Books I read in June 2023

I finished 4 books this past month. That’s a lot of reading for me. I haven’t read like this (for fun) probably since I was in 9th grade. It feels nice. Anyway, here’s a micro review of all of the books I read!

Dune -Frank Herbert

A book as unforgiving as its setting but worth the effort!

Going into Dune, I was super intimidated by both the sheer size of this monstrosity as well as its density. It’s chonky. But like an overfed golden retriever, Dune is a lot of fun once you figure out how to play ball with it. The world is meticulously built, and its characters are deeply driven, made clear with all of its politics and hidden agendas. I even found myself enjoying its language, which I’ve seen described as blunt by some and excessive by others (though I don't think either read is wrong). There's a frigidity that runs through the imagery, despite the endless descriptions of sun-scorched sand, which sets the tone and atmosphere of Dune beautifully.

I really like this cover art. It's kinda abstract but still communicates a lot of the * vibes * and iconic imagery of the novel.

I can certainly understand why nobody wanted to publish Dune back when Herbert was shopping it around in the early 1960s: it drops the reader into a fully fleshed-out world with no time to get their footing, it can be hard to follow what exactly is going on, and it's as dense as a brick and just as heavy. But man, I sure am glad somebody took a chance on it. Dune deserves all of its influence.

American Gods -Neil Gaiman

Uniquely magical with a story to match!

Shadow’s story caught me right in that hollow part of my heart that’s in search of direction and some semblance of meaning. Lately, I haven’t known what the hell I’m doing, why I’m doing it, or where I’m going. It’s scary. Shadow’s wandering adventure and go-with-the-flow attitude speak to the yanking currents of life and how easily they can drown you if you don’t swim against them once in a while. It’s a lesson that I really need to hold onto.

For the entire year I lived with my last roommate, Julia, she told me how good American Gods was and basically forced me to borrow her copy of it so I could read it myself. She was pretty damn insistent about it. And my god am I glad she was. This book RULES! It’s funny and dark and poignant and woven together with Gaiman’s achingly nostalgic prose that treats mundanity with the same magical beauty as the sensual and the wyrd. The plot comes together in a satisfyingly epic way that harkens back to the very myths that inspire Gaiman’s writing without biting them off. Tragedy, irony, hidden lineage, and quiet heroics: all of it lands in profound fashion. I found myself reading the final hundred pages at a snail’s pace as I didn’t want the novel to end. But even when it did end, I sat with the book and felt that resounding emptiness that comes from finishing a good story– an emptiness that only yearns to rediscover that which has already been found.

This cover is absolutely dripping with the vibes of 80s fantasy art and I am here for it!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane -Neil Gaiman

A story of witchy cozyness and youthful wonder

For all that American Gods speaks to the culture of modern America and its tramplings of the old world, The Ocean at the End of the Lane looks at the simpler life of the British countryside and the tramplings of childhood. There are ancient beings and magic and sexual affairs, but it’s all very British and layered with a cozy sense of nostalgia that is reminiscent and juvenile though no less adult than American Gods. For all of its dark scares there is an equal amount of magical warmth. The imagery of Ursula Monkton's canvas bag form is strangely creepy but weighed well against the wonder of the Hempstocks. This balancing act keeps the novel from being either a children's book nor a dark and gritty take on a kid's tale; instead it's the sort of story that works for readers of all ages and takes on a different meaning for each group.

Yeah, another Gaiman book. Listen, I love the guy. I’d read his grocery lists, if he’d let me.

I had a lot of fun with The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It was a great follow-up read to American Gods (especially since it's so short! lol).

Paper Towns -John Green

Coming-of-age mystery romance about misunderstandings

Paper Towns actually ended up fitting in really well with the Gaiman novels I just read. It's driven by that same uncertain-road-trip-adventure vibe that courses throughout American Gods while also being a story intimately tied to the passing of childhood into adulthood, much like The Ocean at the End of the Lane. While the language is stylistically separate from Gaiman’s, the thematic work is on point and holds up quite well. I liked it a lot.

I read Paper Towns in just two days. This is in part because it’s a YA novel with accessible language but also because the novel has really tight pacing. It sets up its mystery with a romantic bout of teenage vandalism and then uses that emotional momentum as the jumping point for Q’s search for the missing Margo (who he is absolutely smitten with). This emotional momentum works to propel the plot on its journey of discovery, but it also plants the thematic holds in both Q and the reader by creating a larger-than-life, radically-cool vision of Margo that then becomes increasingly scrutinized as the story goes on.

This one’s a bit of a weird pick, considering everything else I read this past month, but I’ve been going on a vlogbrothers tear and wanted to read some John Green, so here we are.

When we finally find Margo, this thematic work fully takes over in a magnificently melancholic manner. Q and Margo face their misunderstandings of each other and recognize how dangerous these misunderstandings can be: idealizing one another but also selling each other short. Beyond that, they become comfortable enough with themselves to finally confess their long-held feelings for each other while also knowing they need to go their separate ways. It’s a powerful ending to the novel that carries with it all of the uncertainty and messiness of a high schooler’s growth into adulthood.

Getting back into reading has been fun. Because of all of the reading I had to do for classes, I lost a lot of my interest in it. It’s nice to be able to read for fun again. It’s reminding me why I loved to write in the first place, which is a refreshing reminder to have. Besides, now I’m finally putting all of those years of pursuing English degrees to use: by writing book reviews. Haha … ha … ha …

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