June and July Wrap-Up & August Reading Plans | 2023

I haven’t been checking in on the blog for the last month and a half so here’s a rambly little update on mental health and public libraries. Feel free to skip if it’s too long! 😉

My mental health wasn’t the best in June and a few events after that (including Nahel’s murder by French police force and everything that came from it) didn’t help. I also switched team at work to replace another engineer (I’m now working in the chocolate/coffee/tea team which are my dream products since I joined the company!). Let’s say that the bad mental health plus relearning everything combo wasn’t very fun. Thankfully, I had a week off with friends in Marseille to recharge and I’m feeling emotionally better (though I have now the flue). Guess right now, I can’t have both mental and physical health…! I feel like everyone is sick, the weather in Paris is completely unpredictable. To people saying that climate change isn’t real, well, look outside your window.

On a more positive note, I managed to read quite a bit recently, especially after signing up to the Parisian Library system allowing me to browse and loan books from no less than 60 libraries in Paris for free. I don’t think I had a library card in over ten years but I’m rediscovering the joy of libraries. They’re awesome.

The selection of English books is very narrow so, I’ve mostly borrowed books in French. Since it’s one of my goals this year, I’m not mad at it. I’m always reading books in English but there are thousands of amazing French-speaking writers and I want to read their works as well! The library closest to me is awesome, the librarians are great and their selection is very good as well!

Books Read

As mentioned above, I mainly read in French in the last two months. I’m pretty sure none of those titles have been translated in English (sadly!) so I won’t go in too much detail but here are the books I read in June and July:

I finally finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson in June and let’s just say that I didn’t enjoy it at all. It was a slog to get through, the twist was easy to guess and the character work was lazy. Are we really supposed to believe that the two main characters are so astute and clever and that the rest of the world couldn’t figure out the fall of Elantris? Especially considering than most Elantrians were scholars? If the book had been targeted to a YA audience, it wouldn’t have bothered me so much but I’m pretty sure Elantris is written for an adult audience. Also, can we leave the fatphobia and ableism in the 20th century please? I could more or less tolerate it in Dune but not in Elantris. ★★

La porte de la mer (The Door to the Sea) by Youcef Zirim was a pretty boring book following an Algerian prostitute and her multiple love affairs with important people. The premise was promising but I found the execution boring. ★★

Algérie 1914 – 1962 : De la Grande Guerre à l’indépendance (Algeria 1914-1962: From the Great War to the Independence) by Jacques Frémeaux is his second volume on Algeria’s colonization by France. It was as fascinating and detailed as his first volume that I read in May. ★★★★

Sensible (Sensitive) by Nedjma Kacimi was a re-read. I first read it at the beginning of the year and it completely blew me away. After the murder of Nahel, a teenager from a racialized minority living in the suburb killed by a police officer, I needed to re-read this book. I’m glad I did even if I sobbed while reading it (I’m pretty sure it’s the first time it happened to me). I already bought this book three times this year because I keep on gifting it to friends and family. I hope it will be translated into English at some point. ★★★★★

L’évaporée (The Evaporated) by Fanny Chiarello and Wendy Delorme was a beautiful duet on relationships and how we don’t realize how our actions can be seen and interpretated by people through the lens of their own experiences. Also, it’ about the relationship between two women and it’s always a plus in my book! ★★★★

Bel abime (Beautiful Abyss) by Yamen Manai follows the story of a young Tunisian boy and his anger against his family and his country after the loss of his dog. Truly heart-wrenching. ★★★★

Je ne suis pas un roman (I Am Not a Novel) by Nassim Vahabi follows an author and her editor in Teheran, Iran. It’s about censorship and love. The structure was very unusual and while the themes explored were fascinating, I never managed to get into the story. ★★★

Finally, I finished On ne dissout pas un soulèvement (You can’t dissolve an uprising) written by a number of authors and social activists following the dissolution of an organization fighting for ecology and social justice in France. While not all the essays were successful in their delivery, I enjoyed the work as a whole. ★★★★

Did Not Finish

I gave up on The Three by Sarah Lotz after struggling with the first 20% of the novel. The epistolary structure usually works for me but in this book, it just prevented me from connecting with any of the characters. I had to force myself to pick up the book so I decided to drop it. I don’t think I’ll give another try. Too many books, too little time!

Goals Check-In

You can find my list of 2023 reading and blogging goals here. Here’s a quick check-in:

• Number of books read: +8 (Total read: 31/65)
• Number of books read from my list of 23 Books to read in 2023: +1 (Total read: 6/23)
• Number of literary fiction books read: +4 (Total read 10/12)
• Number of thrillers read: +0 (Total read 2/6)
• Number of books read in French: +7 (Total read 11/3)
• Number of re-reads: +1 (Total read 4/5)

TV Shows & Movies

I rewatched Business Proposal on my birthday weekend and I had a great time with it! It’s a hilarious k-drama following the romance between a CEO and one of his employees and I adore it. ★★★★★

My Name is a revenge drama with a predictable plot but a wonderful execution. It follows a young woman that infiltrated the Korean police to find her father’s killer. The acting, the pacing and the music were great so I really enjoyed this one. ★★★★

The last drama I finished was Celebrity, a story set in the influencer world filled with drama and betrayal for profit. Was it the best thing ever? No. Was it an extremely fun popcorn watch? Yep. To be fair, the story was meh but for some reason, I had a good time watching it! ★★★

Finally, last weekend I saw Oppenheimer at the theater and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t expect it to be 3 hour-long but I wasn’t bored at all. The cast was amazing and I found Cillian Murphy’s performance incredible. If you want to see it, I would highly recommend seeing it at the theater because some scenes deserve to be seen on a big screen. My only complaint is that Nolan could have cut the nude scenes, it felt like Florence Pugh was only allowed on set to show her chest… ★★★★★

Currently Reading & Plans

I’m still reading The Best Science Fiction volume 1 edited by Neil Clarke. Will I ever finish it? I’m not sure but I’m trying. The stories are great but I’m not in the mood for short stories right now.

I’m also reading Home Before Dark by Riley Sager and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I would also like to read He Who Drowned the World by Shelly Parker-Chan and La Papeterie Tsubaki (The Tsubaki Stationery Shop) by Ogawa Ito, a Japanese novel that I randomly discovered in my library.

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How are you? Are you reading any good books? 🙂