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Still in Nice!
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Reading Akin has brought back memories of our stay in Nice last year. We visited many of the places mentioned. And I just realised we were staying only a few minutes from the Hotel Excelsior!
This photo was taken on the roof of the MAMAC, in the reflection you can see the hill MC Noah climbed to visit his grandparents' grave.

I have devoured this book and am literally so sad that there is so little left. Will be posting my 5-star review far too soon 😢

It was good. Kept my interest, though it wasn‘t terribly fast-moving. I sure did dislike the kid, though

A comforting read about 80 year old Noah who takes in his 11 year old great nephew as emergency foster carer. Noah is a middle class science academic, Michal a tough, streetwise kid living in borderline poverty. They travel to Nice for Noah to reflect on his childhood and a mystery about what Noah‘s mother got up to during the war. This wasn‘t as brilliant as Room, but is a sweet story of the bond that forms between Noah and Michael.

I really don‘t need any more books right now given my huge TBR pile...do I?! Well, I had a birthday voucher to spend and we always need more books don‘t we?! Can‘t wait to get started on this stack. Just need to actually find some reading time now😳

On the cusp of his 80th birthday and only lifetime trip to his native Nice, which he left as a small child, Noah suddenly becomes the caretaker of his great nephew Michael, a kid largely without an anchor. This is not a new story, but Donoghue tells it well and twines in the tale of Noah learning about his family‘s past. I didn‘t love it, but I enjoyed it.

Enjoying this great book and a bit of ☀️ . And I‘m also hiding from the kids ...you haven‘t seen me 🙈

This was a sweet story. I enjoyed watching Noah and Michael slowly warm up to each other.
Emma Donoghue writes protagonists with different perspectives really well.
I loved Room so much for this reason.
Akin is more subtle and I think it doesn‘t compare to Room, but it‘s a nice story.

Deserves more attention: 2 excellent distant relatives 69 years apart but strangers until thrown together. Donoghue captures the nostalgia & regrets of aging and the confidence & nonchalant attitude of a preteen determined to not be seen as pitiable. Donoghue deftly tackles current social issues & the complex nature of living in Nazi-occupied France yet keeps the story intimate. The two discovering points of similarities often had me laughing.

Didn‘t really like it. Wasn‘t that invested in the story. I know I was supposed to feel bad for the kid, but he was just annoying

I really enjoyed this book about an older gentleman, Noah, who takes custody of his 11 year old grand nephew. They go on a pre-planned trip to Nice, France to explore Noah‘s mother‘s role in WWII, building their relationship along the way. A few plot holes, but an enjoyable book.

Read this one for book club and fell in love with it. Such a sweet relationship between a young boy and an old man.

One of the book clubs at my library branch is reading this and it was a good time to pick it up. I am thoroughly enjoying the writing and the main character telling the story. #currentlyreading #bookclub

I have devoured everything Emma Donoghue has ever written. This offering felt a little clumsier in places than some of her other books but I still enjoyed it on the whole. A seventy-nine year old man brings an eleven year old nephew he has just met to Nice for a week and hijinks ensue. It's a tale about family connections, WWII intrigue and human relationships.

Reading and watching the sunset in this first day of 2020. 😍📚

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm curled up at a cottage with a stack of books and a warm fire. Life feels pretty good right now!

Brilliant book.

Kind of bizarre reading about sunny Nice huddled under a fluffy blanket listening to the rain hit the window.

...this snapshot had none of the picturesque aspects that centuries of artists had captured: the skirts, the parasol, the human flow.

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Noah is asked to look after the son of his nephew, an 11 year old he's never met, when the child's grandma dies. The two meeting highlights the different worlds within New York.

#MOvember I havnt read yet , but I believe the character Noah is about to embark on his first trip back to Nice sinse he was a child ... but, the #future has other plans for him. Such is life .... I‘m looking forward to reading Akin. It will be my first by this author

Currently reading

⭐️⭐️

It pains me to report that this is a hot mess. In my notes I have written : Pretentious wind bagging, Wikipedia entries disguised as novel, Stop saying Dude ! , it‘s not exciting to read about characters googling historical information, lonely planet guide to Nice ?. There is just not enough story here and it is criminally boring ! At this point Emma Donoghue and I part company.

Akin defined as related by blood or a play on words of 'a kin', which describes this new Emma Donohue book. Here, we have a retired professor in his late 70's reluctantly bestowed guardianship of his eleven year old rebellious great grandnephew. Together, they uncover family secrets that occurred during World War 2 in France while trying to connect as a family unit.

“How come there‘s no sand?”
“I don‘t know,” Noah said. “It‘s all pebbles around Nice.”

(Photo: me on the beach in Nice in 2004.)

His potty-mouthed 11-yr-old great-nephew is a last-minute addition to the travel plans of a pedantic 79-yr-old science professor. Never mind the age gap, they‘ve only just met, so it‘s awkward spending a week together in France. The dialogue is excellent; “kay” for yes, “I‘m good” for “no.” There‘s a bit of WWII resistance mystery & some humour in this quiet contemporary novel about relationships & family history. #CanadianAuthor

I was looking for a photo of me in Nice to go with my review of the tagged book and instead I found a photo of me caught at an awkward moment while talking to the very gracious Emma Donoghue. This was taken at the Lambda Literary Awards in New York in 2011, when my sweetie‘s first collection of poetry was shortlisted.

He tugged a magazine out of the seat pocket: Plaisirs d‘Azur. It was bland, gushy stuff about “le lifestyle des expats.” He puzzled over what distinguished an expat from an immigrant; it seemed the word was reserved for whites from the West who decamped to sunnier climes.

…they got ice cream from Fenocchio, the gelateria that claimed to have more than a hundred flavours. Noah chose olive, simply because he‘d never find it anywhere else. Several licks in, he decided that there was a good reason ice cream was rarely flavoured with olives, but he couldn‘t face getting in line again.

Emma Donoghue is one of my all time favorite writers. No 2 of her books are ever alike. The scope of her creativity is truly amazing and the depth and breadth of research she does when writing fiction that contains true historical elements is awe-inspiring. In this she recounts the heroics of the Marcel Network who saved hundreds of children from death at the hands of the Nazis in Nice. Magnificent. 4⭐️

This ARC was a delightful surprise on my doorstop - surprise free #bookmail cannot be beat!
This sounds like a family history digging into previously unknown WWII connections for the MC. It‘s going on top of my TBR for sure. I mean, it‘s Emma Donoghue!