When 2021 started, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn’t buy another book until I finish all the books waiting for me at home. Of course—as all book lovers could probably guess—that promise was broken almost straight away. Already in January I bought 4 books, followed by 1 book in February and 3 books in March. Go figure!
I’m happy to announce, though, that out of those newly-purchased books, a total of 3 books have been read, finished and reviewed—check it out on my Goodreads, if it tickles your fancy! So, at least, that means I bought books I knew I would read and—possibly even—enjoy. That being said, the number of TBRs on my table is still piling on.
These are the titles I’ve never shown or mentioned before, as well as those I’ve only recently purchased. I’m super happy that most of these were bought secondhand, which means less waste in the world. Without further ado, here are the books I’ve acquired recently.
Vox
by Christina Dalcher
This book was hyped by numerous booktubers that I followed 2-3 years ago. I know, I’m pretty late onto the bandwagon. Recently, though, this book went on sale in a local imported bookstore and I thought I’d finally grab it. The book is set in a world where women in general lose their voice, limited to only 100 words a day. Not only that—thanks to the new government—a lot of rights for women and girls are being taken away. The story follows the main character as she fights to regain her voice.
To me, this feels very appropriate for the zeitgeist—what with women rights being on the line in several regions in the world. I didn’t know before that “Vox” means “voice” in Latin—my boyfriend told me this—but now it got me all giddy to start reading this soon.
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Many of you might recognise the name of the author to this book as the same one who wrote The Virgin Suicides—which is one of my all-time favourite books. And that’s the reason I’m intrigued to read this one as well. It’s been sitting in my TBR pile for years, so I was so glad to finally see it for sale at Belsunhauls, which is a secondhand bookstore I found on Instagram.
Honestly, I don’t really know what to expect and I’m reading the synopsis now as we speak. Apparently, the story revolves around the Stephanides family, who are Greek-American, and their immigration experience—as far as I can tell, anyway. I wonder if it will have the same feel to that of his previous work.
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
One of those books that I became interested in reading thanks to the gorgeous cover. Truth be told, I’ve never heard of the author before, nor do I know what the book is about. But I see the cover and somehow I’m transfixed—I must read this book. After reading the synopsis later on, I found out that it is a thriller of some kind—I already forgot, to be honest.
Since this book wasn’t officially on my TBR before, I thought long and hard for several months before I finally caved and bought it secondhand at Buku Santuy—along with another book, though, mind you. Cannot wait to dig into it soon!
Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Kline
Although I don’t remember why this title intrigued me, it’s been in my TBR list for years. The beautiful cover captivated me instantly. For a while, I thought I would let it go since I haven’t seen it for sale or in any of my favourite secondhand bookstores. However, last week I decided to finally buy this copy from Belsunhauls on sale. We shall see if this book is any good—I, for one, am rooting for it.
Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
Here is a book that has intrigued me for years. I believe it’s also one of those hyped-up books by booktubers a few years back. Then, somewhere along the way, it got itself a TV series—or limited series? I’m not sure—and I suddenly feel the urgency to absolutely read it. I’ve seen it in numerous secondhand bookstores and book sales, but somehow I always miss out and someone else got to them first.
Also, this book comes in various covers, but it’s important for me to get this one—not the TV version—so I’m always holding out for this version. Lo and behold, I got lucky sometime last week when I spotted this at Belsunhauls, when I was looking at other books to get. Can’t wait to rip into this one!
Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
George Orwell is one of those authors that I’ve heard so much about but never truly met. My sister has spoken a lot about this author, particularly his book Animal Farm. However, I personally feel more drawn towards this book of his—what with the portrayal of ‘Big Brother’ and whatnot.
All I’ve heard about this book is how advanced it is in its time, being a science fiction work that accurately predicts the future—which is literally our present. To be fair, this isn’t the version of the book that I had in mind when I pictured myself reading it, but it seems appropriate with the subject matter somehow. We’ll see what I’ll think of this modern classic.
Lately I’ve been learning to live more intentionally—at least in terms of books and clothing. I no longer scrape for “chump change” in both these respects. For books, it means I no longer pick up any random book, despite it being incredibly cheap at the time, regardless of whether or not I’d wanted to read said title all along. While this technique has helped me discover unexpected hidden gems in the past, today it only makes my TBR pile grow bigger and bigger, being entirely untouched.
Now I feel so much more satisfied with the books that I pick out and purchase. Reading them one by one really fulfils me, not only in the act of reading it, but also in the act of ticking it off my mental checklist. Not only that, I also purposefully try as much as I can to buy strictly secondhand now, to reduce the world’s waste. So when a secondhand online bookstore happen to have a book I’ve been meaning to check out, it’s a blissful miracle. Otherwise, I just turn to the ones I already own. Nothing to lose, you know.
How is your reading situation this year? Did you set a goal?
When 2021 started, I made a vow to myself that I wouldn’t buy another book until I finish all the books waiting for me at home. Of course—as all book lovers could probably guess—that promise was broken almost straight away. Already in January I bought 4 books, followed by 1 book in February and 3 books in March. Go figure!
I’m happy to announce, though, that out of those newly-purchased books, a total of 3 books have been read, finished and reviewed—check it out on my Goodreads, if it tickles your fancy! So, at least, that means I bought books I knew I would read and—possibly even—enjoy. That being said, the number of TBRs on my table is still piling on.
These are the titles I’ve never shown or mentioned before, as well as those I’ve only recently purchased. I’m super happy that most of these were bought secondhand, which means less waste in the world. Without further ado, here are the books I’ve acquired recently.
Vox
by Christina Dalcher
This book was hyped by numerous booktubers that I followed 2-3 years ago. I know, I’m pretty late onto the bandwagon. Recently, though, this book went on sale in a local imported bookstore and I thought I’d finally grab it. The book is set in a world where women in general lose their voice, limited to only 100 words a day. Not only that—thanks to the new government—a lot of rights for women and girls are being taken away. The story follows the main character as she fights to regain her voice.
To me, this feels very appropriate for the zeitgeist—what with women rights being on the line in several regions in the world. I didn’t know before that “Vox” means “voice” in Latin—my boyfriend told me this—but now it got me all giddy to start reading this soon.
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Many of you might recognise the name of the author to this book as the same one who wrote The Virgin Suicides—which is one of my all-time favourite books. And that’s the reason I’m intrigued to read this one as well. It’s been sitting in my TBR pile for years, so I was so glad to finally see it for sale at Belsunhauls, which is a secondhand bookstore I found on Instagram.
Honestly, I don’t really know what to expect and I’m reading the synopsis now as we speak. Apparently, the story revolves around the Stephanides family, who are Greek-American, and their immigration experience—as far as I can tell, anyway. I wonder if it will have the same feel to that of his previous work.
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
One of those books that I became interested in reading thanks to the gorgeous cover. Truth be told, I’ve never heard of the author before, nor do I know what the book is about. But I see the cover and somehow I’m transfixed—I must read this book. After reading the synopsis later on, I found out that it is a thriller of some kind—I already forgot, to be honest.
Since this book wasn’t officially on my TBR before, I thought long and hard for several months before I finally caved and bought it secondhand at Buku Santuy—along with another book, though, mind you. Cannot wait to dig into it soon!
Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Kline
Although I don’t remember why this title intrigued me, it’s been in my TBR list for years. The beautiful cover captivated me instantly. For a while, I thought I would let it go since I haven’t seen it for sale or in any of my favourite secondhand bookstores. However, last week I decided to finally buy this copy from Belsunhauls on sale. We shall see if this book is any good—I, for one, am rooting for it.
Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
Here is a book that has intrigued me for years. I believe it’s also one of those hyped-up books by booktubers a few years back. Then, somewhere along the way, it got itself a TV series—or limited series? I’m not sure—and I suddenly feel the urgency to absolutely read it. I’ve seen it in numerous secondhand bookstores and book sales, but somehow I always miss out and someone else got to them first.
Also, this book comes in various covers, but it’s important for me to get this one—not the TV version—so I’m always holding out for this version. Lo and behold, I got lucky sometime last week when I spotted this at Belsunhauls, when I was looking at other books to get. Can’t wait to rip into this one!
Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
George Orwell is one of those authors that I’ve heard so much about but never truly met. My sister has spoken a lot about this author, particularly his book Animal Farm. However, I personally feel more drawn towards this book of his—what with the portrayal of ‘Big Brother’ and whatnot.
All I’ve heard about this book is how advanced it is in its time, being a science fiction work that accurately predicts the future—which is literally our present. To be fair, this isn’t the version of the book that I had in mind when I pictured myself reading it, but it seems appropriate with the subject matter somehow. We’ll see what I’ll think of this modern classic.
Lately I’ve been learning to live more intentionally—at least in terms of books and clothing. I no longer scrape for “chump change” in both these respects. For books, it means I no longer pick up any random book, despite it being incredibly cheap at the time, regardless of whether or not I’d wanted to read said title all along. While this technique has helped me discover unexpected hidden gems in the past, today it only makes my TBR pile grow bigger and bigger, being entirely untouched.
Now I feel so much more satisfied with the books that I pick out and purchase. Reading them one by one really fulfils me, not only in the act of reading it, but also in the act of ticking it off my mental checklist. Not only that, I also purposefully try as much as I can to buy strictly secondhand now, to reduce the world’s waste. So when a secondhand online bookstore happen to have a book I’ve been meaning to check out, it’s a blissful miracle. Otherwise, I just turn to the ones I already own. Nothing to lose, you know.
How is your reading situation this year? Did you set a goal?