I tend to read books shelved as heavy-topics to match my mood in the grey winter, some of which pictured above. I started reading Know My Name by Chanel Miller. A memoir that chronicles the author’s journey after experiencing sexual assault.
As some of the topics covered were about raping, body hatred, suicidal thoughts and mental illness, it got a little too heavy for me to continue reading at the time. So I closed the book, hopeful to open it again one day. (Picture source: TIME)
Here is what I am, actually, currently reading.
Fiction: Greta and Valdin by Rebecca Reilly. A super-short copied summary: Valdin is still in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who used to drive around Auckland in a ute but now drives around Buenos Aires in one. Greta is in love with her fellow English tutor Holly, who doesn’t know how to pronounce Greta’s surname, Vladisavljevic, properly. From their Auckland apartment, brother and sister must navigate the intricate paths of modern romance as well as weather the small storms of their eccentric Māori–Russian–Catalonian family.). I’m only on page 64 and I can assure you that this will easily be one of my favorite books to read this year! Queenstown Writer Festival is happening in November 2022 and I saw from their posts that Rebecca K Reilly is going to be one of their line-up so I am very excited to meet her. It will be interesting to ask her if she’s been to Malaysia since she mentioned the name three times in her book.
(Picture source: Aotearoa Books)
Non-fiction: A Promised Land by Barack Obama. The best super-short summary I could find on Google: Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from a young man searching for his identity to the leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil. I wanted to read this book in the first place because Barack and I share the same personality (according to 16personalities.com at least) and plus, I thought it won’t do any harm to understand a little bit more about U.S politics. I appreciate Barack’s passion and charisma. He is vocal about his values and his authenticity and altruism. If you’ve seen the physical copy of this book, you know you could do a deadlift with it. So because of that, I am also listening to the audiobook read by Barack himself. I listen to him whenever I’m doing house chores, painting, or walking – just making most of my time! (Picture Source: Amazon)