⚱️

Send Pics by Lauren McLaughlin

rating: ⭐⭐⭐

If you like reading about teenagers committing crimes, teenagers trying to get away with committing crimes, dating violence, and police racism, have I got the book for you. If you read this book with the right expectations, you will get exactly what you came for, which I suppose is true of every book.

📷📷📷

It Should Have Been You by Lynn Slaughter (reread)

rating: ⭐⭐

The only circumstance under which you should read this book is if your name is Clara. I will read any book if the protagonist is named Clara, but in this instance it was almost not worth it.

🎹🎹🎹

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto translated by Megan Backus (reread)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It has been three days since I read this book at the time of writing, and I have thought to myself on three separate occasions in that span of time "man, I wish it weren't too soon to reread Kitchen." Perfect brilliant beautiful amazing.

🍳🍳🍳

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura translated by Polly Barton

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

I am just now realizing that half of the books I have read so far this month were translated from one language to another language by women, which is fitting, because August is Women in Translation Month (something I only know because I am on a certain side of tiktok). Possibly the only good thing about this wretched month!! I really liked this book. The writing was so good that it made mundane events feel interesting. Therefore I assume the translator did a good job, and her name rhymes with Dolly Parton. 

Actually I have looked it up and Women in Translation Month is actually about women who write books that get translated, not female translators. That's really confusing.

🍘🍘🍘

South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

rating: ⭐⭐

This book had the potential to be very deep and lovely because it is basically about longing for something beautiful that doesn't really exist. But on a more concrete level, it is about a man being a jerk to women whose role in the narrative is to exist for his purposes. 

Much like the protagonist of this book, I am also longing for something beautiful (a book by Haruki Murakami that is as good as Kafka on the Shore) but I am starting to realize that this may not exist.

i don't remember enough about this book to think of appropriate emoji sorry

Ziggy, Stardust, and Me by James Brandon

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was compulsively readable. I could not put it down. The writing was super weird, but I still liked it a lot. It almost felt like a weird dream.

🌠🌠🌠

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (reread)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think Nietzsche said something about how the best way to live your life is to say yes to the good things instead of saying no to the bad things. So in this instance, I am saying yes to Kafka on the Shore instead of saying no to South of the Border, West of the Sun. Actually, I guess I did both. I would read something by Nietzsche, but I've forgotten how to read. 

🐈🐈🐈

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino (reread)

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a very strange book about a guy who really goes through it just to read the books he wants to read, but I enjoy it a great deal. As someone who was trying to take the T from Boston back to my dorm but then the T stopped working from Government Center to Kenmore and it took me three hours to get back, I relate to the protagonist's struggle to do something that should be straightforward.


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