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Nine Island
Nine Island | Jane Alison
24 posts | 14 read | 23 to read
"Nine Island is a crackling incantation, brittle and brilliant and hot and sad and full of sideways humor that devastates and illuminates all at once. --Lauren Groff, author ofFates and Furies Having just returned to Miami from a failed, month-long reunion with an old flame, "Sir Gold," and a visit to her fragile mother, our narrator, J, begins an assignment to translate Ovid's magical stories about the transformations caused by Eros. "A woman who wants, a man who wants nothing. These two have stalked the world for thousands of years," she thinks. When not ruminating over her sexual past and current fantasies, in the company of only her aging cat, J observes the comic, sometimes steamy goings-on among her faded-glamour condo neighbors. One of them, a caring retired nurse, befriends her, eventually offering the opinion that "if you retire from love. . .then you retire from life." Set against the backdrop of exquisitely beautiful flora and fauna and seascapes,Nine Island culminates with an equally beautiful gift from one friend to another.
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Lcsmcat
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Jane Alison was a #newtomeauthor until this month. Now, I‘ll be on the lookout for her work. #auldlangreads @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚😊 5y
40 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Pickpick

Not at all what I expected, and in a good way. The MC comes across at first as a 50 something Bridgett Jones, but as the short, seemingly disconnected, chapters unfold there emerges something beautiful. I love the writing, and it makes me want to read Ovid. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great review, and excellent work checking off your #bookspin book!! I still haven't read mine! 😬 I'm also weirdly attracted to this cover. 5y
Leftcoastzen Your kitty could be my kitties sib! 5y
Lcsmcat @TheAromaofBooks It is an interesting cover. I picked it up at a library sale partly because of that. 5y
Lcsmcat @Leftcoastzen I‘ve noticed that too! Tuxedo cats are sweethearts, aren‘t they? 5y
Leftcoastzen Mine is a sweet boy! He chose me ,went from semi feral to indoor snuggler pretty quickly. (edited) 5y
52 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Lcsmcat
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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So the January color scheme continues with my #BookSpin book. Maybe this will go to Florida with me for my conference later this month. @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks I am really digging your color scheme. It's very January, too! I'm planning to read Beartown this month as well. I've heard a lot of good things. Thanks for participating in the spin - hope you enjoy your pick!! 5y
rachaich Beartown was superb. I've just finished the sequel and it was just as brilliant. 5y
38 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Suet624
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Books read in May. It's fun to look back and see what you've absorbed over the past month. And the range of experiences: from Shrill to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. Only one of the books was a disappointment. How lucky for me. 😀🌹

saresmoore What a good month! 7y
Suet624 @saresmoore The benefit of Lyme Disease is I have to lay on the couch which then allows me the time to read! 7y
saresmoore Yes, but I'd love for Lyme to go away and you still lay on the couch and read! 7y
Suet624 @saresmoore Haha. Well yes. Me too. 😂😂😂 7y
54 likes4 comments
review
Suet624
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Pickpick

The main character, an older woman, is, among other things, trying to determine whether she'll be single from this point forward-will she experience love again. She reviews her prior relationships throughout the book and you wonder if they were worth the effort. I have solved this problem by finding little ones to spend my days with. My grandson and I now spend time with this 15-week-old guy. Love feels very near when I'm with the two of them.

britt_brooke What a cutie pie! 7y
Suet624 @britt_brooke This little one smiles so much!!! 7y
AmyG Isn't he adorable! 7y
See All 16 Comments
BestOfFates So cute!! 7y
minkyb Love! 7y
shawnmooney Cuuuuute! 7y
CherylDeFranceschi 😍😍😍 (edited) 7y
Lmstraubie Cuteness!!! 7y
batsy What a cutie. ☺️ Lovely review of a book I've had my eye on for awhile now. 7y
LeahBergen 😍😍😍 7y
Tanzy13 👶🏼 7y
Eridau Sounds interesting. I'll have to add it to my tbr. 7y
ValerieAndBooks Happy baby 😍!! 7y
saresmoore I don't know how I missed this post!What a delight! And this book really does sound great. 7y
Suet624 @saresmoore I really enjoyed it. And the little guy is the one I told you about with the red hair and the intense blue eyes, neither of which really comes through in the photo. He makes me laugh whenever I see him. He's delighted by everything. (edited) 7y
saresmoore He's wonderful. 7y
76 likes1 stack add16 comments
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Suet624
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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This book, for the first time, entices me to visit Miami Beach. At the same time it reminds me to never visit the place. The author is bending my mind a little bit and in the midst of it all nudging me to read Ovid. Honestly, though, I'm not sure anyone other than a single woman over 60 would truly appreciate this novel.

saresmoore Oh, I think I must read this! And how about you just come to West Palm Beach and we can not go to Miami together. 😁 7y
Suet624 Did you see my amended post? I think you have to be old, female, and single to appreciate this book. And yes, I've never wanted to visit Florida, but i could certainly reconsider my stance. 😀 @saresmoore (edited) 7y
Suzze I have been to 40+ states. Florida is not one of them. And I am single, female and over 60. 😁 7y
See All 11 Comments
Suet624 @Suzze This books deals with older women and relationships and that was what I was referring to with the age comment. (edited) 7y
Suzze @Suet624 I didn't take offense. I think my aversion to FL is not wanting to be old. 😜 7y
Suet624 @Suzze yes. Totally. 7y
HotMessJess I'm going to be honest, Florida (with the exception of Harry Potter world) is pretty much the absolute bottom of "places to go before I die" 7y
Laura317 We call Florida God's Waiting Room and The North of the South. 7y
Suzze @HotMessJess @Laura317 My sister lives there. It drives her crazy that I haven't come to visit. 7y
Suet624 @HotMessJess Yes, me too. 😁 7y
Suet624 @Laura317 oooh, that's rough! 😁 7y
61 likes1 stack add11 comments
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BookNAround
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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A woman debating whether to give up on love and sex, watching her neighbors, and translating Ovid's Metamorphoses. Intriguing, no?

review
Gleefulreader
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Pickpick

First of three reviews of recently read books.

I really enjoyed this book which I finished at the end of December. It is definitely not plot driven, but rather a character study. The unnamed protagonist is a woman in later middle age who has retreated to a condo in Miami to determine whether or not she should give up on love or contemplate a solitary life. A slower book, with lots to consider. I can see myself re-reading this in the future.

46 likes4 stack adds
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Gleefulreader
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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New sneakers, on the treadmill, gonna knock off another lingering in-progress book before the end of 2016.

LauraBeth 👏👏👍 8y
LindsayReads Go get 'em! 💪 8y
49 likes2 comments
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Gleefulreader
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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This book is absolutely delicious. A meandering wander through one woman's desires, I am not entirely sure where the story is going, but the language and her descriptions of the humid, bright world of Miami are simply succulent.

Edited to add: just realize this qualifies for #setonanisland for #seasonsreadings2016. Completely unintentional but serendipitous.

Hooked_on_books Bonus points for use of the word succulent. 8y
Flaneurette This looks like my kind of novel. Thank you for posting this- I hadn't heard of of it! 8y
43 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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ampersunder
Nine Island | Jane Alison
Pickpick

Excellent ("non-fiction") novel about an older woman dealing with her singleness, caring for her elderly cat, living in an aging building of concrete and glass, connecting with neighbours, feeding a stranded duck, and translating Ovid in Miami Beach.

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ampersunder
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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One of life's great pleasures: reading in bed on a Sunday night, successfully not thinking about what Monday brings.

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Gleefulreader
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Catching up on #photoadaynov16 with a multi-day post. Here is my #latestbookishbuy (yesterday) with one of my four #readingcompanions (the three felines declined to be photographed today) where I am #thankfulfor the fact that I get to live this life - with an amazing, solid family and security - a life I never imagined as a child or my years as a foster kid. I am also exceedingly grateful for this community of fellow book lovers. ❤️❤️❤️

CherylDeFranceschi ❤️🐶! 8y
BookishMarginalia 💜💜💜 8y
Cinfhen Sooo cute ❤️🐶🐾 8y
See All 7 Comments
RealLifeReading Love your post! And what a cutie! 8y
lisakoby ❤️❤️❤️ 8y
thec0zy What a ham 🐶😍 8y
Bette 💙🐶💜 8y
53 likes7 comments
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bookloversnevergotobedalone
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Pickpick
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Andyhunter777
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Two people told me yesterday (at bkbf) that Nine Island is their "new favorite book."

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shawnmooney
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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A starred review in Publishers Weekly. A seemingly heartfelt blurb from Lauren Groff. I can't decide if that's enough to get me to try it or not.

Cinfhen Nope, not enough to sway me🙄 8y
KarenUK I live in south Florida, so I think I'll give it a try.... 8y
BookishMarginalia I'm on the fence too. 8y
Gleefulreader Oh, I have no idea what it is about but I do love the cover. 8y
36 likes4 comments
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Alyson_Sinclair
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Pickpick

Happy pub day to Jane Alison's NINE ISLAND! This Miami Herald review is a nice way to celebrate . . .

"Quite an achievement, a comic novel about a woman of a certain age as she contemplates embracing a not-altogether-unwelcome spinsterhood. . . . While these are not the circumstances that ordinarily beckon modern readers, even sophisticated ones, let me assure you that the pages of this marvel flow like water."

MrBook Nice review! And welcome to @Litsy ! Please enjoy your stay 😎👍🏻. 8y
11 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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bookloversnevergotobedalone
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Reading in the waiting room.

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bookloversnevergotobedalone
Nine Island | Jane Alison

Reading in the waiting room.

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bookloversnevergotobedalone
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Making good progress on my TBR go this month. Just started Nine Island 🤓

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CatapultStory
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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"Wonderful. . . . With echoes of Molly Bloom's soliloquy and Iris Murdoch's THE SEA, THE SEA, Alison has forged a haunting and emotionally precise portrait, a beautiful reminder that solitude does not equal loneliness." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) of Jane Alison's NINE ISLAND, forthcoming SEPTEMBER 13th

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megfab
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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Pickpick

I really, really loved this book. It surprised me in lots of inexplicable ways. She perfectly captures the slow decay of Miami, and our own little lives. I would call this a sleeper hit for fall.

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bookloversnevergotobedalone
Nine Island | Jane Alison
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So glad to get a copy of this from Catapult

16 likes5 stack adds