Books I Read in September 2021 - Part 2

Here are the rest of the books I read in September.  (Click on the link for info about the book.)

01 | The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas > link
This reminds me of The Little Prince, similar tone, similar way of writing but it's written in first person (an eleven-year-old Stella) but directed toward her father which is kind of unusual but it seems to work. I enjoyed the beginning but then it just seems a bit slow and you kind of know where it was going. Summary: I like the idea of the story and I kind of want it to be fun and quirky and there were those moments but I guess in the end, it's a book about someone grieving so there's a bit of sadness there that somehow overrides a little of the fun and quirkiness. I enjoyed reading this but a little less at the end. Favorite quote: "I'm too bookish for prison!"

02 | The Last Human by Lee Bacon > link
It was the cover that made me want to read this plus I thought I should read more science fiction and since this involves robots, it made me want to read it. Although I did think the narrator, who is a robot, sounded and behaved too much like a human but maybe that is the point. Summary: This was sort of a familiar read and I sort of know what's going to happen but it was still fun.

03 | Reflection: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim > link
This is a standalone but if you didn't see the Disney movie Mulan (the animation, not the live action), I'm not sure you would enjoy this as much. But if you know the story of Mulan, then maybe it's enough. They did sort of give you some of the back story about Mulan here and there. The book starts with a scene from the movie and it detours to a new story. I love the movie so I was expecting much of the same thing but with a slightly darker tone as it mostly takes place in the underworld aka diyu (aka hell). There's Mulan, still pretending to be a man, there's Captain Li Shang and some of the soldiers but the story is just Mulan, Shang and Shishi (Shang's guardian) trying to get through diyu so there really isn't much to the storyline but we did get to learn a few things along the way. Summary: This was a good read though I think the challenges Mulan had to face keep piling up and at times, it seems like the book should have ended but it didn't. It has a happy ending which I had expected. This is actually not as twisted as the title implies, more like a light read. I enjoyed this more than I had expected. I think I would read the sequel if there was one.

04 | The Tragical Tale of Birdie Bloom by Temre Beltz  > link
The cover seems like it would be a sweet tale but it's not sweet, there were some sweet moments but it's more quirky and fun. Birdie is a great heroine but Agnes is more fun and she's a wicked witch who likes to be evil. Though I don't like the footnotes since they don't really say much, just extra background info. There was a nice map at start of the book but I couldn't really see it as you cannot enlarge images on a kindle, only the text. Summary: This was a short, fun and slightly wicked read. 

05 | No Place for Monsters written and illustrated by Kory Merritt > link
On a whim, I decide to read this children's book which have creepy illustrations. I think I was trying to read a scary book but since it's meant for children, it wasn't that scary. Summary: This was a short, somewhat enjoyable read and I sort of like the illustrations though they're a bit creepy.

06 | Cathedral of Bones by A. J. Steiger > link
I didn't know what category this book was in when I started reading this but this should be under YA, not middle grade and maybe horror though it wasn't that scary but it has creepy, disturbing imagery. The setting is quite unique and what we think of being human is explored here but not enough to get any one idea across. The main character (Simon) who is thirteen or fourteen (I forget which) and the second main character Alice, should have been older as the subject matter and the way they are portrayed almost as grown ups seemed to be more appropriated for people a little older and more mature. Summary: I half enjoyed the book and half weirded out by it. I guess I was a little unsettled by the disturbing imagery. Plus, I'm not quite sure what the book is trying to say. It just seemed like there are a lot of grand and creative ideas but they are not fully explored and sometimes it reads like a YA romance but without the romance as most of the time I thought Simon and Alice might end up a couple but there was no definite direction in which way it was going but I guess you can say they are friends who keeps trying to save each other? I don't know. Perhaps I was overwhelmed by the imagery to fully grasp the story and perhaps I was not the right audience for this book.

07 | Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot > link
The writing was translated from Japanese which I suppose it's why it sometimes seems a bit clunky and sometimes it reads like an encyclopedia especially when it explain certain things in detail. With translated books, I always wonder if the translator had translated the book as it was written. Who gets to decide if the translation is good or who gets to decide whether the translation fits the style of the original writer? It's hard to say.
    It says 'novel' on the cover but it's not a novel. It's four stories that sort of connect by having some of the same characters throughout the stories and most of everything that happens takes place in the cafe. The time travel bit is really what made me want to read this. The rules for going back in time is a bit confining - (1) You can only travel back in time within the cafe, (2) you can't leave the seat, (3) you can only meet people who had been in the cafe, (4) you have to drink the coffee before it gets cold or else you can't come back which is like five or seven minutes which is basically the time you have to do whatever you wanted and (5) you can't change the past. If you hear all these rules, would you go back? It does seems a bit pointless but as you might as guess, it isn't about changing the past, rather, it is about trying to get some understanding or closure but still, it really seems almost pointless.
    The bit about the cafe being cool during the heatwave as some sort of mystery is a bit silly. The cafe is located in the basement without windows so it's natural that it would stay cool during the summer, right? But maybe this cafe need some sort of mystery other than people being able to travel back in time?
    There is a character throughout the book that didn't get a full explanation. I doubt this is a spoiler but, she is the lady that sits in the chair that allows people to travel back in time. There is a brief explanation why she is struck sitting there but not enough. Why isn't her story being told? I actually would like to know her story instead of all the rest.
    Summary: These really do feel like short stories as we only get glimpses into characters' lives and what happens when they go back in time. Sometimes it also feels like I'm watching these people on stage even when we get into the minds of the characters, like we are not really with them, we are the audience. The fourth and last story is a bit of a surprise which I won't say how but in a way, I did sort of guessed what would happened. I enjoyed the stories but they seem to lack something, maybe because they were too short? I would not have read this book if not for the idea of people being able to travel back in time, without that bit, this book wouldn't have interested me at all.

How was your September? Did you read or did you do other more active things?