starting my 2024 READING journal

This year I decided that I wanted to get back into reading more frequently. It is something that I considered a big part of myself and the fact that life had changed so much that I no longer had the attention span or motivation to read very much made me quite sad.

I studied English Literature at university and have a Masters in Contemporary Literature as well, so it is something that I really enjoy and dedicated a big chunk of my life (and finances) to. The last time I had a big reading year was before the pandemic and its safe to say that it had a big impact on everyone mentally.

So this year, for a fresh start, I decided to start a reading journal! I started it in November as I had read a little bit (mainly audiobooks) and wanted to start writing my thoughts down again. I used to post book reviews to this blog and want to start doing that again so look out for those soon!

I also used to post booktube videos and was a part of the youtube bookish community which I would like to get back to! I started this journey with a video of me starting my reading journal which you can see below. I have more videos planned and so far in 2024 I have finished 3 books and am halfway through a fourth one!

I’m really happy with my progress so far and if you want to follow along then you can subscribe to my youtube channel and also follow me on instagram @booksforbecca

oops!

I forgot about this website for over 2 years while I was busy adjusting to living in Korea and a new career in teaching!!

I really didn’t mean to, I promise…

Recently I’ve been able to get back into video editing and this year I’m trying to make a more concerted effort to be more creative and expressive. To me, that means making things, reading more and reflecting on what I’ve read so that means a return to book reviews and actively engaging with the book community like I used to.

I’ve even already read a book this year and it’s only the 4th of January!! Yes it might have been an audiobook but I will say that since I last blogged I have found it very difficult to pay attention for a long time.

I want to write and post more on this blog and also write about my life like a sort of online diary. Partly so I can look back at it and partly so that anyone interested in the books I read or the places I have been. I know that when I was considering moving to Korea to teach, I tried to read about as many peoples experiences I could and still found myself unprepared for what laid ahead of me.

If that’s you and you want to know what it’s like to move to Korea and teach in Seoul then follow along and you can also visit my Youtube channel where I have posted vlogs about my daily life and different experiences I’ve had here so far!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/booksforbecca

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/rhubarbecca

Kdrama Wrap Up!

I’ve watched a few shows and movies since my last kdrama wrap up and will include a couple of Chinese dramas in this list too as they have a similar vibe/theme to them but they’re both very different to what I’m used to in Korean dramas.

To start off with, I finished Sisyphus: The Myth and to be honest the ending felt quite rushed but the development of the romantic relationship was quite nice and not insta-love which happens in some shows. There were a few BTS fan moments which were quite cute (listening to Spring Day while walking through the aftermath of a nuclear war or taking a banner from the last stadium show back to the underground bunker they lived in for 10 years…) but this isn’t a show I think I would rewatch. The time-skips and future-travel is easier to understand than it was in The King: Eternal Monarch as they jumped between universes but it’s more sci-fi than fantasy and I’m just not that kind of nerd so can’t take explanations JUST magic.

Strangers From Hell

Strangers From Hell ok so while sci-fi may be a massive genre that I’m not that into, it turns out that cannibalism thrillers is a niche genre that I keep stumbling into. I LOVED THIS. It has Im Siwan who I loved in Run On as well as Lee Dong Wook so it was bound to be good but I really enjoyed the story and thought that Siwan did amazingly in this. Strangers From Hell is also called Hell Is Other People and is about a young man who moved to Seoul from a small town and is only able to afford a small room in a run down apartment block. The neighbours soon turn out to be completely hellish and the disappearance of the previous occupant of his room as well as disappearances linked to the building raise suspicions with him and the local police department. Lee Dong Wook is a fantastic villain in this and without spoilers, Im Siwan really is amazing throughout.

Use For My Talent was my next watch and it is a Chinese remake of Cleaning With Passion For Now (Korean). This is quite possibly one of the cutest shows I have ever seen in my life and I loved every second. The show follows a young woman as she gets a job at a cleaning company and works with the germaphobe CEO who, in true romantic drama fashion, becomes completely besotted with her. The love triangle in this was infuriating for me though, if you’re not a fan of unethical psychiatric practices (which no one should be) then I would just expect that going in because Male Lead A is a therapy client of Male Lead B so…yeah. If you liked Strong Girl Bong Soon then I would definitely recommend you try this, Jasper Liu is the lead on this one and I’ve watched him in Twogether (his travel show with Lee Seung-gi).

Next on the list was Vincenzo a story about a mafia consigliere moving back to Korea after being raised in Italy and then defending the residents of a building that is soon to be demolished by Babel Group (though he’s really trying to get to the gold that is buried underneath the building). The villain in this is once again, fantastic, I don’t know if that says something about me though. Ok Taecyeon says he is a lot like his character in this which is…worrying? Everyone in this is funny, adorable, loveable and also completely unhinged which is always good in a crime drama.

Ultimate bromance in Vincenzo

Soon after finishing this, I moved onto the Chinese drama Well Intended Love which I had been recommended but as it is focused on a girl with leukaemia and that has been my life for the past five years but I mentioned that on Twitter and someone said that I should stick with it and THE TWISTS AND TURNS IN THIS SHOW??? OMG. There is not a single drama trope that was not jammed into this show including amnesia, car accidents, jealousy, poisoning, family dramas and love triangles. Then they did a second season where the first one never happened! I didn’t know they could even do that…I haven’t watched that season yet only the first episode but I do want to want to get to it at some point because the first season was unpredictable.

The rest of this wrap up will be posted next week! Please comment below if you have any suggestions for me based on these few shows, I’m always looking for new shows to get into so please let me know!!

Book Review: Kissing the Coronavirus

I will start this review by saying that I’m not trying to bash the author at all, I understand that this book was written at the start of the pandemic and is not meant to be taken that seriously.

That being said…this book doesn’t need to exist.

It’s a romance romp under 20 pages and features the weird grotesque humanisation of the COVID-19 virus as some hot green guy but tbh I just pictured Shrek because he’s the first green person that came to mind and I couldn’t get him out of my head.

The idea of the book as a mockery of the pandemic when people had just started working from home and practicing social distancing, I felt, was demeaning to the fears and experiences of people in the countries first hit by the virus. At the time of publishing, there had been at least 4600 reported deaths related to COVID-19 in Wuhan.

I read this book in 2020 after seeing it everywhere and then seeing that it was available to read for free as part of KindleUnlimited so I wouldn’t be spending money on it (I’ve got no clue how KindleUnlimited works tbh). There is now a sequel and an alarming amount of books cashing in on this trend and exploring kinks I didn’t want to see on my Amazon search history. Chuck Tingle, a well known absurdist-kinda erotic writer, has said he would not write about Coronavirus because of the real life harm caused by the illness BUT he has written 3 books about mask wearing, coughing and social distancing.

Ok so now onto the book!

Do you ever read something and want to bleach your brain after because you feel so unclean? That’s what I felt here. And I’ve read fanfiction. So much fanfiction.

Dr Alexa Ashington is on a team of two people (?) working on investigating the coronavirus and how it can be stopped. Unfortunately, she appears to have no work ethic and cannot focus on work as she’s so aroused all the time! The total devastation caused by the virus all around the world has caused her to start…admiring (?) the virus for its power (???)…so much so that she improperly uses a test tube (girl doesn’t measure anything so good luck writing up that lab report) and tries to insert it into herself.

I’m not going to explain the whole thing because the book is 16 pages but bish bash bish the coronavirus sample magically becomes human and as all people do when locked in a room with a humanoid-virus, she decides the best plan of action is to bone down with the killer of thousands worldwide.

I’m honestly upset that I retained any information about this book to be honest.

On one hand, the author had lost their job at the start of the pandemic. On the other hand, it’s not a joking matter.

Overall, just because people talk about a book a lot, you don’t have to read it. In some cases, it’s best for your sanity if you leave it alone.

Down The Rabbit Hole (Again) #5

This was created by Lost In A Story.

The Rules: • Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf. • Order on ascending date added. • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books • Read the synopses of the books • Decide: keep it or should it go? • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

I have realised now that I forgot to note how many books I had on my TBR when I restarted this tag/challenge so right now I have 170 books on my ‘Want To Read’ shelf on Goodreads and I want it to be at the lowest it can be so I will continue to be brutal after I was easy on the list last week. This will not be the case this week. Books be warned.

Book 21: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Date Added: 7th October 2017

Decision: Get away from me, haven’t read you yet.

Book 22: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Date added: 7th October 2017

Decision: Get away from me, paedophile sympathy manifesto.

Book 23: Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saawadi

Date added: 23rd November 2017

Decision: Remove, more respectfully than the previous two as I started this and enjoyed it but it was on my old kindle (RIP 2009-2018) and refuses to send itself to my new one. Maybe one day but not right now.

Book 24: My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf

Date added: 24th March 2018

Decision: Remove, no thank you. I also tried the film and…no thank you.

Book 25: The Year of Less: How I stopped shopping, gave away my belongings, and discovered life is worth more than anything you can buy in a store by Cait Flanders

Date added: 20th May 2018

Decision: Keep. Yes the title is a book in itself BUT I have this on kindle and I think it’s an interesting concept, I already try to reduce the amount of things that I buy by doing things like shopping at the library etc so I’m still interested in this.

Book Review: Know My Name by Chanel Miller

I apologise in advance for this review because I can barely put into words how brilliant this book is.

Know My Name is the memoir/account of Chanel Miller around the time of the Stanford Sexual Assault Case in 2016, what she remembers of the night and how the trial preparation and sentencing went. I think a lot of women remember the news reporting the disgustingly short sentence given following the trial and recommendation from a probation officer that did not take the time to understand Miller’s wishes properly and the judges sympathy for a defendant that could not properly grasp his guilt and the reality of his actions and impact on another person.

I remember reading Miller’s statement to the court when it was published by Buzzfeed and the full statement is included at the end of this book and still lacks a punch. Her account of the time in court is heartbreaking, with comparisons to the dehumanising questions made to victims in other similar cases such as the Scottish case where the court made her hold up her underwear to show what she was wearing.

This is essential reading for anyone, not just women and not just feminists. There is no part of this book that is not brave and eloquent and heartfelt. Miller has asserted herself and shown the world that she can thrive creatively and live happily even after such a shocking event. Moments where she does not know how to act, if she feels normal or if she is breaking down are gutwrenching to read as assault is something that has no easy remedy, screaming in a parking lot is contrasted with finding a cute old deaf and blind dog to bring home (when she had gone to the shelter seeking a big dog for security), Miller shows that there is no quick fix but happiness is possible.

The only negative about this book is that circumstances required it to be written at all. Privilege and the disgraceful actions of the media in glorifying a rapist while causing an anonymous victim (therefore all victims) to be shamed on a national and even global stage will keep you angry at the legal system, the class system and the white privilege ingrained in our society long after you finish the last page.

January Reading Wrap Up!

2021 has started out well for me (in terms of reading)! At the moment I have time to focus on myself, my health and my home as I get ready to move and tie up some loose ends here at home. During this time I’ve been able to relax and step away from screens while getting stuck into some really good books that I’ve had on my TBR for quite a while!

1. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

I posted a full review of this book but I’ll just briefly say that I loved it! Very glad that this was my first book of the year and hope that this is a good omen for my luck with books this year. Earthlings was captivating, shocking and an emotional rollercoaster, I’d recommend it for anyone wanting to read Murata if they aren’t squeamish.

2. The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

My second book of the year took a while for me to warm up to but once the action started to happen, I really enjoyed this book. I’m still loving this trend of retelling classics and classic characters from a new perspective and with a female-centred focus. This retelling of a fraction of the Dracula story is really intriguing, has nice world building and even surprise queer representation! I posted a full review which you can find here!

3. Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

I’ll be posting a full review of this book closer to the publication date as this was given to me as an ARC. This is a new thriller/suburban mystery from Joshilyn Jackson, the writer of Never Have I Ever, and focuses on Bree following the kidnapping of her infant son and a ransom demand. I’ve never read a kidnapping drama before and this was a great suspenseful novel, something that I now know to expect from Jackson and I know that I definitely want to read more from them.

4. Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Hey guess what, I’ve reviewed this one too. Sorry if you get updates whenever I post and this one contains a lot of ‘Previously on Books For Becca’! This one is a memoir from the women behind My Favourite Murder, a true crime podcast that I’ve spent many hours listening to so it was a really nice read. You can find my full review here but I’d really recommend it to fans of the show rather than true crime because there’s no true crime in it apart from underage drinking and drug use.

5. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This was my final finished book of the month and if I’m completely honest, I did not enjoy this reading experience. I think because it has been hyped up to me as an amazing thriller with twists and turns so when I was 120 pages in and wasn’t loving it, I was so disheartened. I thought that the book gods had forsaken me after four good books in this new year after my run of awful book experiences last year. It got better as the story became more clear, I was never invested in the characters though and when the promised twist did come it was more of a ‘huh’ eyebrow raise than a ‘gasp’ throw the book across the room kind of reaction.

And that was what I read in January! I know that some people will disagree with my opinion on the last book because it’s had nothing but rave reviews on bookstagram etc but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. If you’ve got any recommendations for new twisty thrillers that are gripping from the start then please let me know!

Book Review: Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered

If you have listened to a podcast in the last five years then you’ve probably heard of My Favorite Murder by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark…if you haven’t then you’ve somehow missed the recent true crime boom and are one of those strange people who can exist free of fear at every possible thing that can bring about an untimely death.

I’m not one of those people and I’m scared of leaving my house whilst simultaneously being scared of being inside my house because death can come to us at any moment.

As you can tell, I’m a very light and breezy person and I’ve been this way since I first watched an episode of Crimewatch as a child and learned that not only does crime happen as often (I had seen the news) but it happens SO often that sometimes the BBC had to put on a special TV show just to showcase all the crimes they needed help with that week. One of my schoolmates was in a Crimewatch reenactment once and I think he was either mugged or stabbed, he no longer acts and I think he may have become a priest but that’s just Catholic school for you.

I’m a true crime podcast listener since I discovered the genre and MFM was one of my holy grail regular downloads for years but in lockdown my podcast habits have changed and I like to binge episodes for a week straight. As I said I’m a true crime listener, I’m not much of a true crime reader. I find it quite hard to read true crime as it forces you to conjure up images in a way that listening does not and it just isn’t a pleasant experience for me to imagine real life suffering like that.

Thankfully, SSDGM is not a true crime book but rather a memoir for these two true crime podcast hosts. I think that what Karen and Georgia have done for podcasting, women in podcasting and touring entertainers is fantastic, because of their show I have found others and seen Redhanded live (missed out on MFM tickets when they were in Manchester but did get to see those ladies talk about Ed Kemper) and also share them with my friends. MFM has always been a podcast that shares a lot with listeners, either their own stories or those of their listeners and that is what they do in this book.

A few moments in this did make me tear up. Karen has talked about her mother on the podcast and shared her experience of growing up and then seeing Alzheimer’s impacting her mother as she aged, something I know from experience is horrific as the person you knew changes so dramatically but still remains the person you love even if they don’t recognise you at times. Both Karen and Georgia discuss their experiences with addiction and unhealthy lifestyles/behaviour in a way that does not glamourise but instead accepts that this is a normal and common reality for many and that you can still be happy.

Their happiness was on its way not just because they started a podcast (but if you want a bookish podcast then look no further than Reading Between The Spines *winkwink* we’re recording this week), but because they decided to pursue happier endeavours and not waste away in a job that they hated or a cycle of boredom. I’m currently waiting on a visa (still suspended due to there being a global pandemic that is QUITE bad in the UK but our numbers are going down due to this new lockdown so fingers crossed!!) but once that comes I’m so excited to do something new and completely different. I do find it incredibly inspiring that both of these women have grown through such difficult times and although they still experience hardships at times, they’ve been a highlight of many peoples days including my own.

I’m grateful to Karen and Georgia for the podcast and for the hours that I’ve spent listening to them, reading this was quite emotional and I would recommend it to any listener – as long as they remember to Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered. Also lock your fucking door.

You can find me on social media on Instagram @booksforbecca and nowhere else because I have private accounts due to the fact that I’m not famous!

Down The TBR Hole (Again) #2

Here we go again, last week there was only one survivor so let’s see what happens this time!

This was created by Lost In A Story.

The Rules: • Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf. • Order on ascending date added. • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books • Read the synopses of the books • Decide: keep it or should it go? • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Book 6: The Bling Ring by Nancy Jo Sales

Added: 27th April 2014

Decision: Deleted! Two failed attempts in 7 years, it isn’t happening. Goodbye.

Book 7: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Added: 27th April 2014

Decision: Deleted. No thank you, I cry enough without this plot line.

Book 8: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italian Calvino

Added: 27th April 2014

Decision: Keep. Purely because I’m stubborn and I want to seem educated.

Book 9: The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

Added: 27th April 2014

Decision: Delete, I think I donated this last year too so bye.

Book 10: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Added: 27th April 2014

Decision: Delete. I purchased this for 50p and it is huge and I still haven’t read it. Goodbye.

So there we go for this week, I’m either determined or over caffeinated but that’s a story I’ll never tell. You know you love me, it’s definitely the latter.

You can find me on Instagram @bukisibecca and in Goodreads @beccaggray if you want to befriend me and see my photos of the books I talk about here 🙂

Down The TBR Hole (Again)

I last posted one of these near the end of 2019 and I just looked at it and…I have not thought about a single one of those books. It is 2021 now and I do not want to lie to myself anymore so I will be restarting this tag/trend again and reducing my Goodreads TBR shelf to a pile of dust because if I haven’t read it since my previous post AND I haven’t thought of it? Not worth the digital space it’s taking up, be GONE!

Down The TBR Hole is a blog tag made by Lost In A Story and has some rules!

The Rules: • Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf. • Order on ascending date added. • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books • Read the synopses of the books • Decide: keep it or should it go? • Keep track of where you left off so you can pick up there next week!

Book 1: The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt

Added: 17th March 2014

Decision: Delete! I haven’t read it, nor have I been inclined to do this one is for deletion and donation.

Book 2: Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury

Added: 9th April 2014

Decision: Keep! Still because it’s my mother’s favourite and I have it on kindle so it takes up no physical space!

Book 3: Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris

Added: 9th April 2014

Decision: Delete! I actually already donated my copy of this last year so this was an easy decision.

Book 4: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Added: 12th April 2014

Decision: Delete! I tried reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Capote and I know that fiction and nonfiction are different and that In Cold Blood can be considered a blueprint of modern true crime nonfiction…but I didn’t like his writing at all and it was not very nice to read either. I know Holly isn’t exactly the best and most flawless character but I forgot the era in which it was written and so was not expecting slurs in my reading that day (should I have guessed it from the uncomfortable and overtly racist Mickey Rooney performance? Probably).

Book 5: The Valkyries by Paolo Coehlo

Added: 27th April 2014

Decision: Delete! This is another that I donated last year so this was easy peasy!

You can find me on Instagram @bukisibecca and in Goodreads @beccaggray if you want to befriend me and see my photos of the books I talk about here 🙂