Yesterday was a day filled with walking and I spent some time alone visiting Hatchard‘s, Daunt Books and Books on the Water (an absolutely lovely bookstore in a river barge). The tagged book is a signed edition from Daunt. I am fortunate to have an exceedingly understanding husband (plus bonus money that I earn judging trampoline gymnastics) that allowed me to splurge. Best book trip ever!

What happens when a Canadian who loves smaller press and translated fiction hits London, finds used books by the Thames, goes to Brick Lane Books *and* Blackwell‘s in Oxford? This happens (oh, and I still have Daunt Books and Hatchards before we leave). And even better? Three of them are signed editions!

I couldn‘t sleep last night so I pulled out my kindle and read this short novella. It was a perfect choice as it is a gentle and touching story of a Jewish child who is hidden in Belgium during World War II. Despite its subject matter, it was neither saccharine nor overly sentimental, nor filled with horror. Instead it is a book about hope and sacrifice and the goodness of many everyday people. It was a perfect read for the current climate.

Well, this was a delight. It is most definitely “experimental” fiction, often absurd and chaotic. Told in short vignettes, the unnamed narrator has stayed in her parents‘ large home, which her married siblings covet. The narrator is a misanthrope and she desperately wishes to leave her small town. One day a visitor comes to stay - although we are never told what the visitor is (Human? Dog? A manifestation of the narrator‘s depression?) Con‘t ⬇️

I wasn‘t quite sure what to make of this book - the story of a friendship between the Narrator and his lifelong friend Fanny, a woman with mental health struggles. The Narrator - who clearly cares for Fanny - writes about her as though she is a study sometimes. However, the last part of the book really clicked for me and how it looks at what mental health/illness means and a glimpse from the other side.

Took my time finishing this one as I wasn‘t really ready for my time with the Thursday Murder Club to be over (for now). I have found myself enjoying these books far more for the friendships and relationships and the author‘s observations of aging than the mystery itself (although those are fun too!) This book actually made me tear up, which is a rarity for me. A series I will revisit for sure.

This was a fun and delightful bit of twist, mind-bending interlinked short stories. It starts with a mix up where a man gets his first cell phone and begins receiving phone calls for a famous movie star. It then tears off in other directions and touches on what is fact and fiction. While the tone is consistent, no two stories are similar, despite the connections. Fun!

I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It is the story of Marie-Antoinette as told through her own voice in a rambling, interior voice. I liked that it attempted to give her some substance but found that it never really found its place. The author has an extensive afterward where she attempts to explain her intent, and I couldn‘t help but think if it required that many pages to explain to the reader, it didn‘t really work.

I‘ve been having the greatest reading adventures lately - diving into older works and translations and generally reading outside the mainstream North American publishing world. This collection of short stories by Gogol dives into the absurdity of life in pre-revolution Russia with its rigid hierarchy and social norms. The stories are sly and humorous and pokes fun at the establishment. Very much enjoyed!

This book of short stories (indeed, most were under 10 pages) was a terrific, albeit heartbreaking read. The author is Bosnian and lived in the former Yugoslavia worker as a journalist and writer during the war. His stories focus on the disruptiveness and impact of the war both directly and indirectly, and the cost to relationships between people and their land. The final story, The Library, affected me deeply. Recommended!

I whipped through this book in less than a day. The narrator is married to a much older man, and for a couple of weeks finds herself engaging in an affair with a younger man while sequestered for jury duty. It touches on lots of areas - from the ways in which the law works and doesn‘t work, the difficulties of juries, the nature of large age gap relationships, and the fallout of an affair. The author herself was married to a much older man… ⬇️

I absolutely adore the cover of this edition, and I quite enjoyed the book for its unique style of telling the story of a plot of land over generations. Mason captured the ways in which the land has changed and had change forced upon it - and the ways in which the land remembers its history. Occasionally had a few too many coincidences and supernatural for my preference, but overall a pick!

It‘s been a run of so-so books lately. This is a slim volume of short stories and what is described as a “novella” but really just seems to be a slightly longer short story. Some of the stories really worked - with The Hedges being the highlight of the book for me. However, the writing is off-kilter and dissonant and sometimes uncomfortable to read or dissect, with wild phrases that I occasionally found challenging.

I am having difficulty in rating this book. It is a frank look at the unexamined history of those who collaborated with the Nazis in France and their lives, the secrets they carried and the impact of that history on their family. My problem stems from the fact that this is supposedly a fictional novel based on the author‘s family and at times it read more like non-fiction than fiction. It is almost as though the author couldn‘t commit. ⬇️

This is a book that hit the right note for me. A short volume, in reprint, it js written as a series of letters from the narrator to an unnamed friend describing her predicament. Her husband has left her, leaving her in an expensive apartment in New York with their daughter and her teenage stepdaughter that she despises. Blackwood does not shy away from making her main character‘s thoughts and actions morally reprehensible. More in comments ⬇️

I have Torres‘ Blackouts on my TBR shelf, but first I wanted to start with one of his earlier novels. Three brothers are raised in near poverty by the parents and have a close, but brutal relationship to each other borne out of love and violence. The chapters are short set pieces and some work better than others, but the book races to a climax that in some ways felt forced and unnecessary. Torres lacked finesse and subtlety in this volume.

The beginning of this year has seen me continuing my journey through small press and translated fiction. This is the story of a Norwegian girl who goes on a school semester in Australia where she ends up living in a renovated brewery with another girl. The brewery has only thin walls and the borders between the girls and sound and reality blur. While it was an interesting exploration of intimacy and loneliness it didn‘t fully work for me.

Here we go! Joining the #readlesmis read-along and finally knocking this one off my TBR.

Ooh - this book was so good. I went into it not knowing much about it and was delightfully surprised. It is a post-apocalyptic zombie novel - but a *literary* post-apocalyptic zombie novel. As such, it is a beautiful meditation on life and memory and the nature of being, but with some moments that are somewhat humorous or make you go “huh”. Highly recommended!

This is the third and final novel in the De Luca trilogy and unfortunately it was a bit of a pass for me. It picks up a few years after the second novel, and the cliffhanger from that novel is not fully explained. De Luca has been demoted to the vice unit in Bologne where he again falls into a homicide case. While the politics of the time are interesting, the plot felt weak and it also ended on a cliffhanger with no further books in the series.

This book definitely lived up to the buzz. Elena‘s daughter has been found dead, and she doesn‘t believe it was suicide. In a single day, despite her Parkinson‘s, she traverses the city to the only person she believes can help. I do not want to give too much away, but it is a stinging indictment of the church and attitudes towards women, who holds control and the attitudes and hate women internalize. Definitely reading more Pineiro!

This was my first finished book of the year and gotta say this one just really didn‘t work for me. Gisler is a Swiss writer and yet I kept feeling like the book was Japanese fiction as it had that feeling to it. A brother and sister care for their nearly feral, mostly housebound uncle. Sadly, I just didn‘t see the point.

It was absolutely lovely to end off 2024 with this book, one of my favourites for the whole year. Ruth steps in and takes responsibility for her granddaughter Lily, as her daughter Eleanor is a drug addict. This is such a gentle story of a woman leading a hard life, who keeps going and offers the best of herself to her granddaughter. Beautiful and heartbreaking and a rare book that brought me to tears.

This is the second in the De Luca trilogy. Again, it is a book that uses a mystery framework to offer a slice of Italian history, this time set just after WW2 and the fall of Mussolini. Commissario De Luca is on the run and hiding his identity, fearing reprisals for his time in the secret police. He is discovered and he must help solve a crime in exchange for his release. The shifting morals and allegiances are quite interesting. #europacollective

Another book I finished in 2024, and continuing my interest in translations. This was a story of relationships told in alternating perspectives. Julia has gone missing. We then see the many sides of her through the people in her life - her ex-husband, her ex-sister-in-law, her best friend… and we hear from Julia herself in the afterlife. I enjoyed seeing how Julia perceived herself and its very different interpretation of those around her.

Interesting short novel, the first of a trilogy, set in Italy just prior to the end of WW2. The story is a mystery, but what is far more interesting about Commisario De Luca‘s story is its setting, where Mussolini and fascism is on the verge of falling and the elite and other supporters are desperately attempting to build relationships to survive the upcoming transition. A fascinating slice of history wrapped in a mystery. #europacollective

I received this book for Christmas from my wish list and I wasn‘t disappointed. It is the story, told in short chapters, of the narrator‘s experience of living in temporary assisted housing for young people with mental illness. It explores themes of the uneven division of power, what it means to be mentally ill, and where does helping cross into abuse. A fascinating short novel.

This is a short novella by a grandson of Che Guevara that expresses the disillusionment and lost promise of the revolution in Cuba. Playing on the theme of a “scratched record” that repeats, it is written as 33 very short chapters. While I thought it had potential, I found the repetition of the scratched record theme somewhat annoying. #europacollective #booksintranslation

This is a strange book - although that can probably be said of all of Ernaux‘s books on some level. Each chapter begins with a photograph snapped during her love affair with the co-author. Both Ernaux and Marie then write, separately, about the photograph giving context and meaning and placing it in time. Ernaux had just been diagnosed with breast cancer when the affair began, and the idea of mortality is a through line through the book. More ⬇️

I very much enjoyed this book, tearing through it in a single night. The narrator has a fever, during which she plumbs her memories of a handful of people from her life. This is very much a character book, with no driving narrative except for how relationships form, change and fall apart. I found the choice of the final chapter somewhat jarring, but I think it worked in terms of perspective on the narrator‘s other relationships. Thoughtful!

Of late, I have been drawn to more “literary” or “challenging” books and this one certainly challenged me! These stories are spare and minimalist and require work of the reader. All of them deal with the lives and experiences of women and the way they interact with the world, in ways both big and small. While some of the stories were opaque in their meaning, I think this is a book that would be served well by being re-read.

This was a fast read - a novella really - about a woman who is a second wife, and her obsession with her husband‘s former wife. She is also step-mother to his two older children. The book rips along - the husband is a bit of a blow hard, the former wife seems faultless, the step children have a good relationship with the new wife, and yet the new wife cannot seem to control her impulses leading to a wild ending.

This is one of those slower books that examines the long-lasting trauma on one man. The main character is writing a letter to his daughter with whom he has not had a relationship most of her life. He is a former alcoholic and the letter is a telling of the story that led him to this place - he was a young man in the British Army stationed in Belfast during the troubles where an incident occurred. More in comments ⬇️

I had expectations of this book going in based on many indie bookstores including it in their year end round up, but I didn‘t love it. Perhaps a lot of the symbolism and meaning went over my head, but I just couldn‘t understand the main characters reasoning for fixating on killing her former roommate and how that related to the unknown continuous movement/earthquakes that have occurred. I finished the book confused.

Another one from the Ghost Story Collection. I quite enjoyed this particular story, centred on the belief that the dead can be disturbed in their sleep through a modern railway. A fun, quick read!

I‘m really loving the Little Clothbound Classic series and how it introduces me to lesser known works. This short story collection was particularly good with many of the stories really standing out. In particular I found the title story, Moonlight, Happiness, Madame Husson‘s Rose King and especially Boule de Suif to be exceptional and thought provoking.

We read this for a book club I‘m in… it isn‘t the type of book that would usually attract me. Margo is in her 60s when her second husband dies suddenly and she finds that she is left with nothing as he gambled it away. She is unused to doing anything for herself so this is essentially a coming of age for seniors. Lots of quirky characters and everything always works out. I can see the appeal as it is charming and funny but just a little too twee.

Another book in translation… this one centres on Saga - a woman who wakes from a grand mal seizure with chunks of memory missing for key events - such as why her and her husband are divorced. The book is an exploration of family dynamics and secrets, trauma and repression. Overall a good book, even when I couldn‘t always feel sympathy for Saga.

More from the Christmas Ghost Story series. I really enjoyed this one and while not specifically about Christmas, there is a message that makes this a particularly appropriate story for the holidays. Looking forward to the next one!

I‘m really enjoying this series of ghost stories for Christmas although admittedly this was not my favourite. I just didn‘t find it engaging enough. Still, sort of like an advent calendar, a fun way to enjoy the time before the holidays.

This slim book had a slightly menacing quality from the first page. Set on a slaughterhouse in Brazil, it primarily follows Edgar, the man responsible for “stunning” the cattle who takes his job seriously, blessing each cow that passes by him. It examines the violence and madness that such a job entails - and the (for many) unacknowledged reality of how the meat gets to your table and the sacrifice of those who make it happen.

This was a low pick for me. Bourdouxhe was a writer in France prior to and after WWII. Most of these stories focus on the experience of women around this time. I found there were a few stories that really grabbed my interest, and a few that didn‘t (not unlike a lot of short story collections). I am really enjoying diversifying and reading more in translation and non-contemporary works.

This was a recent read for book club and… yeah. It purports to be about what would happen if you could do your relationship over again (as my friend said, a Life After Life- type book), except that it is not. There is cannibalism which is over the top and a hammer-like metaphor for an all-consuming love. This book grew out of the author‘s own relationship (yes, one of the characters is named Myriam) and MFA process and it *really* shows.

I think that when a book makes it to the process of translation, perhaps there is a greater expectation of that book‘s worth. Ultimately, I found this just to be another horror story of the way that a man, with deep distrust, paranoia and mental health issues, is violent and destroys the woman he “loves”. It is not a story that says anything unique about Russia as it is a story found in every culture and offers nothing new.

In many ways a difficult read, due to the subject matter. We follow the narrator - a young woman born to famous parents and grandmother, who have been cold and distant with her her entire life. After a bad breakup with an older Director, she heads to Montana where she meets with another older man who diagnoses her inability to feel pain. The story quickly turns dark as she finds herself in yet another dysfunctional relationship. Con‘t in comments

Another book in translation. I was intrigued with the origins of these stories - each based on the artwork that precedes each story in the collection - and the idea that a story based on an artwork takes the story being told by the original artist in an entirely new direction. That said, while I enjoyed the first several stories, I found later stories and essays just too abstract and difficult to parse for my liking.

Last of the recently read books. Another one from the Biblioasis Christmas Ghost Stories. This one is about the haunting of a small cottage that a woman lets for her aunt in a small village. Ghostly happenings ensue! The delightful thing about these books is the lack of gore or true horror… just a quick ghostly story suitable for almost anyone or age level. Terrific for family story time.

I think of myself as an adventurous reader, not put off by a more challenging book, but I have to admit i nearly gave up on this book. What is it about? No idea. The blurb says it is about a man revisiting memories, but there is so little structure or consistency it is hard to say. If you read it is poetry, I think it might work better. Aggressively defying categorization or narrative is the best I can say.

Another short story from the Christmas Ghost Story collection by Biblioasis. This one is about the strange happenings on a nearby island to Venice and what happens when two people are rowed to the island one day, encountering a stray kitten.

I am adoring this series of short, illustrated ghost stories that are put out by Biblioasis Press. It was a tradition during Victorian times that ghost stories were read at Christmas (although not necessarily about the holiday). This one was pretty good - about a bereaved father who suddenly finds enlightenment while walking home during a wild storm of thunder and lightning.