Simone2 reads in 2024

Hi I am Barbara and I write short reviews about the books I read. I mostly read contemporary literary fiction, as well as classics (though not as often as I used to) and thrillers/mysteries. I am a sucker for reading challenges and a fan of the Tournament of Books. I also love reading NBA and Booker nominated books.
You find me on Litsy as @BarbaraBB where I am more active than here on LT, wich I mostly use to keep track of my reading and reviews.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2024!

JANUARY - MARCH

JANUARY
1 - Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park: 3*
2 - The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada: 3*
3 - Held by Anne Michaels: 4*
4 - The One by John Marrs: 5*
5 - Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada: 3*
6 - Flights by Olga Tokarczuk: 3.5*
7 - The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shia Dusapin: 4.5*
8 - Lovesick Blossoms by Julia Watts: 3*
9 - We moeten praten (Dutch) by Jan van Mersbergen: 3.5*
10 - Crossroads by Jonathan Fransen: 4*
11 - Mix Tape by Jane Anderson: 4*
12 - Sleep No More by PD James: 3.5*
13 - Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason: 4.5*
14 - North Woods by Daniel Mason: 3.5*
15 -The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride: 3.5*
16 - My Husband by Maud Ventura: 3.5*
17 - A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux: 2.5*

FEBRUARY
18 - Pet by Catherine Chidgey: 4.5*
19 - The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali: 2.5*
20 - The details by Ia Genberg: 2.5*
21 - Biography of X by Catherine Lacey: 3*
22 - Roman Stories by Jhuma Lahiri: 4.5*
23 - The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst: DNF
24 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett: 3.5*
25 - These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant: 5*
26 - Strangers by Taichi Yamada: 3.5*
27 - The Trio by Johanna Hedman: 2.5*
28 - Julia by Sandra Newman: 2.5*
29 - Hard Girls by J Robert Lennon: 3*
30 - Snow Road Station by Elizabeth Hay: 4*
31 - The Postcard by Anne Berest: 5*
32 - Happiness Falls by Angie Kim: 3.5*

MARCH
33 - O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker: 2*
34 - When You Disappeared by John Marrs: 3.5*
35 - A History of Loneliness by John Boyne: 4.5*
36 - The Caretaker by Ron Rash: 4*
37 - In Ascension by Martin MacInnes: DNF
38 - Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan: 4*
39 - In Defence of the Act by Effie Black: 5*
40 - Vengeance is Mine by Marie NDiaye: 2.5*
41 - Hangman by Maya Binyam: 2*
42 - Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad: 3.5*
43- The List by Yomi Adegoke: 3*
44- Sailor Soldier by Claire Kilroy: 4*
45 - See You in Paradise by J Robert Lennon: 3*
46 What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma: 3.5*
47 - What Have we Done by Alex Finlay: 3.5*
48 - Bijna niets gebeurt toevallig (Dutch) by Tamar Bot & Fanny van de Reijt: 3.5*

APRIL - JUNE

APRIL
49 - Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan: 4*
50 - The Maiden by Kate Foster: 3*
51 - The Vacation by John Marrs: 3.5*
52 - Mrs S by K Patrick: 3*
53 - Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie: 2.5*
54 - A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams: 4*
55 - Christ on a Bike by Orla Owen: 4*
56 - The Wild Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes: DNF
57 - The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright: DNF
58 - River East River West by Aube Rey Lescure: 4*
59 - The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean: 4*
60 - Luister (Dutch) by Sacha Bronwasser: 3.5*
61 - And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott: 3*
62 - The Future by Catherine Leroux: DNF
63 - What’s Left of Me Is Yours by Stephanie Scott: 3*
64 - Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls: 4*

MAY
65 - Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville: 3*
66 - Bitter Herbs by Marga Minco: 5*
67 - The Good Samaritan by John Marrs: 3.5*
68 - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab: 3*
69 - Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski: 3.5*
70 - The Infatuations by Javier Marías: 3*
71 - The Wall by Marlen Haushofer: 4*
72 - 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee: DNF
73 - Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth: 4.5*
74 - Parkeren in Hilversum (Dutch) by Detlev van Heest: 4*
75 - Dark Across the Bay by Ania Ahlborn: 3.5*
76 - The Amusements by Aingeala Flannery: 3.5*
77 - Clear by Carys Davies: 4*
78 - People Who Knew Me by Kim Hooper: 4.5*
79 - First Blood by Angela Marsons: 3.5*
80 - Claire of the Sea by Edwidge Danticat: 2.5*
81 - The Spinoza Problem by Irvin Yalom: 4*

JUNE
82 - The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson: 4*
83 - Silent Scream by Angela Marsons: 3*
84 - The Weekend by Charlotte Wood: 3*
85 - An Empty House by Marga Minco: 4*
86 - Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange: 2*
87 - The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring: 4*
88 - Butter by Asako Yuzuki: 3*
89 - Nonfiction by Julie Myerson: 4.5*
90 - Evil Games by Angela Marsons: 3*
91 - James by Percival Everett: 3*
92 - Sandwich by Catherine Newman: 3*
93- Her Last Move by John Marrs: 4.5*

JULY - SEPTEMBER

JULY
94 - Thirst for Salt by Madeleine Lucas: 4.5*
95 - Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: 3.5*
96- The Alternatives by Caolilinn Hughes: 3*
97 - Sun Storm by Asa Larsson: 3*
98 - All Fours by Miranda July: 4.5*
99 - The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas: 3*
100 - Lost Girls by Angela Marsons: 3*
101 - Anomaly by Hervé le Tellier: 4*
102 - The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: 3.5*
103 - Bear by Julia Phillips: 4*
104 - Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister: 4*
105 - The Minders by John Marrs: 3*
106 - The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld: 5*

AUGUST
107 - Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris: 4.5*
108 - Castle by J Robert Lennon: 4*
109 - If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay: 3.5*
110 - Cherry Blossoms by Kim Hooper: 5*
111 - The Winner by Teddy Wayne: 4*
112 - The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean: 3*
113 - Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie: 3*
114 - Play Dead by Angela Marsons: 3*
115 - The View on the Way Down by Rachel Wait: 4.5*
116 - Orbital by Samantha Harvey: 3*
117 - The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden: 5*
118 - The Husbands by Holly Gramazio: 3.5*
119 - Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel: 3*
120- The Warehouse by Rob Hart: 4.5*
121 - Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry: 3.5*
122 - Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood: 4*
123 - Life Without Children by Roddy Doyle: 3.5*
124 - The Searcher by Tana French: 3*
125 - My Friends by Hisham Matar: 4*

SEPTEMBER
126 - The Missing Word by Concita de Gregoria: 3*
127 - Wild Houses by Colin Barrett: 3.5*
128 - Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly: 4*
129 - A Long Way From Verona by Jane Gardam: 2*
130 - All Yours by Claudia Piñeiro: 4*
131 - The Laughter by Sonora Jha: 4*
132 - Japan in honderd kleine stukjes (Dutch) by Pauline Cornelisse: 4*
133 - American War by Omar el Akkad: 3.5*
134 - What Lies Between Us by John Marrs: 4*
135 - Water by John Boyne: 4.5*
136 - Penance by Eliza Clarke: 2*
137 - The Most by Jessica Anthony: 4.5*
138 - True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey: DNF
139 - The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon: 4.5*
140 - Free by Lea Ypi: 3*
141 - Brief Lives by Anita Brookner: 3.5*
142 - Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz: 2.5*
143 - Assumption by Percival Everett: 4.5*

OCTOBER - DECEMBER

OCTOBER
144 - The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft: 2*
145 - American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis: 3*
146 - Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte: 3*
147 - Tell me Everything by Elizabeth Strout: 4*
148 - Earth by John Boyne: 4.5*
149 - Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville: 3*
150 - Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple: 3*
151 - Keep it in the Family by John Marrs: 3*
152 - Prima Facie by Suzie Miller: 5*
153 - Victory City by Salman Rushdie: DNF
154 - I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman: 4*
155 - For Reasons Unknown by Michael Wood: 4*
156 - City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong: 3*
157 - Beautyland by Marie-Hélène Bertino: 2.5-*
158 - Annie Bot by Sierra Greer: 4*
159 - Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn: DNF
160 - The Book Censor’s Library by Bothanya Al-Essa: 3*

NOVEMBER
161 - The Echoes by Evie Wyld: 4*
162 - Self by Yann Martel: 3*
163 - The Marriage Act by John Marrs: 3.5*
164 - The Gate by Natsume Soseki: 3*
165 - The Followers by Rebecca Wait: 4*
166 - Dimes Square and other Plays by Matthew Gasda: 2.5*
167 - August Blue by Deborah Levy: 4*
168 - The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara: 3.5*
169 - De mens is een plofkip (Dutch) by Teun van de Keuken: 3*
170 - Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon: 3.5*
171 - Yr Dead by Sam Sax: 3.5*
172 - A Stranger Like You by Elizabeth Brundage: 4*
173 - Colored Television by Danzy Senna: 3*
174 - Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler: 3*

DECEMBER
175 - Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin: 4*
176 - All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker: 4.5*
177 - Margo’s got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe: 3.5*
178 - The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld: 4*
179 - The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck: 4.5*
180 - Good Material by Dolly Alderton: 4*
181 - A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Piñeiro: 3.5*
182 - The Magus by John Fowles: 3*
183 - Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors: 4*
184 - The Moustache by Emmanuel Carrère: 3.5*
185 - The Stranger in her House by John Marrs: 3.5*
186 - Nobody Somebody Anybody by Kelly McClorey: 4*
187 - The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir: 4.5*
188 - If Only by Vigdis Hjorth: 3*
189 - Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp:

Welcome back for another year of Club Read, Barbara. I hope you have a great reading year, as well as a good year all around. Happy New Year!

Happy new year Barbara!

>6 labfs39: >7 dchaikin: Happy New Year both of you! Here's to another year of good books!

1 - Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park

I tried and I made it to the end but to be honest I am not sure what I‘ve been reading. Some parts I did enjoy (the “The Sins” chapters and the view on recent Korean history) but most of it I really didn‘t get. All those characters, all those storylines, the various timeframes…I do like the idea of the KPG though. Do read the book to know what I am talking about and to join most others who loved it!

3*

2 - The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada

A young couple moves to the Japanese countryside. He’s always working, she tries to readjust to the remoteness and feels isolated despite the fact that they live next door to her in-laws. She starts exploring het surroundings on her own and meets the weirdest creatures in a hallucinatory heat. Holes and cicadas fill this super atmospheric and strange little book.

3*

3 - Held by Anne Michaels

The first half of this book is amazing. Each sentence a gem in itself about love, war, happiness and grief. Loosely connected short stories give a glimpse of the lives of the characters who grew on me so much in so few pages.
However, the second half introduces new characters and to me wasn’t as good as the first. Still a worthy successor to Fugitive Pieces though, highly recommended!

4*

>11 Simone2: I recently put Fugitive Pieces on my tbr. It sounds a bit of a heartbreaker though.

>11 Simone2: Is Held a sequel to Fugitive Pieces? I read that one many years ago—a street bookseller I was friendly with gave me a copy, because it was her favorite book. I remember finding it very affecting, but something about the structure of it rubbed me the wrong way (and for the life of me I can't remember what that was).

>12 kjuliff: I read it a long time ago and I loved it but it is a bit of a heartbreaker indeed!

>13 lisapeet: It is not a sequel but her writing style is similar. These are stories however, while Fugitive Pieces was a novel.

4 - The One by John Marrs

Today was my last day off work and did I make the most of it! I finished this one in one go and literally sighted and murmured ‘Wow’ when I was finished. Like The Passengers this is no thriller yet there is murder and deceit and so much suspense and twists. All caused by a website that is able to match you with the one person on the world that is made for you and the promise of eternal love!

5*

Glad you had a nice break. The One sounds fun.

>15 Simone2: The One sounds interesting. I’ve been off SF and fantasy for a while but I think I have to add this to my list!

You're flying already! Look forward to following along in 2024.

>16 dchaikin: >17 kjuliff: It’s good! Not really SF/fantasy though. I can’t really describe it but it reads like a thriller.

>18 AlisonY: you’re very welcome 💜

5 - Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyama

Apparently there’s a max to how much Japanese weirdness I can handle. Reading this one just after Oyamada’s The Hole turned out to be just a bit too much. It is a short book with three chapters in which a man meets his friend in different circumstances and accompanied by different characters. Very atmospheric though nothing much happens. Weird again and I don’t know what to make of it.

3*

>15 Simone2: I took a hit on this one.

>19 Simone2: I’m putting this on my tbr. It looks really interesting. Thanks for letting me know about this novel, which I could have easily missed.

6 - Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

The stories in this book seem to be set between time and place. Olga Tokarczuk travels and writes about the people she meets, whom she talks to or only observes. But she also dives back in time and presents us the early days of anatomical studies. It may sound weird but I feel like I travelled with Tokarczuk and finishing the book feels like the arrival afterwards long flight.
It’s an intense experience even though I didn’t enjoy all stories.

3.5*

>24 Simone2: I'm interested after reading Drive You Plow. Glad you enjoyed, well the better stories anyway.

>24 Simone2: I’m impressed that you completed Flights. I read a couple of stories but was unable to get engaged, though I really enjoyed Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. I’m still waiting for The One to come off hold.

I have Flights and was thinking of getting to it soon since I loved Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead so much. But you sound kind of lukewarm about it, and short stories are not my genre of choice, so...what to do? So many good books, so little time,

>25 dchaikin: >26 kjuliff: >27 arubabookwoman: I was very much impressed by Flights but as a story I didn’t love it as much as Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead.

7 - The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

What a lovely book. My heart aches for all characters: the narrator who takes care of a little girl while living temporarily with her Korean grandparents in Tokyo, preparing them for a return to Korea after 50 years. So much is told is so few words. And what’s left unsaid, says even more.

4.5*

>29 Simone2: This sounds right up my alley. I've had her Winter in Sochko on my wishlist, now this has joined it. Time to actually acquire one.

>29 Simone2:, >30 labfs39: Thanks for mention Winter in Sochko. I thought the author sounded familiar and I definitely have that on my wishlist. I'll try to get to one of her books this year.

>29 Simone2: enticing few words there.

>30 labfs39: >31 japaul22: >32 dchaikin: I read Winter in Sokcho too and liked this one even more. The author is French/Korean yet she has this way of writing like she is Japanese. The minimalism, I love it!

8 - Lovesick Blossoms by Julia Watts

Set in the repressive 50s, when women had little rights, homosexuality was mainly a sin and segregation was the way of life in Kentucky, two women fall in love. Their illicit romance is the subject of the book and although I enjoyed reading it, the book felt a bit YA to me and I think the author made the story a bit too convenient at times.

I mean Francis is a mother of three small children (which was necessary for the story) but her kids were never there. That baby napped all day while she was with Samuel. Her other kids were out playing by themselves for hours and hours. Come on! And that AJ, wtf? Coming to the house just to assault Samuel and be thrown out my Mamma Liz with her hun? I need more nuance and depth in my characters!

3*

>34 Simone2: oye

>34 Simone2: I don't know about the rest of it, but I grew up in the Midwest in the 70s and 80s and there was a pack of neighborhood kids that during the summer break were out playing for hours and hours without much adult supervision (usually at our house because having a working single-parent there was no adult around to supervise).

>36 ELiz_M: I’d understand if that were the case but here there are no friends, a 4 year-old plays all day long outside by herself, every day. How convenient for the mother and her lover!

9 - We moeten praten (Dutch) by Jan van Mersbergen

A short Dutch novel (“We need to talk”) by an author I know personally and whose books I always enjoy. This is one about a 10 year old boy who never talked until he starts and can’t stop. His story contains an unusual family history, to say the least. Fun detail is a prominent role for my Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album Californication!

3.5*

I love The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The book sounds fun.

>39 dchaikin: I didn’t know! Me too!

10 - Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

All members of the Hildebrandt family seem to have an existential crisis at exactly the same moment. God, a lack of God, sex, a lack of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll: it’s all there.
Franzen writes about a real unrealistic dysfunctional family but it was so fun to spend some time with them - despite their crises.

4*

11 - Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson

This was a totally feel-good read about two young people deeply in love in the 1970s, but torn apart from one another. Decades later they reconnect by sending each other songs and lyrics on Twitter. Nothing deep, just all the feelings and nostalgia! Loved it!

4*

12 - Sleep No More by PD James

Six short and to the point murder stories. Some about who did it, often why or how the murderer did it. Packed in those typical English murder setting, this is a fun and entertaining collection.

3.5*

>43 Simone2: They don’t seem to write like this anymore- such a pity. I remember her books and those of Ruth Rendell which I loved. Thinking of trying Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect.

>44 kjuliff: That is true, you don’t often find books like this one these days. Glad for the backlist of authors like Rendell and James!

13 - Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

So much sorrow and yes a little bliss too. Martha is so hard on herself and everyone around her. She is mentally ill but Patrick is with her, no matter what or how badly she treats him. Her sister Ingrid is there too, always extremely funny, always supportive, even with “three under fucking five”. Her father is loving, her aunt welcoming, her mother is just like her. What a bunch of characters. I loved Martha and I was extremely annoyed by her. I loved Patrick and Ingrid. I won’t forget about them any time soon. I think Meg Mason did a fantastic job writing about living with a mental illness - or with someone close who does.

4.5*

14 - North Woods by Daniel Mason

One if the reasons I love reading is the unexpected stories you sometimes discover. This is an example of such a unique and original read. A house in the New England woods is the main character. We see it change in time. We see inhabitants come and go. There are puma’s and beetles, apples and magic. A delight to read and surely unlike any other book!

3.5*

>47 Simone2: I’ve been curious about North Woods. Another enticing review

>48 dchaikin: It’s worth a try! It’s unlike any other book I read!

15 - The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

After reading mixed reviews about this book I was a bit worried about what I would think of it myself but there was no need to. Again McBride creates a community of the most wonderful characters. This one is set in a Jewish-Black neighborhood in Pennsylvania where immigrants try to make the most of it. It’s a hard life but not without love, friendship and loyalty. An excellent read.

3.5*

Yeah, mixed reviews. And lots of lists. your comments make me more interested.

Also enjoyed Crossroads. I like a lot (but not all) of what Franzen writes.

>51 dchaikin: I think it is a book you’ll like.

>52 AlisonY: Me too, although I didn’t read Purity.

16 - My husband by Maud Ventura

A French woman, in her 40s, obsessed with her husband. She calls it being in love but it’s more about being in control . She keeps track of everything he says and does and interprets in her very own way. As a reader I was waiting for something to break this cycle of neurosis and control. What happened surprised me! A fun read!

3.5*

>53 Simone2: I think Purity was the one I hated which became a DNF.

17 - A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux

A frozen woman. A woman who is frozen in time and in her life. A life that consists of being a mother and a wife. No longer a woman, nor a professional. I loved Ernaux’ The Young Man but this story of her life until the moment she realizes she’s become a frozen woman, is rather boring in my opinion. Her childhood, teens, meeting her future husband, it’s all very recognizable but not that interesting.
And the nagging about motherhood annoys me because she’s enduring it without trying to improve her situation.

2.5*

>55 AlisonY: That might have been the reason why I didn’t even try!

>54 Simone2: Sounds like something I’d like. Thanks - I’m putting on my tbr.

>56 Simone2: i want to read Erneaux. But this maybe isn’t the best one.

>59 dchaikin: I loved The Young Man!

18 - Pet by Catherine Chidgey

The tension…. What a read. Justine and her classmates all adore their new teacher, Mrs Price. They all want to be her pet and Mrs Price is a manipulator and enjoying that a lot. Then the thefts start.
In between we are in current times, Justine is 42 and visiting her father in a nursing home.
I cannot say too much but will always wonder what exactly happened. I feel for Justine and I must read more by this author!

4.5*

>Intrigued by your review. My library has it, and I've placed it on hold.

>61 Simone2: I'm also intrigued by your review and my library also has it but I've resisted putting it on hold and have instead added it to my wishlist.

>60 Simone2: noting!

>61 Simone2: makes me think of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

>64 dchaikin: Yes! It is a bit of a Mrs Jean Brodie!

19 - The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

I have no idea why I ever bought this book but I am glad it’s off my shelves! It’s a romance between two young people, against Persia’s turbulent political background in the second half of the 20th century.
It’s okay, but the author explains everything, I’d rather had used my own brain and imagination but there was no need to.

2.5*

20 - The Details by Ia Genberg

We learn about the narrator’s life in Sweden by the details she shares of her relationship with four different people who have disappeared from her life. This could have been interesting and the raving reviews in the media so certainly think so but I didn’t unfortunately.

2.5*

21 - Biography of X by Catherine Lacey

I am ambivalent about this one. I love books about art, Siri Hustvedt being the master, yet in this book I didn’t feel it. I could not feel the art and its meaning. Also I kind of hated X and her attitude toward the narrator, who let her get away with anything. And the book is way too long Yet I loved the language, the format and the dystopian context. I’ll have to think about it a bit more.

3*

22 - Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri

This is a short story collection set in or around Rome. Returning themes are immigration, aging, racism, nostalgia and the empty nest and these themes are much more present than the city. Other than the heat it doesn’t feel like Rome brings it all together. Never mind however, each story is fantastic and I wanted none of them to end. My new favorite Lahiri!

4.5*

>69 Simone2: Great review. I’ve read all Lahiri’s Books except this one that I’ve had on hold at NYPL for 6 weeks, with 6 more to go. Can’t wait.

>70 kjuliff: I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

23 - The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst

I loved The Line of Beauty but I feel like ever since Alan Hollinghurst’s books have less plot and more sex, as if he needs a bit of a plot just to have something in between sex scenes. It gets boring to keep reading about men just staring at each other's crotch and waiting for the moment to go for it. After half the book and nothing much else happening I still don't know what happened to Sparsholt during the war but I don't even bother anymore.

DNF

>72 Simone2: I am in total agreement. Loved your “review”. I’ve been off Hollinghurst for some time. He has chosen to have limited appeal.

>71 Simone2: I’m still waiting for that hold!

>72 Simone2: Shame - I did enjoy that one. I see in my review that it was a favourite just behind Line of Beauty. I did feel that the character Sparsholt disappeared too much in the second half of the novel, and I probably would have enjoyed it even more if it had stayed in 1940s Oxford, but all in all I'm still a fan.

>75 AlisonY: I am glad you liked it. I liked another one of his books too, The Swimming Pool Library but I think I now have had enough!

>73 kjuliff: Glad I am not alone in this one!

24 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Liked not loved this one. It’s a bit too sweet to my taste, all of this loving family in the cherry orchard. In the midst of the pandemic but why use that setting when it hardly adds to the story? I liked Lara’s story of her past a lot though. I was charmed by Duke myself too, lol!

3.5*

>77 Simone2: all of this loving family in the cherry orchard
Ha! I would feel the same. I had an impression, now confirmed, that there is a litttle too much saccharine in that book.

>77 Simone2: I agree it wasn't Ann Patchett's best book, but I really liked it. I thought the pandemic setting was necessary to the book because there was no other reason for her adult children to have been home for a whole summer. And the story wouldn't have come out if they hadn't been slightly bored and had the opportunity and time to talk without outside distractions.

But I rated it 3.5 stars too . . . ;-)

>77 Simone2: hmm. Bummer. I still would like to read it.

>78 kjuliff: Exactly although my next review is of a book quite sweet too and I loved that one so it’s a question of time and mood too I think!

>79 japaul22: I did like it, I just think my expectations were too high after all the praise!

>80 dchaikin: I certainly would, I am the minority!

25 - These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

I loved this book, all of it. Cooper has been fleeing from his past and is raising 8 year old daughter Finch in the remote Appalachian woods. Once a year a friend brings supplies and there’s a hermit neighbour somewhere nearby but mostly they are by themselves. Until the moment the books starts.
What a loving and atmospheric read and that perfect ending… tears in my eyes. Loved it.

5*

>82 Simone2: I think I need to stop reading your thread, this is my third BB and we're only halfway through February!

>83 rhian_of_oz: Lol, glad to be of help 😉

26 - Strangers by Taichi Yamada

After watching the movie, I bought the book All of Us Strangers is based on.
And it’s so much better! The movie is good too but the original horror story is Japanese and that seems more fitting somehow for the plot. A man lost his parents at twelve but suddenly meets them again 35 years later in an old neighborhood in Tokyo. A short good read.

3.5*

27 - The Trio by Johanna Herman

This book felt like a De Beauvoir-about-Sartre novel of the 21st century. Set in Stockholm instead of Paris, still very European. Intellectual talks, misunderstandings, casual sex. It didn’t really work for me, I didn’t like the three main characters and their conversations. Other than that, nothing much happens unfortunately.

2.5*

Maybe it would have been better in Pairs? 🙂 I hadn’t heard of this, and I’m definitely not currently drawn to it.

28 - Julia by Sandra Newman

Julia is not a feminist retelling of Orwell’s book in my opinion. Not at all. A YA retelling maybe, at the most.
Julia felt very one dimensional to me, not like a real person nor a feminist one. The plot was flat too, I really can’t understand the praise for this book.

2.5*

>88 Simone2: Too bad, as the premise is interesting.

>89 labfs39: I am a minority here, most reviews are raving, so please don’t let me withhold you from reading it!

29 - Hard Girls by J Robert Lennon

He usually is so original yet this new J Robert Lennon is a more straightforward noir spy story. Two estranged sisters in search of their mother who left them as children. It is a fast paced story with strong characters yet I was expecting more.

3*

>91 Simone2: oh no! I was so looking forward to it.

>92 dianeham: Me too and it is good! He’s a great author and writes another fast paced book. It’s just that I expected something more unexpected from him, not a straightforward novel like this one.

30 - Snow Road Station by Elizabeth Hay

Lulu is an actress in her 60s. She’s been forgetting her lines and flees to the village of her past, Snow Road Station in Ontario. She becomes part of the community and starts wondering about her life and how to fill the rest of it. It is a very hopeful book showing how, despite age, you can still dream and look forward and make things happen.

4*

31 - The Postcard by Anne Berest

I thought reading this book would take me much longer but I couldn’t put it down. It’s deeply moving.

The narrator receives an anonymous postcard and in search of possible senders she gets caught up in her family’s past. The story moves between the present and the horrors of the holocaust and the years in between. I teared up several times and the ending will stick with me for a long time 💔

5*

>95 Simone2: I need to get a copy of this!

>96 labfs39: Please do! I can’t recommend it enough!

32 - Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Although I found the book too long and narrator Mia drove me crazy at times I really enjoyed this book. I went in looking for answers to what happened to Mia’s father after her little brother Eugene, who has autism and angelman syndrome and can’t talk, comes home alone, totally upset. Later on I realized the story is not about getting answers but about communication and perception and I really liked what Kim Angie so thoroughly did.

3.5*

>98 Simone2: I read Happiness Falls a while ago and remember liking it but can’t remember much about it. I reviewed it HERE and just read it to jog my memory, but still only remembered that it had lots of threads and ideas.

33 - O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

I am so suprised. All my peers loved this book and I was just bored by it. It took me a lot of willpower just to finish it. It’s me, I am sure. Normally I love a good gothic novel but here the setting did nothing for me, neither did all the animals or even Janet. And that ending, really?

2*

34 - When You Disappeared by John Marrs

This is John Marrs’s debut and instead of the speculative fiction I read (and loved!) by him, this is a thriller. It’s decent one about a man who walks out om his marriage and three kids and return 25 years later to apologize.
The book is about what happened to both of them in all those years and why he left in the first place. I kept on reading. Satisfying.

3.5*

35 - A History of Loneliness by John Boyne

That kind, honest Odran Yates, becoming a priest to be good and to do good. Years later his world is shattered by the massive revelations of the abuse of young boys by men serving god and the catholic church. He has to find his way in this new reality and my heart aches for him, his loneliness and his pure heart. John Boyne wrote another masterpiece.

4.5*

36 - The Caretaker by Ron Rash

It’s a romance, but a dark and twisty one. Jacob and Naomi are in love and married, much opposed by his parents who have had other plans for him, Then Jacob is being deployed to Korea, to fight in the war. He asks his best friend Blackburn to take care of Naomi and protect her from her nasty parents-in-law and the much biased community. I loved how Ron Rash creates his characters, all of them feel so real, as does the Appalachian surroundings. I will definitely read more by him.

4*

37 - In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

I tried, I really did. But I got lost and lost again in my own thoughts because my mind went wandering during those endless conversations about marine biology. I had no idea what they were talking about and if there was a plot behind it all.
It’s a pity, I had high hopes because of the reviews below but after 50% I allow myself to bail.

DNF

>104 Simone2: that’s an serious attempt. Full credit. 🙂

>15 Simone2: Thanks for the tip. I’m reading The One now!

>106 kjuliff: I hope you’ll enjoy it!

>105 dchaikin: It is but I wish I loved it as much as you did!

38 - Ordinary Human Failing by Megan Nolan

A little English girl dies and the neighborhood quickly assumes the Irish immigrant family’s daughter Lucy must have had a hand in it. An ambitious journalist wants to get to the bottom of it and talks to Lucy’s family. The story is not so much about the death, but about a deeply damaged family with mother Carmel at their tragic heart.
It’s a beautiful sad read.

4*

39 - In Defence of the Act by Effie Black

The evolutionary benefit of something as dark as suicide. That’s what this book is about and where Jess is convinced of.
In the book we get to know Jess and learn why she thinks this way. It’s a short book but it packs a punch. I am left shattered and in awe. My favorite of the #womenprize longlist so far I’ve only read three but I am sure this will remain a favorite.

5*

>109 Simone2: I was impressed by Nolan's earlier novel, Acts of Desperation. I'll have to read this one, it sounds great.

>111 RidgewayGirl: Please do, it is even better I think.

40 - Vengeance is Mine by Marie NDiaye

Basically everyone and everything is falling apart in this slim novel. I couldn’t really make sense of it. Maitre Susane represents a man who she thinks she knows from her childhood. The man’s wife killed their three children. Maitre Susanes mother doesn’t remember the man her daughter keeps talking about. And then there’s an ex, a cleaning lady and some more people who I don’t know what to think of.

2.5*

>113 Simone2: Thank god I’m not alone on this one. I was very disappointed with this book and was beginning to think I may have been missing something.

>114 kjuliff: Glad too we’re in this together! Although I haven’t read many reviews of it, so no raving ones either!

41 - Hangman by Maya Binyam

What have I just read and why? I was willing too dive into the estranging world of Hangman, where an African man after two decennia of exile returns to his homeland. It didn’t make much sense to me though, the stories told by the people he met upon his return.

My least favorite of the #womenprize longlist so far.

2*

>115 Simone2: The New Yorker magazine raved about it, naming it as one of the top novels of 2023. I reread their review after I finished Vengeance is Mine and it made no sense to me - just like the book. See New Yorker review

>116 Simone2: huh. Interesting

>116 Simone2: I recently read Maya Binyam's profile of Percival Everett in The New Yorker, which I liked. I'm sorry to hear her fiction isn't up to the mark.

>119 rv1988: The New Yorker is promoting or at minimum over-encouraging, some women writers lately who appear to be populist rather than serious novelists. Sorry for the clumsy sentence but I’m feeling poorly this morning.

>117 kjuliff: Thanks for sharing that article! I hope you are feeling better.

>119 rv1988: That’s such a coincidence. I happen to love Percival Everett!

42 - Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

Palestinian actress Sonia has been living in London for years but returns to Palestine to escape from some personal issues and to stay with her sister who lives in Haifa. She joins a local production of Hamlet and participates in daily life with the exhausting day-to-day struggles for Palestines in Israel.
The ending is one that will stick with me

A dense, beautiful and timely read.

3.5*

>122 Simone2: Thanks. I’ve seen mention of this and now have put it on my list

43 - The List by Yomi Adegoke

On Twitter appears a list of men accused of abusing women. Michael is on it. He and Ola are about to get married but she wants proof of his innocence first. Reading about both sides of possible abuse and the rollercoaster of #metoo on the internet has been executed very good. I was surprised though by the reaction of some of the characters. The total lack of communication between Ola and Michael for example, why didn’t they stay in contact? And why had most people such a bold opinion and no doubts about it? That felt a bit unreal to me. However, an interesting read that’ll keep me thinking for a while.

3*

>124 Simone2: sounds interesting if the author pulled it off well.

44 - Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

The narrator doesn’t recognize herself in the woman’s she used to be before she became a fulltime mother. It drives her mad but she’s also madly in love with her little son Sailor. Her husband is worthless, doing nothing to share the responsibilities for their baby, he is just working and living his life. And loving her. But is it enough?

A very recognizable read about the struggles and the rewards of motherhood.

4*

45 - See You in Paradise by J Robert Lennon

This is an okay short story collection. Some speculative stories, some horror, some surprising. My favorite one is “Total humiliation in 1987” but overall the stories won’t make a lasting impression.

3*

46 - What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma

This is my first book from the International Booker longlist. It is a Dutch one so an easy one for me to purchase and read. It’s a book about a brother and sister, identical twins. He commits suicide in his thirties. This is no spoiler, the book is about how, despite their closeness, she can’t protect him from his depression, he can’t protect her from missing him. It is a sad book, written lightly, which adds to the impact.

3.5*

>128 Simone2: Sounds interesting. I’m a bit intrigued by the sad book written lightly

>129 kjuliff: I hope you know what I mean!

47 - What Have We Done by Alex Finlay

What Have We Done brings the past alive for three people who as kids lived together for a while in a foster house. They’ve shared a secret ever since but now someone seems to knows about it and brings them back together.

Another fast-paced thriller by Finlay, in fact so fast that I got confused at times and found it difficult to follow along. I am glad I finished it though, the ending is great, but didn’t love it as much his other two books.

3.5*

>131 Simone2: I haven’t read anything by Findlay. As What Have We Done is not his best, what would you recommend as a first book of his to read?

>132 kjuliff: I’d start with Every Last Fear which I can highly recommend as a thriller. I hope you’ll like it if you decide to read it!

48 - Bijna niets gebeurt toevallig (Dutch) by Tamar Bot & Fanny van de Reijt

I’ve listened to this book while driving or when I couldn’t sleep and enjoyed the short stories of two women who work as editors for daily talkshows. There’s a lot to do at the moment about the atmosphere behind the scenes of those productions, think #metoo, sexism, long hours, unfair employment contracts etc. The authors write about their experiences with wit and humor. Without getting sarcastic they nail the subject.

3.5*

>128 Simone2: “written lightly, which adds to the impact.” - interesting. I have a library loan e copy What I’d Rather Not Think About. I don’t think i’ll have time to read it before it’s due, but I’m hoping to sample it a bit.

>134 Simone2: It is a slim book and a fast read. Who knows, you might be able to finish it!

49 - Brotherless Night by VV Ganeshananthan

What a beatiful book. I loved the narrator’s journey between the different points of view on the war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government and the people caught in between. She shows there is so much grey between black and white and I learned a lot. Besides that VV Ganeshananthan relates wonderful human characters, who she no doubt met and knew in real life. A great read.

4*

>137 Simone2: Yes I loved this book too. I read it earlier this year. It was really good the way she criticized all military sides and showed the plights of all the civilians caught up in the civil war. There was no hiding from it except to leave the country and this was well nigh impossible.

It was a compassionate and fair book. I too learned a lot. I’m glad you too enjoyed it. I had similar reactions to the book..

>138 kjuliff: you express yourself so much better that I can! Glad we’re loving the same books!

150 - The Maiden by Kate Foster

An interesting story, based on a true one, which for me always adds a bit to a book. Christian was too wild for the times she lived in and that caused her downfall.
I feel like the book could have used some editing ( the story took endless to pick up speed) and though I liked it, I wonder why it is on the #WomenPrize longlist.

3*

>139 Simone2: Thanks for the compliment but I don’t deserve it. But yes we have similar tastes in books.

One thing that I forgot to mention in my review of Brotherless Night was that it showed how such conflicts lead to secrecy, with people being scared to tell even members of their own immediate family, how they feel or what the are doing. I’m reminded of Stasiland about the secret police in pre-unification eastern Germany. Not that the Sri Lankan government sank to the extent of the FDR, but secrecy was an issue that Ganeshanathan describes so well, and an issue that’s often neglected in novels about civil wars.

I enjoy your thread Simone, and check it regularly especially when looking for a book to read.

>140 Simone2: I often wonder why books make it to women-only lists. The subject matter of Maiden looks interesting and probably could have done better. There have been plenty of good books for the committee to have chosen from.

I recently read Mantel Pieces by the excellent historical fiction writer, Hilary Mantel. It’s a collection of her personal experiences and essays, some of which are pretty scathing about some historical fiction writers,

Interesting comments about What I'd Rather Not Think About. I found out today that the electronic copy of it that I had requested is now available from the Free Library of Philadelphia, so I'll probably get to it in the next week or two, although I'll read The Details and possibly Kairos and The House on Via Gemito first.

>143 kidzdoc: I am looking forward to The House on Via Gemito too. I read Kairos earlier this year and it’s good but won’t be my favorite.

>141 kjuliff: I’ll check out Stasiland, thank you for the suggestion. there’s always so much more to the stories you read or hear about in the news.

51 - The Vacation by John Marrs

Although it is definitely not his best (it’s one of his earliest thrillers, re-edited and renamed a few years afters its publication) I still enjoyed John Marrs’s book about travelers from all over the world meeting each other in a rundown LA hostel. All carry secrets from their past and the book is full of plot lines and twists. I couldn’t stop reading!

3.5*

>137 Simone2: I keep hearing such good things about Brotherless Night. I'll look for it.

52 - Mrs S by K Patrick

An Australian “matron” works at a posh English boarding school for girls and becomes obsessed with Mrs S, the headmaster’s wife. The book is slowly building up towards a summer of queer love and seduction, the love between the narrator and Mrs S a forbidden one. And one that could not last. I was curious how the book would end and was glad with the way it did!

3*

>148 Simone2: I wonder why this Scottish writer made the matron character Australian? Sounds like an interesting book. I notice it’s not very popular on LT. For some reason you have me intrigued by this book.

>149 kjuliff: It gets very mixed reviews indeed but I did enjoy it. And why the matron is Australian, that’s a good question!

53 - Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie

Two Ghanaian cousins have shared years together growing up but experienced them completely different. Akorfa is the rich and smart one who leaves Ghana for an education in the US. Her story felt too long and lightweight to me.
Selasi stays in Ghana and owns a restaurant. Her story is different. Lots of tough topics come by but now the story felt hurried and lacked depth.

So no favorite of mine for the Women Prize.

2.5*

>150 Simone2: I think the writer wanted to make her unlikeable but didn’t want to make her Scottish so chose Australian.

>152 kjuliff: I’m not sure because she’s not unlikeable. Maybe so she could observe boarding school life as an outsider.

54 - A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams

This is a powerful read. Cilla leaves her homeland Grenada to make money in the UK. She leaves her son Raef behind and it takes 7 years before she can afford his ticket and for him to reunite with his family. Things don’t go well however and Cilla blames herself. Told by mother and son alternately the book packs a punch.

4*

55 - Christ on a Bike by Orla Owen

Cetus inherited a significant fortune from a total stranger but she is legally unable to share it with anyone else. This is a reality with which she has to deal while enjoying her inheritance. It’s a compelling setup and the book raises so many questions about greed and wealth and happiness. Quite an original plot!

4^

56 - The Wild Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes

I can't get invested in this book and am putting it aside for now. The language, the fact that nothing much happens in the first 100 pages.. I call it quits for now.

>155 Simone2: The title is eye catching.

>156 Simone2: Good for you for setting aside the book. I still have a hard time doing this, but I intend to practice!

Definitely putting Brotherless Night on my to-read list, and it's a subject I'm not sure I've read anything about before.

>157 labfs39: It is quite an original read, fitting the title. I can recommend it!

I have just now bailed on another book… since a few years I am allowing this myself lol!

>158 mabith: You’ll learn a lot about the Sri Lankan war and especially that there are always two sides to every story and that feels very timely.

57 - The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright

Another bail.. I have a hard time concentrating on books (am very busy at work) and this one just didn’t make sense to me. Great writing, great scenes but they lacked connection I think and I had not really an idea what or whom I was reading about. Maybe I’ll give it another try when I am a bit more relaxed.

58 - River East River West by Aube Rey Lescure

It took some time getting into this book but then it gave me all the feels. I rooted for Lu Fang throughout the book, the Chinese man who falls in love with an American woman living in China. Her daughter Alva, who’s coming to age is another storyline, I found extremely annoying: how many wrong choices can a 15-year old make? Set in China from the 80s until 2009 makes for an interesting setting. I knew so little about China after Mao.

4*

59 - The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean

A super addictive read about a Vietnamese refugee held hostage by a man in the UK. They are even married but he controls every move she makes and she wants out. So scary and pageturning! It gave me The Collector vibes. The ending felt a bit hurried but I spent some pretty intense hours with this book. Recommended!

4*

60 - Luister (Dutch) by Sacha Bronwasser

“Listen” is a Dutch book that has won many literary prizes. It’s about a Dutch girl who becomes an au-pair in Paris in the early ‘90s. We also know it’s a story about 2015, the year Paris was shook up by the Charlie Hebdo attack at the beginning of the year and suicide bombers in November. We know this but not what’s the connection between them. An engaging read, I hope it will be translated!

3.5*

>163 Simone2: Looks interesting and scary. Thanks, I need something page-turning.

61 - And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

When I started this book I thought it would be a personal favorite, but it isn’t. I have very mixed feelings about it. I love how Alicia Elliott makes me feel (contrary to others I did like Steve and I think he really loved Alice and she just didn’t talk! He couldn’t know half of the things that she was thinking of and if they made sense. Does that make me naive or even racist? I certainly don’t hope so but the author is messing with my mind.) But I didn’t enjoy the second part, the magical realism took over and I lost track and wanted it to be over.

3*

62 - The Future by Catherine Leroux

I don’t think I’ve ever bailed on so many books as this month. This is another one that started out great (a woman looking for her two granddaughters who went missing after their mother was murdered). Unfortunately it turned into a mix of dystopia, fantasy, and magical realism.

It was an audioread and maybe my English isn’t good enough but I completely lost track of the storyline and frankly, I didn’t bother, I just wanted it to be over.

DNF

>167 Simone2: Looks like you’re glad to put The Future. Into the past 😊

>168 kjuliff: Lol 🤣

63 - What’s Left of me Is Yours by Stephanie Scott

An interesting story about a “wakaresaseya”, a person hired by a spouse to seduce their partner to gain grounds for a divorce. The setting in Japan added much to the book. I think the book could have done with some editing and a hundred pages less but it is still an engaging read.

3*

64 - Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

A magical tale of a suburban housewife’s affair with a frogman, Larry.

Is he real or just her imagination, her escape from a bleak reality in which she is mourning the death of her child and has become estranged from her husband?

I guess this is exactly what Rachel Ingall wants us to wonder about and maybe
It doesn’t really matter: she starts questioning her life and the world.

What an impressive novella. One that will stick with me. That ending…

4*

65 - Restless Dolly Maunders by Kate Grenville

Dolly’s was the transition generation. Dolly Maunders is born at the end of the 19th century, just when things were starting to change for women and their possibilities in life. Dolly wants to grasp them all, there’s always something better, somewhere. Her restlessness is understandable but has its bad sides. She’s never quite happy with what she has and it makes her a rather cold, dominating mother.

This is an interesting portrait of a real woman but the story in itself is a bit repetitive and except for Dolly all other characters have not really been worked out which seems a missed opportunity.

3*

66 - Bitter Herbs by Marga Minco

On a podcast they were talking about this book, a Dutch classic back in the days. I read it in high school because it is slim. I reread it now and it blew me away. Published in 1957 it is ste story of a girl who loses her complete family during WWII. She misses them but she lives her life during the war, surviving and expecting them to come back, because why not? The innocence…. With our knowledge now and the times we’re living in this book broke my heart in just 90 pages.

5*

>173 Simone2: I rushed off to put this on my wishlist, and it was already there thanks to JustJoey (now Trifolia). Shows how long it has languished there. Thank you for reminding me that I want to read this.

ETA: There isn't a copy in the state of Maine that's available to borrow, and I couldn't find a copy to buy on bookfinder.com. This may be harder than I thought...

>174 labfs39: Ow I am sorry to hear that. I can imagine though, it is an oldie and probably not really in swing anymore. It is so good though, I hope you will manage to find a copy!

67 - The Good Samaritan by John Marrs

Another delicious twisty thriller by John Marrs. Although the main characters sometimes act a bit too convenient for the sake of the book, I really couldn’t put it down.

Laura volunteers at a suicide helpline where she listens to callers and encourages them to end their lives.

3.5*

>176 Simone2: Sounds like a typical John Marrs book. He has such good ideas but he does tend, as you point out, make the main characters sometimes act a bit too convenient for the sake of the book.

>177 kjuliff: Thank you. I’m glad you agree. Yet I don’t mind too much, I keep turning those pages at an ever increasing pace 😀

68 - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab

France, 1714. When Adeline LaRue has to marry someone she doesn’t want to, she begs for a life of freedom. Her wish comes true, but at a price. Addie will live forever, and is doomed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
She travels across continents and through centuries and learn to live an invisible life. Until someone remembers her. That changes everything.

It’s a sweet read. A bit too much so to my taste.

3*

69 - Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

Right up my alley, a book in the form of a true crime podcast, a cold case set in the woods and marshes of England. Throw in some magical realism and a great twist and you have a great read. At least I think so.

3.5*

>174 labfs39: "I couldn't find a copy to buy on bookfinder.com. This may be harder than I thought..."

fyi, there are several copies for sale online at biblio.com.

70 - The Infatuations by Javier Marías

This is a book with very little plot and lots of stream of consciousness. A woman is intrigued by a couple she doesn’t know but meets every day in a breakfast place in Madrid. One day the husband is killed and she can’t stop herself from talking to the woman.
Not much more happens yet it is an engaging read with some interesting thoughts.

3*

>182 Simone2: I loved this book. I love the way Javier Marias uses detail to build up atmosphere.. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I think Marias is a writer you have to get used to though, as he tends to use very long sentences and he takes his time in building up scenes.

— Edited to fix punctuation

71 - The Wall by Marlen Haushofer

A woman in the Austrian Alps is suddenly surrounded by an invisible wall. Behind the wall the world seems to have come to an end. She lives on in her own little world, surviving with her animals. Despite the apocalyptic setting this book felt somehow soothing. I loved how the woman lives with nature and her animals.

4*

>181 rocketjk: Thank you. My local librarian was able to interlibrary loan a copy from Illinois. I pick it up and immediately read it. Written as an autobiographical novel and as chronologically arranged short stories, it was not exactly a memoir, but was well-written and moving. It was interesting that the author chose to make her narrator younger than she herself had been.

>185 labfs39: Great. Glad you found a library copy and also that you found the book so rewarding.

>185 labfs39: I am glad it was a rewarding read after all the effort you put into getting a copy!

72 - 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee

There are so many books I’d rather read than this one, longlisted for the Women’s Prize. It is a book in which some short stories are rather artificially sold as a novel. Too far fetched, maybe entertaining but man, why this nomination? There are so many books much, much better than this one. It’s a fast easy read but I just don’t bother enough to finish it.

>187 Simone2: It was, thank you for the recommendation.

73 - Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth

Johanna is back in Norway after a long absence. She hasn’t been in touch with her family for years but now that’s she’s back the past catches up with her and she wants to talk to her mother. It becomes an obsession, she continuously imagines what goes in on her mother’s mind but can’t understand why her mother doesn’t want to reconnect.

Johanna is an unreliable narrator yet we only have her point of view. We don’t know what’s true and what isn’t, just how big the impact is of a mother on her daughter and vice versa.

A fabulous sad read that I’ll be thinking of for a while.

4.5*

>190 Simone2: I am so glad to see that one of my LT stared members has reviewed this book. I had it on hold for ages and eventually replaced it with another book that had less of a hold time. Now you have. Put it back on my radar. I’m not sure where I found Is Mother Dead , possibly after I’d read another book set in Norway. It’s back on my list and I’ll put it back into hold asap.

>191 kjuliff: Please do, it is quite unique I think and I find myself still thinking about it!

74 - Parkeren in Hilversum (Dutch) by Detlev van Heest

This is the 3rd installment in a Dutch autobiographical series about a cynical man who feels like a failure in life. He is intelligent yet he doesn’t manage to find a real job. He despises the system and ends up as a parking attendant. He sardonically enjoys giving fines and discussing with the drivers about all their excuses for not paying the parking costs in the first place. It sounds boring I guess, but I enjoyed it.

4*

75 - Dark Across the Bay by Ania Ahlborn

Poppy has booked a desolate getaway for her husband Ezra, daughter Lark, and son Leo on a small island in Maine to salvage their relationships. They are surrounded by their own demons, as well as some new ones. Within the odd rental house, nothing is what it appears to be.
It is gory, it’s a thriller, is it horror? It definitely is Anita Ahlborn. Not her best one but engaging nevertheless.

3.5*

76 - The Amusements by Aingeala Flannery

I so enjoyed this collection of interrelated stories, all connected to the Irish seaside town of Tramore.

The Amusements is an original book of the towns residents, both permanent and fleeting, and the ways in which their lives intersect over the course of the years. It is a book about roads taken and not taken – and a wonderful portrait of a small-town community.

3.5*

77 - Clear by Carys Davies

I can’t say too much about this book, I think it’s best to go in not knowing too much, but let me tell you that I kind of loved it.

It took some time to pick up pace (it’s a quiet novel but still I felt like waiting for something to happen during the first half) but the second half more than made up for that!

Wonderful characters, wonderful setting on a remote Scottish island and that ending…

4*

>196 Simone2: Every review here that I've come across has said it's great. I'm looking forward to this one.

>190 Simone2: Is Mother Dead just came off hold, so I’ll suspend reading my Narayan and start it at last.

>197 RidgewayGirl: Definitely a book for you Kay!

>198 kjuliff: I hope you’ll love it as much as I did, but I have high hopes!

78 - People Who Knew Me by Kim Hooper

Just after 9/11 Emily leaves NYC and starts over again in California where she raises her baby. Thirteen years later the past catches up when Emily is diagnosed with breast cancer. A very sad and utterly human read of not very perfect people - which I loved!

4.5*

>200 Simone2: I’ve put this in my tbr, Simone.

79 - First Blood by Angela Marsons

I read this fast. I was hooked pretty soon. And although who turned out to be the murderer was a little disappointing, I liked the style of the book and I want to get to know Kim Stone and her team a bit better. So on to the next… 20 installments if I am correct?!

3.5*

80 - Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat

This Edwidge Danticat, who I usually love, didn’t work for me. The story is told in a way that you hardly get to know the characters and, as opposed to her other books, it could have been set in a lot of countries, it wasn’t as Haitian as, for example, Everything Inside.

2.5*

Too bad Claire of the Sea Light was disappointing... Do you have a favourite Danticat novel?

>204 Dilara86: Yes I loved Everything Inside, followed by Brother I’m Dying.

81 - The Spinoza Problem by Irvin Yalom

Alfred Rosenberg, one of the Nazi elite during WWII, was fascinated by the philosopher Spinoza, even though Spinoza was a Jew and Rosenberg a thorough anti-semite. Yalom describes the philosophical ideas of Spinoza in the 17th century and reflects ons the effect they had on Rosenberg in the 20th century. Fiction, of course, but super fascinating. Yalom makes philosophy sexy like no other author can imo.

4*

>203 Simone2: That's a shame. I've read a few of Danticat's books: she's overall, very good. I would second your recommendation for Brother I'm Dying.

I also loved Brother, I'm Dying, along with The Farming of Bones.

I'm sorry that Claire of the Sea Light was so disappointing; I haven't gotten to it yet.

I forgot that I owned Brother I'm Dying. I've enjoyed Farming of Bones and Dew Breaker and should get to this one.

>207 rv1988: >208 kidzdoc: >209 labfs39:

Thanks for all Danticat recommendations. I will definitely read more by her, I think is just this one that didn't work for me.

82 - The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

Thrillers are my go to genre when I am in need of a palet cleanser of just in the mood for something quick and engaging. They are hardly ever satisfying however. This one got me hooked from the start. So many twists that I didn't expect. I probably wont' remember much in a week time but for now it did the job.

4*

83 - Silent Scream by Angela Marsons

Another detective Kim Stone book. Not sure yet about these series but I will try another one.
A lot is happening around a former orphanage, lots of dead bodies, old and new. I liked the plot, I think Kim and her team have to grow a bit more on me. So far they seem a bit too cliché. A light pick.

3*

84 - The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Three women gather one last time in the house of a fourth one, who died earlier. They are all in their 70s and have been friends for over 40 years. You’d say there is enough to reminiscence and talk about while cleaning the house. Yet I don’t believe there’s one decent dialogue in the book. They hardly speak at all, each too busy with herself to care for the others. This may be what Wood wanted but to me it felt a bit too shallow.

3*

85 - An Empty House by Marga Minco

A poignant read about life in the Netherlands shortly after WWII. The narrator is a young Jewish woman who lost her whole family. She wants to look forward and adapt to this new world and new reality. Her friend Yona, also Jewish, has a much harder time adapting. This book has no answers or judgments, just observations which makes it even better.

4*

>214 Simone2: Oh, interesting. I just read Bitter Herbs last month.

>211 Simone2: I read this, and several others by him. He's got that unfortunate tendency many thriller writers of a certain age and gender do, of writing stories about young women engaged in infatuations/disturbing relationships with middle aged men. I call them "Mid-Life Crisis Wish Fulfillment Thrillers". It does have a good amount of twists. There's a sequel involving the same two main characters again. It's equally entertaining and equally forgettable.

>215 labfs39: I know! I thought of you. This one is as good I think!

>216 rv1988: that is so funny. I know exactly what you mean and it’s annoying and entertaining 😃

86 - Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

“Lony feels worse because he doesn’t even care about being Native or Indian and would rather just have a normal life and not have to always feel so heavy, have to carry more than it feels like he should have to carry.”

And heavy it is, this prequel/sequel to There There. Tommy Orange dedicates his second book to ‘everyone surviving and not surviving this thing called and not called addiction’.
Ans indeed, it seems everyone is addicted to something in this book and it’s always so repetitive, reading about it.

I feel like Orange could have made much more of the potentially very interesting characters. I didn’t enjoy the book half as much as I did There There.

2*

>217 Simone2: I just noticed that there's one more out in this series this year - A Talent for Murder.

87 - The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring

What a great read. To me The Road to Dalton read like a soap opera, in a very good way. I felt a connection with most characters and loved to follow how they interacted. Well written too. I can’t wait for the sequel, I want to learn more about them, especially about Greg, Nate and Alice!

4.5*

>220 Simone2: Thank you for bringing this book to my attention. I'm always interested in books set in Maine.

>221 labfs39: Then you’ll love this one. The setting adds a lot to the book.

88 - Butter by Asako Yuzuki

It is a light pick for me. I loved the butter, the recipes, the Japanese atmosphere and most characters. However, so much is happening, so many sidelines and sometimes I lost track and noticed myself skimming. Leaving me with many unresolved questions.

3*

89 - Nonfiction by Julie Myerson

It’s a thin line between fiction and nonfiction and when life is hard and you are a writer you might need to write fiction just to deal with reality. Or maybe nonfiction would be the way to tackle real life. I am not sure, but I loved this book about motherhood, although it was a harsh one. I felt for the mother (the writer) who has a daughter destroying herself and a cold, judging mother. She herself isn’t perfect either - of course. This is her story and although I am not sure what was fiction or nonfiction for the narrator (or Julie Myersson herself for that matter): it doesn’t really matter. The message came through loud and clear.

4.5*

>224 Simone2: I recently bought a copy of this and you've made me more excited to read it.

90 - Evil Games by Angela Marsons

Just the next in the series about detective Kim Stone. Still not sure about it.

3*

91 - James by Percival Everett

I’m the odd man out I guess. I didn’t love this book as much as most people did. Maybe my expectations of a new Everett were too high.

I did admire the take on the original story and I liked Jim (of course, who wouldn’t?). However the story didn’t really captivate me. The adventure, the people who come and go fell a bit short in my opinion.
I’d rather spend time with Jim/James and Huckleberry.

3*

92 - Sandwich by Catherine Newman

“You could decide to be happy”. That’s what a friend says to the narrator of the book, a woman in the midst of menopause and with an empty nest after her children have left home.
In the book their are holidaying in Cape Cod for a week. All of them. They are such a happy family, she has it all, yet she can’t stop thinking, fearing, feeling angry, etc. I agree with her friend and wish she would decide to enjoy all she had.

3*

93 - Her Last Move by John Marrs

This book kept me hooked for most of the day. It’s a thriller, with pov’s from a serial killer and the police team who’s on the case: single mom and detective Becca and her partner Joe, a specialist in facial recognition. And this is John Marrs so this is no ordinary thriller but an highly psychological one with many unexpected twists. Loved it.

4.5*

94 - Thirst for Salt by Madeleine Lucas

“There is no end to grief, because there is no end to love.”

A quote so true. And a quote that really captures this book about a romance between a young woman and a man eighteen years her senior. It’s a beautiful, tender and sad lovestory (no spoiler) set against the wild Australian coast. I really loved it: both lovers, the way they live their lives and how they tried to share it. A wonderful book.

4.5*

>230 Simone2: You made this sound appealing and the preview sucked me right in. Thanks for the BB.

>229 Simone2: I don't know Marrs but it sounds as if I might like him. Is there a good first book to start with? Thanks.

>232 Jim53: He writes thrillers and speculative fiction. If you like thrillers, the one above is good. I like his speculative thrillers even more and if you want to try those, The One is a good one to start with, as is The Passengers.

95 - Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Cyrus is born in Iran but after his mother dies in a plane crash he and his father move to the US.
He beats alcoholism but life in sobriety still is challenging. Until he comes up with the idea to write a book about martyrdom. That changes everything.

The style reminded me a bit of Rushdie and I grew really fond of Cyrus.

3.5*

96 - The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes

Olwen leaves her family to move off the grid. However her 3 sisters locate her within months and come to stay with her. In many intellectual discussions they explore themes of regret, the impact of choices, and the paths not taken.

A great Irish setting and a heads-up about our changing climate make this an interesting read and a light pick for me personally.

3*

97 - Sun Storm by Asa Larsson

An okayish Scandinavian thriller. First of a series I won’t continue. I liked the setting (Winter, Snow, Sweden), the plot not so much.

3*

98 - All Fours by Miranda July

This is a marmite kind of book I think. And I loved it.
The narrator is a woman exploring life, motherhood and marriage. Initially implicit, later more explicit when menopause (again - it’s everywhere these days!) roars its head. What to do with the second half of her life? It’s about sex and love (I loved her relationship with both Harris and Davey), queerness and art, about birth (Sam) and rebirth (the narrator). A winner for me!

4.5*

I remember really liking July's short story collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You (particularly her writing style), and then forgot to keep up with her. All Fours is definitely going on my to-read list.

>238 mabith: I read that one too but can’t remember much. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it.

99 - The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas

The set up of this book is great. A couple is honeymooning on a Greek island. The tension between them is obvious. What happened? We learn that throughout the book by letters written by both the unlikable husband and wife. Yet there’s another storyline set on the island and it all becomes a bit messy and superficial.
In the end a bit disappointing.

3*

100 - Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

Another Kim Stone. These series are great on audio and easy to listen to in Dutch translation while driving a lot for work. I am starting to get feelings for Kim and her team. So I will read the next one.

3*

101 - Anomaly by Hervé le Tellier

Finished one more before my vacation. This one is very speculative and very good. Many storylines, many different styles, all centered around a flight from Paris to New York that arrives in March 2021 and again in June 2021. A bit of philosophy, really engaging.

4*

102 - The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

The God of the Woods was a good one to keep me company during an intercontinental flight. A summer camp, a girl missing, lots of twists. A light pick for me. The police work felt a bit obvious, the clues too. And I still don’t get the meaning of that title!

3.5*

103 - Bear by Julia Phillips

Again I fell under the spell of Julia Phillips’ writing. So unique in style and plot. Sam and Elena live on a small island in Washington. They work and take care of their dying mother. The days are pretty similar until a bear arrives upon the island. That changes all and my heart went out to Sam, the narrator of the story, and her elder sister. A lovely book about loss and hope and life in general.

4*

104 - Wrong Time Wrong Place by Gillian McAllister

A good holiday read. A mother watches her loving son murder a strange man. Why? When she wakes up the next morning it's the day before the murder. The next day she wakes up a day earlier again. Each day going back further in the past offers her the chance to find clues in the past she might use to change the future.
I liked the concept and the mystery and above all Jen as a mother. I could so relate to her!

4*

>245 Simone2: What an interesting construct

105 - The Minders by John Marrs

Both The One and The Passengers were five star reads for me so my expectations of Marrs’s third speculative novel were sky high. I am so sorry they weren’t met! This book, about four people carrying the state’s secrets in their bodies, is good and clever but too many things just didn’t feel right or were a bit off. I was left behind with some questions and a little disappointed.

3*

106 - The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

What a beautiful book. Naomi is a private investigator, specialized in finding missing children. In the forests of Oregon she is looking for a little girl that has been missing for three years and she is looking for herself and her past. Atmospheric, pageturning and at least as good as The Enchanted, which I loved too. I will definitely read the sequel.

5*

107 - Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

This book. I always feel ashamed about the Bosnian war. It was so close and we did so little.
Zora and her brave friends live together in Sarajevo during the siege of 1992. Not giving a f*ck about different religions. The solidarity and the black butterflies brought tears to my eyes. And to realize the same is happening now in Ukraine and again I stand by powerlessly. A book that leaves a punch in the gut.

4.5*

>249 Simone2: Heartbreaking. I read the publisher's description, and the story sounds quite beautiful too. I will look for this when I am feeling ready for this sort of emotional onslaught.

>250 labfs39: It is very good. And it shows have brave people can be, continuing their lives as good as possible under harsh circumstances.

108 - Castle by J Robert Lennon

Eric Loesch, a private man with a shadowy past, returns to his childhood home in rural NY where he purchases and renovates a derelict house with steely determination. The adjacent woods seem to beckon him and he discovers a gothic castle at the centre of his land that he appears not to own.
This intriguing and strange narrative evokes the question of how much is real or representative of Eric’s state of mind.

4*

109 - If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay

Another twisty, fast-paced mystery. Ryan was left for dead the night his girlfriend Ali went missing. Five years later, he gets a call: Ali's car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a cryptic note with five words written in Ali’s handwriting: If something happens to me…

3.5*

110 - Cherry Blossoms by Kim Hooper

It’s not often I read a book at the right time as much as this one.
Yes it’s about Japan, its culture and its language. Both are fascinating. But it is also about Jonathan who loses his girlfriend Sara and sees little hope for a future without her. He intends to travel to Japan and commit suicide afterwards in a popular Japanese way.

The book is funny and poignant, heartbreaking and consoling. Highly highly recommended. Kim Hooper really is a fantastic writer.

5*

>254 Simone2: It’s not often I read a book at the right time as much as this one.

I hope that doesn't mean that you are intending to travel to Japan and commit seppuku!

>255 labfs39: Haha, no! I am traveling across Japan now however and can relate to many of the things being said!

111 - The Winner by Teddy Wayne

This was fun again! A young man spends a summer in a gated community for the very rich. He gives tennis lessons and becomes involved with a mother as well as her daughter. He becomes entangled in a lot of lies.

The novel reminded me of Loner. It’s funny, suspenseful and fast-paced.

4*

>257 Simone2: I have a copy of this out from the library and I'm looking forward to it.

>258 RidgewayGirl: It’s a fun read, don’t expect too much!

112 - The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

This book started out good.
I kept comparing it to The Child Finder, which I recently read and has a similar plot.
In this one the missing girl returns but with her a lot of mystery and unanswered questions. Detective Chelsey Calhoun, who lost her sister at a young age, must find the answers: where had Ellie Black been held captive and by whom? Her search leads to a fast paced story yet the ending seemed so unrealistic. It can’t beat The Child Finder.

3*

113 - Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie

Best friends Zahra and Myriam grow up in Pakistan and move to the UK where they both have good careers and are still bff’s. The differences among them are being enlarged in England, where so many Pakistani have found refuge. The storyline about immigration and privileges is an interesting one, the one about the friendships somehow fell a bit short.

3*

114 - Play Dead by Angela Marsons

On audio I listened to another installment of the detective Kim Stone series. I am still not convinced to continue reading the series so I quit it for now. So many books, too little time.

3*

>261 Simone2: I loved Burnt Shadows and have Home Fire on my shelves. Sorry this one was not as good. Have you read other books by her?

>263 labfs39: I read and loved both of these! So I was expecting a similar experience reading Best of Friends. Maybe my expectations were too high because it is definitely a good book. Just not that good somehow!

115 - The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait

One of the best books I read about suicide and grief. With a bit of humor and lightness this is the sad story of a family torn apart by the death of the eldest son, Kit. How can a family keep on functioning afterwards, is that even possible? The things being said and left unsaid, everything changed forever…
Rebecca Wait explores it all in this wonderful, heartbreaking novel in a way only she can.

4.5*

116 - Orbital by Samantha Harvey

This book felt so real. I can imagine life in a spacecraft to be exactly like this. The repetitiveness, the small things that happen, the role everyone has, the earth below, always circling around it.
And yet that repetitiveness made it hard for me to concentrate and I know I started skimming more than once. A well-written slim book but no favorite of mine for the shortlist.

3*

>266 Simone2: I’m glad to read your review. I discarded this book. There were many waiting in the library and I realized after several attempts that I wasn’t going to finish so I returned it early. I don’t think it was up to Booker standard, though the prose and descriptions were good. It had no strong theme or plot, and though it evoked feelings it didn’t resound.

>267 kjuliff: You express yourself so much better than I can. Totally agree!

117 - The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Post-war Overijssel, the Netherlands. Reconstruction and recovery in full swing, memories of the Holocaust hidden as much as possible.

Isabel lives alone in her deceased mother's house, where everything moves along quietly until her brother Louis shows up on her doorstep with his new girlfriend Eva to spend the summer with her.

I think I’ve found my winner for the Booker Prize. I’ve read only 5 so far but it will be hard for the other 8 to beat this one. What a book.

5*

>269 Simone2: 5 stars! I'll have to get to this one soon.

>269 Simone2: >270 japaul22: What Jennifer said!

>270 japaul22: Are you referring to Vengeance is mine? I think you might have thought I was giving it 5 stars. I’m a bit confused as I disliked that book though the New Yorker review praised it.

Jennifer mistakenly put the number of the book (#117) instead of the number of the post (#269) in the link. She was referring to >269 Simone2:.

>273 labfs39: ok. Thanks. I was confused.sometimes with my vision problems I can miss a word. It’s so frustrating.

>272 kjuliff:, >273 labfs39: Sorry! Yes, Lisa explained it right - wrong number for the post.

>270 japaul22: >271 labfs39: >272 kjuliff: Yes, five stars for The Safekeep and I hope you’ll all read it!

118 - The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

This was much more fun than expected.
Each time Lauren’s husband enters the attic, there returns a new one. An seemingly endless supply of husbands is at hand for Lauren. She takes her time to ask herself what she wants from marriage, a man, and herself.
Holly Gramazio has written a very original story that made me laugh and think.

3.5*

>277 Simone2: Lol, that's a very funny premise.

>278 labfs39: Yea and it may sound cheesy or fluffy yet it’s different from what I expected

119 - Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel

For the Booker longlist I read this one. The idea is cool: a book about 8 teenage girls boxing for the Daughters of America Cup. Each girl with her own past, dreams and future. We jump between times and girls and the boxing matches. It could definitely be interesting but unfortunately only some parts are. There’s just too little of each girl or the matches to become really invested.

3*

120 - The Warehouse by Rob Hart

In a near future America, where resources are scarce (the Black Friday massacres destroyed shopping in personal) and climate change has been pitiless, the only company that is thriving is Cloud. Led by one men, goods are delivered by drones all over the world, sent from warehouses where people work, live and breathe.

‘What happens when Big Brother meets Big Business?’ it says in the blurb and that sums it up perfectly.
A highly inventive story, frighteningly plausible. Recommended!!

4.5*

121 - Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry

This is a very hard read about a mother who’s teenage son is pedophile. I am not sure why I purchased this book and the writing isn’t very good but the story is heartbreaking and feels very true. It reads like non fiction and that’s hard to read.

3.5*

>269 Simone2: I read the blurb for the book and now I really want to know the ending...
>277 Simone2: That's an interesting premise!
>282 Simone2: Sounds harrowing.

>283 Dilara86: Thanks for stepping by!

122 - Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

Another Booker winner for me. Nothing much happens in the narrator’s life, who more or less accidentally ends up living & finding solace in a religious community hidden in the Australian outback, where she grew up. So nothing much happens in the book either. A mouse plague getting out of control, that’s what mostly happens and it sounds horrible. Yet of course there are reflections on life before. On grief and death and choices made.

4*

>284 Simone2: I mainly lurk, but I visit this thread regularly :-)

>285 Simone2: Yours is the first review of this book that I've read, and you make it sound interesting despite "not much happening". Onto the wishlist it goes.

>277 Simone2: I just finished this book and enjoyed it so much.

>286 Dilara86: Thank you!

>287 labfs39: It’s good but not everyone will agree I presume because so little happens.

>288 RidgewayGirl: It was much better and with more depth than I expected!

123 - Life Without Children by Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle used to be a favorite author of mine, back in the days, when he wrote The Barrytown Trilogy and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
He’s written this short story collection in 2020 and connections to the pandemic are unavoidable.
The Charger, the longest one, is my favorite. It’s a story about the lockdown and that it could be so cozy at times and frustrating, lonely and frightening at others. It all came back to me while reading this.

3.5*

>290 Simone2: Thank you. I love Roddy Doyle’s books and will get this.

>291 kjuliff: It’s a typical Doyle again, you’ll enjoy it.

124 - The Searcher by Tana French

A slow burner this one. I enjoyed the atmosphere more than the plot, which wasn’t that exciting or surprising. The community though, of this small Irish town, came alive throughout the book. Great characters.

3*

125 - My Friends by Hisham Matar

This book is gentle. And so moving. It’s the story of Khaled, a Libyan boy who went to the UK to study and then can’t return to his motherland. He has his friends, sure, but he keeps feeling displaced. It’s fragile, a life in exile.

4*

126 - The Missing Word by Concita de Gregorio

The lyrically written true story of a woman whose husband leaves with their two daughters, six years old twins. He commits suicide a few days later, the girls have never been found.
It’s the worst, and I feel for the mother. Yet the book was hard to concentrate on, so many different styles and narrators.

3*

127 - Wild Houses by Colin Barrett

Not sure how or why this book ended up on the Booker longlist but I did enjoy it. It’s a fast paced story about a drugsdeal gone wrong and the consequences for a bunch of interesting characters. I especially loved Dev and Nicky and I loved the ending, especially what it meant to Nicky!

3.5*

128 - Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

Quite chaotic, this book. And this family. But so funny and loving. I don’t have much to add to what others have already said but I wouldn’t have mind spending more time with Greta & Valdin or have people like them in my inner circle. A feel-good book!

4*

129 - A Long Way from Verona by Jane Gardena

I didn’t think you could go wrong with Europa Editions books, but this one proved me wrong. It’s about a child, semi-intellectual and weird, yet not interesting at all. Set in the UK during WWII but that didn’t do much for the story either. In fact nothing much happens. I am sorry I can’t be more encouraging.

2*

>298 Simone2: I'm with you in that Europa Editions are usually safe bets for me. I have run into one or two duds, however. I'll skip this one.

130 - All Yours by Claudia Piñeiro

This is a clever and fun crime novel. Inés discovers her husband has an affair and wants to save her marriage at any cost. And the costs are high! Many twists and a bit of irony make this a great fast paced read by Claudia Piñeiro, who has become a favorite author.
I just don’t know what to think of the other storyline, the one about her daughter.

4*

Have you read Elena Knows? It’s the only one of hers I can find in English on audio, but it doesn’t seem to be a page turner.

>301 kjuliff: Yes and I loved it! If you want to read her, I can highly recommend A Little Luck by her.

131 - The Laughter by Sonora Jha

Oliver Harding is despicable, your typical self assured middle aged white man, thinking of himself as a liberal. He’s a professor at a college in Seattle and becomes infactuated (or is it obsessed?!) with Ruhaba Khan, his younger Pakistani colleague and o so sexy and mysterious. Her nephew Adil comes to stay with her and he has to convince himself that the boy might not be a terrorist, after all he’s a liberal, right? He befriends the boy to get acquainted with his aunt. How inconvenient that political unrests on campus are growing and he finds himself on opposite sites with Ruhaba.

In fact Harding is so annoying that he’s funny and Sonora Jha has found a unique way to write about campus life, assumptions and prejudices, race and identity. And of course there are red herrings everywhere for a drama unfolding.

4*

132 - Japan in honderd kleine stukjes (Dutch) by Paulien Cornelisse

I am currently a bit obsessed with Japan and everything Japanese. So this book, with 100 short funny anecdotes about Japanese culture, language, history and habits, was a treat to read!

4*

133 - American War by Omar el Akkad

I was very intrigued by this book because some of my peers are such fans.
However I wasn’t that impressed for the first three quarters of the book. Despite its potential with this postapocalyptic setting, it read like a novel about war and resistance I’ve read many times before. But then I came to that last quarter. I hadn’t seen that coming. Very powerful. And scary.
I’ll add half a star!

3.5*

>305 Simone2: I have a copy of that and am hoping to read it soon. I will take your review to heart and stick with it.

134 - What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

I read this book in one day. John Marrs again knows how to keep you wanting to read on. This is the story of a mother and a daughter living together, one the prisoner of the other (no spoiler), both are seemingly very unreliable narrators. I saw many twists coming, yet it didn’t keep me from racing through to find out what happened.

4*

135 - Water by John Boyne

What a wonderful book. How I love John Boyne. And how I loved Vanessa and how I felt for her. The trauma, the guild, the grief, the anger. The small Irish island community. All adds to a fabulous and sad experience, one I am glad to be a part of for an ample 160 pages. I can’t wait for the other elements and have already purchaed a copy of Earth!

4.5*

136 - Penance by Eliza Clark

I read this book because I was impressed the author was under 30 when she wrote it. And won a prize for it. I am probably too old an audience for the book.
While the subject (murder of a teenage girl by her classmates) and the format (like a true crime investigation) appealed to me this is mostly a very repetitive story of teenage girls bullying and being bullied. It felt far fetched, especially when the story lost itself in ghosts and mystical stuff.

2*

137 - The Most by Jessica Anthony

One day, when her husband and kids leave for church, Kathleen refuses. Instead she descends into the apartment complex pool. It’s the beginning of a day that changes everything.

With under 140 pages this book tells a lot about marriage and choices made. I loved it.

4.5*

138 - True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

This was the second time I tried (because it won the Booker Prize long ago) and I got a bit further this time but it still is a story that doesn’t interest me in the least. So I call it quits! And onwards!

DNF

>309 Simone2: "Too old to be the audience for this book" works, but I thought it got away from the author.

>310 Simone2: I've just requested this from my library. It sounds interesting.

>311 Simone2: I really liked this one when I read it years ago, but I was interested in Ned Kelly's story.

>312 RidgewayGirl: That too maybe. Thinking back I dislike Penance more.

I just read that The Most has been longlisted for the NBA. Interesting!

139 - The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

From the first page I was drawn into the lives of midwife Martha, her (perfect) family and the not so perfect community of Hallowell in which she lives and works. There is murder and rape, gossip and fraud. While the winter freezes the river, Martha seeks justice for women who have traditionally been the underdog in the community. She’s such an admirable woman and I loved spending time with her.

4.5*

140 - Free by Lea Ypi

Albania has always been Europe's most closed country, until recently very little was known about this small country in the Balkan, surrounded by popular tourist destinations like Greece and Croatia. So I was interested in learning abouit, the subtitle of the book being 'Coming of age at the end of history'. Lea grows up in the 90s when the Soviet Union falls apart and the Berlin Wall has been destroyed. Albania keeps its population isolated with just one political party and a strong leader. Still Lea grows up happily, until the Velvet Revolution in Albania changes her country for ever with a nasty civil war in 1997 as a tragic highlight. An interesting book with many facts and perspectives.

3*

141 - Brief Lives by Anita Brookner

This is a hard book to read. Unlikeable characters, dealing with life and each other. Anita Brookner is such a good writer of characters, I felt like a fly on the wall, observing their lives closely, feeling their solitude and aging.

3.5*

142 - Lost & Found by Kathryn Schulz

In this memoir writes about the father she lost and the love she found. I was especially interested in the first part, but for me that turned out disappointing. It read almost like a scientific article and I couldn’t relate to it. I did enjoy the second part more.

2.5*

>311 Simone2: I think it’s probably a story for an Australian audience. Without the Ned Kelly nostalgia that we Aussies have, I can’t see it making much sense to non-Australians. The actual story I mean. As to Peter Carey, I find him to be over-rated.

>318 kjuliff: I think you may be right about that, I had never heard of Ned Kelly. I did like Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda long ago, that’s why I picked it up.

143 - Assumption by Percival Everett

The title of this book couldn’t have been better. This is one of Percival Everett’s earlier novels and it reads like a literary thriller. Protagonist Ogden Walker is deputy sheriff in a small town, solving crimes and driving around. I knew there had to be more to it - this is Everett after all. So I started making assumptions.
What a clever book. Read it!

4.5*

>320 Simone2: Until I read The Trees and James, this was hands down my favorite Everett.

>319 Simone2: Ned Kelly is a legend in Australia. His family was picked on by the police. He was either a rebel or a criminal depending on your pov. But he’s an important cultural figure to Australians who tend to romanticize him. It’s little wonder you didn’t take to the book.

If you’d like to read an Australian book, I suggest any of Helen Garner’s

>321 RidgewayGirl: I loved almost all of his books so far. The Trees an James but also Telephone and So Much Blue. This one stands out again!

>322 kjuliff: Thank, I will check her books, I have read much Australian fiction but it is very encouraging when a local recommends authors!

144 - The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

To be honest I have no clue what I just read. The story is pretty clear but there’s so much going on around it. In linguistics, in plot, in characters, in layers. Maybe it’s good but it was hard to keep track and I lacked motivation towards the end.

2*

145 - American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

I listened to half of this book.

The story is made up of sterotypes: all women narrator Patrick Bateman meets are “hardbodies”, the repetitive naming of designer brands, the drugs, the booze, the wealth, the boredom, the killings. I despised it and enjoyed it and appreciate what Easton Ellis does.

I totally get it, I don’t need the second half of the book!

3*

146 - Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte

This book contains loosely connected stories, all of them about people who‘ve been rejected in one way or another.
I enjoyed some a lot, some less. Be prepared for very explicit sex, going on for pages and pages, and some extreme bullying.
So it‘s not an easy or very pleasant book but it‘s written very well. I hope it‘s fiction - as it states on the cover.

3*

147 - Tell me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

I loved being in Lucy’s company again and I was happy to reconnect with Bob and Olive. Strout writes as beautiful as ever and yet it’s not my favorite. It felt as if tshe had so much to say that she had to put a dozen different stories in just this small book.

4*

148 - Earth by John Boyne

I loved this book just as much as Water, the first in the series, maybe even more. It’s dark and sad. Evan is a professional football player. He’s gay and would’ve have preferred to be a painter. Life just doesn’t go according to plan. And now he’s standing trial for his part in the rape of a girl. So good. I have to preorder Fire!

4.5*

149 - Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville

I needed a vampire book for one of the reading challenges and this one absolutely firs that prompt. It starts out as a thriller but halfway through the vampire part takes over. I did enjoy the first half better yet wasn’t disappointed in the vampire parts, even though it’s not my usual choice of books.

3*

>329 Simone2: Interesting! I've read and absolutely loved Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast which has an important supernatural element but is mostly about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I've also read his The House of Ashes which I liked less well. I could definitely imagine him writing vampire fiction well (not that I'm a connoisseur of the genre).

>330 rocketjk: I hadn’t read him before but am very interested in the books you mention. He writes very well!

150 - Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple

I thought I’d love this one but was a bit underwhelmed. A man gives up his happy marriage of twenty years for a fling with a younger woman. His wife and their kids are furious - of course. So it’s all a bit predictable. An okay-ish book for me, except for the ending. I kind of loved that.

3.5*

>330 rocketjk: I’ve just read another book set during the Troubles. It’s Brian Moore’s Lies of Silence . It’s an easy read and was short-listed for the Man Booker in 1990. I wrote a little about it on my thread. Not highly recommended but an easy read for grey autumn days,

>331 Simone2: I highly recommend The Ghosts of Belfast. But The House of Ashes not so much. It's well written, but the subject matter, a wife falling prey to an increasingly psychologically abuse, domineering husband, was wholly distasteful to me. My wife liked it better, though.

151 - Keep it in the Family by John Marrs

A lot of twists make this a dark and entertaining read but the plot is so unrealistic and the main characters make such stupid decisions that my annoyance is as big as the entertainment. So. A so-so. My least favorite John Marrs so far.

3*

>335 Simone2: His books vary in likability a lot. I think I’ve only liked one or two

>336 kjuliff: That’s so true. They are good palette cleansers for me and some of them are such pageturners, which I love. But others feel a bit too constructed to my taste. Like this one.

152 - Prima Facie by Suzie Miller

A brilliant and extremely painful book that touches me deeply. It’s short, it’s a play for a solo actor.
It’s the story of Tessa, a successful barrister who is one day confronted with the patriarchal power of the law.
I can’t believe law still works like that. And I do believe Tessa’s story. Every man should read this book or see this play.

TW: rape

5*

153 - Victory City by Salman Rushdie

used to be such a Rushdie fan but I can’t finish this one. I just can’t concentrate on this fairytale-like story. It’s not him, I knew what to expect. It’s me.

154 - I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

“I have understood nothing about the world in which I live “.

The narrator is a young girl locked up in a cabin with 39 other women. No one knows how or why they are there and who the men are who guard them. One day they can escape and what follows is what is described as “a hollow freedom”. A poignant story that leaves me with many questions and that will stuck with me.

4*

155 - For Reasons Unknown by Michael Wood

I started a new detective series. In this one the main character is DCI Matilda Darke and she’s a great person, well worked out by Michael Wood. Also I enjoyed the plot a lot, even though I saw some of it coming. I am definitely going to read the second book!

4*

156 - City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong

Another detective series I started but this one I won't continue. An interesting concept (it follows homicide detective Casey Duncan in the hidden Rockton, a small, off-the-grid town in the wilderness of the Canadian Yukon where people go when they wish to disappear) but I didn't care much for the characters (as compared to those in For Reasons Unknown which I reviewed yesterday. And of course there are only so many thriller series I can handle!

3*

157 - Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Adina is an undercover, asexual alien reporting on human behavior on Earth. Quite the blurb and so many people raved about it that I was sure I would too but I didn’t. I didn’t like the writing and thought the story was pretty boring.

2.5*

158 - Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

original and interesting concept about what it means to be human. Annie is a bot, developed to please her owner. She is really intelligent though, although human emotions confuse her. Her owner is a 34 years old man who in his way cares for her but also wants to control her and is not pleased with her sharpness. A quick and fun read that leaves me thinking. Which is good!

4*

159 - Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn

I have no clue what this book is about and frankly, I don’t give a damn 😎

DNF

>345 Simone2: Funny :-)

160 - The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa

You can ban books but you can’t ban people’s imagination. That’s the takeaway for me from this super original novel. It’s the story of a book censor in a dystopian future who can’t resist the books he has to read - and ban. Distracted by rabbits with watches the book turns into a kind of Alice in Wonderland like story. The censor and I as a reader had no idea what was real or what wasn’t. A good book from this Kuwait author.

3*

>347 Simone2: I'm glad you enjoyed this, even if I was wowed more than you. I am hoping the book does well so that more of her works will be translated.

>348 labfs39: I am glad I read it, thanks to you too!

161 - The Echoes by Evie Wyld

This is such a sad book. It starts with Max in an afterlife, after his death. He watches his girlfriend Hannah grieving in their London apartment. She’s grieving for him but also for the echoes of the past, her growing up in rural Australia and all the secrets she left behind when coming to England.

Evie Wyld is a great storyteller and all pov’s of the story are build up so well. An impressive book about love and grief and heritage.

4*

162 - Self by Yann Martel

The narrator of Martel’s debut is born a man, yet becomes a woman overnight. This is an interesting premise yet it doesn’t add much to the story, which is a report of sex and travels, without any real depth to the plot or the characters.
The last part of the book is very disturbing and feels very real. The result of what happens makes sense and makes the book worth reading.

3*

163 - The Marriage Act by John Marrs

This book helped me get through some tough days after the US elections, the horrible violence in Amsterdam and all the fake news surrounding that night.

I knew I could count on Marrs. This is another good speculative novel set in a near future Britain where people are encouraged to upgrade their relationship to a Smart Marriage, which is tempting because then you benefit from NHS and top education for your kids etc.
The marriages are monitored by AI robots which comment on your marriage - or worse. A bizarre plot, yet nothing seems unthinkable at the moment.

3.5*

>352 Simone2: I find John Mars has great ideas, such as in The One but they never get me to suspend my non—belief.

I think you’d enjoy The Husbands .

>353 kjuliff: She did enjoy it: >277 Simone2: put it on my wish list.

>354 ELiz_M: Oh, how embarrassing - I think Simone put me onto it!

>353 kjuliff: Thank you! I did indeed enjoy that one, so witty! Please don’t feel embarrassed that you didn’t know! It is totally unimportant to remember of course!

>354 ELiz_M: Hi Liz! All well?

164 - The Gate by Natsume Soseki

Sosuke and his wife Oyone lead a quiet, monotonous life in a shabby rented house in Tokyo. Although they live isolated due to past events, they are still relatively happy. However, when the events of the past gradually catch up with them, Sosuke is faced with a dilemma. How much obedience do you owe to those around you and what are the consequences when you choose to listen to yourself?

3*

165 - The Followers by Rebecca Wait

“Slowly, over time, God had moved further and further away, until He was eventually nothing more than an idea - and someone else’s idea, at that.”

No, it’s not as good as Our Fathers, but this story about a young woman and her 12 year old daughter, falling under the spell of The Prophet, pulled me in from the first page and I read it in a day!

4*

166 - Dimes Square and other Plays by Matthew Gasda

Dimes Square apparently is an über hip corner in Manhattan where a new generation of writers and artists have met and inspired one another.

This book consists of 4 plays about these Gen Z Dimes Square people. People deal with their uncertainties, traumas and anxiousness by hanging with each other, doing drugs, have sex, and talk. Witty conversations, hardly longer than one sentence.

Interesting style, not really for me though.

2.5*

167 - August Blue by Deborah Levy

Elsa is a famous concert pianist who drifts around Europe after she, mid-performance, walked off stage.
In meeting her doppelgänger, she sees a signal to figure out who she really is.

As a child she was adopted by Arthur Goldstein, a genius piano teacher, when her talent became clear.
Now he is dying and she can’t keep sheltering in the trance of performance.

As always, I love reading Deborah Levy’s words and sentences.

4*

168 - The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

This is a very tough book. Very controversial as well. It’s about a scientist who observes an indigenous group of people in Micronesia. He brings some of them with him to the US for further study. It’s all so disgusting and this is just the beginning. But this is Yanagihara so I should have known what to expect. I’m left with a bitter taste yet that’s exactly what she aimed for probably.

3.5*

169 - De mens is een plofkip (Dutch) by Teun van de Keuken

In recent decades, real food has largely made way for heavily processed factory food without any nutritional value. Through sophisticated recipes, smart marketing and aggressive advertising, the food industry fattens us, resulting in illness and high social costs. This book examines the food industry and shows what goes wrong.

3*

170 - Fruit of the Dead by Rachel Lyon

Cory Ansel is 18 and has no plans after the Summer Camp where she has been working, draws to an end. When she meets Rolo, an ultra rich pharmaceutical CEO and father of one of the children she has been looking after, offers her a job as a nanny, she can’t resist his wicked charm and the money. He takes her to his private island, where all seems to good to be true. And of course it is.

This is a very compelling novel about what it means to finally be seen after spending most of your life being ignored.

3.5*

171 - Yr Dead by Sam Sax

In between the space of time when Ezra lights themself on fire in front of the Trump Tower and when Ezra dies, life flashes before their eyes. People Ezra loved, people who left or betrayed them, places they’ve felt at home or estranged, good and bad feelings of being queer. Written in short fragments, Ezra dissolves into everything that made them into the person that’s decided on this final act of protest.

3.5*

172 - A Stranger Like You by Elizabeth Brundage

Ever since reading All Things Cease to Appear I've wanted to read more Brundage. This one is completely different yet just as good.
Set in Hollywood a man who's script has been denied by a famous producer, is looking for ways to convince her to change her mind. That's just the start, which lead to a whirlwind of actions, just like in a movie. A hard boiled thriller on the one hand but also a very thoughtful novel about war veterans. Highly recommended!

4*

173 - Colored Television by Danzy Senna

I have mixed feelings about it this book. I felt a bit weary of all the stupid decisions Jane makes, one after the other to be successful as a mulatto author in Hollywood, leaving behind so much chaos and damage. I can’t however pinpoint the moment when I became totally absorbed by the story and finished it in one go.

3*

174 - Banal Nightmare by Hall Butler

Millennials in a Midwestern university town, unhappy with their situation, or maybe not but everyone is feeling sorry for themselves anyway and nagging and complaining about their situation (just like in The New Me, Halle Butler’s other book I read).
Nothing much happens and it is kind of engaging but definitely not worth to be shortlisted for the Tournament of Books.

NB Why is there a visiting artist? What does he add to the book? I really have no clue!

3*

>367 Simone2: Oh, no! I just pulled this book out to read. I did adore The New Me though and so I'm hoping this one is just as good. Also, Butler's mother was part of a book group I'm in until recently, when she moved away. I only found out the name of her daughter the last time I saw her.

>368 RidgewayGirl: That is so cool! And I am sure you’ll enjoy it more than I did, especially if you loved The New Me too! Do you have any favorites yet, on the ToB longlist?

175 - Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin

This book consists of three parts. The first is about a woman, living in Paris apartment, coming to terms with a miscarriage and the fact that her husband has a job in London.
The second part is set in the same apartment, years earlier. A couple live there and the wife is very much into female liberation
Both parts are terrific. The third part is a continuation of the first and to me that one fell short. I am not sure what it added, even though it was engaging.
Oh and I love the title.

4*

>369 Simone2: Oh, James and Martyr! are so good and also already so well-known. I think that the Everett is likely to win, but I did love The Wedding People so much, and The Husbands was a lot of fun. I adored Intermezzo, but I think that Rooney has made the tournament so many times, it's unlikely they'll choose her again. I have a lot of reading to do -- you've made Scaffolding sound great.

>371 RidgewayGirl: Yes Scaffolding does sound good. I wil put it on my tbr. The Husbands was the funniest BOM I’ve read since The Woman from Uruguay which has some of the funniest scenes I’ve ever read.

>371 RidgewayGirl: Thanks for sharing! I liked James, Martyr and The Husbands too. I haven't yet read The Wedding People and Intermezzo, looking forward to them! My favorites so far are The Safekeep and All Fours but I know that's a love-or-hate book. Would make for a great discussion though!
But, I still do have a lot of reading to do!

176 - All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

What a ride!! Over 500 pages but I flew through. Whitaker’s characters are the best, along with the many many plot twists. I was hooked and touched and except for getting a bit bored my the Grace-character over the years, this is in my opinion a pretty perfect literary thriller!

4.5*

>374 Simone2: sounds fun. I haven’t posted here in a while. Hope your well. I miss my your Israeli friend on Litsy.

>370 Simone2: Simone, thank you so much for your review of Scaffolding I’m still in the first third and it’s - I don’t use the word lightly - brilliant. It’s well-written, insightful, interesting, entertaining, and above all, intelligent.

It’s in my top 5 of 2024. What a brilliant debut novel. Vive la France!

>375 dchaikin: I am more on Litsy than on LT too. And I miss Cindy too. We are in touch on Instagram and by email but it’s mostly about the war (no surprise) and less about books. I’ll give her your regards, she’ll be happy with them!

>376 kjuliff: I am very happy you are loving it so much! It really is good - and French! If you’re into French I assume you do know the books by Valerie Perrin? All of them were five star reads for me!

177 - Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

Margo is a single mom and, not surprisingly, she’s got money troubles. Becoming active on OnlyFans means financial security for herself and her baby but there are many more insecurities. You have to root for Margo and her team, consisting of father Jinx (a pro wrestler), roommate Suzy and influencers KC and Rose. A fun read and a light pick for me.

3.5*

>378 Simone2: Yes it is so very French. And non, I haven’t heard of Valérie Perrin but have checked her out and have put Three on hold at my library.

French writers don’t seem to get a lot of press here in the US except in the New Yorker and I’m always on the lookout.

>380 kjuliff: I hope you’ll love Three and if so: Fresh Water for Flowers and Forgotten on Sunday are even better!

178 - The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld

The Child Finder Naomi is back. Still looking for her long lost sister, she finds herself among the homeless kids in the streets of Portland.
The plot isn’t that strong, to be honest. It’s all a bit too convenient and unbelievable.
But does it even matter when Rene Denfeld does her magic with her characters and their traumas? It doesn’t: Celia, Rich, Naomi, Jerome feel so real.
I want to read everything Denfeld writes.

4*

179 - The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck

Fantastic, interconnected stories set in three centuries in New England. I loved most of the stories. Each so different and yet an unmistakable part of the whole. A favorite on the ToB shortlist for sure!

4.5*

180 - Good Material by Dolly Alderton

I so enjoyed this one. Dolly Alderton writes from a man’s perspective after his break-up with Jen felt completely believable and funny. I felt for him and felt sorry they didn’t make it.
Then the perspective changes and we learn Jen’s take on things. All the pieces fell into place. A light and hopeful read. Recommended!

4*

181 - A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Piñeiro

Another Claudia Piñeiro, whose backlist I am eager to read. This one is completely different again. An architect is living a very predictable live at the agency where he works an at home with his wife. Three years ago however something happened that returns to him unexpectedly. A fun mystery, wit a surprising and rewarding ending. Not as good as her more recent work but still very readable. Recommended!

3.5*

>385 Simone2: sounds fun

182 - The Magus by John Fowles

In this post-modern classic, nothing is what it seems. The main character, Nicholas Urfe, goes to teach on a Greek island, and is impressed by his erudite and art-loving host. But along the way, Nick becomes entangled in a labyrinth of truths and untruths, of the psychological games of a master trickster, which become increasingly dark and serious.

3*

>387 Simone2: fun post-modern or just work? 🙂

>388 dchaikin: Fun. A bit long though and repetitive

183 - Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

Three sisters are destroyed by the death of their fourth sister. All three deal (or don’t) in their own way, not looking out for each other because being together makes them feel so incomplete without Nicky. Their stories make a raw and tender portrait of grief and unconditional love.

4*

184 - The Moustache by Emmanuel Carrère

When a man shaves off his moustache, the people around him react as if the moustache had never been there, leaving the man in great confusion. Are his wife and friends fooling him? What starts out as a joke, quickly turns into something much darker. Are his friends plotting against him? What is illusion and reality?
An impactful little book about identity and a mental breakdown. A typical Emmanuel Carrère book.

3.5*

>391 Simone2: I read this book some years ago after the same thing happened to my brother except he’d shaved his beard off. Even I didn’t notice. He didn’t say a thing for early a whole day, when he asked, “What’s up with you guys, don’t you se a thing different about me?” We all thought it was funny except for him, who said he felt he had no presence.

>392 kjuliff: Wow, that’s such a coincidence. You should recommend him this book he’ll feel acknowledged however, this story continues for longer than a day and becomes very dark!

185 - The Stranger in her House by John Marrs

Another solid psychological thriller by John Marrs. I have just one more book to read by him and still enjoying them but none was as good as the first ones I read: The Passengers and The One.
This one is about a woman who takes care of her mother when an attractive man enters into their lifes who charms them both. As always, nothing is what it seems. Entertaining and full of twists.

3.5*

186 - Nobody Somebody Anybody by Kelly McClorey

Amy is a chambermaid but that’s just temporarily : she’ll become an EMT. When things don’t really work out she decides to speed things up a bit by using a placebo method. In a whirlwind of a summer Amy becomes acquainted with a bunch of people, among whom her landlord who’s about to get married. We learn about her dark backstory while Amy keeps making wrong decisions. It’s all so sad yet tragicomic and I kept hoping for Amy’s personal development to be like the title implies.

A great read with Moshfegh vibes.

4*

>395 Simone2: That was a fun book. I hope we see more from McClorey.

>396 RidgewayGirl: it’s a great debut and I hope she’ll come up with a new book soon!

187 - The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

Iōunn’s story pulled me in from the first page and didn’t let go until I finished it some hours later.

Iōunn wakes up exhausted every morning. She has no idea what causes this until her fancy new pedometer watch reveals that she’s walking over forty thousand steps at night. From there things start spiraling in her life which seems so ordinary but isn’t.

I am not sure about the ending but I loved this contemporary and atmospheric creepy story.

4.5*

>398 Simone2: intriguing set up

188 - If Only by Vigdis Hjorth

Ida and Arnold are both working in the Norwegian literary world when they meet and fall in love. Both are married however and have kids.
What follows are over 300 pages about an all consuming destructive love. Very well written, I could feel their unhappiness, feel for Ida and their wish to be together but it was also hard and frustrating to read. Not as good as Is Mother Dead?

3*