🍏 mika

books read: 2

she and her cat by makoto shinkai

rating: 4/5

a beautifully written quick read which made me love cats all the more! this book was another book that had a different story every chapter that was all connected. the epilogue was one of my favourites since it was more of an up to your own interpretation kind of chapter. a beautiful book with great messages. i also love that it’s from the point of view of the cat as well as the owner! a great perspective and honestly, pretty realistic if you ask me! the author is also one of my favourite movie directors! i didn’t know this before i started reading but it makes so much sense now! japanese movies are the best and this book captures that magical element for sure!

powerless by lauren roberts

rating: 3/5

although i enjoyed this book thoroughly, there were lots of things i also didnt enjoy about this book which made me give it this rating. packed with action and adventure and a strong female lead (which you know i always love) the story started off spectacular. but as soon as the two of them meet, although the book is posed to have them as an “enemies to lovers” trope, it felt like they were already lovers by their second meeting… im more of an enemies (emphasis on the enemies) to (yearning for a long time) lovers, but maybe thats just me. there was a lot of gore and the like which is sort of motivating me to go down the fantasy route more often, call me a psycho but the mention of bleeding and stabbing gets me excited… (probably cause it’s all fictional!) the idea itself is great, with a similar vibe to hunger games and maze runner (both which i have only watched the first movie of… don’t hate me). this won’t stop me from reading the second book though! i have hope that the next will be better since this one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger… (another thing i have a love/hate relationship with).

overall month score: 4/5

since it’s the end of the school semester i didn’t really have time to read so i’m shocked i even finished a book, let alone two! super happy to finally be done with powerless, i felt a little performative walking around with that huge book in my hands… i hope next month is a month packed with reading! since im on holidays now im sure it will be!

lots of love as always xx

books read: 3

down the hatch by m.c beaton

rating: 4/5

a great murder mystery and my first agatha raisin book that might just pull me down the rabbit hole… the twist was wonderfully unexpected and also so twisted and well thought out! i love that you have the opportunity to try and solve it yourself and she only reveals the real truth at the very end! i love how she solves mini mysteries in between, it makes the adventure all the more exciting as if you’re anticipating the original plot and also you keep thinking of the minor plots in between reading the original plot! additionally i feel it gives a more realistic spin on the detective job since you obviously would not be working on only one case at a time, thats not how work works! m.c beaton is a wonderful author who also is very good at incorporating humour into random parts in the story, making the story not only interesting but entertaining! a perfect combination. a marvellous book that was additionally a pretty quick read, only having ten chapters! so much happens though i highly recommend.

the life impossible by matt haig

rating: 4/5

a magical book that changes your perspective on life. if you’re going through a hard time, this book is a wonderful book which puts you back on track and lets you understand the wonderful side of life, the good as well as the bad. not only does it include so many realistic issues like depression, guilt, grief and death but also things like happiness, joy, love, magic and fun. so much fun. it’s touch on a number of topics is great, perhaps a little too magical for me? but i still adored it. and it does get me wondering if maybe magic does exist… a magical read and a lovely experience.

yeonnam-dong’s smiley laundromat by kim jiyun

4.5/5

an originally korean book translated into english! a wonderful book with a unique story line and such interesting twists in every story. filled with family, love, romance, drama, adventure this book was more than i could have hoped for. filled with five main stories and an epilogue, this story pulls me in the more i read. i loved the ending so much, it made me very emotional finishing this book! i did cry reading it, it touched close to home. i’ve noticed that korean books always seem to have such a touching story behind them and you can always feel the emotion of all the characters of all ages well. please give this book a read if you’re going through some family troubles, it might just solve your problem.

overall month score: 4.5/5

another wonderful month of reading. after my horrible attempt last month? this is a very big improvement and also a shock since i had so many assignments due this month! how did i do it? i have no idea, i ask myself that all the time…

until next time, happy reading xx

books read: 1

macbeth by william shakespeare

rating: 2.5/5

a mid book. im not a big fan of the “classics” so if you’re into that maybe you’ll like this book. i personally found it not only confusing but pretty boring. i heard this is one of his easiest reads but i can tell you that if this was meant to be “easy” that all his other books must be like reading encyclopaedias. lots of characters names are also really similar so if your not paying attention suddenly you forget all the prior information presented about one guy.

overall month score: 2/5

didnt read much this month unfortunately. way too busy. but ive got so many books that are going to go overdue and i NEED to read them so it’s motivation for me to binge read. i also recently moved houses so i’ll be using a different library from now on which means new selection of books!! super excited so we’ll see how this goes…

lots of love xx

books read: 3

the cat who saved books by sōsuke natsukawa

rating: 4/5

i really enjoyed this book. really quick read and probably one of the best japanese translated books i’ve read in a while. this book really highlights the love for reading itself. it’s a very fun read with a mix of fantasy and out of world experiences, including portals, a charismatic talking cat and world travelling. overall, a great book.

queen macbeth by val macdermid

rating: 5/5

i dont usually give a book a perfect score but this book blew me away! although being a book without chapter i adored how this book was set out. it contains two sections, normal text happening in real time and italic text happening in the past which by the end of the book comes to the start of the normal text. even without having read macbeth before hand (im working on it) i really enjoyed this book and it’s very easy to follow so highly recommend reading it. it follows the love story between macbeth and his wife (who i’ve noticed isn’t mention much in macbeth…). this story contains powerful female protagonists (yes plural!), friendship, love, betrayal, murder and so much more. my mouth physically dropped reading some of this so i hope you give it a read.

the ornithologist’s field guide to love by india holton

rating: 5/5

ok i know how i said i dont usually rate full marks but this book really was amazing. classic academic rivals to lovers, brought together by fate? i guess you should read to find that part out. set in the 1890s in england, i adore the frilly dressed and parasols and accents and gentlemen and practically everything about this book. not only is this book part of a series but a character featured in this book is the love interest in her second book!! india holton is also now one of my favourite authors, i adore her way of writing and every character is lovable. ornithology by the way is the study of birds. this book is set in half reality and half fantasy. all the birds mentioned in this book are mythical however, that adds to the magic of it. one of my favourite books no doubt.

overall month score: 4.5/5

a pretty good month for reading! i don’t usually read more than 2 books so i’m actually pretty proud of myself! let’s see if i can keep this up for next month… uni is pretty wild so i guess we’ll see where this leads.

kisses xx