My 2024 Quarter Four Reading Wrap-Up

Reads And Re-reads, Classics And Contemporary

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Hello!!!

This is Joyie and welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books!

First of all, a very happy new year!!!

To be honest, I absolutely don’t like January. I saw someone saying it’s like a super long Monday and I totally agree. But we still have to make it through the month, so I’m reading aggressively. I finished Dracula yesterday and have made it halfway through Heidi. I’ve set myself the goal of reading twelve books this year. I’m keeping it low and achievable so that I don’t get caught up with the numbers.

Anyway, today I’ll share my 2024 Q4 reading wrap-up. I finished four books in the third quarter of 2024, two of which were new reads and two were re-reads; three were classics, one contemporary.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I already talked about this book in my last week’s letter, so at the risk of repeating myself, I really loved this book. I liked the characters and following their journeys. My favourite part was the discussions around existential crisis because that was something I could relate to. I also liked the way the book explores the position of women in society– the roles they’re expected to play as mothers and wives, the personal sacrifices they’re expected to make, the double standards they have to put up with. Female characters written by male authors often feel like props, just there to help the stories of the male characters, but not Tolstoy. He writes women as if they’re people, in the story in their own right.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

I’m not sure what I can say at this point about this book. When I read it the first time, shock was my predominant state of mind. But as I keep reading it again and again, the shock factor has been waning, so now I notice the finer details. But no matter how many times I re-read it, adult Heathcliff still terrifies me.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I read this book while I was going through my medical diagnosis last month, I was very stressed. I picked this book because it was pretty thin, the language was easy and the font was big. It was an interesting read. It’s about a woman in her mid-thirties who has worked at a convenience store since she was eighteen, and has fully internalised the identity of a convenience store worker. A misfit since childhood, she has no clue about how to conduct herself in social situations. But being a convenience store worker comes with training and a set of instructions, and she’s great at following them to a T. So, when she’s at the store, she never feels like an outsider, and feels like a part of society.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

This was my second time reading this book, I’ve planned to read it every Christmas as long as I live. Is the story very simple and predictable? Yes. Does that make it any less rewarding to read? No. I think it's’ the perfect read for the holiday season— easy to read, short and simple, wholesome and with a nice message.

What about you? Did you read any books in the last quarter of 2024?? I'd love to know!!!

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That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻