I started off the month by finishing two books I had started in the latter half of August, then spent the rest of the month reading A Fort of Nine Towers by Qais Akbar Omar and Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, neither of which I’ve finished yet, unfortunately. If I wasn’t in school, I would have definitely pulled a reading marathon these last few days of September! Alas, I’m sneaking in a few minutes of reading before class and a few minutes before bed. Loving both A Fort of Nine Towers and Beautiful Country, and hopefully I’ll have a lot to say about them next month!
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir // ★★★★.5
A guy on a space mission to save humanity, basically! If only he could figure out how and why and what his name is… The blurb gives too much of the mystery away, so I’ll just leave it at that! If you enjoyed Weir’s The Martian, you won’t be disappointed. With all the conflict in the world, it was so invigorating to read a story about people putting all the BS aside to save the world with science. Adventurous, mysterious, funny, emotional–a little bit of everything for everyone!
Pop Song by Larissa Pham // ★★★★
In one of her essays, Pham writes about Agnes Martin, who you might know for her minimal, gridded paintings. She writes about how Martin doesn’t paint things for what they are to the eye, but for the feelings they evoke. Her paintings are feelings. And this book, too, is a feeling. It’s not about any one anecdote but the current of liminality, desire, and heartache that hums in the background, colouring every experience. Recommended if you’re looking for something like Funny Weather by Olivia Laing but with a more personal touch.
