Mid-Year Freak Out Tag

Hi there, Homo sapiens! I hope you are all doing well and safe wherever you are.

Welcome to the Mid-Year Freak Out Tag! This is the first time I’ll be doing this and I’m really excited to do it. Thanks to Carl, I was introduced to this. Well, this tag basically helps you reflect how good or how terrible you are on your reading at this time of the year. 😅 2020 has been a mess but I somehow found more time for reading and so let’s get started, shall we?

Best Books I’ve Read So Far in 2020

Best Sequel I’ve Read so Far in 2020New Releases but You Haven’t Read Yet but Want To

Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of the Year

Biggest Disappointment

Biggest Surprise

Favorite Authors (Debut or New to You)

Ocean Vuong

Madeline Miller

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Ayobami Adebayo

Alex Michaelides

Newest Fictional Crush

Unfortunately, there’s none so far this year… hope to have one in the books I’m about to read for the rest of the year.

Newest Favorite Character

Kainene from Half of the Yellow Sun.

Books That Made You Cry

Books That Made You Happy

Most Beautiful Books You’ve Bought So Far This Year (Or Received)

Books You Need to Read Before the End of the Year

Favorite Book Community Members

I don’t really get to interact a lot with many bloggers or book community members and I am only a part of WordPress and Goodreads. There are some very notable bloggers/members I’m glad to have met though. Carl, of course is one of them. Do visit his blog here specially if you love books/reading and you can thank me later.😊 I’ve also met Chuck here on WordPress and he’s got plenty to offer you if you like poetry. He shares poetry written by other bloggers but he writes his own as well. Check out his blog here.

Now I guess I’m done here… Feel free to do yours, too! And tag me! I’d be really glad to read your posts! Happy day, Homo sapiens!

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Quote of the Week

Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.

~John Steinbeck

Short Story – The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

The Cask of Amontillado is a gothic short story written by Edgar Allan Poe. He was one of my favorite authors growing up. I just love the way he writes.

The story is direct to the point. Montressor, the narrator was insulted by Fortunato and so he vows for revenge. It seems normal at first but as the story progresses, it gets darker.

We never really got to learn Montressor’s purpose/reason for carrying out the revenge on Fortunato but maybe that’s not really the point in the story. Well, I dunno.

What I know is that Fortunato was buried behind a wall and  Edgar Allan Poe knows revenge at its worst and moreover, a mystery is yet to be solved.

Quotable Quotes:

“A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”

“It must be understood, that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will.”

“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.”

Rating: 4/5 stars

 

 

A Six-Word Story

She knows exactly who she is.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins by Akiyuki Nosaka

The Cake Tree in the Ruins is an incredible collection of short stories all set on August 15,1945, the day Japan surrendered to the Allies in World War II.

Some of the themes tackled are war and its effects, survival, loss, love and kindness in the most difficult situations. Several of the stories highlight on how useless wars are and its effects on common/ordinary people who are the actual victims.

Most of the stories are extremely sad and heartbreaking and The Whale Who Fell In Love With the Submarine is my favorite, a beautifully tragic story.

This is my first venture on Akiyuki Nosaka’s works and he definitely has my heart. This collection is haunting and superb and one that will stay with me for a very long time.

Quotable Quotes:

“He was waiting for his mother who was sure to come back from the sky — the mother who had soared up into the sky like a kite blown by the wind.”

“Too many undernourished people and animals appear in these stories, I know, but it was wartime, after all.”

“On 15th August in the cloudless blue sky evening sky a single giant balloon left Japan and rode the jet stream headed for America. It carried no bomb… and unable to land is probably still floating around somewhere filled with the breath of school children.”

Rating: 5/5 stars