I was compelled to grab the sequel, Either/Or, immediately after reading The Idiot, despite not knowing whether I had truly enjoyed the first book. I said in my review of The Idiot that I was under some sort of spell.  The structure of Either/Or is very similar to that of The Idiot. The first half […]

I was really looking forward to reading Batuman’s The Idiot because I had heard such good things, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. It somehow had an emotional pull on me before I even realized I was invested, but I’m still not sure I can call it a “good” book.  There […]

I grew up watching Roy Rogers and John Wayne, and throughout middle school, I read a ton of Louis L’Amour, because my brother was growing a healthy collection of his novels. So it’s really no surprise that this is my brother’s book and I only borrowed it. He gave it to me because it’s considered […]

I wouldn’t say Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles is a fun or even enthralling read, either due to plot or ease of reading, but I can’t help but love it. I don’t remember when I first read this—it might have been a bit after high school—but Tess always stuck with me, and after recently […]

Jamaica Inn is my fourth Daphne du Maurier novel (I’ve previously read Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Mary Anne). Unfortunately, while I did enjoy the premise and some of the aspects of the novel which I’ll discuss below, Jamaica Inn might be a dud for me. But it still ranks above Mary Anne. The best […]

I’m so glad I now have this in my personal library. I originally read this novel for a college course, and I really wanted to reread it because I would find myself thinking of it from time to time. For some reason, I remembered it as a novella rather than a full novel, perhaps because […]

All the Light We Cannot See was honestly really touching. It immediately drew me in, and there were many charming moments in the book that were heightened by Doerr’s descriptive power. There were two moments toward the end that either made me cry heavily or made me pause because what I had read touched me […]

I was so excited to pick up the second installation of Fawcett’s Emily Wilde series, the first of which I also read in January of last year, so maybe I’ll make this a yearly January tradition as long as Fawcett continues the series. I haven’t read a series in such a long time, and I’ve […]

I wanted to read The Phantom of the Opera because the booktuber e m m i e often raves about it, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical based on Leroux’s novel is definitely among my favorite musicals. Unfortunately, I think my love of the musical severely biased my opinion on the novel. While I’m super appreciative […]

In December 2023, I made a list of books to read throughout 2024, and I wanted to see if I would willingly and happily stick with that order. Previously, I would just look at my shelves and pick a book based on how I was feeling. I was very generous with myself, and I told […]