coffee stain dossier

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
pages: 607 | rating: 2 / 5

Hello friends, it's been quite a while since I've posted and I honestly have no excuse besides just being very lazy and unmotivated. Before summer started, I picked up Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. A bit of background, the first book I read of Murakami's was Norwegian Wood. Honestly, I wasn't too enamored by the story as it seemed to be for other readers. Before giving up on Murakami, I had read that he himself considered Norwegian Wood overrated. So, taking that into consideration, I decided to try another one of his other works in hopes of sparking the same sentiment of critical acclaim towards him. After reading this, I've decided that Murakami is not the writer for me. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is told through the perspective of unemployed Toru Okada, who through the process of the story loses both his cat and his wife. Despite the blandness of the main character, the female characters seemed to throw themselves at him from high school girls to anonymous women over the phone. The plot stretches and the lives become convoluted and unnecessarily complicated as more factors are introduced. If there were significant symbolism presented during the course of the novel, it either flew over my head or I was so tired and bored of trying to get through the novel told by an unappealing protagonist that I ignored it simply to try to finish the book. It should speak loudly of my opinion of this book considering that it took me close to four months to finish it. That's all I can say honestly. So, goodbye Mr. Wind-Up Bird, you had quite a tedious life.

The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino
pages: 320 | rating: 3 / 5

Ever since I took Introduction to Asian Mythology, I've been on an endless high when it comes to East Asian mythology and folklore. During the course, I was introduced to the Kojiki, a collection of Japanese mythology meant to connect the Japanese emperor to the country's gods and deities. The Goddess Chronicle both retells one of the creation myths of the Kojiki while adding its own dimension and character to the otherwise one-sided perspective of the gods--specifically Izanami and Izanagi who were attributed to basically forming the island, and all other earthly elements. The novel starts off not directly with the goddess of our tale, but instead with a young girl named Namima who is forced to live in the shadow of her sister, the Great Oracle of the island, Kamikuu. Namima's story begins to unfold and parallel Izanami's story. Much of Namima's tale and Izanami depicts female oppression and the culture's sexism in the way they are silenced, stuffed into their roles and positions, and how they are used as a means to an end. The first two acts of the book were good in its development; however, I did find that there were moments where the plot line dragged out. Also, towards the end as we are given the chance to gain an emotional reunion between Izanami and Izanagi, the climax felt flat, or perhaps its poor translating that doesn't execute what the original language expresses. I did appreciate the end, leaving Izanagi, the goddess of death as the sole god. It symbolizes the state of Japan today--the elderly population outnumbering the younger generation. Overall, I thought it was a good adaptation that shone a new light on old mythology, giving character to otherwise stock figures. 

NASA sweatshirt | high neck sweater dress | suede flats | nixon watch | diptyque perfume | too faced chocolate bar palette

I've learned that adulting means to put a major halt on throwing away my cash so easily. I've been trying to do no buys, but I crack by the end of the week. I've got it bad. But, I've figured out a sort of reward system to treat myself to one thing out  of these wish lists I'm going to make once in a while. I've had my eyes on a few of these for quite some time and soon, hopefully, I'll be able to buy one of them and then knock the others out too slowly. Treat yo self can be such a tricky sword. 

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
pages: 288 | rating: 4 / 5

I forgot who it was that said that good artists make while great artists steal (or some sort of variation on that), but that has greatly influenced my reason for my decision to read this book. A couple years back, I read Catherynne M. Valente's Deathless and I didn't realize that I jumped down my own rabbit hole. Valente's poetic writing and unique integration of a reader's already perceived awareness of particular themes, novels and classic fairytales into her works created such a vivid experience that I was encouraged to read more. I've picked up a couple other books since Deathless, and now I've landed on her young adult series, Fairyland. The first being The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making describes the classic Alice In Wonderland theme of a young girl, named September, being whisked into a completely strange land with its own tyrannical queen. Along the way, she befriends and even piles up missions and promises that force her to explore Fairyland. Valente is smooth with the writing and each chapter is given its deserved attention to detail. I love the hark to Alice in Wonderland theme with Valente's own twists. September is an impressive girl, carrying the curiosity and impulsiveness of children while rounding off her strengths into flaws and vice versa. We see a slow growth within the young girl as she makes her mistakes and act all together oh so human in a not so human place. While this book is intended for middle school kids, it's adult enough for older readers to pick it up. I think what makes me appreciate it is how Valente plays on mature topics through a child's perspective. Someone older will able to pickup the hints while younger readers will be supplied with simple background. The book draws out your imagination as we go along with September's adventure while still maintaining a good cliffhanger balance to want you to pick up the sequel which I very much will. 

Happy Year of the Monkey to those of you who celebrate Lunar New Year! Every year in the OC, the Vietnamese community hosts its Lunar New Year Festival. Usually, the one run by the colleges and universities is the go to spot for the festivities. This time, however, another festival, the OC Tet Festival, that offered free admission was the one my entire family went to. The park grounds were packed, large and typical with food, arcade games, and commercial booths. The food was okay and there wasn't much else around that beat the other festival held at the OC Fairgrounds, but granted it was their first year, I'm sure for the next years to come it'll improve.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
pages: 416 | rating: 4 / 5

I could legitimately start a series of blog posts called: Tumblr made me read it, because a lot of my book collection stems from what I see there. The Raven Boys is not excluded from this rule. Both interested and wary, I ordered the book online a while ago and just now started reading it. For those of you who don't know what The Raven Boys is a novel detailing the life of a psychic's daughter name Blue who was given the prophecy of killing her true love with a kiss and four boys who attend a prestigious, elite school in Henrietta, Virginia who are on a quest to find a dead king. While my synopsis might not make it sound incredibly enticing, I assure you, it really really is. Each character are fully fleshed and characterized. Every action and choice they make never stray from who they are, and it's so delicious to see it pan out for both good and bad. My favorite character so far has to be Adam Parrish, one of the raven boys whose life as a boy struggling to have a better footing for himself despite the cruelties he faces in his life at home makes him endearing. But he's also a character capable of incredible tragedy if the story continues with his particular mindset of pure and unmerciful justice that we see towards the end. The book itself besides rich character and rich description also charms me with funny one liners, and the well executed cliffhangers after each chapter. Stiefvator knows her cliffhangers, and I would love to learn from her. With all that said, I couldn't give the book a total 5 out of 5. Certain characters that hold much larger or distinctive roles could have been fleshed out better. Neeve or Whelk for example were characters who seemed lacking. I never felt that I should be afraid or suspicious of Neeve as much as Blue made it seemed like I should or that she would be capable of potentially killing someone if necessary. Whelk's desperation felt flat. And certain aspects of the witch's ritual that Maura, Persephone, and Calla performed left me wondering what they exactly did. I realize that this is one book of a series, so maybe I'm demanding too much to be revealed so soon. But, it was a very good start regardless and I'm anxious to get my hands on the second book, The Dream Thieves.