July 2024 Dispatch

I spent a number of days on the beach this month, so there is a bit of a skewed demographic of mystery/thrillers — which make some of the best beach reads in my opinion! 9 out of 12 works in translation.

The Loneliness Files — Athena Dixon

This was one I started a while ago and got to the last chapter this month. Highlights so many of the cultural aspects of life online and increased isolation (COVID lockdown, digital spaces, aging etc). An incredibly thoughtful series of essays that will make anyone reflective on companionship, relationships, time alone. I am a bit of a hermit; growing up an only child has a unique way of introducing loneliness at an early age. So, while many themes were relatable for me, I also believe so many touch upon relevant social and interpersonal issues today and into the future.

The Lost Pianos of Siberia — Sophy Roberts

This book was a bit of a sleeper. It had been on my nightstand for a while. Being a longer read, the binding honestly was not so easy to travel with. However, when I knew I had a few uninterrupted days at home, I picked this one up. And wow. Firstly, I learned so much. Siberia is often utilized as a metaphor linguistically — this book brought Siberia and its expansive and diverse history closer and visible. So absorbing once you get into it and enlightening!

I Who Have Never Known Men — Jacqueline Harpman

Kind of like The Wall this is a recent translation/republication of a book written a while ago. Also like The Wall I think this is an essential and profound read. I can’t say more without giving away too much…just read it!

Inspector Imanishi Investigates & Point Zero — Seicho Matsumoto

Both of these books are written by the same author, so I’ll just combine my brief commentary and say that his work has grown on me. It is a lot of investigatory action, solutioning — honestly very genius stories that are creative and take you all over Japan. Perfect companions for laying out in the sun.

A Flat Place — Noreen Masud

Pakistani-British author, Masud does a great service contributing to the discussion and conveyance of place, identity, parental relationships and CPTSD. Anyone in a place of working through trauma may find this book a beautiful comfort. The imagery she describes, the landscapes also very stunning.

Beautiful Star —Yukio Mishima

One of my favorite authors. This book took me a bit of time to get involved in, it a felt a bit slow and sci-fi-adjacent stuff is not always immediately compelling to me. What a book though…an overarching theme of the book is threat of nuclear war and who (if anyone) gets to deploy/determine the use of violence (locally, globally).

White Nights — Urszula Honek

TW: death. Sometimes books of short stories do not immediately grab my attention. This one did. I finished it one morning. I love when short stories are interconnected in this way. Were the stories heartbreaking? Yes. Was it a beautiful book? Absolutely. Powerful even in translation.

The Aowsawa Murders — Riku Onda

Interestingly, this author wrote a super sweet, almost brought me to tears book that I’d previously read. So, I was intrigued by this; what would it be like? Definitely captures your attention. But, like the final episode of The Sopranos, the end of this is a bit like…!!!??? If you read it, let me know and we can talk about the ending at length!

Roseanna — Sjöwall & Wahlöö

I was unaware of this Swedish husband and wife duo, who in the 60’s/70’s collaborated on a series of dectective novels. This is the first one in the series and I look forward to reading more. You won’t find super flowery language (I mean, not in the translated version, I can’t opine on the original in Swedish) it is just a rigorous investigatory novel.

Identitti— Mithu Sanyal

This book was pretty pop culture exploratory for me, but I still enjoyed the fictional foray into a variety of topics that I think many people (especially white people) are uncomfortable with (race, identity, identity politics to name just a few — within context and background of academia). Really valuable, makes you think and I also appreciated the perspective of these topics set in Germany (work in translation, original written in German). This book will have you feeling super certain of your feelings, then confused, then certain, then confused again.

Harlequin Butterfly — Toh Enjoe

If you are looking for something very funky and imaginative and beyond genre, this short book could be for you. Extremely inventive.

August? Ermmm…well, I ordered a ton of books. From Spazio Sette, Reparations Club, London Review Bookshop and 192 Books. I have a large stack of books in nyc that I have yet to tackle. Should I buy more books before year end, no, but I likely will. There are worse vices.