June was a good reading month in numbers, but not in quality. I read a total of six books, some that I wanted to read for a while, others were influenced by tv shows.

Les Souvenirs by David Foenkinos

Les Souvenirs is a novel that explores the memories of the narrator. The book starts with him talking about the relationship with his parents and grandparents. Halfway through the story we start to explore his love life.

Is it a bad book? No. But it is not particularly interesting.

The Duke and I (Bridgerton, #1) by Julia Quinn

In January I became obsessed with the Netflix show Bridgerton. I blame it on the Duke of Hastings and Eloise. As a natural progression of my interest for this universe, I decided to read the book.

I hated it.

Honestly, everything was fine until Daphne and Simon got married. Actually, everything was fine until Daphne sexually abused her husband while he was unconscious.

The Last Friend by Tahar Ben Jelloun

The Last Friend follows the lifelong friendship of Mamed and Ali. This is a coming-of-age novel that takes place in Morocco, with the story starting in the late 1950s.

The narrative is intense, but beautiful. It makes you think about the dynamics and meaning of your friendships.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Hamlet is one of the most well known and the longest play by William Shakespeare. And is also one of the most influential and powerful works of literature. It tells the story of Prince Hamlet, son of the late King Hamlet of Denmark, and nephew of King Claudius. The play follows the prince as he seeks revenge against his uncle, who murdered Hamlet’s father and married the prince’s mother in order to ascend to the throne.

This book is great and a must read to anyone who loves literature. But I didn’t love it. There are other works by Shakespeare that I prefer.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

The Man in the High Castle imagines what the United States would have been like if The Allies lost the Second World War. The concept for this book is fantastical, but the narrative is not that great.

My problem with this book is that there were too many main characters. And because of that I didn’t manage to be interested about any of them, or care about where the narrative was going.

Storia Sociale Della Moda by Daniela Calanca

In Storia Sociale Della Moda, Daniela Calanca explores the birth and evolution of fashion. The author does a great job explaining why and how garments can represent a culture, movement and time period.

Pulp by Charles Bukowski

Pulp tells the story of Nick Belane, a not very good detective. While I enjoyed the weirdness of the plot and characters, the writing style and choice of words are despicable. This was my first (and probably last) Bukowski.