Uhh... I'm back?

 Yet again. There goes the story of this book blog. 

The story of the past 4 months summed up in 3 words: real life happened. 

Anyway, which books did I get to squeeze in while "real life" was "happening"? They're these: 

• Short Cuts by Raymond Carver - 5/5 This collection has some of the more moving, emotionally wrecking stories that I've read since "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," and I can't believe I put off reading this for years. Favorite one from the lot would have to be "A Small, Good Thing" for its painfully difficult theme - more than the rest, for sure. I missed Raymond Carver. 

• Human Acts by Han Kang - 5/5 The Gwangju Uprising is a historical and tragic event in South Korea that I never knew transpired until I read this book. Human Acts is an affecting story on so many levels and points of view: the youth, the parents, the survivors of brutality and cruelty themselves. And to what end?

• The Tattoist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris - 2/5 I felt like I forced myself to finish this. It was a fascinating story to tell - a love story that suvived Auschwitz - but the story-telling, the execution was so poorly done.  

• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - 4/5 Almost, but not quite. It has tinges of Cloud Atlas for the inter-generational connectedness, thanks to a nearly-lost, ancient Greek folio, but is filled with seemingly unnecessary meanderings, unlike David Mitchell's opus. Still, I enjoyed the mystery and how the stories of each of the characters played out. 

• Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz - 3/5 I remember enjoying Ari and Dante's discovery of the secrets of the universe when they were first introduced by Saenz. It's understandable, then, to expect a dazzling sequel. Unfortunately, this one fell nearly flat: it had no direction, no plotline, and too much drama for my taste. Or maybe I'm just getting old?

• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind - 4/5 Did not expect that this would be a wonderfully pleasant and gory surprise.

• Ariadne by Jennifer Saint - 4.5/5 For someone who's fascinated with mythology - all of them, but particularly Greek mythology - and yet has limited knowledge of the life and times of Ariadne, Princess of Crete, this debut novel by Jennifer Saint is revelatory. Other than her indispensable part in the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, I had no idea that she played other equally memorable roles, such as being wife to Dionysus, god of fertility and wine. The tale of Ariadne woven here tackles these roles, with brilliant nuances on feminism. More retellings like this, please! 

These 7 books make up numbers 7-13 of my 30-book challenge for the year. I still have half of the year to go, and I'm raring to finish up my currently-reading title.