I'm the type of person who reads 15 books at the same time, so if I'm close to the end of many... I might just push through. And I did. (In January. Definitely not in February. February has been chaotic - but more about that soon.) So, no, I don't usually finish this many books. Although, I must say that the answer for reading a lot is actually... audiobooks. Audiobooks are definitely something you need to experiment with - but for me, personally, they are amazing to stay 'literary' and rest my eyes at the same time. They go well with chores or knitting.
Okay. Here is the list of my January reads:
#7: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
I am participating in an online book club (with the amazing goal of reading a book from every country – something I’ve been anyway dying to do myself. The club was founded by a Canadian YouTuber, Emmi (find her here: https://www.youtube.com/@emmiereads). Her videos on trying to solve crimes from crime novels (especially Agatha Christie ones) are hilarious. I’ve been enjoying the book club (on Fable) a lot. I even posted a Munich-related bookish question there - and found lovely local people giving me tips.
I don’t read from every single country the club tackles – partly, because many of them I’ve already read from (and I have just tooo many books on my TBR), but I did read the January pick – for Mexico. I LOVE Latin-American literature, especially when it involves magical realism, which Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel does. Tita, our title character, is the youngest child of Mama Elena, and according to the family traditions, she cannot marry but is rather bound to stay at home forever to care for her mother. Almost like a maid. Tita, however, falls in love with Pablo – who after learning that he couldn’t marry Tita, marries one of her sisters, just to stay close to her. (The rest, quite understandably, turns quite chaotic and somewhat soap-opera-like.) The magical realism part looms around the topic of cooking; although Tita is pretty much treated like a servant, she finds genuine joy (and creativity) in the kitchen. The twists and turns of her story and her emotional response magically affect the food – which then affects people eating it. I quite liked the first half of the book but then it seemed to settle and get stuck around a few topics (a bit of sexism, if I’m being honest) and I got somewhat bored and impatient. But that’s just my personal opinion. Ah also! Recipes are added!
Find the book here: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/like-water-for-chocolate-9780552995870
#6: Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas
I listened to the audiobook version of this book – which was, unfortunately, a mistake. I’m interested in fast fashion and eager to learn about it. Fashionopolis wasn’t my first read on the topic but the only one I listened to... It is a very good book, but it would’ve been much better if I had purchased the physical book itself. As it quotes a lot of research, data – and even lists sustainable, human-rights-focused businesses and designers – I would've benefitted more from reading it (and looking at pictures to support all the information listed).
Find the book here:
#5: Barcode by Krisztina Tóth
Krisztina Tóth is a Hungarian poet and prose writer. I cannot say a lot about this short story collection (besides just; read it!), for I’m working on a separate text about her – something not for this blog. 😉
Find the book here:
https://bookline.hu/product/home.action?_v=Toth_Krisztina_Barcode_Krisztina_Toth&type=200&id=5964782
#4: Fingerprints by Balázs Kántás
Funny thing. I am a January baby, and on my birthday, I went to one of the most prestigious bookstores in Budapest – and an independent one too! Írók Boltja (Writers’ Store) has books that no other Hungarian bookstore would have; including a lot of books in English (and a few other languages, such as Italian, German and French). That is where I found Fingerprints by Balázs Kántás (who’s a Hungarian literary historian and translator). Fingerprints is a tiny book of essays on poetry, including works of Coleridge, Poe or Ted Hughes. I didn’t always agree with his opinions and found some of the essays barely scratching the surface of his chosen topics – but somehow still ended up enjoying this little collection.
Find the book here: https://napkut.hu/balazs-kantas-fingerprints-1041
#3: The Philosophy of Composition by Edgar Allan Poe
This is also a very tiny book – and barely an hour of audio; I know, I listened to it while knitting. By the way, I checked it out because of the previous book on my list – one of the poems Kántás discussed was The Raven by Poe. That’s how all this happened. Poe basically describes the method he used while composing The Raven (and how much of his composition was a conscious series of meticulous decisions he made). I thank him for that (although – maybe because due to the old-fashioned language he used (which I otherwise LOVE) - he did sound pretty condescending and entitled every now and then.)
There’s this general idea that creation (especially in the case of masterpieces) must involve substance abuse, uniting that poor fellow with the universe in some drug-infused dream (while riding a unicorn) and then resulting in writing a masterpiece in ten minutes. This is actually something we discussed at university; you may or may not get great ideas while being high. (But you can absolutely get great ideas without being high – so why get high to begin with?) But even the greatest idea, at first, is mediocre at best. What turns a masterpiece into a masterpiece is extremely hard work, when you basically bleed things out, make very conscious and very hard decisions, and in general; show up in your sharpest, freshest, smartest version. I’ve, of course, never written a masterpiece, but had to read a lot about it at university (not necessarily by choice, haha).
Find the text here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69390/the-philosophy-of-composition
#2: Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ah, My Darling. This is an incredibly funny short story (not without depth!), it carries a lot of the absurdity of English humour. I don’t want to spoil it, so in a nutshell: it’s about old friends reuniting, lovers of each other, haters of each other, lovers of music, haters of music – and an honorary mention of a frantic Labrador Retriever. Honestly, do yourself a favour and read it. :D
Find the book here: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571351749-come-rain-or-come-shine/
And last, but absolutely not least, the star of January, and I feel like quite possibly one of the stars of my yearly top 3 (a bold statement, I know!) is….:D
#1: Makers of Budapest by Bomo Press
I had to manually add Makers of Budapest to The StoryGraph, but here is the ardent review I left there:
This book is AN ABSOLUTE DREAM. It lives in a stunning deep blue bookcase, smells like true paper ecstasy, the high quality of the whole production is just pure luxury. It's basically a list of contemporary Hungarian creators from all fields (from paper to tiles), their love projects (described in Hungarian AND English) and photos of their shops & products. The whole book celebrates objects, beauty, creativity - and is the utmost tangible joy - expressing why you absolutely need offline things (real, material ones) in your life. As a book, too, it does exactly what it stands for. Absolutely, 100% MUCH recommended. (Especially if you're visiting Hungary and want to know where to shop - but also if you want to get to know new, small, sustainable brands; many of them are present in many countries & continents!)
Now, this book was a gift - and I promised myself I wouldn’t show off too much material love I receive...just as I also promised I wouldn’t ‘summon’ friends and family members onto my blog (because my choice of being present online in any forms doesn’t bestow me with the right of dragging others here as well – or share anything about them). Jeez, there are so many awful examples of that…
So, what I want to say is that…I’m SO grateful for my loved ones understanding how my interests work – and what could make me THIS happy.
Find the book here: https://www.bomoart.com/makers-ofbudapest__
A tiny bit more about the creators: Bomo Art is a Hungarian brand – creators of stunning quality stationery.
Here is their website: https://www.bomoart.com/index.php?route=common/home
Their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bomoartbudapestofficial/
Their products look very vintage (and as I remember they also do use quite old-fashioned printing methods – something you can absolutely see on their products). Touch them, smell them, lift them, open them. You’re welcome. They are actually present in many different countries (so you may find them abroad), and take personalised orders too.
I visited both of their Budapest stores – just for this post – so, here are the pictures I took;
Shop Nr. 1. (a tiny, picturesque nook!):
Address:
Budapest, 14 Régi posta Street, 1052
On a map:
Shop Nr. 2 (the grandiose viscountess):
Hugs from the Fearless Frock!:)
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