The Cement Garden | 
pickSo this is a very uncomfortable read - a short book, and a brief encounter with the period following the deaths of the parents of four siblings. It reads like an extended metaphor or a fable - it‘s disturbing at face value. I did enjoy it but McEwan‘s writing is consistently readable and engaging, and I suspect if he wrote recipes I‘d follow them.
pickI enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. McEwan's writing is so fantastic that he can turn a dysfunctional family into a pager turner of a story. I thought this a complex story given it is only a 150 pages. I will be reading more of McEwan.
“We hardly spoke at all to each other about Mother. She was everyone's secret.”
#1001books
so-soThis was an incredibly disturbing reading experience about four siblings dealing with the deaths of their parents. Not a lot really happens, and what does is twisted, but the writing made me want to keep reading and see where it went.
Also, although thankfully not audio, a third in a row of books from the 1001 list with uncomfortable sexual scenes.
#1001books #Reading1001 #AuthorAMonth
Ebook from the Internet Archives: The Cement Garden https://archive.org/ #Reading1001 #1001Books
pickJust a few pages in, it had me gasping in shock! Deeply disconcerting, twisted, it tells how 4 siblings came to terms with their parents‘ deaths. Intense family dynamics. The writing is calm, aloof, & kept me engrossed till the very end..all the while I felt it‘s going to peak into something doomed at any time. This story of family secrets, innocence lost, is a darkly brilliant #debutnovel .
#ReadWithMrBook
#AuthorAMonth
I love Ian McEwan and was surprised to find a book of his I had not read on a list of the top 10 most disturbing books. Starting now! #booklove #novella #currentlyreading #IanMcEwan
#7days7covers #CoverCrush #Day6 💕
I tag @ValerieAndBooks if you‘d like to play along? Just post 1 cover you love, each day for 7 days, no explanation needed and use the hashtags 😊💕
pickThis book is SO dark and twisted! It‘s a car-crash, in that it‘s horrifying and unsettling yet I couldn‘t stop reading!
Narrated uncomfortably by Jack, a callow teen loner, he and his 3 siblings hide the death of their mum to avoid going into care. The eldest, Julie is so manipulative, and she leads the unsupervised clan further into disturbing dysfunction.
TW for incest and simple F‘d-up-ness! But wow am I always captivated by McEwan‘s writing!
#nextup this one... I usually ❤️McEwan and I‘ve heard this is possibly his best novel... Excited! 🤞
Started our day with a couples massage, a float around the lazy river... now chilling in a beautiful shady oasis.... I could get a bit too used to this! 💕
#tenonmytbr
Saw this hashtag on instagram so I thought I‘d use it for my possible #junetbr
Currently reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf, The Things she‘s Seen, and also a reread of Lauren Groff‘s Florida for a bookclub....
so-soSo. Um. Yeeaaaaah. That's my review. I had a love hate relationship with this short read. THE most disturbing book in a long while. If that was the intention by the author, then it completely worked. *Trigger warning for sensitive readers!*
When you read and suddenly the words turn into lyrics in your head - specifically a Madonna song. 😳🎼🎤The book was made into a film 🎬and the dialogue was used for the song. Now I have to see the film.
#gardentitle #aprilbookshowers I threw in The Constant Gardener because someone has to tend all these gardens
@RealLifeReading
so-soI'm not sure what was redeeming about this story. I thought the cement story line was intriguing & promising, but was derailed. Good thing it was short and inexpensive as a used buy.
Ebook deal. I almost bought this one recently at full price, so glad I waited 😁
