pickSet in Sri Lanka we follow our protagonist Sashi from 1981 to 2009. She's sixteen when we met her, she has 4 brothers and the civil war between the Tamils and Sinhalese is brewing.
This book is brutal and unflinching as you'd expect war to be. The fact this is so recent, and still bubbling away makes this an important read.
Five stars. I couldn't look away.
#12booksof2024 @andrew65
double from me for July " our fathers" by Rebecca Wait for August and Brotherless nights for July.
The latter was a harrowing story of the Sri Lankan civil war told through the voice of a young woman whose 4 brothers are affected in different ways by the conflict.
Our Fathers was a well told story a man coming back to a small Irish island whose arrival brings out ghosts within the community
okay I did it! Once I took out my favorite pure fun books and my favorite nonfiction I have my 12 favorite fiction books of 24.
So many amazing books - a few older ones Talented Mr Ripley really blew me away, along with The Little Friend.
I have mostly US based books, but also New Zealand, Sri Lankan, Netherlands and France.
pickI probably did this book a disservice by racing through it on the last day of the year but what a gorgeous book.
I learned so much about living through the Sri Lankan civil war between 7 Moons and Brotherless Night. This is a perfect pairing if you have read one. 7 Moons is beautifully told, I love the concept and the character of Maali was well chosen.
4.25/5
#Top24in24
Thanks to whoever posted the tip about using this method on pic collage to get 24 books in one post easily.
This was a weird reading year for me looking back. Not as many 5 🌟 reads as last year. A lot more what I consider fluffy or easy reads and about 35 less books in total. A bonus was increased luck on #NetGalley. I am at 191 for the year and might finish one more.
Looking forward to a great year 2025 in books!
pickThe writing is beautiful. I immediately took to the narrator‘s voice and its unusual detached feel. But maybe because of that detachment I wasn‘t immediately emotionally invested. However as the story moved on I became gripped, and also sad and distressed at the fate of Sashi and those around her. The second half was excellent; the final pages such an angry yet reflective look back on the war, that it fully won me over, as did the author‘s note.
pick
“Brotherless Night” is an emotionally-charged novel that follows a family & their experiences during the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from 1983 to 2009.
The book offers a very nuanced look at the lives of civilians who are swept into the eye of a war, whose contours & colours start to blur and become unrecognisable as time goes on. It offers insight into women‘s experiences in war.
