Montpelier Parade | 
pickI heard about this book on one of the many book related podcasts that I listen to. I wish I could remember what podcast that was so I could thank them properly. I truly enjoyed this short, award winning, debut novel set in Ireland. 🇮🇪
pickWow. I don't think I've ever read a book in the second person before and that, as well as it being narrated by the author, made this such a powerful read.
A teenager falls in love with a wealthy older woman in 1980s Ireland. What struck me most was his hope even when everything was against him.
#heartwrenching to say the least and also a #bookwithillness @Jess7 #readingresolutions @maich #aprilbookishmadness
pickI've just closed the book and feel stunned at the depth of emotions in the story. I don't want to say anything about the plot because i came to this with no preconceptions and loved turning each page to new drama and heartbreak. A beautifully tender love story with grit.
A very last minute #decemberwrapup . I have been in a mid summer / Xmas reading slump so not as many books read as I had hoped for. Unexpectedly and despite reading some widely acclaimed books this month I really loved this the debut novel by Karl Geary - Montpelier Parade. The cover image sets the tone for this book.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The cover depicting these lovely legs on a cold grey street perfectly encapsulates this novel for me - its all in shades of blues and greys, there are plenty of thighs, its raining almost always and that most melancholy song, Gloomy Sunday is playing in my head the entire time. This book is foremost an intense "age-gap romance" novel, minus almost all the romance and secondly its a dark portrayal of the hopelessness of 80s Ireland.
A scene from my nightly dinner prep. I had to uncover the coaster from @batsy because it couldn‘t be more apt!
So far, this book has drawn me in. The second-person narration makes it feel intensely personal? raw? honest? foreboding? Anyway, I‘m liking it a lot.
pickI rated this novel 4 stars because of the wonderful writing, engaging storyline, and swoon-worthy audio narration, done by the author. But the ending was too bleak for me.
This 2017 Irish novel is starting out great. It helps that the author narrates the audiobook, which I am listening to while following along in the book. That Irish accent! Not sure what he's up to with the second-person point of view rather than first-person, but so far it's working for me.
so-soShort novel, written in second person, about a teenage boy inexplicably besotted with an older, depressed woman. Story was too short to develop the characters and this relationship fully. The entire book is just . . . lonely.
Oh crap. I discovered Edelweiss. My first approved ARC request looks great!!!
And another bit of #bookmail that arrived today (a Goodreads win). It sounds fantastic! Thank you, @CatapultStory @Catapult .
Have you got to this one yet, @shawnmooney ?
Yay!!! I was really hoping I'd win this one, @shawnmooney 👍🏼
Another lovely hardcover debut novel I can't wait to read!
I am listening to the latest edition of the Vintage podcast, featuring this debut Irish novel I'd never heard of. The author reads a 5-minute excerpt at the very beginning of the podcast: I bet if you invest the time to listen to it you'll be as stoked as I am to read this novel. I was delighted to find that it's on Audible, narrated by the author!
https://www.acast.com/vintagepodcast/montpelierparadebykarlgeary-offthepage
