Miranda‘s grandparents are survivors from France. Anna,a doctor, & Armand,an interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials& later the UN,separate after the war, divorce & don‘t speak to &only with hate about one another for fifty years.Miranda goes on a journey to find out why/what happened to them. As much as I wanted to get to the end, this is another book I‘m bailing on. 😢

I did make it to chapter 27 (there are 70 chapters) and I did, really did want to hang in there but I fear I‘m in a reading slump and a 700 page novel is perhaps not the best book to get me out of it.

This book about the hospital Craiglockhart & two of its most famous patients, Siegfried Sassoon & Wilfred Owen, tracks the effects of industrial warfare on soldiers & the origins of PTSD. Shell shock was seen by many commanding officers not as an illness but cowardice& thus punished. It was thanks to physicians such as Dr Rivers who treated the men with compassion that some lucky few found healing. The strongest parts of the book are the poems

I give it a pick although most stories were not for me but that‘s me not the author. The stories feature fugitives,migrants, revolutionaries or widows.The strongest story is The Man. Narrated first in 3rd person, the perspective switches back and forth from “the man” to his “pursuer”. Then it‘s narrated in first person from the perspective of a shepherd.But who is the pursuer&who the pursued? I think overall the stories were too bleak…

I‘m glad I didn‘t bail, almost did a few times.There are 5+ characters who are connected,2 timelines,the story is only told through diary entries,letters or newspaper articles. It‘s a bit boring at the beginning & Sophie&Allen‘s love declarations for one another are a bit too saccharine.I‘m also normally not a fantasy/magical realism fan but this worked for me because the “fantasy elements” were taken from

Katie Holten is an artist who collected poetry, recipes, excerpts from essays, thoughts related to trees. Some are philosophical, some scientific. Authors range from Ross Gay to Ada Limon, Robert MacFarlane, Richard Powers, Plato or Radiohead. I enjoyed reading bits and pieces but overall, I wonder: what is this? I don‘t understand what “a rewilding of literature and landscape” means and what the point of this book is. Not for me.

Adele (a broke &once successful actress),Wendy (an intellectual & once acclaimed writer)&Jude (a former restaurant manager) gather at Sylvie‘s beach home to clean out the house so that Sylvie‘s daughter can sell it. Sylvies‘s death impacts their relationship in ways none of them could have anticipated.They all deal with grief, aging & other losses differently. Wonderfully relatable, beautifully written. Switching points of view is so

We follow Kavanagh as he starts his 2 year tour of duty as Defender at the Wall.The Wall was built to keep water and the Others out of an unnamed country which has been affected less by climate change than the rest of the world,hence,the Others are trying to get in.The ones who make it are either sent back, killed or can become Help=slaves.Life at the Wall is dull,dangerous&cold.yet if you become a Breeder,I.e. start a family

Ireland in the 1950s: A man appears out of nowhere in the night claiming he lost his wife, then says that she drowned. He behaves oddly: seems more excited than distressed. Told through the eyes of different characters this is such a well written and skilfully constructed story. The ending was a bit rushed and weak but it doesn‘t matter, I couldn‘t put the book down. I absolutely loved it.

I‘m not a big fan of ghost or horror stories but for this author I make an exception. Lanchester can scare you, make you laugh and nod your head in agreement at the social commentary in his stories (cell phone addiction, social media, Trump and stupidity or reality TV). My favourite were Coffin Licker, We happy few and Reality.

Warning: contains child abuse. This started out dark& depressing but also powerful. Merry& Sam move to Sweden with their baby Connor. Sam has inherited a house in the woods. Slowly we learn that he‘s a mysoginist but Merry too is no saint. When Frank, Merry‘s best friend,comes to visit, things get worse not better. Initially I thought this was a feminist take on motherhood & marriage borrowing from Bergman films& Stepford Wives, sadly

This is a solid mystery with lots of leads that mislead. I love Vera.She‘s a fantastic character&detective. The reveal is bit disappointing & so was the tedious older-women-are-invisible, unattractive or good looking “for their age” repeated one time too many 🙄. But the strong, reliable characters and the outstanding writing make up for the shortcomings. Would love to watch the series. I wonder if the actress plays Vera as Cleeves envisions her.

I decided to bail after trying for weeks to read Rabbi Sacks‘ essays on morality. I‘m having a hard time getting over some of his conservative views on family and marriage. His essay on media (Unsocial Media) fell flat for me too. I do want to get back to this book sometime later …

I wanted to love this collection but although I did enjoy Creed or The Quiet I was disappointed with many of the stories, especially The Travelers and Wicked Fairy.

Dufour has a background in anthropology and the arts. This book is inspired by her doctoral research-who inhabits Canada? What is their history, who are Canadians? The graphic novel was created with the help of more than fifty Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors. Dufour is “convinced that all inhabitants of the territory should feel concerned by questions of coexistence, equality and social justice.” Sadly, my French is

A brief graphic novel about the abduction, sexual assault and murder of Helen Betty Osborne in the 1970s. It draws attention to the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada and the failure of police/ government to investigate these murder cases and/or protect these women. Henderson‘s artwork is powerful.

Baron emigrated to Palestine in 1910, wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew, yet her stories were not set in her new home but in the world of the East European shtetl. Themes in her short stories are marriage, divorce, death or birth but giving the Jewish woman a voice. Kaddish, Sister or Burying the books are critiques of misogyny in traditional Jewish communities. I loved that Baron‘s Torah and Talmud knowledge shaped her literary work. In the beginning

The story is told mainly through Mr Byrd‘s point of view, a middle aged English man traveling through India after a breakdown in the UK. In the remote mountain town where the English had found respite from the heat in the plains, Byrd also finds an idyllic quiet home in the bungalow near the presbytery. He fills his days driving around town with Jamshed, having dinner with the padre& teaching his young protege Priscilla. But … .

Shortly after Reichskristallnacht,Otto Silbermann boards a train unsure of where to go&what to do.His wife is Aryan,thus safe,& so Otto is on his own.Since he looks Aryan&has money, he can travel without being arrested,yet his passport is already stamped with the infamous J for “Jude”&he cannot leave the country without a permit.The novel relies heavily on Otto‘s thoughts,observations&conversations with other passengers.Hate,indifference is what

It is a pick, yet, if von Schirach was not an established successful author, I don‘t think this would‘ve been published. Coffee and Cigarettes is a collection of thoughts on scenes from films von Schirach watched or thoughts on the death penalty, German politicians smoking (Helmut Schmidt) or lawyers who defended RAF terrorists but also flash fiction, perhaps even auto-fiction. It was a pleasant read but I‘m not sure I‘d recommend it.

It‘s wonderful that Liptrot found a way to live her life without binge drinking self destruction&that her memoir/writing has garnered success.Yet,the first half of the book is heartbreaking&exhausting.The second half,set on the islands of Orkney,where she grew up but doesn‘t feel she really belongs&where she finds stability/some form of healing(for lack of a better word), are a fine blend of nature writing& introspection.But it was very heavy&sad.

Elín,makes props for theater&films,is “mother to no one”& has no family. She lives in an old house she remodeled,with a tenant,yet I‘m not sure if the tenant is real or imagined. Especially towards the end reality,memory& imagination seem to blur. On her latest job she works on a play written by Ellen, the illegitimate daughter of a famous Finnish author. The girl is as lonely as Elín& she starts stalking her. There‘s something that

I thought Hadley is not for me,then I listened to the most recent The New Yorker Fiction Podcast: Savaş reads& discusses Hadley‘s An Abduction & her thoughts on Hadley‘s writing, in particular what happens inside of her characters made me want to read her again. I picked up this short story collection & am still not getting the genius of After the funeral which I had first read in the New Yorker but I loved Old Friends, Mia & My mother‘s wedding.

I tried, yes, I tried to hang in there but if I hear the name Jennifer & the words pineapple& ylang-ylang one more time I‘ll scream. Saul is a young historian with an artist girlfriend-Jennifer-living in 1980s London. He gets hit by a car,Jennifer breaks up with him, Saul goes to East Berlin to do some research, Saul talks about Stalin, falls in love with Walter, sleeps with his sister Luna which is short for lunatic, leaves east Berlin because

The story of women-mothers,daughters, grandmothers,friends-is first told through the eyes of Ruth. Her daughter Eleanor is a drug addict and no matter how much Ruth tries,she cannot help her& her love is unrequited-love missed. Then Lily, Eleanor‘s daughter, comes into Ruth‘s life&the love these 2 feel for one another is beautiful, almost too idyllic. And there are also Ruth‘s many girlfriends&her female students.The writing is wonderful

Ken Smith chronicles his 40 years living off the grid first in Canada&Alaska then in Scotland where he worked as a gillie&built his own wood cabin on his employer‘s land.Will Millard wrote the memoir but it‘s based on Ken‘s diary&conversations with Ken,often excerpts of the diary are interspersed.Millard deftly captures Ken‘s voice.He comes across as a man of the highest integrity,kind&brave&most of all with a deep love of the wild&wildlife.

1901-1902:Ada is an unmarried woman in her late 20s.She starts teaching in a small remote town after she was removed from her previous school because of an incident.The first half is about Ada settling in&finding a friend/love interest in Agatha.There‘s some back story-her sister,her father,the incident-before things start to get weird.This is marketed as feminist horror.I‘m not sure what it is&what to think which is why I rated it so-so:it‘s gory

Levine writes about working class people as in My Brother, Antonio, the baker,remembers family members as in Yenkl or a dead friend in Storms. But he also writes about the lyrical I in nature as in Gospel which to me is an outstanding poem.Its rhythm,the pauses,the clear,transparent diction.”I didn‘t come for answers to a place like this, I came to walk”-love the line.Not all poems were emotionally resonant,but overall a great collection.

I knew only Tabula rasa by Pärt when I came across this graphic novel at the library and knew nothing about his life. The black and white drawings, lines and notes capture the sound of his minimalist techniques. I enjoyed learning about Pärt‘s background, beliefs and dissent and the composers and music that influenced his later compositions. It makes me want to listen to more music he wrote.

We are f-d sums up what I think after reading personal accounts of believers or members of the movement and their families.According to those who have let themselves get sucked into QAnon madness, Trump is waging war against pedophile elite Satan worshippers(guess who they are)&while he might not have started the movement he also did nothing to stop it-au contraire.I have NO empathy for believers, it‘s like saying fascists and Nazis

“You are here” could have been saccharine or cliched but it isn‘t.I loved Michael and Marnie,their flirty banter,jokes&conversations about love,life &death.So many passages were laugh out loud funny, especially the “Twisted Nights” orgy novel she copy-edits during the trip. It felt like reading Jane Austen or E.M. Forster if they decided to write romance& lived and wrote today. Loved the ending too.I hope they turn the novel into a Netflix series.

Set during Nazi occupation,a young Dutch couple,Wim and Marie,hide a Jewish man who calls himself Nico in their house.When Nico dies from natural causes & Marie makes a mistake,the couple fully understand what Nico experienced living like a prisoner waiting for the world to change.The novella focuses on the daily routines&inner lives of its 3 protagonists&despite not going into much depth¬ telling a thrilling story,it affects the reader bc it‘s

Set amidst the Covid pandemic, the narrator experiences sharp pain but waits 5 days to seek medical attention.He ends up hospitalised while the doctors are trying to figure out what caused the tear in his aorta.In less able hands this could have turned into a dull disaster but Greenwell is a poet, wonderful writer and his insights, memories, poetry analyses and observations are a pleasure to read. I didn‘t love all of it but it is a pick for me.

There are no words. 😢

Part 2: I bail. Too much backstory, too slow for me. I no longer care what happened, who did it and why. Moving on to another book.

While the main focus is on how to draw animals, plants and landscapes (step by step instructions), the first 100 pages introduce the reader to writing about nature. The goal of nature journaling is to see, to remember and to stimulate curiosity, to move through the world with joy. Pay attention not only to the happenings in the natural world, but also to the happenings within you. Write with the goal of knowing yourself and the world better. 🥰

Brilliant,cleverly written. But I‘m sure this is not for everyone. Especially the first story Other people‘s lives with its despicable characters and long conversations either amuses or annoys the reader or does both. All stories are heavily Jewish themed in particular Jews of NYC in the 1960s and 1970s. I enjoyed the stories, don‘t have a favourite. I do want to read more of what Kaplan wrote, I think she's best known for her novel…

I bought a Flame Tree journal and now am ready for journaling. Any journaling prompt site recommendations?

My first Ann Cleeves mystery. I liked the remote island and the storm as backdrop for the story. I didn‘t guess who did it but found the ending of who and why a bit far-fetched. Overall, it works as a crime novel,especially now that fall is here -island,storm,rain- and I really liked the detective, Matthew Venn. It‘s definitely an entertaining story and great main character.

What can I say that hasn‘t been said already?It‘s a book of unspeakable pain dealing with exile,life under and after dictatorship, inter generational trauma and torture. It‘s infuriating how little is also known about Italy‘s oppression and Mussolini‘s atrocities committed in Libya. The fact that Tony Blair shook hands with Gaddafi and his as well as Britain‘s ‘relations‘ with the regime went even further is just inconceivable…

I tried but I don‘t like Gonzalo, I don‘t like Carla and I don‘t like the humour. Some parts are funny others just feel forced and silly. Zambra can write, especially steamy scenes but this book or maybe even this author is just not for me.

The narrator is Maurice,an old Irish farmer.We sit with him at the bar where he toasts to 5 dead people he loves&who shaped his life.We learn about his family,childhood,wife& son,Kevin, who now lives in the US.Kevin is the one Maurice imagines talking to. Funny, sweet,sad.I highly recommend audio.I switched to print at one point& missed Niall Buggy so much I went back to relisten to what I‘d read.He does a wonderful job bringing Maurice to life.

My grandparents were peasants but sadly spoke little about their lives.I‘ve always been drawn to agriculture:I worked a season as grape picker in France&on a mountain hut in Austria milking cows but I always had a romanticized view of peasant life.I loved this book,which gets quite philosophical at times.Although I didn‘t learn about my own ancestors I have an idea what my grandparents lives could have been like& there‘s nothing romantic about it.

How do you go on living if the worst thing happens to you?Fuller writes with passion and intensity about the death of her son Fi. Deeply moving but also witty, it is her grief journey she shares with us - it‘s not always doom& gloom. ♥️

I don‘t think this has ever happened to me but I didn‘t enjoy any of the stories or perhaps I didn‘t get what kind of stories Swift wants to tell?England is the one I liked the most bc of its premise:a coast guard in Exmoor on his way to work in the early morning hours stops to help a driver gone off road because of a deer but how the story evolves&the ending were dissatisfying as I just don‘t understand what it‘s about.Well written but not for me

I‘m halfway through&could hang in there to the end but I don‘t have the patience anymore.The reason why I bail is: I wish Junger had written more as the person who experienced it&less as the journalist. Also there are pages that read as if taken straight from a text book for medical students. True there are a lot of personal moments but Junger lost me once he got into medical history. It‘s time to move on to another book.

I loved the first 100 pages&then it was too much.A drug addicted mom fails at mugging tourists,a jewelry heist,the murder of a family,an attempted suicide-the guy has blood all over him but doesn‘t talk-,back flashes to many other cases already solved.It all comes somehow together at the end but Kerrigan lost me along the way. I didn‘t care about the characters or the detectives… just too much going on for a crime novel.

The Peace Institute in the Middle East collected contributions by Israeli & Palestinian teachers & historians into a history of Israel & Palestine since the establishment of the State of Israel that you can read side by side. The book ends with the second Intifada. It provides the reader with context & helped me understand the conflict. Sadly, it also makes it clear that there will never be peace.

Ireland 1990s in the year before divorce was legalized.The story of 3 women:Colette is a poet who left her husband&sons to live a free life but returns disillusioned to the small town where she desperately tries to reconnect with her children.Izzy is unhappily married to a man who pursues his career but controls her pushing her into a life confined to their home.And then there‘s Dolores married to Donal,a cruel predatory man.👇

This is a “because of me not the book” bail. I‘m just not in the right mindset to get into the story and time it is set in.