October pages

Taipei Story by Rebecca F Kuang

The early parts of this book had me nodding my head and seeing myself in so much of what she was writing. Kuang's protagonist is heading off for a study abroad trip to Taipei, but so much of what she described was exactly the way I felt setting off for my time on the JET programme in Japan. The internal snobbery towards the other people on the programme and the knowledge that they're all a bit fake and you're the only one who really 'gets it'. It was right on the money.

The majority of the book felt almost like a journal or diary. We had classes, we went to eat here. There was this cultural misunderstanding. It was a string of small scenes strung together that should have all come together to build a picture, but instead just felt bitsy.

If felt like Kuang said "I'm going to write a book to process my emotions", and that's exactly what the emotional elements of this book feel like. It feels performative. The book doesn't feel like it was written because the author had a story in them they needed to express. It was written because the author wanted to show everyone how sad she was. And I feel like a jerk for writing that, because I'm sure her grief is genuine.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I enjoyed this one well enough. I can't really say that it was particularly gripping, but it kept me reading. It's a coming of age story and follows Francie throughout her childhood and her family's struggle with poverty in the early 1900's.

While sad things happened in the book, it was generally pretty optimistic. The family struggles and has hard times, but it never feels like all hope is lost.

It was a fairly stark reminder of how fast kids had grow up during that era. School wasn't a guarantee, long hours of work were the norm and people were considered old at age thirty.

I can see why it's considered a classic, as it seems to be a fairly honest capture of that time and place in American history.

One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau

This was quite a short read, but I enjoyed it. I love it when supernatural elements are thrown into a story without explanation, it's just there and it's not even what the book is about.

I found it a bit disjointed at first between the different POV's but stick with it.

There's three characters we get to sit with and two of them, Julia and Charlie, I understood right away. The third, Ann, was harder to get a grip on and I would have like to spend more time with her. I think there's some parts to her story that weren't covered in the book that would have made for really good reading and could have fleshed this out into a bit of a longer read as well.

The last part of the book was done really well, the disorienting nature of the chapters and writing did exactly what it was supposed to do. It wasn't a happy ending, but I think it was the inevitable ending.

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera

I loved this book! It was another short one, but so packed full of feelings.

I consumed this one as an audio book during my morning walks and genuinely arrived at work with tears still on my cheeks.

The family relationships were all so real, I felt like I was part of the family too. It's also a nice introduction to parts of Māori culture.

What did you read in October?

Book recommendations are always welcome!