July 2020 TBR

I managed to read 4 books in June! Yay! Although I didn’t manage to get through my entire June TBR, I hope to finish off most of it in July and read a couple of new books! My goal this month is to read at least 6 books :D I usually don’t have a general theme or mood for my monthly TBRs, but for July I have decided to read books that are more emotional and reflective than what I usually read (aka these books will make me cry and feel sad). I don’t usually read these types of books but I find myself wanting to read them to like, you know, feel something sometimes. Below are the books that I will (hopefully) get to this month; I also realize these books will be by authors who are new to me!

Books Mentioned:

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This is a book from my June TBR that I’m spilling over into this month’s TBR! I am currently halfway through the book, so I anticipate finishing it in a couple of days and hopefully writing a review for it after (though it might take me awhile to coherently string my thoughts and feelings together because they’re a mess right now). There is so much packed into this book and I really love it so far! I would do anything for Jude St. Francis. 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I absolutely love Madeline Miller’s writing so I am really excited to read her debut novel. I am not too familiar with Achilles and Patroclus but I know there is angst, death, adventure, and I am so down for it. I can’t wait to cry over them :^) Haha I won’t be ready but it’s okay… I hope. Anyway, this book has been on my list for years and I’m excited to finally get to read it! 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

I’ve never read a Celeste Ng before!! I’m excited to read my first Celeste Ng book :D This book might also be the first contemporary novel I’ve read in years so I’m really interested to see how my taste has developed and if I can grow to really appreciate contemporaries (15 year old me didn’t care for them besides like, idk John Green books?). Based on the synopsis and community input from TheStoryGraph, this book will probably make me emotional, sad, and reflective!! Just what I’m looking for right now haha :) can’t wait

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

This will be my first Fredrick Backman book! I debated whether to read this book or A Man Called Ove, but since I’m in the mood to read emotional and dark novels so! The synopsis of the book sounds extremely interesting and reminds me a bit of Everything I Never Told You in the sense that they both revolve around a small town and its inhabitants. I have high hopes for this book so I hope it doesn’t disappoint (in making me cry, that is).

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

This will be my first Ocean Vuong book and it also happens to be their debut novel! I have never read many fiction/contemporary novels about Vietnam, the Vietnam War, and Vietnamese immigrants because I honestly didn’t have that much interest in it growing up. Now, I feel guilty and ignorant for not learning more about where my family comes from and their immigrant experience, and I’m trying to do my best to be more aware and become a better person through talking to them and reading more novels by Vietnamese authors.

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

What interests me the most about this is that it is a collection of poems! I don’t really read a lot of poems since it really isn’t my thing but I’m open to giving them another try. Given that this is also considered nonfiction, I’m really interested in how Vuong will explore the many themes present in their life through their poems.

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

This will also be my first Rebecca Makkai book! I think this book is really interesting in the fact that it deals with friendship and tragedy in two different, but similar times.

Tl;dr : lian is in the mood for sad and reflective books that will make her cry and question why she decided to put herself through the sadness and pain

I’m not sure if I will be able to be mentally and emotionally committed to reading all these books but we’ll see! 

-lian