ps_stillreading's reviews
204 reviews

 Reading Winnie the Pooh for the first time as an adult was truly a special experience. It gave me the cozy atmosphere and silly lightheartedness that I didn't realize I was missing. Reconnecting with this part of my childhood was so comforting and exactly what my soul needed. I swear I was smiling every time I read a new story.

Maybe it's the nostalgia talking.

Or maybe it's me choosing to embrace the joy this book brings. Whatever it may be, this lovely book is now one of my most precious possessions.

Also the illustrations are so charming 🥹

A.A. Milne wrote the Pooh stories for his son Christopher Robin. And isn't it wonderful to think about how many other childhoods he has touched with these stories?

Now if someone were to ask me what book felt like a warm hug, I finally have an answer. I'd tell them it's this one. ✨ 

 If you want to read scary stories that make you feel as if you are running for your life, then this is not the book for you. The stories in Cursed Bunny unfold slowly. As you read, an unsettling feeling will begin to creep up on you. But you will want to keep reading and find out what happens next because you just can't help it.

Each story in this collection has a different feel to it. I'd call them quiet stories with a touch of horror and the supernatural. This book also deals with topics like societal expectations, the pressures put on women, loneliness, and capitalistic greed. These themes are threaded across different stories in a way that enriches the context of each one.

Honestly, the stories in Cursed Bunny really put me in a reflective mood. The horrors in these stories are reflections of the horrors we experience in daily life. As a woman, a lot of scenes were painfully relatable. Though I will say that the exploration of the female experience through horror is oddly fitting.

These stories are dark, and I felt truly felt for the characters.

My favorite stories from the collection:
⭐ Snare - Felt like a scary story you share with friends around a campfire late at night.
⭐ The Frozen Finger - Imagine yourself stuck and lost in a neverending bad dream.
⭐ Cursed Bunny - A revenge story. But also a sad story.
⭐ Ruler of the Winds and Sands - I loved the princess in this one. She is smart, brave, and wise. A total badass!
 

First love will always leave a mark, something you carry with you for a long time. And after the years have passed, you look back on that first love with either fondness, bitterness, or simple nostalgia for memories of the past and of a lover long gone. 

In Lie With Me, our unnamed narrator is a successful writer reliving his first love after seeing a man who looked exactly like his past lover. His recollections take us back to the winter of 1984. In the story, he is seventeen and attracted to a boy who does not even know him. 

 Except this boy, Thomas Andrieu, does know who he is. And he likes him back.

Their love affair begins with secret meetings and carefully planned encounters. The intensity of their connection tells them that what they have is real, even if they’re the only ones who know about it. Because when they’re lying together, everything feels right in the world. 

Lie With Me was beautifully written by Philippe Besson, and wonderfully translated by Molly Ringwald. So many moments in this book took my breath away.  Even as I wanted to inhale this book, I slowed down to savor every word. It has been a couple of weeks since I finished this book, but I still think about it a lot and I still feel it in my chest.

The main character is telling us a story about his past. Even as we are immersed in those memories with him, his vivid recollections are often punctuated by references to future events. These interruptions by reality as we experience his past made the story hurt that much more. We readers have an inkling of what happens, but we can’t stop it. Instead, we can only inch closer to the end even when we know it’s not going to be the ending we want. 

The MC does question whether things happened the way he remembered, or if he has embellished here and there. He is a writer after all, used to making up scenarios. And with this happening 20 years ago, memories can't be that accurate. His penchant for creating stories as a child has often earned him a scolding from his parents: "Stop with your lies!"

If you've read the book, you probably know where I'm going. But I do want to bring up that the title for the French version translates to "Stop With Your Lies" but Molly Ringwald decided to go with a different title for the English Translation. In an interview she says, "There were a few different ones being considered. Lie With Me Felt like the right one–the double meaning of embracing someone, the romantic mixed with the duplicity implied by being a writer and inventing stories for a living."

But the title Lie With Me also fits the story in another way. In asking him to keep their relationship a secret, Thomas asks him to lie. The two of them, lying to protect this secret happiness. There is also the reality of being gay, and lying in order to fit in and conform to the expectations of others.

This book now holds a special place in my heart. The lyrical prose, visceral depiction of yearning, that balanced blend of happy and sad, and the meeting of memory and reality are some of the reasons Lie With Me will be one of those books that stick with me for a long time. 

 The El Bimbo Variations is a collection of poetry variations of the line “Kamukha mo si Paraluman nung tayo ay bata pa” using the creative constraints from The Oulipo Compendium. Filipinos will be familiar with the song “Ang Huling El Bimbo” and this line in particular, which made reading The El Bimbo Variations so fun to read. Dude I read the entire collection in one sitting. Then I read it all again the next day. That’s how much I loved it. 

This book hurt. A lot. And if you’ve read Atonement, or watched the film adaptation, then you know what I’m talking about.

Thirteen-year-old Briony, an aspiring writer, witnesses a tense moment between her older sister Cecilia, and the son of their house cleaner Robbie. The two of them were by the fountain, and Briony watched from her bedroom window as Cecilia seemingly strips off all of her clothes and wades into the fountain while Robbie stands and stares at her. Briony is horrified that Robbie could make her sister do such a thing. In that moment, Robbie transforms from a dear friend to a villain in her eyes. Briony does not fully understand what happened, but her vivid imagination has already created a narrative that made sense to her.

This scene also has a profound effect on young  Briony. This is the moment she realizes that other people have real, private, inner lives too, and they’re not just characters in her life’s story. To her, this is what it feels like to be “a grown-up.” But as much as Briony thinks she understands everything, she doesn’t have the full picture.

Then a crime happens. Her cousin Lola is assaulted, but it was dark and she didn’t see her attacker. Briony didn’t see him clearly either, but she was utterly convinced that it was Robbie. Briony tells her mother, and she tells the police, and the lawyers. Everyone is horrified and Cecilia is outraged, but Briony remains unswayed in her convictions. Robbie maintains his innocence, but Cecilia is the only person who believes him.

While the story opens when Briony is thirteen, we also see her as an adult. We also get a glimpse into Robbie’s life, and how Briony’s actions altered the course of his existence. We see him as a soldier, clinging to his memories of Cecilia as he struggles to survive the war and get back to her alive. We see the two lovers reunite and make plans for the future. 

 The book is called Atonement for a reason. Adult Briony now recognizes her mistake and realizes who actually attacked Lola that night. She attempts to make things right, tell the truth, and restore Robbie’s reputation. But the damage was already done and Robbie’s life was ruined. There isn’t much she can do.

To me, the book asks how much guilt can be placed on a child. How much can we account for youth when the words of a child have already done so much damage? How much blame can we put on her, and how much on the adults around her? How can she rectify things as she becomes an adult and gains a better understanding of the events of that fateful night? Does she deserve forgiveness? Robbie and Cecilia have lived with the consequences of Briony’s actions. Can they grant her the forgiveness she seeks? Does Briony truly seek atonement, or is she doing this for more selfish reasons to ease her conscience? 

 It is easy to paint Briony as the villain in this story, especially because what she did caused so much pain and suffering. But there were other forces at play. Lola and Briony came from rich backgrounds. And because Robbie is from a lower socioeconomic class, authorities fixate on him as a suspect, especially when Briony is so vocal about seeing Robbie attack Lola.

There is also Lola’s silence. If Lola later realized who her actual attacker was, she didn’t say anything and condemned Robbie to his fate. Briony’s family, who has sponsored Robbie’s education and considered him part of the family, turned their backs on him. Cecilia alone believed in Robbie’s innocence, causing a rift in the family that was never repaired. 

The book also plays with the concept of perspective. Young Briony sees something, but her understanding of it changes as she grows older. We also see her in her old age, and she again looks back on the events of her life with this sense of acceptance and finality. Then there is also Cecilia and Robbie’s side of the story and their perspectives. Everything that happened between them, realizing the truth of their feelings for each other, their shared belief of the true culprit of that fateful night. And then of course, there is the author’s perspective. As the writer of the story, you would like to believe everything they write. But how much of it is real, and how much is wishful thinking? Which parts present the truth, and which parts serve the writer’s agenda? Does it matter? Or are good intentions enough of a justification? 

There’s a reveal right at the end that I won’t spoil in case you want to read Atonement. But when I read that part I needed a moment to take it in. After everything that happened, that part hurt. It also leads you to question everything, just as Briony herself has questions.