July Wrap Up 2020

Hello and welcome to my July wrap up. I read a lot this month. I read a lot every month, but this month I was not in the best place in terms of my mental health and so I sought solace in my books more than ever. This meant that sometimes I was avoiding talking about my problems with family and my partner. By the end of the month I couldn’t hide how I was feeling anymore and finally talked properly with them.

I’m sorry for the bleak start to this wrap up post, but I wanted to be honest! People ask how I read so much and sometimes it’s because I have a lot of spare time and I’m a fast reader. This month, however, it was because I was using books as a coping strategy. Thank you to everyone who reached out on Instagram too!

So while I may not have been reading for the best reasons, I was still reading and enjoying my books. So we might as well get into the wrap up!

I made a poll on Instagram asking whether people wanted to see mini reviews of just my faves and then stats, or mini reviews of my faves, plus tiny three-line reviews for all the rest as well as stats. The results were 67% for all the books and 33% for just the faves. So apologies if you don’t want to read all my tiny reviews, you can just stop after the favourites and then jump down to see the statistics! I have listed the audiobooks I read in the stats section, but I have a separate audiobook post outside of my July wrap up.

Please note, titles with an asterisk* were gifted by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I’m an affiliate for Blackwell’s, so this post contains affiliate links to their site.

July Wrap Up Standouts

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

This is a trilogy I’ve been meaning to start for AGES. I finally took the plunge and bought myself a copy last month, and promptly kicked myself for having waited so long to get it. The Fifth Season is Afrofuturism and follows three women, all orogenes who can manipulate earth. Orogenes are treated like scum, yet orogeny is also commodified by the Fulcrum, who track down orogenes to turn them into weapons.

The worldbuilding is exquisite and Jemisin provides some truly cutting social commentary within her fantasy world, as well as an incredibly inclusive cast. If at first you find yourself struggling, keep at it. Jemisin drops you in at the deep end but I promise it will all come together and you’ll end up loving it. Most certainly the highlight of my July wrap up.

Buy The Fifth Season at Blackwell’s

Pew by Catherine Lacey

Let me tell you: I LOVE THIS BOOK. I am a HUGE fan of short novels that pack a punch, and Lacey’s sinister tale does just that.

One Sunday morning, a family find a person asleep on their pew in church. Unable to determine their age, race or gender, they christen them Pew and take them into their home. Pew appears differently to every townsperson, and the frustration the townspeople feel when they can’t fit Pew into one of their prescribed boxes is palpable. Looming over all of this is the upcoming Festival, a yearly event in the town met with fear and reverence.

Lacey asks a lot of questions in this book, many of which are pertinent to today’s world. She looks at our compulsive need to label people, religion, and prejudice. I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially Shirley Jackson fans!

Buy Pew at Blackwell’s

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

I didn’t know much about Jackie Kay’s work but I’d seen her name around and when I saw a copy of Trumpet in my local Oxfam Books, I snapped it up. This is the story of Joss Moody, a much loved trumpet player in the jazz world. But upon his death, a secret he kept his entire life is revealed.

I couldn’t believe Kay wrote this novel in 1998. It could not be more relevant to today in terms of discussions of race and gender. I loved the multiple perspectives we get throughout the novel, from Joss’s wife and adopted son to his old school friends and band members. And of course, Sophie Stones, a hack who is intent on writing a book on the ‘scandal’. She embodied everything that is terrible about media outlets such as The Sun and whenever she was on page I felt FURIOUS. But that is all down to the brilliance of Kay’s writing.

I do wish we could have had a couple of chapters from Joss’s perspective, although that’s probably the point. That we only know him through the lens of others. I’ll be eagerly hunting down more of Kay’s work now!

Buy Trumpet at Blackwell’s

My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci (tr. Finnish by David Hackston)

This is without a doubt one of the finest translations I’ve read in a while. The prose read like a dream, so well done to translator David Hackston! And obviously Statovci himself who obviously writes beautifully.

This is a rather unusual little novel about belonging and identity. Two narratives are woven together. One narrator is Bekim, a young gay man who immigrated to Finland from Kosovo with his parents as a child. The other is Emine, a young woman living in Kosovo about to be married off.

Statovci explores the xenophobia and discrimination which are rife in Finland, making it impossible for the Kosovan family to really fit in. But nor can they return to Kosovo, as their old acquaintances now look down on them for having fled the rising tensions. I’d never read anything from this time period or geographic area before, and it was eye-opening to say the least!

Oh also, there’s a talking cat. Won’t say anymore about that, but it was a brilliant device!

Buy My Cat Yugoslavia at Blackwell’s

And the rest! (of my physical books)

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

I don’t read a lot of YA but I LOVED this. A super cute, queer teen romance with a Black girl lead. Liz is so awkward and passionate and adorable, and her relationship with Amanda ‘Mack’ made my cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. Thanks to Bezi @beingabookwyrm on Instagram for this rec!

An Apartment on Uranus* by Paul B. Preciado, tr. Charlotte Mandel

You know when you’re reading and you’re just thinking ‘this author is so much smarter than I could ever be in a million years?’. This collection of essays really pushed me to think in different ways. It covers so much from Candy Crush and dogs to transitioning and gender politics.

Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra, tr. Megan McDowell

A very meta exploration of what it was like in Chile under Pinochet’s regime through the eyes of a child. As usual, a delightful translation from our queen Megan McDowell.

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Actually this could have been in my standouts, it was flipping fantastic. I could not recommend a better book for attempting to understand structural racism in the UK. For anyone who doesn’t believe the UK has a race problem (which I hope is no one), read this book yesterday.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

An outstanding short story collection, there was only one out of twelve I didn’t enjoy. My favourites were Jumping Monkey Hill, The Arrangers of Marriage and On Monday of Last Week. Expect themes of colonialism, marriage, immigration and politics.

Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli, tr. Christina MacSweeney

Another meta-fictional novel, which isn’t like me! This one takes it even further, blending together three plot lines in ways that had me both awed and admittedly somewhat confused. I loved all the translator and bookish references littered throughout!

Hurricane Season* by Fernanda Melchor, tr. Sophie Hughes

This was a reread for me, and I was just as blown away the second time around. This book is bleak, grim, dark, and pushes every boundary you can think of. It explores a village on the fringes of society, documenting the events leading up to and surrounding a grisly femicide.

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

This book disappointed me a tiny bit. I didn’t get the same fuzzy, wholesome feelings I got from the first two in the trilogy. However, I still love Chambers’ character development, and the LGBTQ+ rep is fantastic.

Die, My Love by* Ariana Harwicz, tr. Carolina Orloff & Sarah Moses

If you like your fiction on the pitch black side of dark, then I recommend Ariana Harwicz. She explores motherhood and depression in ways that will make you deeply uncomfortable – while simultaneously being unable to look away.

Farewell, Ghosts* by Nadia Terranova, tr. Ann Goldstein

A musing on memory and loss, Farewell, Ghosts is a quiet novel but one that still gives you lots to consider. I particularly enjoyed the discussion around memory. How much is real? Accurate? Do we fabricate our childhood memories? Or alter them to be more palatable?

It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo, tr. Elizabeth Bryer

Apologies to this book, but I read it during a bit of a slump and honestly so much of it just went over my head. I may give it another try in the future, as I haven’t read anything set in Venezuela!

Earthlings* by Sayaka Murata, tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori

This was another strong contender for a July wrap up standout. Utterly wild and dark, Murata offers a scorching social commentary on conformity and what happens when we refuse to do it. See my full review here.

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World* by Laura Imai Messina, tr. Lucy Rand

This book was so sweet and sad. There is actually a phone box in a remote Japanese village where mourners go to speak with their dead. I loved the short snappy chapters tinged with grief but overall suffused with hope.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Now longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020, Such a Fun Age provides keen commentary on issues such as racism and white saviourism, while maintaining an easy-breezy writing style. Readers can learn a lot about impact versus intention.

Written in Blood* by Chris Carter

Disclosure: I was part of a paid partnership to celebrate this book’s release. I don’t read thrillers all too often anymore, but every once in a while I like to sit down and binge one. I devoured this book, all 450 pages of it, in one Saturday – addictive is the right word.

July Reading Stats

Total books read: 24
Physical books: 19
Audiobooks: 5
Pages read: 6,869
Fiction: 19
Non-fiction: 5

Audiobooks

I have a whole post on the audiobooks I read in July, but here’s a quick round up anyway, in case you can’t be bothered to check it out! The ones with an asterisk * were kindly gifted by Libro.fm, the rest I listened to via my library.

• We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin (narrated by Dion Graham)
• Breathe: A Letter to My Sons* by Imani Perry (narrated by the author)
• Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri (narrated by the author)
• The Groom Will Keep His Name: And Other Vows I’ve Made about Race, Resistance and Romance by Matt Ortile (narrated by the author)
• The Travelers by Regina Porter (narrated by Bahni Turpin and Dominic Hoffman)

Libro.fm have also given me an affiliate code for you to use. Follow my link or use ABREADS to get two audiobooks for the price of one when you sign up for a monthly membership.

Countries visited & translations read

I visited two new countries for my reading the world project in July:

• Venezuela – It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo, tr. Elizabeth Bryer.
• Kosovo, with a return to Finland in the same book – My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci, tr. David Hackston.

My July wrap up featured return visits to the following countries:

• Argentina
• Japan
• Chile
• Italy
• USA
• Nigeria
• Scotland
• Mexico

You can keep up with my reading the world efforts on Instagram by looking under my hashtag #AbReadsAroundTheWorld.

Translation-wise, the month started off slowly but then I picked up steam! The thought of Women in Translation Month kept distracting me a bit, but I do have some fantastic translated fiction in my July wrap up! Here are the languages I read from:

• Japanese (Sayaka Murata tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori)
• 5 Spanish (Ariana Harwicz tr. Carolina Orloff & Sarah Moses; Alejandro Zambra tr. Megan McDowell; Karina Sainz Borgo tr. Elizabeth Bryer; Fernanda Melchor tr. Sophie Hughes; Valeria Luiselli tr. Christina Sweeney)
• 2 Italian (Nadia Terranova tr. Ann Goldstein; Laura Imai Messina tr. Lucy Rand)
• French (Paul B. Preciado tr. Charlotte Mandell)
• Finnish (Pajtim Statovci tr. David Hackston)

Phew! Thank you for sticking with me during this mammoth July wrap up. Next month is going to be so exciting with Women in Translation Month! You can find my TBR here, and I also have two recommendation posts, one and two!

I’m also thinking of maybe switching things up and doing weekly reading wrap ups, if my reading continues at this pace. But don’t hold me to that. I’m just musing.

Thanks for reading! And don’t forget to find me on Instagram, The StoryGraph, and Goodreads.