There are so many books I am yet to post about, so I decided to (mini) review them in a single post. Instead of musing about them, I have tried to keep my impressions of the book to 280 characters at best. Consider this a nested thread of tweets, if you will. Let’s go.
Book 17: The Judgment by Franz Kafka | 🌟 3/5
Genre: Literary Fiction
I buddy read this with my friend SF. It’s a short story about a man who writes letters to his friend who is abroad. While his father, who is staying with him, says that his friend does not exist. I am sure there’s a paradox in here somewhere, but it is more my failing than Kafka’s on what this story means.
Book 18: The Sea and Little Fishes by Terry Pratchett | 🌟 3.5/5
Genre: Fantasy
This novella by Pratchett is a part of the Witches series which is my favourite. In this, Granny Weatherwax is deemed too strict and cast in her own ways to attend a gathering in the village. When she hears about it first-hand from Nanny Ogg, she feels offended and goes out of her way to be sociable and kind to everyone. This turns the whole plot into nothing less than a horror show. I love it because it is such a great way of showing that people have to be themselves, even if they’re scary, or it creates imbalance in the universe.
Book 19: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See | 🌟 4/5
Genre: Historical Fiction
For those well-versed in Korean skincare know Jeju Island from the volcanic ash in skincare formulations. For the others, it might be because of the popular TV show When Life Gives you Tangerines. This is a novel about two haenyo women, who were sea divers in South Korea, their friendship, growing up years, marriages, and eventually old age. Set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of Korea, this story of two women in a matriarchal society spans generations and makes for good historical fiction.
Book 20: Orbital by Samantha Harvey | 🌟 5/5
Genre: Fiction
This is a book for all us. Every single last one of us. Set over a single day, it describes the space journey of six astronauts aboard the ISS, while they observe planet Earth from a distance. After a very long time, I read a book which resonates with being alive, being human, and has so beautifully cut across that you forget the differences that make up this human race. Written in stream of consciousness style, it deserves all the applause it has received. Masterful. Elegaic.
Book 21: Lanny by Max Porter | 🌟 3.5/5
Genre: Fiction
I had reviewed Max Porter’s book Grief is the Thing with Feathers for an outlet. So I was naturally excited to read this one. The form of the novel is excellent, and it changes with each voice. The story of a little boy Lanny set in a small town of England with some local magical realism thrown in. A good read for a change of scene.
Book 22: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna | 🌟 4/5
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
I didn’t know anything about cozy fantasy until I read this book. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. At one point, I had read this book for 4 hours straight. This is exactly what we need to do in modern day times. The plot consists of a witch in modern day London, who is hired by a gay couple to teach magic to three little witches. Everything about this book is beautiful. Right from the setting to the characters to the love story and finally the climax. In some ways, this could be a Netflix movie or TV show. This is all bubblegum and sunshine. Even in the English winter.
Book 23: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst | 🌟 3/5
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Imagine my excitement on picking up another cozy fantasy hoping it would soothe my frayed soul. This book also has a female lead who has a little bit of magical knowledge and turns up with her pet plant on her parents’ island. There’s a conflict, a love story, and magic which Kiela can do to save the island. All of it sounds perfect. The problem with this book, which was exceedingly obvious was that for a book about community, it was glaringly individualistic. There’s a scene in the novel where the island is ravaged by a storm and Kiela shows up at the local bakery to help the villagers, but somehow ends up talking about her wages to help clean up for others. There’s this and so many other instances where it is easy to tell this book was written for individuals not a community.
Book 24: Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession | 🌟 4/5
Genre: Fiction
This is the story of two thirty-something men who live in a small town and are content with the little they have in their lives. After the death of his mother, Leonard must understand how to live anew, and alone, because he’s been used to having her around. His best friend Hungry Paul lives with his parents and works as a casual postman but no stable job. Through the course of the story these two gentle, kind men navigate through life and the expectations others have of them.
For all the books of 2025, you can visit my books page. As always, drop any book recommendations you have into the comments or email me!
Happy reading!
amarllyis 
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