things I saw in Idaho

 

a moose. a MOOSE!!! up way too close and way too personal.

a second moose. thankfully from a safe distance away.

a bald eagle doing a barrel roll (how sick is that?)

squirrels that were rather small compared to Virginia squirrels.

the Milky-Motherfuckin-Way!!!

so many stars.

lots of pine trees.

many junipers and sage brushes too! 

two mountain goats! they look like concerned and wise dogs that are a little disappointed in you.

spectacular sunsets.

a baby woodpecker!

1,000+ year old cedar trees (imagine how much they've seen).

Idaho is great. You should go. 

Books in Translation: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (Korea)

Translated by Jamie Chang

                            

Kim Jiyoung is a normal woman who lives a normal life in Seoul, except one day she starts acting like other people. Gut reaction would assume that she has a personality disorder, but once you read about her life you learn there's way more to her story.

This book is an interesting character study about modern day feminism in Korea. I like how Cho Nam-Joo shows how it's the little things, the passive aggressive aggressions at work and in daily life, that build up over time and just need an excuse to explode. At times the language felt a little dry which at first I attributed to the translation but the ending ties everything together nicely. And wow, what an ending! It will leave you frustrated but that's the point.  

Link to buy:
Bookshop.org
also check your local library! 

15 Best Books I Read in the First Half of 2020

how I'm tryna be

I'll be linking all books to Bookshop.org, where you can support independent bookshops and give me a few cents to buy more books if you purchase through one of my lists. REMEMBER: no buying books from Amazon! 

So far in 2020 I have read 50 books (some physical, some ebooks, some audiobooks...reading is reading!) and here are my favorites. Making this list made me realize how many great books I've read so far this year! You should read them too, then shoot me an email or message on Goodreads to tell me what you think or recommend similar books. 

1. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander 

    READ IF YOU: live in America/care about America

2. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 

    READ IF YOU: haven't read a smart and good book in a while

3. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha 

    READ IF YOU: imagine Gossip Girl but set in Seoul and dealing with more important issues

4. Sheets by Brenna Thummler 

    READ IF YOU: need help dealing with grief and also like the color pink

5. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg 

    READ IF YOU: are or have been a self-absorbed person at any point in time

6. Human Acts by Han Kang 

    READ IF YOU: have never heard of the Gwangju Massacre in South Korea

7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

    READ IF YOU: want to have some soft feelings

8. Cowboys Are My Weakness: Stories by Pam Houston 

    READ IF YOU: want to be a cowboy and/or have sex with one

9. Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness 

    READ IF YOU: need a role model to gentely tell you things you need to hear

10. How to Date Men When You Hate Men by Blythe Robertson 

    READ IF YOU: hate the patriarchy but still want a boyfriend while hating yourself for wanting a boyfriend

11. You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld 

    READ IF YOU: need to feel called out for things you probably didn't do but what if you did?

12. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides 

    READ IF YOU: haven't read a generational story in awhile or want a more literary version of Flowers in the Attic

13. Tangerine by Christine Mangan 

    READ IF YOU: want The Talented Mr. Ripley with a dash of The Bell Jar

14. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo 

    READ IF YOU: haven't re-read this classic in the last five years

15. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer 

    READ IF YOU: want to feel anxious, angry, and in awe

Happy reading! 

Books in Translation: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami (Japan)

Translated by David Boyd and Sam Bett

Once I committed to read at least one translated book a month in 2020 (and hopefully the rest of my life), I then had the fun task of researching which books I want to read next. I requested and got approved for many 2020 releases from NetGalley, so I'm excited to share my reviews with you all. Hopefully Books in Translation becomes a series here on Vitae Victoria!

Breasts and Eggs follows two sisters and the elder sister's daughter. The present day timelines takes place in Tokyo, whereas flashbacks of the sisters growing up take you back to Osaka.

I started reading this book when I was in Osaka for the first time, in Japan for the first time, and I'm so glad I did. Little details in this book opened my eyes to details I would've missed while traveling. Hostess bars, cultural mindsets, and struggles of a socioeconomic group that I never would've come into contact with as a tourist.

I definitely enjoyed the second half of the book over the first. Both halves of the book deal with interesting themes of motherhood and growing up, but the second half explores the complicated process of choosing single motherhood and in-vitro fertilization. The main character reminds me a bit of the protagonist in Convenience Store Woman, another popular book from Japan, because they're both a little different and decide to live their lives on their own terms, despite what society thinks. (Aside from that the books are very different, please don't compare these books further, they're both great in their own way!)

I look forward to reading more of Kawakami and hope more of her works are translated into English soon!

Links to buy:
Bookshop.org
Fountain Bookstore
Indiebound
also check your local library!

Kissing Oscar Wilde's Tomb

Instead of going with my friends to the Louvre, I decided to take a long, long walk in the Paris springtime to the Pére Lachaise Cemetery to meet some famous dead people and do some tomb kissing. 

shaded walk in the maze-like cemetery

It's a cheeky thing to do, kissing the grave of a dead person, but I think Wilde would have loved it.

Photo credit

Look how beautiful it is! Sadly, removing the lipstick and graffiti slowly wears away at the stone, so in 2011 they erected a glass barrier to keep the smoochers off. Although it doesn't feel as fun or romantic, people still kiss the glass to keep the tradition alive.

My reflection with a lipstick mark. It's been exactly 3 years since I took this photo so I can't remember if the lips are mine or not. 

I arrived at the cemetery a little too close to closing time so I wasn't able to see all of the people I wanted to visit. (Gertrude Stein is hard to find.) If you go, go early because the cemetery is HUGE and beautiful. I recommend taking a book and some snacks so you have plenty of energy to interact with all the spirits of great artists around you.