Embracing-the-shortness - Embracing The Shortness Since '96

Book Lovers || Emily Henry ★★★★☆ Started: 09.02.2025 Finished: 12.02.2025 Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves. As someone who hardly ever picks up a romance novel, I had a really good time with Book Lovers, despite being a narrow-eyed sceptic at first. The humorous banter between the main characters was a real highlight, as was the subversion of your run-of-the-mill Hallmark movie plotlines. Sometimes an overachieving workaholic can just be that, without converting to the Small Town Ways, and that's ok! And even though, for the most part, I could see where the novel was going, I still really enjoyed the experience.

Never Let Me Go || Kazuo Ishiguro ★★★★★ Started: 04.04.2025 Finished: 26.04.2025

Brandon Sanderson || art: Karl Gussow // Jean Claude Kabongo // George Frederic Watts

Indigo || Chi-Ho Kwong, Chi-Kit Kwong ★★★☆☆ Started: 19.02.2025 Finished: 19.02.2025 Thank you to NetGalley, Mad Cave Studios and Nakama Press for providing me with an ARC and giving me the opportunity to share my honest review. "Indigo" follows the story of Ella Summer, a reporter at a magazine that chases urban legends and conspiracy theories; with the suspicious death of her university professor, Ella's life is suddenly turned upside down, as things she thought were outlandish turn out to be very real after all. If you're interested in conspiracy theories, this graphic novel is perfect for you. The story is very fast-paced and action-packed, occasionally bordering on being a bit confusing. There is some build-up towards the big reveal, however I think it would have been better if we had been kept in suspense a little while longer. Ultimately, the plot felt rushed, and it's because of that that I can't give "Indigo" a higher rating. That, and the fact that it leans quite heavily into a particularly outlandish conspiracy theory that I personally don't buy. On the flip side, the art is magnificent. The first few pages are in full color, and the artwork is simply dreamy, and the art style translates really well into the black-and-white pages of the story proper.

The Bell Jar || Sylvia Plath ★★★★★ Started: 03.05.2025 Finished: 06.05.2025 Working as an intern for a New York fashion magazine in the summer of 1953, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. Esther's vision of the world shimmers and shifts: day-to-day living in the sultry city, her crazed men-friends, the hot dinner dances... The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, is partially based on Plath's own life. It has been celebrated for its darkly funny and razor-sharp portrait of 1950's society and has sold millions of copies worldwide. The Bell Jar was simply sensational - I'd been interested in reading it for ages, but I never thought I'd enjoy it so much! The writing is sublime, and Esther is a little too relatable for comfort...

An updated graphic for my 25 for 2025! My progress so far: 10/25 ☐ How High We Go In The Dark ☐ Vita Nostra ☐ Smila's Sense of Snow ☐ Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell ☐ House of Leaves ☐ Possession ☑ Pandora's Box ☑ A Dark and Drowning Tide ☐ Katabasis ☑ The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi ☐ Kürk Mantolu Madonna ☑ Mina's Matchbox ☑ Autobiography of Red ☑ We - A Novel ☑ Anxious People ☑ Yumi and the Nightmare Painter ☐ Out ☑ Анна Ин в Гробниците на Света ☑ Small Things Like These ☐ The Third Policeman ☐ The Snow Child ☐ Your Utopia ☐ The Book That Wouldn't Burn ☐ Mrs. Death Misses Death ☐ N.P.

Do you lay bread on your tongue and think of me [...] do you swallow it like a sacrament, do you still get down on your knees?

Sophie Mackintosh, from 'Cursed Bread'

Анна Ин в гробниците на света || Олга Токарчук ★★★★★ Started: 27.04.2025 Finished: 01.05.2025 "Анна Ин в гробниците на света" е единствената книга от поредицата "Myths" на издателство "Cannongate", която не е преведена на английски, но за огромен мой късмет съществува това прекрасно издание на български. За пореден път се уверявам, че кураторът на поредицата Джейми Бинг е имал изключителен усет към адаптациите на митове - на фона на множеството посредствени преразкази на дневни митове, всяка една книга, избрана от него, е изключителна - и творбата на Олга Токарчук не е изключение. Тя не е просто преразказ на мита за слизането на Инана в Подземния свят: в думите на преводача Крум Крумов, "Олга Токарчук разглобява древния мит за богинята Инана, след което го нанизва наново върху конците на съвремието." - самата аз не бих могла да опиша творбата по по-добър начин.

The River Has Roots || Amal El-Mohtar ★★★★★ Started: 22.05.2025 Finished: 01.06.2025 In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…