pickA historical thriller based on a true crime during the Gilded Age in Minnesota. Background is three young women staying at the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers.
Alas, perhaps the first American serial killer is in their midst. Harry T. Hayward (c. 1865 - December 11, 1895) a man of status living a secret life as a gambler, arsonist, & murderer, and suspected serial killer the "Minneapolis Svengali" based on his ability to charm, con & manipulate.
pickLargely set in a haunted bookstore, the actual ghost is but a fraction of what looms over and around Tookie… addiction, incarceration, “rehabilitation” vs isolation; generational traumas both cultural and personal; the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.
It‘s a lot to unpack.
But worth the emotional time and effort.
(I love this Italian cover. It's so thoroughly wrong.)
Is Litsy turning me into a person who can understand literary fiction? Or has literary fiction just changed for the better? This is complex yet also so readable. Tookie is one of those unforgettably real narrators, and the old and new traumas she processes as she struggles through 2020 are infinitely resonant.
#BS July
bailedWell, I really enjoyed the last Eskens but this....just not for me. An overwhelming male cast, all of whom are blah to unlikeable imho. Then there is all the sex-violence-death and I'm just not into it, thanks. It already featured in his other book but at least that seemed more quintessential to the plot. This seems like it's for “flavour“ but the flavour is giving one note and it's getting old.
pickI‘ve been wanting to read Louise Erdrich for a while now and I went into this blind. It took a bit to sort out who/what the story was about but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. Might be worth a reread in 10-20 years to relive 2019/2020. I currently have 2 books going with ghosts involved in the plot which is quite unusual for me 👻
pickFirst,I‘d like to thank Goodreads for picking me as a winner to receive a copy of this book.Second-I‘ve decided to try really hard to never read the book reviews before I read a book.The reviews on this book almost had me convinced not to read it.I‘m so glad that I took a chance,because I ended up really enjoying it.It‘s a story about growing and leaning.Its about hitting rock bottom and bouncing back.This author did a great job on her first novel
Because books, the good ones, the ones you hold on to and come back to, they never disappoint. They're the best kind of escape because, instead of leading you away from your-self, they end up circling you back to yourself, nice and easy, helping you see things not just as they are, but as you are too.
pickI didn‘t review this book right after finishing it, which I always regret…but I regret it even more this time because The Sentence was FABULOUS & I should be doing it justice! The first chapter almost feels like it belongs to a different book (which is a pointed statement about how people change & how they stay the same); if you‘re not feeling it, keep reading. The writing knocked my socks off. First Erdrich for me and it won‘t be the last! 🤩
A rare B&N shop today! I had to have a paper copy of The Sentence to reread because I enjoyed the audio so much. I read the Forster so long ago I remember nothing and realized it wasn‘t on my shelves to revisit. (Culls happen. 😏) Ceremony has been TBR for quite awhile and Flatlands was an impulse buy, but seems promising. 🤞🏾
