June Wrap-Up and July Goals

June reads

June Wrap-Up

• Finished: 10
• Total pages read: 2,475
• Average rating: 4.33

Over two thousand pages read again this month, but to be honest, I read four atlases which were mostly maps and other pictures. I finished ten books in June. I usually try to read at least one contemporary novel, but this time I didn’t read any. But I did read two classic novels, two ancient classics, and a few non-fiction books, including one memoir.

As I mentioned, I read four atlases. Two of these were my mother’s old schoolbooks, a historical atlas and her school atlas. Two were “modern” atlases, both of which also had interesting articles about Earth, space, and geographical features. But mostly all four were maps of the world and different countries. Not really something that you need to “read,” but I found it fascinating to flip through the books. I also had time to squeeze in another non-fiction book about ancient literature and its impact on later literature.

 

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

For Whom the Bell Tolls (*Amazon affiliate link) is set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Robert Jordan, an American volunteer in the war, is sent to blow up a bridge with the help of a local Republican guerrilla unit. He meets and falls in love with Maria, a woman captured and sexually abused by the Falangists, a Nationalist group. The book includes graphic descriptions of the brutalities of both sides in the war.

Hemingway’s style is sparse and journalistic. It’s not my favorite style to read, but I can read a Hemingway once in a while. The depiction of the war was interesting, but because of Hemingway’s sparse style, I didn’t connect with any of the characters. I’m also not a huge fan of how Hemingway writes his female characters. Maria reminded me of Catherine Barkley, the main female character in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Both Maria and Catherine spoke exactly the same way, and Robert’s and Maria’s relationship escalated quickly in the few days they spent with each other. Their instalove did not feel like the earth-shattering love affair it was probably supposed to be.

The Ladies’ Paradise by Émile Zola

The Ladies’ Paradise (*Amazon affiliate link) is part of Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series published in the late 19th century. The Ladies’ Paradise is set in Paris in the 1860’s and tells the story of a rise of a department store, the development of modern commerce, and the downfall of specialty stores.

The depiction of the eponymous department store is hugely visual, with paragraphs upon paragraphs describing the displays of silks, laces, parasols, and other goods. Reading it made me want to go visit the store! Or at least to see a movie adaptation of the book.

Unfortunately, the characters are not nearly as interesting as the setting. There is a whole host of shopkeepers, salespeople, and customers, but we only get glimpses of them as the story moves from one character to another and doesn’t stop to paint a full picture of any of them, not even the main characters Denise Baudu (a young salesperson) and Octave Mouret (the owner of the department store). That also means that Denise’s and Mouret’s love story becomes a rather irrelevant part of the plot, and I could never root for them to get past their hesitancies.

What I did enjoy, however, was the depiction of the development of modern capitalism and how fast fashion, pitting workers against each other, and IKEA layout strategy are not so recent innovations after all but have their roots in the 19th century department stores. If you’re looking for a character driven story, this book will most likely disappoint you, but if you’re interested in reading about 19th century Parisian history and society, this is a fascinating read.

 

If Only by Geri Halliwell

I was never a huge Spice Girls fan, but growing up in the nineties it was impossible to miss the hype and their impact on pop music and culture. I picked up Geri’s memoir If Only (*Amazon affiliate link) from the bargain bin sometimes in 1999 or 2000. This reread was partly nostalgia, partly research for a potential novel idea. I don’t think this is the best written memoir by far and I wasn’t really interested in reading about Geri’s childhood, but if you are interested in learning more about arguably one of the biggest bands in history, this was full of fascinating insight. It was interesting to read about Geri’s struggles, the music industry, and the absolute chaos her two years in the band were.

 

Ancient Texts Project

The final two books were part of my ancient books project: Aesop’s Fables and a selection of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. They were the two final books of my ancient texts project, which is now complete. It was fun to revisit some ancient classics and read the remaining unread translations on my shelves. Aesop’s fables are fun and very short stories, mostly about animals but sometimes about people, with a moral lesson tacked in the end. Ovid’s Metamorphoses are mythological stories often about people metamorphosing into plants or animals, but also other famous myths. It’s a great starting point if you want to go straight to the sources of ancient myths.

 

July hopefuls

July is for Jane Austen July! I’ve posted more about my plans for July in this post, but here are the books I’m planning to read:

• Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
• Jane Austen, Love and Freindship
• Maria Edgeworth, Belinda
• Uzma Jalaluddin, Much Ado about Nada
• Lucy Worsley, Jane Austen at Home
• And, if I have time: Lucy Worsley, If Walls Could Talk

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If you want to see more about how my reading went in June, meet my reading buddy for the last week of June, and go book shopping with me, check out my reading vlog below!

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