01-25 "Siddartha" by Herman Hesse.

Inspiring philosophy and it definitley took me on a journey, although I couldn't read it in long sections or my brain would melt from all the looooooong lists of questions...

01-25 "Babel" by R.F Kuang.

Incredible. So beautifully written, the world-building was so intelligently crafted - there was so much depth. I usually hate sad endings but there was such finality and completness to the story I can't complain. It felt like I was being sucked in every time I picked it up to continue. If it were physically and timely possible to finish it in one sitting I would have, but it was quite hefty..
Definitely going to read more of Kuangs work in the future.

10-24 "Salt Slow" by Julia Armfield.

Absolutley gorgeous book, every short story was intruiging and beautifully written - I enjoyed every word of them and felt satisfied despite most of their ambigious endings and surreal/fantastical logic. My particularly favourite story was the Sleep chapter - just something about the way she lays out the context of her worlds I could fully imagine myself existing in their context and spiralling further into what my everyday life could be.
I also appriciate the how Armfield uses body-horror (a genre I often accociate with the explotation of female pain and suffering for male gratification) to actually discuss womens autonomy of their own bodies under the patriarchy, the settings of which this manifests and by using horror by way of social critique.

10-24 "This is How you Loose the Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

Despite the somewhat slow start the ball gets rolling after a couple chapters and I couldn't put it down. A large chunk of the worldbuiling is left up to interpretation to the reader, which is drastically different from the majority of fantasy/sci-fi that I've read. Although this stirred me away slightly in the beginning, I feel its appropriate for the time-travelling-demi-god-transcending-understanding context of the story, and I think the over-the-top poetic language was also appropriate!
I would definelty re-read this book!! and I can't wait to... thank you Areeba for lending it to me :)

10-24 "Hijab Butch Blues" by Lamya H.

I'm not someone that typically enjoys memoirs or autobiographies but Lamya F writes so beautifully and with such flow that I couldn't put this book down at points!! It was so full of heart and so vulnerable and so unforgettable!
It was a gorgeous read and theres no doubt in my mind why it was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award.

09-24 "Open Water" by Caleb Azumah Nelson.

This book was so beautifully and poetically written i loved the entire process of reading it. Despite the story being a "slow burn" the progression of our main characters' relationship and his journey, it couldnt have felt more natural - especially with the lapses in time and focus on mundane aspects of his life.
There were so many gorgeous moments of vulnerablity, and there were parts so raw in it that i was almost crying. I cant belive this is Nelsons' debut novel it was literally perfect. I also appreciate a book that mentions music.. like a soundtrack.

08-24 "Sunburn" by Chloe Michelle Howarth.

This has got to be my favourite book ever!! I definitly did not know what I was getting into, and despite the somewhat slow start from page 2o i was GAGGED. Never have i read something that has been so tragic, poetic and close-to-home hitting. Insane. If I had read this in highschool I would have avoided so many issues.
Quiet, tragic slow BURN. SUNBURN. I would recomment this to everyone i've ever known but i know that it would only hit as hard for a select few so i'll stay simmering.

08-24 "We have always lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson.

Unfortunely, i didn't knnow what i was getting into whe i started this novel. I spent ages trying to grasp the logic of Merricat, only to realise halfway through that her thought-process is so utterly bizzare and her own that I couldn't even attempt it. I found the ending extremely anti-climactic, and put down my book feeling off and slightly irritated that I'd spent so long trying to crack through the unease and come to my own conclusions, but I couldnt.
This is probably a me issue though, and I feel upon re-read my feelings will improve and I can enjoy the flow rather than trying to solve anything.

08-24 "Oranges are not the Only Fruit" by Jeanette Winterson.

Lovely book, Winterson does a fantastic job of using wit and charm to transform bittersweet situations. As upsetting as some scenes were, the journey we were taken on throught this book was so worth it to watch our mc grow and break free and crack and fall just to endure and survive and get back up again.

07-24"Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway"

I initially found myself judging the book based on it's "classic" status but upon picking up this book I honestly couldn't put it down. The majority of this book takes place with the old man essentially stranded at sea, feverishly following this fish through the open water over three days, clinging to the chance that it may exhaust itself enough for the old man - weak and bordering senile.
Hemingway does a fantastic job of taking a simple storyline and splicing barely cameoflaged commentry on the complex American ego. Santiago clings to the delusion that reeling his "lucky fish" will solve all of his issues, his rapidly declining health does nothing to stop his journey to restore faith in his ability.

07-24"Pew" by Catherine Lacey

A book i literally couldn't put down!!!
"Pew" is a speculative work following the first-hand account of a person with no home, distinct gender, distinct race, distinct nationality, family history, background and the shock that follows from their arrival in a small, Southern, rural Christian town in the US.
It's an easy read but is aslo effective in making you as the reader reflect on your subconcious attitudes and awareness on other's behaviours. The point of Pews' identity is that they dont consider aspects of themself that they dont deem important or remember, and as the reader you often catch yourself intensely wondering the very things the novel is trying to illustrate - you don't need to know some things.
It's also a wonderfully gothic book, from the cryptic disappearances, questionable characters and Pew's quiet rebellion towards the ignorance of the town-people's holy standpoint, despite their own hypocrisy.
I loved it.