Related Post: Writing the post about how The Drowning People contributed to my development in reading reminded me to put this novel on my list of books to reread this month. I’m glad I reread it. What I initially remembered was how the gothic elements gave the novel an air of timelessness and oppressiveness. What I didn’t […]
Review: “The Drowning People” Read More »
Seven Books That Demystify Human Behavior I firmly believe that reading fiction teaches us a lot about being human. Here freelance writer Chelsea Leu suggests books, both fiction and nonfiction, that can increase our understanding of people. Make it awkward! “Rather than being a cringey personal failing, awkwardness is a collective rupture – and a
Related Post: My daughter recommended this book by prolific science fiction author John Scalzi to me because she knows I like a good science fiction story that examines timeless topics and themes. I read Scalzi’s Old Man’s War several years ago and liked it, so I queued this one up for vacation reading. The novel
Vacation Reading: Part 2 Read More »
Being on a cruise ship gave me the opportunity to have probably the best reading month of my life: 10 books: 8 novels + 2 works of nonfiction. Let the reviews begin! I put this novel on my Kindle because I thought Dave’s 2021 mystery The Last Thing He Told Me was so good: “By repeatedly
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Related Posts: Trust by Hernan Diaz © 2022 Date read: 1/31/2023 The four-part structure was initially what drew me to Trust. By the time I got to this novel, I was used to novels divided into sections that presented either various points of view or various time periods. But Trust was different from other novels
#12 “Trust” by Hernan Diaz Read More »
Here’s a summary of the book, with a little help from Goodreads: The plot, I admit, is a bit bizarre, but I’m willing to go with a speculative story line that imaginatively examines some aspect of human experience. But this novel disappointed me—not because of what it contains, but because of what it lacks. First,
Review: “The Husbands” by Holly Gramazio Read More »
How the first National Book Awards reflected 1950s America “In the start of a new series reflecting on 75 years of the awards, Viet Thanh Nguyen writes about how societies and juries read and recognize literature” The National Book Awards will celebrate its 75th anniversary at this year’s ceremony, on Nov. 20. To mark the
Related Posts: Babel by R.F. Kuang © 2022 Date read: 1/22/2023 Other than Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series, I don’t read much fantasy. I picked this book up because its underlying premise is brilliant: bars of silver, when imprinted with pairs of words with similar meanings that demonstrate what is lost
#11 “Babel” by R.F. Kuang Read More »
This month’s starting point is a crime novel with difference – Butter by Asako Yuzuki. Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer,” Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan. —Goodreads This sounds like
6 Degrees of Separation: From “Butter” to “Babel” Read More »
Related Posts: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda © 2016 Date read: 4/17/2017 Like Drowning Ruth, this novel demonstrates yet another way narrative structure can work to build suspense and meaning. Here the protagonist must come to terms with an event that happened earlier in her life. The only way she can unravel past
#10 “All the Missing Girls” by Megan Miranda Read More »
