recently read: cleopatra and frankenstein
22: by coco mellors, the reading list and the next seen library event !!!
Knowing what book someone is reading and what parts they resonate with most can be so intimate. It reveals their interests, where their head is at, and what excerpts are so significant that they will mark up a page because they think it’s worth revisiting at a later time. I’m fascinated by what books others gravitate towards and I find that it helps me get to know them better and gives me a small glimpse into who they are at their core. No one asked for these book reviews, but maybe it’s my way of showing who I am and what I’m interested in – beyond the clothes, the products, and my career. Or at the very least, encourage some to look up from their phones and instead towards the pages of a good book.
Book no. 21 of 2023
Cleopatra and Frankenstein - Coco Mellors
To be honest, I absolutely did choose this book based on its cover. It’s so chic and I was also seeing it everywhere on Instagram last year. I was influenced. While it was hard for me to get into at first, especially as I was skeptical of all the hype, it soon became a book I couldn’t put down. I was deeply invested in the characters and their stories (some of them more than others). At the same time… I didn’t really like them and wasn’t sure if I was actually enjoying following along, especially with all the drug and alcohol use that I typically don't find all that interesting in books and movies. The writing is beautiful and tender, though, and it was fun to cast this book with actors for my own internal adaptation — Suki Waterhouse was my Cleo. While I’m glad I stuck with it to the end, it’s not a book I’d necessarily gift or proclaim as a must-read.
I finished this back in August of last year… that’s how behind I am on these reviews!!
Underlined quotes:
“She had a way of bringing the light into a room with her, like a window being flung open.”
“When was the last time you were with a straight man… and he said something more interesting than what you were already thinking?”
“Frank recognized within the forced casualness of the gesture a familiar attempt to dismiss years of resentment and hurt.”
“Cleo watched her share a look with her husband that contained unbounded pride, and something else too. Joy, she realized. They were in love… How did a person learn to live? Learn to be happy? She had surrounded herself with people who didn’t know.”
“That’s how love is supposed to feel… Like earth. It grounds you. All this nonsense about love being a drug, making you feel high, that’s not real. It should hold you like the earth.”
“But the people who did get that love, they grew up to be different from us. More secure. Maybe they’re not as shiny or successful as you and I feel we have to be. But it’s not because they’re not interesting. They just don’t feel they have to do the tap dance, you know? They don’t have to prove themselves all the time to be loved. Because they always were.”
Book no. 22 of 2023
The Reading List - Sara Nisha Adams
Had really cute moments and quotes, especially about how books bring people together, but overall found it simplistic and flat. Love Mr. P so much though :)
If you want an easy, heartwarming read, this may be for you! But if you want something that digs deep, you may want to pass.
Underlined quotes:
“Books just take us away for a little while, and return us to our place with a new perspective.”
“It was strange, the idea that this book wasn’t just for him, it was for everyone… They might have read it on a beach, on the train, on the bus, in the park, in their living room… Every reader, unknowingly connected in some small way. He was about to be a part of this, too.”
“It had been so long since she’d sat down and just allowed herself to get lost in a book. Life felt too busy, it had felt like an indulgence she couldn’t afford.”
“Books aren’t always an escape; sometimes books teach us things. They show us the world; they don’t hide it.”
You may also like:
The next Seen Library book giving
*This event is currently fully booked
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to no one asked by jordan santos to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.