June 2020 📚 Wrap Up

Happy July! Before listing the books I read last month, I have to remind you about the Reading Nobel Winner Authors for A Week post because I won't mention those books here as I have already expressed my thoughts on them at that post. So, let's see what else I read in June.

1. Shimriti: De la ignorancia a la sabiduria by Jorge Bucay (2005)

I had never been interested in self-help books, but in early June I experienced a minor identity crisis and I decided to give this book a chance in hope that it would help me put my thoughts in order. I was really invested in it at the beginning as it talked about wisdom in terms of getting to know yourself. There are many interesting stories with moral lessons and my favourite thing of all was the interpretation of the original sin. However, towards the end, it focused on the level of wisdom reached by spiritual leaders and philosophers, like Buddha, which isn't very relatable and helpful for the average human being.

2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2005)

I believe that everyone knows this story; a teenage girl meets and falls in love with a mysterious boy, who is actually a vampire. I cannot be objective with this series as the films impacted my teenage years greatly. I will admit that Bella is lacking personality (she has no interests or hobbies outside school or aspirations and dreams in life) and there are a lot of awkward moments, like the amount of staring happening between the characters. Nevertheless, I couldn't stop myself from grinning and giggling at the scenes that the couple interacted, and feeling as a teenager again. My biggest surprise was Edward, who is much better portrayed since he can actually be funny and playful and not just mysterious and brooding as his film version. All in all, the book is better than the film, so you should expect to encounter Twilight at my future Wrap Ups. 

3. Wailing Ghosts by Pu Songling (2015)

This is a collection of very short classical Chinese stories. I was very impressed by the simplistic and very symbolic plots as they are replete with magical and supernatural elements. That aspect challenges the reader to discover the meaning, and consequently the moral lesson of the stories. 

4. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (1985)

The 18-year-old Florentino Ariza meets the 13-year-old Fermina Daza by chance and he falls in love with her. They are confronted with a lot of obstacles, which inevitably lead their relationship to an end. Florentino, however, doesn't give up his hope and he promises to himself that he will reunite with Fermina no matter how long he has to wait to be with her again.

I was really intrigued by the multifaceted exploration of love; we have the family bonds, the sexual passion, the love and security between spouses. Plus, I was impressed by the majority of the female characters who were portrayed as strong-willed people who wanted to enjoy their lives and they didn't let social rules stop them from doing so. And Fermina, despite her pride and stubbornness, experiences a lot of hardships in her life which help her evolve by learning who she is. My biggest disappointment was Florentino. I was supposed to root for him, but he commits so many crimes in the course of the book -or in the course of his life- that I could find no excuse for him and all I wanted was to see him get punished for his indefensible actions. And I was negatively surprised when the writing style wasn't firmly and severely criticising and condemning his behaviour. I do believe that Love in the Time of Cholera is a great literary work, but I wish that more people -including the author- decried Florentino's actions. 

And these are all the books for June. What books did you read last month?