2025

Strange Houses, Uketsu
translated by Jim Rion

finished December 14, 2025
I finished this book the same day I bought it. I've been eyeing this story for a while, mostly for its bright cover. I love it when horror revolves around a house being 'wrong,' and I especially like horror that is not totally in your face. To be honest though, I went into this expecting something quite depraved. I really wanted something bone-chilling. I think the entire dynamic surrounding the Katabuchi family reads like a soap opera and the entire book leans heavily toward being an actual mystery. I've read around that some people don't like this book because it seemed as though all the answers to the protagonist's questions fell into his lap, and on a surface level it does seem that way. However, I think once you read the afterword by one of the side characters, Kurihara, it really encourages you to look closer and question everyone's motive and come up with your own theories. I might revisit this one over the winter break and buy Uketsu's Strange Pictures next, too.



The Seaside Cafe Metropolis, Antanas Sileika

finished November 21, 2025
The story is reminiscent of the TV series Midnight Diner if it took place in Soviet Lithuania instead of Japan. Emmett Argentine is a Canadian chef who moved to Lithuania with his communist mother. He's given the assignment of running the Seaside Cafe Metropolis, a restaurant run by a ragtag staff. Each chapter is focused on a dish with a recipe at the end and thus contains a story tied to the characters, giving every chapter sentimental value. I like Soviet history and I like reading about food, how it brings people together and pivotal to cultures. I think when I went into this, I expected something with a dash of thriller. The constant hint that the KGB were listening in on the restaurant from the basement eventually led to nothing exciting. It seemed as though everything happened around Emmett rather than happening to him, even though every chapter included his presence with the staff or his group of young bohemians. Nothing directly affects him, physically or emotionally, until the last three chapters where suddenly everything changes and he has decided to make all these big decisions about his life. Ultimately, this book stood firmly in the middle between what could've been a Soviet spy thriller or just slice of life in Soviet Lithuania.



Beast, Richard Van Camp

finished November 16, 2025
This is something a little bit different than what I usually read. I'm not a huge fan of most YA novels because of the way they're written, but I did this mostly to help a colleague. There's a lot of urgency in this novel due to the pressing issue of being able to preserve the peace treaty between the Dogrib and Chipewyan. This urgency, however, is dulled by a romantic sidestory and more references to 80s bands than the plot itself. There is no room for any of the characters to grow nor for the horror aspect of the book to reach its potential. Despite this, I enjoyed reading this, largely in part because the community that Van Camp wrote, the camaraderie between the characters, was comforting.



Devils, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
translated by Michael R. Katz

finished November 13, 2025
In terms of his major works, Devils is right in the middle of an interesting phase of Dostoyevsky's writing, especially in comparison to Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov. It's not a story of hope or finding salvation at the end. In fact, it went the complete opposite direction, instead choosing to put a magnifying glass on the rise of Russia's nihilism. It's a particularly violent piece of work, more so than Crime and Punishment. What interested me most was the dynamics which characters unknowingly perpetuated - Pyotr Verkhovensky and Nikolai Stavrogin being a mirror image of Stepan Trofimovich and Varvara Petrovna, their respective parents; and later, Verkhovensky metaphorically taking over Stavrogin's place, leaving Erkel to become the devoted believer of Verkhovensky's cause, even in his absence. It's easy to get lost in the story, but eventually everything unfolds itself. The biggest slog to get through is Stepan Trofimovich's propensity to speak in French. I have never wanted to finish a chapter more than Stepan Trofimovich's last journey.



Portnoy's Complaint, Philip Roth

finished October 2, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this for all its insanity that Roth decided to put the reader through. This book is essentially like one long incredibly therapy session (you are the therapist) from a man named Alexander Portnoy. He spills his entire life story from a Jewish boy living in New Jersey(?) coming from an incredibly religious family to an esteemed grown man. His only downfall is that he is addicted to sex which seem to stem from his early relationship with his mother, therefore becoming the blueprint for the rest of his relationships with women. Freud would be rolling in his fucking grave. This book is the most wonderful display of what the English language is capable of, right next to Nabokov's incredible prose in Lolita. It literally feels like you are sitting there in an office and listening to your client confess his depraved fantasies and yet having the awareness to be ashamed of it. Genuinely the most amazing read of this year.



Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, Yanis Varoufakis

finished September 30, 2025
I really liked this book for the way Varoufakis was able to describe concepts in a way anybody can pick up on, even if they aren't interested in the deeper level of economics. He lays out his thesis clearly, posing this book as a letter to his late father who wanted to know whether the advancement of technology will be capitalism's downfall, or if the capitalists will harness technology into something monstrous. Rather than technology freeing the working class, it has instead reverted us back into a sort of feudalism with big tech companies and has killed the traditional way of capitalism. Again, I like this book. There are debates about whether capitalism is dead or if we really need another term for what is just capitalism. I think it's possible that capitalism has mutated, rather than make way, into technofedualism. Technofedualism has just become another facet of capitalism. I borrowed this copy from the library (and then continued to renew it for 2 months. I plan to reread this once I get my own copy to highlight).



The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
translated by Pevear & Volokhonsky

finished August 10, 2025
It's incredibly disappointing that I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would. The most fascinating characters are that of Prince Myshkin himself, Rogozhin, and Nastasya Filippovna, but after Part One there is very few scenes of them together until the very end. In part to my thoughts about the story, which I would probably give another chance (as I believe every Dostoyevsky book should be read at least twice) is the P&V translation which dulls in comparison to Eva Martin's, whose translation is free to access on Project Gutenberg. I was initially reluctant to read anything translated by P&V and decided to give them a chance on this one. Should I revisit this in the future, it will be with a different translator.



Bluets, Maggie Nelson

finished July 17, 2025
This was recommended to me by an acquaintance. I'm very fond of essays and adjacent styles, and this one was a rather quick read for me. I ought to read more books that ruminate on colours. I might read this book again in the future so I can spend more time taking in each passage.



Conclave, Robert Harris

finished June 24, 2025
I read this not too long after I finished watching Conclave for the first time. It's my belief that both the book and the movie should be consumed together. Do Not Separate. But I do love Pinoy Benitez and I wish he made it into the movie.



The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

finished June 1, 2025
It took me an awfully long time to finish this book, but only because I kept piling more books on top to the point where I eventually put this one on the back burner. I really liked this one, but I think I liked it less than I thought I would. I really wanted to love it to the point of obsession. Alas. Theo is such a fascinating and fucked up character who is outwardly trying to appear normal. And Boris! God, Boris, his other half, and he just rolls with the punches. Honestly, had I read this book when I was 16 or 17, it would've changed my life.



Roadside Picnic, Boris & Arkady Strugatsky
translated by Olena Bormashenko

finished May 20, 2025
The premise of this book intrigued me: after aliens visited Earth, they left their junk behind and now stalkers go into the Zone to collect rare treasures where they are then sold to the black market. It's sci-fi with philosophical aspects to it. I like the narrative and even how vague some things are. It's made clear from the beginning that we, the readers, know about as much as the characters in the story know. I think it gets a bit dry after moving away from Red's perspective. It's an interesting critique on capitalism where we place importance on material things, even if we've no idea what they do. There is also this idea that we think that we are so important in the universe that aliens are trying to eagerly make contact with us. I wish this book had been longer and given the universe more depth, or at the very least prodded a bit further in its philosophy. Regardless, I'm glad I read this book.



The Plague, Albert Camus
translated by Robin Buss

finished May 3, 2025
I have a complicated relationship with Albert Camus, since I love the topics of his story and even to an extent the dialogue he writes, but the narrative is long and drags incredibly. That is not to say I didn't love The Plague. It is an incredible book on the facets of human emotions which make themselves apparent in times of crisis, and yet not condemning them either, that there can be more to love about people during these times than there is to hate. Rieux and Tarrou's friendship alone are worth staying around for, if it truly is so boring. But it really is all about hope.



Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism , Seyward Darby

finished April 26, 2025
This book talks about the white woman's role in the alt-right movement, interviewing and observing women who were previously part of the movement, or are currently in it. It's a change of pace of what we tend to see online - men who tend to be the voices of this extreme ideology. It's just as important we remember that women also have a hand in pushing alt-right propaganda, especially in glorifying the traditional lifestyle and luring other people into the ideology by cultivating community.



Flesh, David Szalay

finished January 31, 2025
I attended a library conference on January 30th and received an advanced reader copy well before this book finally came out in April. It's a simplistic read, but tells the complex story of a man named Istvan from boyhood all the way to adulthood. There are some scenes of grooming in the beginning of the book. Istvan himself is uncommunicative and desires human connection. I think the explicit relationship he had with an older woman when he was a teen had changed how he would've viewed love and romance versus if it hadn't happened. The dialogue and narrative are straightforward. It didn't necessarily evoke anything emotional out of me, but I'm very fond of the story.



A Happy Death, Albert Camus
translated by Richard Howard

finished January 27, 2025
This is the second Albert Camus book I read. After reading The Outsiders in 2022 I wanted to give Camus another chance, since I really didn't enjoy the aforementioned. This book was published after Camus' death and was essentially a precursor to The Outsider. Naturally, I liked this one far more. The prose is labourous but vivid, and to be fair to him, I've always liked the way he described how suffocating the summer air could be. Mersault's struggle with alienation, happiness, and love, isn't unfamiliar to me, and neither is his subsequent revelation of happiness for life that couldn't have come from anything else but extreme misery.

2024

The Odyssey, Homer
translated by Emily Wilson

finished December 16, 2024
Odysseus' plentiful misery and strong thighs captivated me throughout this epic. Enjoyed this better than the Iliad, but in general I don't like reading about wars and such. Favourite part about this was Odysseus coming home and lying to his father until he was in tears even though he didn't really have to do that.



The Iliad, Homer
translated by Emily Wilson

finished June 30, 2024
I loved seeing all the gods interact with each other in a variety of different ways. I also unexpectedly ended up enjoying reading Diomedes' parts most of all.



The Gambler, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
unknown translator

finished June 10, 2024
I finished this a week after The Count of Monte Cristo, and to be honest it's kind of hard to come back down from an extraordinary work of literature to something maybe more mediocre. That being said, as a whole, this was still Dostoyevsky's least exciting work, probably in part because he wrote this to get paid. He's a master of crafting amusing characters nevertheless. There is something so incredibly wrong with Alexei Ivanovich and Polina Alexandrovna.



Scarlet Sails, Alexander Grin
unknown translator

finished January 30, 2024
A short story that sort of resembles The Odyssey and The Count of Monte Cristo - that is, themes of waiting, devotion, and homecoming. It has a sort of fairy tale-like quality ending.

2022

The Outsider, Albert Camus
translated by Sandra Smith

finished October 17, 2022
I didn't enjoy this book due to Camus' dry writing. The only reason why I didn't completely hate it was because of the chapter with the priest, which made me unusually giddy with how much emotion it exuded. I would reread this again in the futue.



Local Woman Missing, Mary Kubica
translated by Sandra Smith

finished August 31, 2022
This was recommended to me by a high school friend. It's a mystery thriller told from differing perspectives. I did enjoy reading half of this book, but after that I started preferring only one of the character's perspectives more than the others where it began to dull the experience. In general I just don't like a lot of perspectives in one book. Either way, a fast read. Not great, but not terrible.



Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner

finished August 19, 2022
[From what I wrote on my library hold slip] Grief and loss and food - trying to reconnect the lost parts of childhood. Saw myself - being unable to get in touch with the language of my youth, but having it existed throughout my life. Cannot relate to forgiveness...



Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

finished August 5, 2022
I think I was disappointed by this book because I expected something more of it. Around this time I was hearing a lot about why people thought Lolita was a bad book and how it was horrible because of the contents which were written in it. I went into this thinking it would be something big and shocking, but really it was a dread-inducing book about a pedophilic man who tries to justify his entire existence. So in comparison to my expectations, it came off as simple rather than something to gawk at. I did like it, especially since Nabokov has an incredible way with words. I will reread this in the future, knowing what I know now.



We, Yevgeny Zamyatin
translated by Bela Shayevich

finished July 28, 2022
[From what I wrote on my library hold slip] An obvious classic that paved the way for future dystoptian sci-fi such as 1984. After already having read 1984, this book falls short of expectations. Difficult to visualize and follow along through the climax of the story. Cannot discern urgency. Very violently mediocre.



The memory Police, Yoko Ogawa
translated by Stephen Snyder

finished July 16, 2022
It's important to note that I was reading The Brothers Karamazov at the same time as this one so my hatred for this seems unjustified (and it is) but I finished this book and thought, "that was it?" The characters are flat and so is the writing with its shallow metaphors and lackluster prose. It's a fascinating concept, people slowly over the years losing their memory of basic things, but it falls incredibly short of delivering or answering any questions you might have while reading it. There was never any sort of palpable risk which demanded the protagonist to do anything and I had no sympathy for any of the characters. I picked up this book because I saw it be compared a lot to 1984, which feels like an insult, but one shouldn't go into this thinking that it is directly inspired by 1984. I read a review that compared the writing to a high schooler coming up with a first draft for a story, and I couldn't agree more.



Books I've read but it's been so long I need to reread them