#funaekbooks

[bahhumpug]

Loving Carmilla! A perfect creepy novella. A precursor to Dracula. And this edition by @pushkin_press is gorgeous! * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #pushkin #pushkinpress #carmilla #carmillanovella https://www.instagram.com/p/CaLrlHjrKat/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #pushkin #pushkinpress #carmilla #carmillanovella

[bahhumpug]

Some of my favorites from 2021. Last year I had a huge reading slump and didn't even make it to 25 books. Maybe it's pandemic fatigue. So my collection of favorites is pretty small. Oddly enough they're all translated fiction. Read The Travelling Cat Chronicles if you want quirky sentimental that will make you smile & cry. Read The Tower if you want weird & yet oddly bureaucratic. Read The Bunny if you want creepy & eerie (I think this one was my favorite of 2021). Read Readymade Bodhisattva if you want a collection of unique Korean science fiction stories. Read The Employees if you want a short sharp book about humanity. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #favoritebooksof2021 #2021favoritebooks #bestbooksoftheyear #bestbooksof2021 https://www.instagram.com/p/CZvEplvLfR3/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #favoritebooksof2021 #2021favoritebooks #bestbooksoftheyear #bestbooksof2021

[bahhumpug]

Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll is a middle grade novel with neurodiverse characters becoming friends and accepting who they are. It's also about a company that is creating holographic clones of people as a way to live forever and provide comfort to those who are grieving. It's an interesting mix but is a little repetitive. And, unlike some children's books that I love as an adult, this book didn't really transcend age. But recommend for the target audience age range. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #middlegrade #childrensbook #middlegradebook #sciencefiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CS5O-8QrDIq/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #middlegrade #childrensbook #middlegradebook #sciencefiction

[bahhumpug]

My Halloween read for this year arrived. I heard it's very scary & grotesque. Can't wait! * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #spookyreads #spookybooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CVB3CK0LZWf/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #spookyreads #spookybooks

[bahhumpug]

This Korean science fiction anthology edited by Sunyoung Park & Sang Joon Park was fantastic. Some of the individual stories weren't quite stellar, but the collection as a whole was. Each individual story comes with a brief intro on the author & the story (and a creepy illustration with weird bubbly veiny people/creatures). If you like to go into stories knowing nothing beforehand, I recommend you read the intro after reading the story. The stories for the most part were a bit dark & depressing, with several having some political and/or social commentary. Highlights for me were Readymade Bodhisattva (kinda slow & almost boring at times but it's really stuck with me), Perfect Society, Storm Between My Teeth, Between Zero & One (so weird & I bought a short story collection by this author right away), The Bloody Battle of Broccoli Pain, and Our Banished World. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #sciencefiction #sciencefictionanthology #shortstory #shortstorycollection #translatedfiction #booksintranslation #koreanbook #koreananthology #koreanauthors #koreansciencefiction #readymadebohisattva #kayapress https://www.instagram.com/p/CNnzHVOLFtl/?igshid=1kdbv9si679tb

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #sciencefiction #sciencefictionanthology #shortstory #shortstorycollection #translatedfiction #booksintranslation #koreanbook #koreananthology #koreanauthors #koreansciencefiction #readymadebohisattva #kayapress

[bahhumpug]

Monkey's not pleased that I'm reading about cats & not dogs. I really loved The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. It's a short book about a man's journey with his cat to find him a new home, but it explores so much more than that. We learn about his life and the key relationships he's had with friends & family that shaped his life. There are portions that are from the cat's point of view that I was worried would be too twee, but they were really well done. The only thing that kind of bothered me was the use of British phrases in the translation, because they kind of threw me out of the world a bit. But other than that, this was a 5 star read. Even if you don't like cats, give this one a try, especially if you've ever loved any animal. I was crying so much while reading this, I had to stand up to try to clear my congestion. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #thetravellingcatchronicles #translatedfiction #booksintranslation https://www.instagram.com/p/CTA4i6Zrs0y/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #thetravellingcatchronicles #translatedfiction #booksintranslation

[bahhumpug]

I read a short story by Kim Bo Young in a Korean science fiction anthology I've slowly been reading for the past year & really enjoyed it so I ordered a copy of her collection of short stories. I'm curious to see if I'll enjoy her other stories as much as the one in the anthology. It's so great seeing more & more Korean authors getting translated into English, especially genre fiction. There were others in the anthology who I'd love to see more of but they didn't have other works in translation. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CNinXzMLvzB/?igshid=13hzdrahruwff

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks

[bahhumpug]

This short story collection was amazing. Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung & translated by Anton Hur is indeed genre-defying as described on its jacket flap. The stories range from those feeling like folk tales to those that are straight up horror. Sometimes I find it hard to get into short stories because there's not much time to develop characters & settings, but Chung's writing immediately grabbed me. I was in dire need of something to distract me the past couple days & each of these stories fully immersed me in their unique worlds. * There is a lot of the grotesque in here. The first story, The Head, reminds me of a popular history teacher in college who only had classes at 8am to weed out those who weren't really serious about the topic. The beginning of that story may seem bizarre & gross since it starts with a head in a toilet calling out for its mother, but stick with it because you're in for a ride. There is also a lot of loneliness & critique of society in here. * My favorites were The Embodiment (disturbing & yet funny story of a woman needing to find a father for her baby), Cursed Bunny (a cursed lamp that devastates more than intended), The Frozen Finger (a haunting brief journey after a car accident), and Home Sweet Home (a woman buying a disastrous building with her equally disastrous husband with strange results). Highly recommend if you're into strange & yet wonderfully written fiction. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #honfordstar #translatedfiction #booksintranslation #koreanbook #koreanfiction #koreanauthor #shortstory #shortstorycollection #koreanshortstories https://www.instagram.com/p/COeI3uRLHCi/?igshid=1nyaqser1iu22

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #honfordstar #translatedfiction #booksintranslation #koreanbook #koreanfiction #koreanauthor #shortstory #shortstorycollection #koreanshortstories

[bahhumpug]

These employees are sleeping on the job! The Employees by Olga Ravn is a short novel comprised of a hundred brief testimonies from both human & humanoid workers on a spaceship. The subject of each testimony is not named and is not identified at first as human or humanoid. You build up that knowledge as you read on & pick up on things. This is less a science fiction novel & more a book about what it means to be a human & what experiences & senses make up a human. There is a lot of sensory descriptions (some bordering on the grotesque - like talk about pores & things in them *shudder*). This read almost like a fever dream & I'd recommend reading it in one sitting if possible. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #sciencefiction #booksintranslation #translatedfiction #translatedbook https://www.instagram.com/p/COL36iWrIty/?igshid=15dtzy2eeli5r

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #sciencefiction #booksintranslation #translatedfiction #translatedbook

[bahhumpug]

Tower is comprised of interconnected short stories dealing with basic human emotions & drives but set in a strange world. All of the stories take place in a 674-floor building that is its own sovereign nation & often referred to as the Beanstalk. The Beanstalk includes an actor dog that is the most influential person in the building, an elephant that is used to break up protests, & a deep divide between horizontalists & verticalists. But behind these unusual settings, there are stories of jealousy, survival, kindness, & revival of past passions. I enjoyed each of the stories, but thought the appendix was unnecessary (except for maybe the interview with the actor dog). * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #sciencefiction #translatedfiction # #koreanbook #koreanfiction #koreanauthors #shortstorycollection #honfordstar https://www.instagram.com/p/CN3WX2Er4wo/?igshid=1tk90q6fpp5lv

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #sciencefiction #translatedfiction #koreanbook #koreanfiction #koreanauthors #shortstorycollection #honfordstar

[bahhumpug]

A fast moving creepy read though I didn't love it as much as I had hoped. I can't pinpoint why. I started it, put it down, & then almost forgot about it. It was thanks to a long appointment with my stylist that I finally finished it. The description of the main baddie totally creeped & grossed me out but there was nothing that scary in this. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #bookreview #ringshout https://www.instagram.com/p/CSSytwJLuYx/?utm_medium=tumblr

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #bookreview #ringshout

[bahhumpug]

Whoa. Earthlings by Sayaka Murata was a bizarre & disturbing trip. I enjoyed Murata's Convenience Store Woman a couple years ago, but if you thought that was weird prepare for that times a hundred. All the trigger warnings. This can get over the top. I think I prefer a more nuanced & subtle approach, but this certainly had me reading late into the night. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #booksintranslation #translatedfiction #translatedbook https://www.instagram.com/p/COqdp8MLoOi/?igshid=1830305db6ive

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #booksintranslation #translatedfiction #translatedbook

[bahhumpug]

Just picked this up from my favorite local bookstore & can't wait to dig in. This cover reminds me of trying to eat a poached egg with the delicious runny yolk. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/COBpFw8rxOR/?igshid=gv4azs55k9qb

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks

[bahhumpug]

Nothing better than reading a good book on the beach & then taking a nap. Starting Cold Moon Over Babylon. * #sunsbuns #sunnypugadventures #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #coldmoonoverbabylon #beachreads https://www.instagram.com/p/CGLiGDqgvPL/?igshid=l2xx0coyi8rg

#sunsbuns #sunnypugadventures #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #coldmoonoverbabylon #beachreads

[bahhumpug]

Sunny's bandage matches my latest read, The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld! I loved this book, but it didn't wow me as much as her previous book, All The Birds, Singing, which was masterfully woven. Here we have 3 different timelines following 3 women - Sarah, an accused witch in the 1700s; Ruth, a new stepmother in the 1950s; and Viv, a 30-something year old chaotic woman in current times. There are various ties & themes among the 3 women, with an underlying thread, emphasized by interspersed vignettes, of the pointless violence inflicted on women by men. I didn't love that Sara's sections were narrated by a man, and her link to the other two women wasn't as tightly woven as it could have been. But, all in all, this was a great book that I devoured in 2 days. I think Wyld might be an autobuy author for me. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #thebassrock #eviewyld https://www.instagram.com/p/CHOhvyzAag2/?igshid=1p44q6p3rtmrp

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #bookreview #thebassrock #eviewyld

[bahhumpug]

Helping me organize my books. * #funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #monkadoodledoo #openletterbooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CEVTho2A_6M/?igshid=x973u5iyjc38

#funaekreads #funaekbooks #instabooks #instareads #pugsandbooks #monkadoodledoo #openletterbooks