Aight, Imma Head Out

And now, the end is here
And so we face the final curtain
My friends, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case of which I’m certain
We’ve read a ton of books
We’ve traveled each and every decade
But more, much more than this
we did it our way~

The Course

I can say with all honesty that this course exceeded my expectations, it has been my favorite class of all. Creative, straightforward, no surprises, excellent professor and TAs. Chef’s kiss. My anxiety appreciates it. Shoutout to the drink pairings, it was such a nice, original touch to the online lectures.

One thing I want to thank to this course is how it brought back my joy for reading so much so that I read most of these books in one sitting… It also helped me get back into different genres from what I had been into recently. And surprisingly, it has been quite helpful for my creative writing class!

Top Picks

It’s difficult to pick a favorite. I really enjoyed most of them. In my top choices are: My Brilliant Friend, The Lover, Time of the Doves, Money to Burn, The Book of Chameleons. Honorable mentions to The Shrouded Woman and Agostino.

• My Brilliant Friend: I don’t know what this book has that I couldn’t put it down. It was very entertaining and well executed. I highly recommend reading the rest of the My Brilliant Friend saga but beware it will upset you at times. It’s really nice reading how all the characters grow and their fate as the story goes on. After finishing the series I kinda just sat there like:

• The Lover: The author has a way with words I swear, it was so good the way she would describe the relationship between the girl and the lover. And the fact that its based on actual events in her life?! Tea. I might have to read more of her works.

• Time of the Doves: My poor girl, she made us go THROUGH IT with her. I’m glad she got her happy ending, this book is really something special.

• Money to Burn: We love a good crime romance and on top of it make it queer?! Genius. It does hit different reading it in Spanish, the insults and expressions give it some kick to it. Dorda and Brignone couple goals (?).

• The Book of Chameleons: I never thought I could feel emotionally attached to a gecko. I liked the idea of a seller of pasts, I don’t know why it made me think of The Giver. The story was really good and immersive, I liked the climax of it and how all the characters connect to each other with the dramatic background.

What’s Next

Next on my reading list is The Maid by Nina Prose and afterwards I might read the rest of the books I didn’t read from the course as I heard good things about them, if you have read the following let me know if you enjoyed them or not:

1. Nadja
2. Nada
3. Black Shack Alley
4. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler
5. The Trenchcoat
6. Death with Interruptions

Some Recommendations

If you like reading and are into post-apocalyptic novels I recommend Severance by Ling Ma. It hits different after the covid pandemic.

If you like horror, Hidden Pictures it’s pretty solid, bonus points because it has pictures. If you want a quick disturbing read, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, no words…

If you like mystery, I Killed Zoe Spanos and Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. The former is more serious and the latter is more lighthearted and heartwarming.

Farewell

And with that I say goodbye to all of you, it was fun reading your blog posts, I hope (although I’m pretty sure) you all enjoyed this course as much as I did.

For the final discussion question:

Who was your favorite character out of all the books you’ve read in the course? And who did you hate the most?