This is not a book I would have picked for myself, but came as part of a bounty that I won in a prize draw at my local bookstore. There are a few from that set that are on my to-read list, and some others that will eventually go right to charity. This one was... Continue Reading →
Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff. Pub 2015
The impetus for this book was twofold - my fellow book-clubber's excellent review of Groff's Matrix last year, and the title's suggestion of a linkage to Greek mythology. I'm a fan of the retellings of mythology (see Circe and The Children of Jocasta), so I was anticipating some element of that in this novel. I was not disappointed with either... Continue Reading →
Assembly, by Natasha Brown. Pub 2021
This little book was a Christmas gift from a fellow book-clubber, and also a recommendation from them. It is a quick (one day) but demanding read, as the material gets a bit intense in places and the writing style is curious blend of lyrical/poetry and stream of consciousness/interior. The story is that of an unnamed... Continue Reading →
With All Due Respect, by Nikki R. Haley. Pub 2019
I had previously listened to the audiobook version of this a few years ago, and liked some of what Haley has to say on leadership. Since I didn't have any notes from that listen, I decided to read it again, partially for the leadership elements and partly as a response to the casual misogyny ("she's... Continue Reading →
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Pub 2015. Translation by Geoffrey Trousselot, pub 2019.
Another Christmas gift, I read about one of the later books in this series as being an interesting and light read, so decided to start at the beginning. In this novel in four parts, we visit the Funiculi Funicula cafe, in a dark back alley in Tokyo. Although never overrun with customers - in fact,... Continue Reading →
On Animals, by Susan Orlean. Pub 2021
I really enjoyed Orlean's previous book, The Library Book, so was looking forward to her writing on animals. I didn't appreciate until I started reading it that this is a) a collection of essays rather than a focused book and b) said essays range from 1995 to 2021, with most being more than 10 years... Continue Reading →
The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles. Pub 2021
Another from the Christmas gift bounty, this is the third novel by Amor Towles, and he is three-for-three in delivering fantastic novels. His novels are getting longer, but unlike how I feel about John Irving (ahem), I do not begrudge Towles a single page. Spanning just 10 days (not including flashbacks and backstories) in the early summer... Continue Reading →
Can’t and Won’t, by Lydia Davis. Pub 2014
This was another gift in my Christmas bounty. I don't recall where I heard about Lydia Davis - likely on some other blog or podcast. This book includes many very short stories - some only a few lines or paragraphs. It reminded me of a book I read several years ago - There is No Long... Continue Reading →
The It Girl, by Ruth Ware. Pub 2022
This was part of my Christmas book bounty, chosen as it kept coming up on reading suggestions from the book shop and elsewhere, and I liked the idea of a modern Agatha Christie-type book, which indeed this was. Hannah and April are fresher roommates at a (fictional) Oxford college. Near the end of their first... Continue Reading →
The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson. Pub 2008
I read this book when it first came out in 2008, and was blown away by it then. While it's been one I often think of as being an old favourite, I had never reread it, and actually had little memory of what it was about other than some specific details - tattoos, sculpting, fire,... Continue Reading →
