Book Review: Babel by R.F Kuang // A profound story about the power of translation

The last time I was this traumatized was after the end of The Burning God.

I’ve been scared to pick up Babel for a while. I did not even open my eARC and decided that this monster of a book would be tackled best with a physical copy. Well, I was right—my fear was rational. R.K. Kuang did not hold back in reminding me of why her works continue to perplex and traumatise me every single time. This book has knowledge oozing out of every page at a level that is at times intimidating, which made me geek out at every possible chance.

So today, I’m very excited to review Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution, and hopefully persuade you to read it and experience its beauty for yourself, or at the very least add it to your TBRs with a not-so-short review, a little shy of 1500 words!

2022 Wrapped: Goals check-in + goals for 2023

Looking back and laughing at my overly ambitious past self is my favourite pastime!

With my 2022 being quite unpredictable, I don’t think I was able to achieve most of my goals, but I still feel it would be interesting to look back at everything I was and wasn’t able to do. It’s equal parts amusing and entertaining to do this every year, perhaps because it provides me with some amount of faith in myself.

There is no doubt that I would have loved to accomplish each and every goal I set for myself, but ultimately, the end goal was to give me a sense of achievement and satisfaction with myself. However, I was able to feel that way even with several unticked items, which I believe is absolutely amazing!

2022 Wrapped: From blogging to reading, everything summarized

2022 was a wild year…

If I had to describe the last year with a single word, it’d be “changes.” And these changes were mostly good ones, which I’m very glad about. 

Today, just like I did in January of the previous year, I’ll be summarising my entire year, something like Spotify Wrapped, but just a little less creative and filled with sappiness rather than cringe-worthy puns (or maybe both). This includes everything relating to reading, my blog, and my life!

As always, I have a handy table of contents below, so feel free to jump to whatever area you’re most interested in!

2022 Wrapped: My favourite reads of 2022

2022 wasn’t my best reading year…

I only read 23 books, which is not even half of what I read in 2021, but almost every book I’ve picked up has stuck with me. This was the year I realized that my reading tastes can and will change.

Nevertheless, all that matters is that I’ve found so many books that I can cherish for the rest of my life!

The previous list was 10 books long, but as my reading was a lot less last year, I’ve narrowed it down to only five so that half of my reads don’t end up on it.

50+ diverse releases to anticipate for the first half of 2023

How did the first week of 2023 pass by so quickly?

Last year I struggled to stay on top of all the books releasing so this list took longer than it should have. Nevertheless, after hours of sorting through Goodreads lists and Twitter threads, I finally have a list of 2023 releases you should keep an eye out for!

Although I couldn’t find many books for the second half of the year, I’ll surely either add to this list or create another one as and when I find them.

I’ve sorted this list majorly based on the month of release but the key below will also provide you insight on the genre and age range so you can find the book that best suits your liking!