so-soI didn‘t love it…which honestly, comes as a surprise because everything else I‘ve read by Russell I really enjoyed. It has the right ingredients—interesting setting (Dust Bowl), a witch, a sentient scarecrow, a mystery, but…BUT, it‘s ponderous & slow moving, told in multiple POVs which aren‘t all that distinctive, & somehow (impossibly) devoid of emotional depth. I really should have cared about these characters & I just didn‘t. Just a so-so read.
bailedI was glad to have seen some of the somewhat ambivalent reviews of this from other Littens, because it made it easier to bail when it wasn‘t working for me. I gave the audio about an hour and a half and I was just so bored.
pickHistorical fiction steeped in magical realism unfolds here in a pre-technicolor Oz of Uz, NE. Beautifully written with multiple perspectives, the story comes from the titular Antidote, a Prairie Witch practiced in banking memories away from their experiencer, Asphodel, a fearless orphan obsessed with basketball & new love , her uncle, a farmer who finds sudden fortune after Black Sunday, Cleo, a New Deal photographer, a scarecrow & a cat!
pickIn 90's Edmonton, Molly MacGregor dreams of a life worthy of her adored Penguin Classics and of writing The Great Canadian/Edmontonian Novel. But summers selling shoes at West Edmonton Mall and semesters with pretentious English Lit profs don't seem to be cutting it. But this year, she just might find truth and beauty in the place she finds herself.
Charming, witty, and thoroughly delightful. I loved spending time with Molly. Highly recommend!
"Last night, I found myself perusing the shelves in our family library the way one might gaze reflectively into the refrigerator looking for that perfect bedtime snack."
pickBirdie is a single mother who wants change so she moves with her daughter to a remote cabin owned by Arthur, a quiet man he barely knows. The life they find there is reinvigorating but also filled with challenges as they realize there are things about Arthur they don‘t know. I am drawn to books set in Alaska and love Ivey‘s writing. I still didn‘t fully love this book. Perhaps because the end seemed too small for such a fantastical tale.
And…I now interrupt all in-progress reading to start this one. Russell never disappoints, always entertains. Look forward to a great read.
"What's weirder," Eugenie asked, "that Maureen has so many shoe-store guys after her or that they're all named Gordon?"
"Being surrounded by Gordons does seem to be a distinctly Canadian occurrence."
#InGordWeTrust #CanLit
It's possible I have too many books checked out from the library at the moment....
Now Available! 🎉🥳📚
The Antidote- Karen Russell
Book Review- https://www.boleybooks.com//the-antidote/
#boleybooks #TheAntidote #KarenRussell #bookbeast #NetGalley #bookbuds #newbook
