meitachi | books read: 2022 september

Some books from September, a busy work month.

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York by Paul Gallico - About a working class London lady who sets her heart on saving up to buy a Chanel dress from Paris. It has a lot of old-timey classism and stereotypes about foreigners, and a whole lot of gender essentialism, but on the whole it is a sweet wish fulfillment story about someone's dreams winning over others through its simple purity or whatever. The story about going the U.S. has more antics and shenanigans, but is equally unbelievable, but also fun so I'll take it.

Malice by Keigo Higashino - The mystery is less the whodunit, which is revealed pretty early on, but what the coverup actually is around motive and why. Pretty interesting and twisty, makes good use of many unreliable narrators, plus an interesting format as new info is shared with the reader. Somewhat meta, as some of the characters are writers and talk about how to present a story to a reader, and that is also very much done within the novel.

After the Fall: Being American in the World We Made by Ben Rhodes - A good combination of memoir, reporting about work in the Obama administration, and conversations with activists. A coherent if depressing theme about rising authoritarianism around the globe and what people are doing to push back against it, in the ways they can. Focuses on Hungary, Russia, and China. Is fairly realistic about what the U.S. did to bring us here, but very much does believe the U.S. has an international role and obligation. I'm not sure I agree with everything Rhodes presents but I generally appreciate his take, even if some of his realizations are very A White Man finally having his eyes opened to what others may have known for ages.

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews - (Hidden Legacy #6) Perfect. Delightful. I love Catalina and Alessandro, and the whole family (both sides, tbh). Honestly I am glad Conan and Nevada were very peripheral and there was more focus on House Baylor, including mom, grandma, siblings, cousins, adopted family and their pets, etc. That's the crowd I've grown to love. The Russian prince was random but mostly enjoyable. The action scenes were high stakes and violent, with interesting magic, so good times. It definitely didn't feel like an ending to the series though; I want Arabella's story!

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li - This is honestly about 15% (poorly described, not particularly interesting) heist and 85% Chinese American diaspora feelings about identity and home. Not a romp, but an interesting meditation on how different young adults (college students) feel about their journey and place in America, how they relate (or not) to China, and some interactions with the older generation and each other. I liked Daniel, loved Irene, loathed Will, and was mostly ambivalent about Lily and Alex. The narrative does seem to understand Will sucks, but also wants me to give him a chance to grow/change, but I don't want to. Fuck that guy.

You Boys Play Games Very Well by Yi Xiuluo - A reread about online gamers at a Chinese university who are beautiful and in love and there are so many fangirl/fan comments/interaction that is only delightful in fiction and not irl. The intersection with the pro group and potential competitor suitors is funny but never seriously entertained. I love everyone in this bar, it's just so tropey and feelgood and cute. Plus short for a quick reread.

The Cabinet by Kim Un-su - It won South Korea's highest literary prize and was billed as whimsical magical realism so I gave it a shot. At first, I wasn't sure if I just didn't like the translation, but I think it's just the writing itself I don't like. The main character/narrator is a not terribly interesting or sympathetic, but I could have overlooked that if the rest of the story were interesting. It was not. It was whimsically weird at first, then just got more unpleasantly weird, then tried to have a plot, then lost it, and took a hard left turn at the ending into gross and confusing. What is this ending? Why this ending? I may not be smart enough to get it, but I did not enjoy it.

I've made up a rule for myself this year that I can't read back-to-back books in the same genre. No, I don't know why. As I just finished a mystery, I guess I'm going to fantasy or nonfiction next.