Reading Revived

2013, huh? Congratulations to us for still being around after the supposed Armageddon.

This week I managed to do get more reading done than I ever did last year. Which is not to say that I didn't pick up even one book last year - I just mean that the things I read in 2013 felt for me like a vacation, an escape from all sorts of things, while my reading this week is reminiscent of the time I minored in Pol Sci. I am actually doing serious advanced reading again, more defined than the Wikipedia skimming kind I often prefer.

It feels nice. Even if I am reading about Nazideutschland and Hitler for a German grammar class, and I understand only half the jargon. I feel useful.

What I read in 2012

May Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner,
The Third Lady by Shizuko Natsuki, and That Kind of Guy by Mina V. Esguerra

June The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

August Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James,
Fifty Shades Darker by EL James, and My Imaginary Ex by Mina V. Esguerra

September Fifty Shades Freed by EL James

October Solanin by Asano Inio,
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Out by Natsuo Kirino

November Love Your Frenemies by Mina V. Esguerra,
Kiko Machine 6 by Manix Abrera, Kiko Machine 8 by Manix Abrera,
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

December Fairy Tale Fail by Mina V. Esguerra,
Ikaklit sa Aming Hardin by Bernadette Villanueva Neri and CJ de Silva,
Trese 5: Midnight Tribunal by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo

I managed to get some leisure reading done, too. Roommie L brought back a book from her house in Digos that she thought I might like, Sujata Massey's The Salaryman's Wife. She thought right. I loved it. I even wrote a review about it on GoodReads, which I joined after I realized most people did not appreciate the book as much as I did and I felt I had to reaffirm why it deserves all the prizes it had won by defending it on the public domain somehow. But then, there are various considerations.

If there's one thing that bothers me deeply about it, it's how I don't think non-Japanophiles will be able to follow the story very easily. I understand the necessity for all the side-phrases explaining Japanese culture, but they're difficult to digest given how often they appear in the book. If a novel set in the Philippines had been written in the same way, it might go:

"How Karen had missed eating suman, which was a popular Philippine delicacy made of rice (sometimes cassava) shaped into a flat and elongated shape and wrapped in banana or coconut leaves." 

To sum, very interesting if you're mad about Japan. Otherwise, approach with caution.

Photo Credits
"Books Are - Day 58" by ~LinkxMidna4eva on Deviantart
Book Cover from Google Images.