Library Readings

Hello readers, and welcome back to my blog.

This is the first time I am rewriting a post because I erased everything I did by mistake and the Blogger platform kindly saved exactly when I deleted everything by accident. I was a little upset, not going to lie, but just because this is going to be a long post. I officially and definitively moved back to writing on Google Docs and then putting the text back to blogger.

It’s going to be our secret.

I have been away for longer than I had in the past. Even though this blog has only started, every time I finish a new post, I have a strong sense of completion that makes it worth it, and makes me feel like I should post regularly — a fictional demand for a reader of fictional books.

The reason why I have been away is a noble one. I am having my mom visit me in Canada for the first time. She has been enjoying the city a lot and getting to know the ways of the quiet life in Moncton, New Brunswick.

As this is her first time spending a few months in an English-speaking country, she decided to take classes to improve her skills. We found them at the Moncton Library. She has been part of the English Conversation Group at the Library on Tuesdays and has enjoyed it a lot.

Besides attending conversation classes, her daily exposure to English, on TV, books, music, labels, and everywhere around her improved her skills significantly.

For me, the best part was that for the first time after living here for about 2,5 years, I finally went to the Library and made myself a Library card. At this time of my life, when I am looking to reconnect with books and reading, there couldn’t be a better place to go.

 

As soon as I walked through the bookshelves, I felt thrilled. It felt great to be surrounded by books and think of a world where so many people read. More and more, I realize how many people read, and I may even have talked some shit in my first post on this blog My Journey as A Reader. I say that because even my perception of Brazil may have been tainted by some academic discussions that I had while studying literature at the University. Maybe those discussions were a little negative. There are way more readers everywhere than I could ever imagine.

 

But to advance with our story, the last thing I want to say before sharing what I found and read from the Library is how much I enjoyed their services. Not only are we able to get books at the Library, but also they have a mailing service where we can order books online and have them delivered at home.

Apparently, this is a thing with New Brunswick libraries, and we can ever get books from different libraries in the province delivered at home with a paid return label to send it back.

If that’s not a huge incentive to make people read, I don’t know what is.

But now, let's talk about what I read.

 

Lovesickness by Junji Ito (2021)

Once I got to the Library, my mom went to her conversation group, and I decided to find something to read and take home with me.

I had nothing specific in mind, and I decided to just walk through the shelves and see where destiny would take me.

The first thing that I noticed was that they had a vast Graphic Novel session. It had been ages since I read any Manga or Graphic Novel and the bumper for Lovesickness by Junji Ito lit up in the middle of the other books like a light in the dark. Or darkness amongst light, maybe more appropriate.

 

Junji Ito is the ultimate master of Horror Manga, and his legacy spread from Japan to the world. Lovesickness is a collection of some of his earlier works. Junji Ito’s artwork is absolutely stunning, and his stories worked incredibly well as a narrative. In Lovesickness, I found the following stories.

 

 

It was the fastest I had read a book in a long time. Of course, being manga with less text to focus on and more images, the reading is quick in general, but I was especially attached to the stories and especially on The Boy a The Crossroads. I could not stop reading. I went through the 200 pages of this story in 2 days and finished the whole Manga within that time-frame.

 

Looking at such stunning images while reading did ascend a long-lost love for reading Comic Books and Manga. As I mentioned in my first post on this blog, My Journey as A Reader, everything started with comic books. After reading them as a child, my early teenage years were filled with Marvel comic books. I even got into Manga in my late teens but never dove into it in depth. 

 

When I finished reading Lovesickness at the Library, it made me want to research more about Manga and start diving into this universe and reading more mangas. I already checked, and there are plenty of online guides to begin with, the manga. I’ll update you to let you know how this one’s going. 

 

 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1963)

Wow, what a book. What a writer.

I had to process this book after reading it. I’d say there was me before and after this one.

Sylvia Plath was a poet, and The Bell Jar was her only novel. She has committed suicide not longer after she released The Bell Jar. Her work has been acclaimed due to its literary and lyrical beauty.

The main character in the book Esther is based on Plath herself. I honestly had to drag myself to keep reading this one. The beginning was dreadful for me, and the first 100 pages felt like reading by obligation.

Once Esther’s health started to deteriorate and the book reached its darkest part, I was completely hooked and could not stop reading. Esther’s suffering was just so relatable in so many ways, and to be honest, it was not enjoyable while I was reading. I only enjoyed this book after I finished and started reflecting upon it.

I tried to simulate a peaceful afternoon outside the book to read it, but even in my relaxed environment, the book brought me chaos. 

 

I wished I had read this book in the past because while studying literature at the university, I wrote an end-of-course thesis on Madness and how it is expressed in the female figure in literature. I wish I had known Plath’s work before because it was just so in tune with what I was talking about at the time.

There was no room for Esther’s distress, and she was treated as mad. However, Esther was just different. She had her ways and what society expected of her was what brought her down.

For a few moments, while reading The Bell Jar, I also reflected on how incredible life is. I am happy Sylvia Plath wrote this book because, in so many ways, it shows us a vivid expression of what was her life that could otherwise have been forgotten. The Bell Jar contributes significantly to offering us a particular perspective and having a beautiful inside into the mind of someone in psychological suffering.

I rated The Bell Jar 3 stars on Goodreads. However, one day after I finished reading, I was just so haunted by the story and everything I read in the book and still processing what happened there and reaching out to my friends to tell them how moved I was by the book, so I just decided to raise it to 4 stars. It got one extra star for the trauma.

 

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (2019)

The last book I got at the Library that day was The Priory of the Orange Tree. I felt drawn to this book because I loved the artwork, felt compelled by how thick it was, and had already seen a Booktuber that I enjoy mentioning this book as a great stand-alone fantasy. If you want to check out The Book Leo, she has a great Youtube channel about books and you can find the video where I first heard about The Priory of the Orange Tree clicking here. After seeing her talk about the book, I couldn't help myself from grabbing it once I saw it at the library.

 

Lately, I have been way more interested in fantasy, I have never been that much into it in the past. I always felt bored with stuff like Lord of the Rings. But then I decided to get into this book. I am not too far in. I have only read 60 pages so far. I honestly loved everything for now. I ended up starting to watch Game of Thrones to be into a fantasy mind frame, and this has really been working great.

 

What attracted me to this book a lot was the concept of being a feminist fantasy book, where we don't need to expect only a hetero-normative perspective coming from the characters.

I will return in a future post to discuss this colossal book because I will still need to dedicate a few days to finish it.

 

It’s been a pleasure to be back here sharing my readings with you folks. I hope to return sooner the next time.

I wish you the best of readings.

Cheers!