Small books to read when when the reading slump hits! 📚

I often find myself struggling to pick up a book. I work full time, and I love movies (and TV shows tbh) a bit too much!

This year I've not read as much as I usually do, part of that is because I'm not a student anymore and I don't have to read 1 million books to pass an exam, and it's also because I'm a slow reader and I get tired of reading long books.

So in an effort to re-ignite the reading spark, I've started reading short books and here I will share some old faves and some recent discoveries and also somehow talk about movies again...FFS.

21 Books I want to Read in 2021

Like Byron, I am mad, bad and dangerous to know...why you ask? Because these books will take over your life!

Me and my sister recently re-charged our joint youtube channel and I must say it feels great to be back making videos, there’s just something really fun and creative about it.

Quarantine Reading Recommendations

As promised here are the books I recommend you read to pass the time while we are in Quarantine. Fiction is a great distraction so I hope you can delve into these books to escape reality for a short while.

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Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

To quote myself last year in my review of the book is perhaps the best way to recommend it to you now as I don’t think I can improve upon my summary:

Invisible Cities is not just a novel by any means. It’s a poetic study of the human experience. Framed by a conversation between the famed Venetian explorer Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Invisible Cities explores 55 different cities that may or may not be imaginary or in the very least a description of Polo’s hometown Venice.’

READ THIS BOOK! It has become one of my favourites and I am currently reading Cosmicomics by Calvino and I feel like that will also become a favourite.

Anything (by this I mean any of his books) by Haruki Murakami

Murakami is a genius, in my opinion, I love how he writes and I love what he writes about. I’m still relatively new to his works as I started reading him in late 2016, and to be honest, I have only read four of his books (and countless short stories). But, I am nearing the end of my degree - literally in a few weeks so I feel like I can fully delve into his work and slowly work my way through it.

My recommendations based on what I’ve read of him so far is Norwegian Wood and Sputnik Sweetheart.

The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher by Ahn Do-hyung

An uplifting story of a Salmon who was unlike his fellow Salmons thanks to his silver scales, he learns to defy expectations and keep working hard to pursue a dream. This is a poetic fable that will warm your heart and inspire you to look deep within and question what you want out of life.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

To continue the theme of heartwarming reads that cause you to have a profound moment of introspection is one of my favourite recent reads (It was the last book I read in 2019). Before the Coffee Gets Cold takes the concept of time travel and turns it into a lesson on how to cherish each moment and that you should always appreciate what you have while you have it! THis book isn’t in the pile as I lent it to my sister so that she could have something healing to read in this time (I also gave her some of Haemin Sunim’s beautiful little books of wisdom too).

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

A beautiful love story that will take you back to a safer time, one summer in Italy when Elio and Oliver fall in love. I love the movie and I love this book, I feel like I may have to re-read (and re-watch) it this summer. And I also want to read the follow up Find Me as soon as it’s published in Paperback.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

With the BBC adaptation imminent I keep wanting to revisit this book. I love Rooney’s writing and I feel like this whole quarantine situation has made me want to read about love stories. Either I’m compensating for the extreme lack of romance in my life or I am trying to expel the heavy emotions that this time is putting on us all. I can’t decide what it is…maybe it’s both (insert cry emoji)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

If you're not feeling too fragile this book is a masterpiece I was going to try and write about it for my final essay at Uni but they cancelled it (cries, both tears of sorrow and tears of joy). The Vegetarian tells the story of Yeong-hye from the point of view of three different people: Her husband, Her brother-in-law and Her sister. Its complex and beautiful and is one of the best novels I have ever read! I also have a second-hand copy I managed to get on eBay that is in Korean so with all the spare time I’ve got at the moment I am going to work towards reading it in Korean!

I love it when art inspires art, and for Kang, a line of poetry by Lee Sang inspired her story.

나는 인간만은 식물이어야 한다고 생각한다,

I believe Humans should be plants.

What a strange and interesting sentiment. Perhaps we should at the very least look to plants for inspiration. They work within their ecosystems to keep a balance in nature and support other living things around them.

 
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November Books

Just So Happens by Fumio Obata

This Graphic Novel tells the story of Yumiko a Japanese woman who has made London her home, she however has to return home as her father has passed away. The story follows Yumiko on her journey home and how the call of your past and people can be so strong. It’s a simple story but the artwork elevates the simplicity and makes it a quick and enjoyable read.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Often referred to as Shakespeare’s Masterpiece Hamlet is a enigma of a play, and as I am studying it for an upcoming essay I find it all the more intriguing as analysis always makes me appreciate literature more and more.

The Fruit of my Woman by Han Kang

This short story was first written by Kang in 1997 and upon reading it you immediately can see that it is somewhat of a precursor to her most famous novel The Vegetarian. While Kang’s writing style is more lyrical here than it is in The Vegetarian, both tell a similar story of a woman in peril.

Read for free on Granta.com

The Earthquake Bird by Susanna Jones

I watched the Netflix movie with Alicia Vikander in the title role of Lucy Fly and while I wasn’t blown away by the story I was intrigued to read its source material which is indeed better than the movie adaptation and leaves the ending a little more uncertain in terms of who dunnit. And the book also make Lucy’s obsession with Teiji far more creepy.

I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Kim Young-ha

This is a re-read and I am just as enamoured by Kim’s prose and imaginative weirdness as I was when I first read it. It’s a dark little book but a fascinating one. Slightly reminiscent of Murakami but definitely is Kim’s own thing.

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s Children’s story The Happy Prince is a short read but an enjoyable one nonetheless and it has its heart in the right place…or does it??? One reading of this story could tell you that its about encouraging children to be generous and helpful but on the other hand when you consider what transpires in the short story it could be a treatise encouraging the exact opposite!

Read for free on buk.io