I am so happy Friday is here. It’s my second favorite day of the week. It’s my regular day off work and the weather was outstanding today.
This week I finished four books. I’m happy to say I enjoyed them all.
Mina’s Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder.
I read The Memory Police by Ogawa in 2022, which I enjoyed quite a bit and highly recommend. If you didn’t know, this book is being adapted for film. Earlier this year we got news that Lily Gladstone will star in this film (LOVE HER!) So I was excited to hear about Mina’s Matchbox having loved The Memory Police so much.
In Mina’s Matchbox, we follow 12-year-old Tomoko, who has left her mother, a recent widow, to stay with the family of her mother’s sister. Everything about this side of her family and where they live is completely foreign to Tomoko. But she meets her younger cousin Mina and they build a friendship that carries her through her time with them.
Before I met her, matches were nothing more than matches, in my view. But from the first time she produced a matchbox in my presence, I realized that they could become a kind of silent ritual, a devout prayer.
I think Mina’s Matchbox is worth reading. I also realized how much I enjoy Ogawa’s writing. I now feel compelled to read all of her books that have been translated into English.
—
I read This Is Not Miami by Fernanda Melchor, translated from the Spanish from Sophie Hughes. Sophie Hughes is one of my favorite translators and I became an instant fan of Melchor after reading Paradais in 2022.
My quick take on Paradais from my Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4755917325
This book is dark and grim and violent. The two main characters Polo and Franco are both major trainwrecks in different ways. Polo wants nothing more than to get away from his current life and family. He carries such disdain for his mother and many of the women in his life, so much so that he avoids them all at any cost. He's also entangled in very disturbing sexual activity. Franco made my skin crawl. He is crude, unbecoming in his presence, violent, and seems to be a sexual deviant. He's obsessed with this woman and will do anything to be with her. Polo gets wrapped up in one of Franco's schemes and things turn quickly and could very well change the outcome of Polo's life.
This story moves fast--almost shockingly so. The language is also very rough in tone like it's hanging on the edge of a cliff and not afraid to fall. Reading this felt like being cut by razor blades. I really appreciate what this author has done with this book. I'm definitely going to pick up Hurricane Season at some point.
This Is Not Miami is a short story collection, but it is important to note and understand that the lives of real people, real circumstances, and real horrific situations live and breathe in these stories.
From the Author’s Note
I do not write about tears, armed men, or wounded children where they never actually existed. At the heart of these texts is not the incidents themselves, but the impact they had on their witnesses. The stories are based on events that really happened (a group of stowaways stranded at Veracruz’s port; a ritual exorcism), but in their subjectiveness they go beyond straightforward testimony, homing in on the transformative experiences of their protagonists.
The Author’s Note explains so much. It should not be skipped over and neither should this short story collection.
—
I read Bear by Julia Phillips. It was right up my alley. It was dark, moody, heavy, and full of intrigue. These two sisters are in such a dire situation. They are living with their dying mother, desperately wanting to leave to improve their lives. And then comes this bear, which begins to place a divide between them. One sister is extremely leery of the animal and the other has embraced it with open arms. Friction starts to grow between them. This isn’t a joyful book, these sisters have and are experiencing truly rough times. I own her book Disappearing Earth, which I’m going to read very soon. Phillips may become a favorite writer of mine.
—
Lastly, I read Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane. A gripping, enigmatic collection of linked short stories about the reverberations of a serial killer’s crimes in the lives of everyday people. This was my first time reading McFarlane and this short story collection really worked for me. The stories were eerie, unsettling, chilling, and dark. I’d like to read more from McFarlane to get a better sense of her style. So I’ll be on the lookout for her when I’m out book thrifting.
That wraps up what I read this week. I’m still reading The Sword of Kaigen by M.L Wang and The Rent Collectors by Jesse Katz. I’m hoping I can start Private Rites by Julia Armfield and Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin this weekend.
What did you all read this week?