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There‘s a fine line between artful, poetic prose and contrived obfuscation. This is on the wrong side of the line.

One of the most satisfying (quite literally) conclusions I‘ve ever read.

A book about two parents dealing with the deaths of their children. I find myself between a pick and so-so. A pick because there are some truly exquisite passages. In particular, the mother's section at the end. There is a three-page description of a relationship with pain that's heartbreaking. But, so-so because this is definitely "contemporary fiction" (the only class I loathed on my way to my English degree). Contemporary fiction...continued ?

Here is my #tbr for #feistyfeb! I don't usually have books picked out in advanced, but maybe that will keep me focused. Plus, four of these books just came in for me at the library, and the wait has been long. I don't want to have to wait again! Though most are on the shorter side, it may be a bit ambitious...but a girl has to have goals, right?!?

My Favorite Books of 2016

No. 10: Fish in Exile by Vi Khi Nao. How could we use normal words to talk about grief? We must be weird. There must be jellyfish.

This is really, really good. Plucking a string of Anne Carson and a string of Clarice Lispector for a very strange, very memorable, chord about grief.

How do you bear the death of a child? With fish tanks, jellyfish burials, Persephone's pomegranate seeds, and affairs with the neighbors. A dark book with a hopeful spin on grief.
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Did you like Kang's The Vegetarian or Porter's Grief Is The Thing With Feathers? This somewhat similar book from @coffeehousepress has been getting rave reviews, among a starred Publisher's Weekly review and an excerpt in Lit Hub! So excited to read!

I've finally narrowed down my #readathon pile........ On the left we have the books I'm in the middle of. On the right are the future books I'll be in the middle of. I'm super hyped bc I'm going to help host for a couple hours that night!! What are you most looking forward to reading? And where in the world should I start?

I'm reading this next. It matches the cat.

Fish in Exile is published by Coffee House Press, who recently joined Litsy. Follow them for some of my favorite books, the bravest ones. @coffeehousepress