January
︎Provenance Ann Leckie
︎The Empire of Gold S. A. Chakraborty
The Deluge Stephen Markley (2/5) - terrible book to read while writing a thesis on glaciers and ice sheets; resented how he portrays the life of scientists; the desperation and movements feel relatively fully realized, but odd how little of the rest of the world plays into the book. i wouldn’t read it again, or necessarily recommend it. but a useful work of climate fiction.
February
︎Translation State Ann Leckie
︎Ancillary Mercy Ann Leckie
American War Omar El Akkad (3.5/5) - while the future itself feels unlikely, the characters and focus is brutal and thorough, chilling and fully humanized
March
Martyr! Kaveh Akbar (2/5) - sort of a quintissential first novel, some gorgeous language, a few thouroughly realized characters, but stilted in its portrayal of parenthood, and many times the characterization felt awkward through a sort of arbitrary addition of traits, stated but never played out, or added to make the character seem more interesting. kind of a predictable plot. loved the last chapter, and want to know when in the process it was written.
The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin (4/5) - second or third time reading, that, along with moving to the Netherlands as an immigrant and watching Shogun, make for an incredible reflection on identity, alienation, assimilation, language and translation, love, and culture
April
The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu (4/5) - the abridged version, translated by Edward Seidensticker
May
Frogs Mo Yan (4/5)
Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi (3/5)
when I sing, mountains dance Irene Solá (5/5)
June
Giovanni’s Room James Baldwin (3/5)
July
The Door - Magda Szabao (4/5)
Essays II - Lydia Davis
︎Miracle of Mindfulness Thích Nhất Hạnh (5/5)
August
Circe Madeline Miller (3/5)
Maus Art Spiegelman (4/5)
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl (5/5)
September
Greek Lessons Han Kang (?/5)