→ Harpa's bookish corner ☼

[harpa]

Welcome!

I wanted to open a little corner to discuss the books I read and thought this subforum would suit this space better.

I have a bookstagram account and today I thought "Why not have a topic on the forum as well?" — so, here it is!

What am I going to share?
→ My current reads
→ My tbr (to be read books)
→ Reading goals
→ Reviews

Disclaimer: Always check the genre and sutible age for each book before reading them, since some books might not be age appropriate or might address sensitive topics.

Have fun!

[harpa]

☼ Reviews

One Last Stop, by Casey McQuiston
Pachinko, by Lee Min Jin
The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
Slow Burn Summer, by Josie Silver
Starlight She Becomes: Poems, by Parker Lee
Meet Me at Luke's: Lessons in Life and Love from Gilmore Girls

[harpa]

☼ 25 books to read in 2025

This is my tbr for this year

→ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ✅
→ Babel, R.F. Kuang ✅
→ Educated, Tara Westover ✅
→ All the Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami ✅
→ Breasts and Eggs, Mieko Kawakami
→ Secondhand Time, The Last of the Soviets, Svetlana Alexievich
→ The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
→ Small Great Things, Jodi Picoult
→ The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
→ A Million to One, Adiba Jaigirdar
→ Cursed Bread, Sophie Mackintosh
→ Rock Paper Scissors, Alice Feeney
→ Q, Christina Dalcher
→ Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
→ Love of Perdition, Camilo Castelo Branco
→ The Paper Palace, Miranda Cowley Heller ✅
→ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
→ When Haru Was Here, Dustin Thao
→ The Journals of Sylvia Plath: 1950-1962, Sylvia Plath
→ Sinister Spring, Agatha Christie ✅
→ Midsummer Mysteries, Agatha Christie
→ Lord Edgware Dies, Agatha Christie ✅
→ O Protocolo Caos, José Rodrigues dos Santos (Portuguese author; I don't think it's published in English)
→ Matarás Um Culpado e Dois Inocentes, Rodrigo Guedes de Carvalho (Portuguese author; I don't think it's published in English)
→ A Noite em que o Verão Acabou, João Tordo (Portuguese author; I don't think it's published in English)

[harpa]

☼ Reading goals

→ Reading goal for 2025: 50 books

How it's currently going: 85 books read

[harpa]

Reading update

I have a few books currently on hold but there's two I want to read a bit of this weekend, which are:

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, by Laurie Gilmore
Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins

I'm reading the first one with a friend and it's been a fun experience. The second one I'm sure excited about! I've only read 50 pages or so, but I'm a huge The Hunger Games fan and read the trilogy when it came out, so it's been a long time coming

[juleic1123]

I love this so much, my comfort topic starting today!

That's a great idea.

[harpa]

Thank you so much!

[harpa]

Weekend reading update

I reached my weekly goal for "The Strawberry Patch Pancake House" (I'm reading it with a friend in the course of three weeks).
And now I'm picking "Sunrise on the Reaping" up and I want to read as much as I can.

It's looking like this so far:

[harpa]

In the meantime, I think I'm going to post some reviews from books I've read before and enjoyed

[harpa]

Pachinko, by Lee Min Jin

“History has failed us, but no matter.”

Pachinko tells the story of Sunja’s family throughout almost 100 years. It’s an incredibly deep and emotional book. Today I’m going to give you five reasons on why you should read it.

1. History: it gives us a different perspective on the Second World War, focusing more on both Korea and Japan. It’s great for those who want to deepen their knowledge.

2. Prejudice: it shows how Koreans were forced to leave their country to search for a better life in Japan, and received prejudice in this country (not only in a social setting, but also when it came to legal matters and finding a job).

3. Family matters most: the book starts explaining us about Hoonie and Yangjin, and later, we’re introduced to their daughter, Sunja, who ends up having her own children, and so on. The story goes on through many generations (it begins in 1910 and ends in 1989).

4. Plot twists: there are several unexpected scenes which I really enjoyed. You can expect plot twists up until the last page.

5. Don’t judge a book by its size: I know, this book is over 500 pages long. However, no need to feel intimidated! The storyline flows really nicely, you won’t even notice the time passing by!