The Other Boleyn Girl

 This book very much made me think that this is what reading fanfiction must be like. All of the characters in the book were unlikable. Maybe Queen Katharine of Aragon was the only one that was not nasty, but maybe that was because she did not have a significant role in the book. I disliked Mary Boleyn's hypocrisy, her lack of self-awareness, her insincerity, and how immature she was. All characters were so immature, perhaps Anne Boleyn was the most immature, and so simple minded. Which is a shame, because from the little I have read about the true Anne Boleyn, she seems to have been an interesting woman in real life. It took me a long time to accept the creative narrative that Philippa Gregory, author of the book, was offering in this alternate universe in which so many things happened contrary to the academic historical consensus. But my verdict is that all that literary licence was simply not worth it. This book did not offer an interesting alternative to the canonical interpretation of the reign of Henry VIII. It took itself too seriously, and most of the text was a boring, uninteresting filler plot, which was excessively repetitive.

The Satanic Verses

 What a provocative title. When I first learnt about this book, which was when I was around twelve years old, I thought it had something to do with Christianity. Then I learnt about the plight the author went through because of it, which added to its allure. Now I have finally read it and I feel like I do not know what it is about. I did do some quick reading about Islam and about what are the 'Satanic verses'. That helped me understand parts of the plot. And I imagine someone who is more knowledgeable about Islam might probably find this book much more interesting than I did. I am not sure how I feel about books that require you to have some prior connection to an aspect of culture and society for the reader to better appreciate the story. Although I imagine that, to some extent, that might be true of all books. Perhaps what I am trying to say is that I feel annoyed that I am sufficiently ignorant about Islam and that as a result it would appear that I did not enjoy this book as much as I could have otherwise enjoyed it. Still, most of the novel is intense magic realism in a way that made it quite difficult for me to follow what was going on. The part that I enjoyed the most was the ending, which coincidentally felt like the most concrete and tangible part of the story.
  Overall, it saddens me to think that the people most likely to understand the intricacies of the novel seem to be the least interested in reading it. Nonsense, if I really wanted to better understand the book I could do my own deeper research, and reread multiple times the book. Except, learning about any religion is not something I am actually interested in. In fact, I am currently of the opinion that the least I know about them the better. Which I know deep down that it cannot be true. One should never be proud of one's ignorance.
  Anyhow, this is not a book that I liked. But I do look forward to reading Midnight's Children.

Kidnapped

 I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I enjoyed it so much because I was brought back to Scotland, I was reminded of all the beautiful things that I lived there. I enjoyed learning so many new words: 127 new words in a book that is relatively short (my copy had only 314 pages). Yet, I was not really interested in the storyline and it took me much longer to finish reading the novel than it really should have. Yes, some of it was due to my characteristic procrastination, but in this case I strongly believe the core reason must have been that I failed to find something meaningfully interesting in the book.

Mating

 Quite a disappointment. In the article Is True Love Possible? Readers Are Turning to This 1990s Novel for Answers, Marie Solis described this book as having "achieved handshake status among young readers thinking seriously about romantic relationships." Which to me was quite a compelling description. Mating does start strong, I did like the unnamed protagonist's initial relationships and the descriptions of African nature. But when it turns to her main relationship, i.e. her relationship with Nelson Denoon, things start to go downhill. I do not think much can be learnt from that relationship. It is not a healthy relationship. In fact, it very much seemed like the protagonist was obssessed with Nelson. She wanted to be in a relationship with him so badly even though it was clear (to me) that she knew right from the beginning that she did not want to stay in Tsau for long. So the story becomes one of her trying to get Nelson out of Tsau at all cost. Except, Nelson does not want to leave. Inevitably, the only thing that can happen in that situation is that the relationship deteriorates because she is not getting what she wants. I do not think the book answers the question "is true love possible?" It does not even try to answer it. Perhaps because of that I felt that the book was such a disappointment. But even the plot per se was not very interesting. The monologues on socialism and politics were honestly quite dull. I do not think I would recommend this book.

Fireside Gothic

 This book is a collection of three short stories: (i). "Broken Voices," (ii). "The Leper House," and (iii). "The Scratch." I did like them, but only mildly. To be honest, it might be that I am just not that into that kind of fantasy. Note: I am not saying I am not into fantasy. I just found these stories a little... bland. Of the three my favourite was "The Scratch," and that might be because it was the one closest to reality, the most real story. I still have on my shelf one book that might be similar to Fireside Gothic, it is H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon. I am, however, hoping that the Necronomicon is much, much better. If you do get the opportunity to read "The Scratch," read it. It is quite decent. And if that opportunity comes in the form of having the whole Fireside Gothic with you, well... I guess read all three short stories. It will not take you more than five days to read them all.

The Silvered Heart

Not knowing anything about the legend of the Wicked Lady, except after reading the bonus material at the end of the book, I read this novel as if it were simply fiction. Well, the only thing I did know about that period in time in England was thanks to me having recently watched the film "Cromwell" (1970). This book, written from a royalist's perspective, of course has a different feel from that of the movie.
  I imagine one can enjoy the book only if one sympathises with the Lady Ferrers portrayed in the book. I did not sympathise with her. Her logic at all times felt bogus, her motivations childish, and despite her constant insistence at every new chapter of her life that she was now finally aware of how wrong she had been in the past, she never truly changes, she never truly learns anything. She is doomed to make the same fey mistakes over and over again. The way in which the story developed did feel like it would make for a classic Netflix film or series.
  Honestly, the most interesting part of the book was the bonus material. Those extra six pages on actual history were the most interesting and most enlightening.

Essays in Idleness

I just learnt that this is a classic, and that in Japan students often get questions on their exams about this book, but I did not find it very interesting. One can tell that Kenko was quite of a conservative mind—which is not a bad thing per se. But it appeared to me that he could not hide his contempt for people who did not stick to tradition. Suddenly Marcus Aurelius's Meditations came to my mind. In it Marcus Aurelius says that much of our dissatisfaction with other people's behaviour is due to our judment of their actions; that we should get rid of our judgment and that way we would be happy. I find myself siding with Marcus Aurelius. It is fine if Kenko, or anyone else, wants to stick to tradition, but one should not judge others because they do not behave the way we expect them to behave.

  There are other essays with which I disagree, like the one where Kenko basically says that there is no such thing as an intelligent woman. There was only one essay in which Kenko explicitly expressed misogynist thoughts. But finding those opinions in his book was still quite concerning.

  At some point, when I was trying to figure out why I was not agreeing with many of his thoughts I said to myself: "It must be because the book is so old." Except, Meditations is even older and there are many more things with which I agree in that book. I guess there are people that lived in the distant past whose opinions I like, and likewise others who lived in the distant past whose opinions I do not like. Maybe I should stop judging people just because they lived in the past. Maybe I should just stop judging people, period.
  Oh. I almost forgot. There are some good ideas in Essays in Idleness. Like: we should be humble and not be quick to show off the knowledge we have, that we should not procrastinate, that death is inevitable and therefore we should not waste our time. But there are other books that say the same things and are much better than this one. Starting with Marcus Aurelius's book.