so-soI really liked the "Appalachian noir" setting of this novel, and I enjoyed the beginning. But somehow the suspense didn't keep up all the way through, and I ended up a bit uninvolved and under-invested in the characters.
Perhaps it would have been better if I'd read it in one sitting?
Book 30 of #52Booksin2018
pickNala doesn't understand why anyone would read a book about a non-cat animal.
I however liked it. I've also read "a year with hare", the famous Finnish memoir that inspired this, but I feel like I would have understood beggar& hare more if I'd studied the original in school (as apparently Finnish children do). Still a great read, though!
Book 29 of #52Booksin2018
pickI loved this, although the two halves (visiting her brother on death row; forging a new life in the keys) felt disjointed. Both would be great novellas in their own right!
I especially loved the diving imagery throughout. Read it if you want to be angry, then soothed.
Book 28 of #52Booksin2018
so-soOk I almost never do this but I think I'm #bailing on this....
I usually LOVE Zadie Smith, but I just can't get into this at all. I really wanted to love it! But I don't care about the characters, or their weird autograph fixations. I'll give it another go in a month or so (I'm so far in! But I just can't keep reading it)
Book 27 of #52Booksin2018
pickRead all of Idaho in one sunny weekend on the beach! Gripping and evocative, I didnt want it to end and am still thinking about the characters a week later! Warning, you will want to move to Idaho after reading.
Book 26 of #52Booksin2018
pickWell this book nearly broke me.
I'll admit I didn't like the first few chapters- the mix of voices felt confusing, and I couldn't follow the plot. However, based on the rest of the book I think this was deliberate- the reader has no more insight than the characters, so the revelation shocks us as much as them. The second part was stomach churning, and I couldn't look away.
Book 25 of #52Booksin2018
pickIn my non-litsy life I'm a prof of psychiatric genetics. I spend a lot of time asking 'who gets psychiatric diagnoses, and why?' Some of it is genetics- but as this book brilliantly illustrates, a lot of your risk for disease (& psychiatric disease) is influenced by society, by race, and by racism. A must-read for clinicians, scientists, and anyone who wants to understand our broken healthcare system...
Book 24 of #52Booksin2018
pickAbsolutely loved this epic novel- written and told in the style of a classic British or Russian family saga, but instead telling us about London's first gay bookshop, teenagers taking poppers, and Paul Klee teaching students in the Bauhaus. I always feel like I learned so much from Hensher's novels, and they are completely engrossing!
Go read it!
Book 23 of #52Booksin2018
pickSometimes you need old favourites when you're sick! I can't face the subway without a book, and I've loved rereading these! Sedaris is always excellent. It was especially interesting revisiting his childhood having just read Calypso, and his diaries!
These were Books 21&22 of my #52Booksin2018
pickI've been sick for a few weeks so I dropped behind on posting...
Finally feeling better now and spent the afternoon lying in prospect park. I am LOVING this Tana French!
Book 20 of my #52Booksin2018
