meitachi | books read: 2025 june

Summer on campus means a much quieter work season for me as well! Correspondingly, reading more (also I picked up webtoons and cnovels again, so that helped).

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett - (Shadow of the Leviathan #2) Loved the first book in this series: essentially a murder mystery set in a great fantasy world with interesting characters (I liked the detective duo). I continue to really enjoy the series! The second of the series was also very fun with some clues and twists I managed to guess and still some that were a nice reveal.

Miscreants and Mayhem by Brothers Without A Tomorrow - (Webtoon) Really into webtoons recently for easier, comforting reads to distract me from the world headlines. This came after reading too much cute fluffy slice of life university romances, so it's uhh incestuous (non-blood related but they definitely consider each other family) mafia psychopaths. Honestly, the plot barely makes any logical sense but we're here for vibes and fucked up codependency and pretty art. It serves.

No Straight Road Will Take You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain by Rebecca Solnit - The newest Rebecca Solnit! I always enjoy her insights and essays, but I will admit this book did not give me as much hope and direction as some of her previous. It may be more of a reflection of the current state of affairs and my personal mindset, though. It's hard not to feel disillusioned and discouraged at the moment. I agree with her point that all progress is not straight-line progress, that it still matters; it's what I'm trying to live in my own life now. But it is still hard to get through it sometimes.

Unintentional Love Story by Pibi - (Webtoon) Palate cleaner! Sweet romance between a famous potter (truly I do not think any artist gets this kind of celebrity fame, definitely not just for being a potter, but I'll go with it). A little angsty but mostly a straightforward romance that unfolds over time with no major dramatic misunderstandings or villains.

The Foundling by Georgette Heyer - A delightful reread: my god do I love Gilly so much and him attempting to claim his own agency. But how he loves his cousin Gideon! The text really does such an incredible job making me ship them; they are clearly so fond of each other and have such a fun dynamic. That said, though the love interest only gets a little page time in the last third of the book, she is so likeable and gels so well with Gilly that I'm rooting for them too. She's such a partner to him, no jealousy or misunderstandings, and game to help him with the Situations he finds himself in.

Alternative Alamat: An Anthology: Myths and Legends from the Philippines by Paolo Chikiamco - A collection of short stories from different Filipino authors: some are definitely stronger than others but it was a nice glimpse into some indigenous myths and gods. I don't think any especially grabbed my attention though.

Reborn with an Old Enemy on the Day of Our Marriage by Lin Zhiluo - (Cnovel) I don't always love transmigration stories but this was essentially a setup for a funny slice-of-life school story, which is my catnip. Two enemies turned lovers in their 30s are flying off to get married, but then get reborn into their still-enemies high school selves, while retaining all their memories. So now they are grown ass adults who have to relive their high school exams and care about petty high school drama while trying to be together, baffling all their friends who still think they're enemies. Silly and funny, with a lot of hijinks about doing well on exams. Weirdly puritanical (I guess for censorship reasons) about no naughty times while underage, which is insane for both irl high schoolers and transmigrated adults, imo.

The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport by Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg - A quick but enlightening read on the history, and particularly interesting characters, that formed Formula 1. Not dry, which I appreciated! Largely read on a plane and while stuck 8 hours at O'Hare.

Death of An Author by E.C.R. Lorac - A fun historical mystery; I've heard good things about the author's writing so am checking out their works. Mostly that they're immersive and good at detail, so hopefully that plus a nice twisty mystery.

You're Too OP! by Yi Xiu Lou - Published book version of the webnovel You Boys Play Games Very Well and it's still absolutely charming and fluffy, low-stakes college and gaming/streaming stuff. No drama, all fun. A favorite comfort read. I really enjoy the silly fan comments.

Don't Build My Hopes Up by SSAK - (Webtoon) Uni slice of life romance...unremarkable, mostly, and after a while the way the mouths were drawn got very distracting to me (in a bad way). The way Asian university clubs operate with their senior/junior relationships is very interesting to me. Still so many club fairs and activities? And of course the bonding time (drinking). I do think it's interesting that there's a wider range of ages in university in Korea because of mandatory military service.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore - (Graceling Realm #3) I skipped #2 to go directly to this book because I wanted to know what happened with the characters and world introduced after Graceling. Bitterblue at 18! It was a slow build but I did end up really loving it: the messiness of seeking truth and reconciliation after an era of appalling injustices, fear, and horror. How to move forward with those who were complicit. How to reconcile as a society and as individuals. Questioning monarchy in general. The romance was sweet but not the end-all-be-all, and there were strong relationships besides romantic ones. Also cute to see Po and Katsa from an outsider POV. Anyway, I'll probably go back and read Fire...

Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah - A sweet illustrated book about childhood and exploring past the safe boundaries, but knowing you have a home to return to. Pretty art!

The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again Today Vol 9 by Author - I love this series. Nothing ever happens, really, except everything is a delight! A cat cafe and friendships in this one.

My Underachieving Seatmate Doesn't Need Any Comforting by Long Qi - (Cnovel) A reread! I forgot how much I enjoyed this one. I love so-special-just-for-you relationships between seatmates; I love incredibly unrealistic genius characters. The main character is also sweet despite being a rich kid spoiled by his loving dad and grandad. Just a tiny touch of angst in the family backstories, to keep it slightly interesting beyond the school life and exams. Just a nice tropey, escapist read.

The Dangerous Convenience Store by gusao - (Webtoon) A mafia romance that really barely had any mafia vibes. Shockingly sweet and largely consensual and healthy relationship despite the premise? I kinda missed some of the tropes tbh but overall really liked both the main character and love interest; they worked well together even as they kept figuring out how to keep growing for each other and adapting to something that was new but worth it. A time skip of angst and then a happy ending.

The Melancholy of Untold History by Minsoo Kang - A gift from my MIL, a literary fiction mixed with mythology and legend. The narrative structure was interesting: part legend/myth, part history, part contemporary story. Some reviews didn't like the myth part but they were very familiar to me, structured the way Chinese mythology is. I enjoyed the examining of the blurring between myth and history, the pointedness of how history can be manipulated or even manufactured, as it's all in who is telling the story.

Private Scandal by toriko - (Webtoon) Wow, this plot was an absolute mess (no model is this famous, no artist would get famous for this, this isn't how scandals, paparazzi, or probably hotels work) BUT the art is so pretty and I loved the dynamic of the main couple. (Hilariously, they reminded me a bit of JJ/Yuri, if they were both older and a little more mature.) They were sweet, funny, and sexy and that got me through all the silly plot drama that absolutely doesn't work like that but was entertaining nonetheless. The bonus side stories were also frivolous and fun.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman - His newest and it took me a bit to get into it; it felt too much like a retreading of his past works' themes. The only really different focus was art, on top of the meaningful and messy human relationships. It still moved me and made me cry, but I felt manipulated and it didn't really resonate past the last page. Not one of my favorites.

Transmigrating into the Heartthrob's Cannon Folder Childhood Friend by The Concubine is in Shanyang - (Cnovel) This was mostly a cute school life story, but with bonus transmigration -- which felt clumsily inserted back into the last part of the plot. I did really like the relationship dynamic between the main couple, and their friends and classmates were funny, but honestly the alternate world's "plot" was distracting. Unnecessary, honestly. (I was also frustrated by the great translator for the first 80 chapters pausing because a second, worse, translator had taken over the last chapters. It is getting a licensed English publication though, so I'll buy that.)

Can't believe it's July, honestly.