“The Magician“ is the story of novelist Thomas Mann who won the 1929 Nobel prize in literature. Tóibín focuses on how a wealthy German family and famous author managed to survive despite political differences during the rise and subsequent rule of the Nazis. Excellent read.

#NetGalley #Scribner #TheMagician

This was the first book of poetry by Margaret Atwood I've read. The style that I enjoy in her novels is mirrored in her poetry. As a writer, she's ultimate wordsmith, conveying intense emotion in beautiful prose combined with a grittiness that, at first, takes you off guard ,but later, makes perfect sense. Dearly is a collection of poems centered around death, dying and grieving.

#NetGalley #Echo #Dearly

Cloud Cuckoo Land is my favorite read of 2021. It very much reminded me of Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten by David Mitchell, two of my all time favorites. I loved how the fable was intertwined into all of the stories. This book is a symbolism-lover's dream.

#NetGalley #Scribner #cloudcuckooland

Golding expertly mixes fantasy with a crime thriller in The Hidden. I could not stop listening and ended up doing so instead of doing my job.That's the sign of a good book! Recommended for fans of police procedurals, mystery/thrillers and Selkies.

Aubdiobook ARC courtesy of #NetGalley and @Crookedlanebooks

Meta fiction heavily influenced by Steven King and Michelle McNamara. For fans of true crime.

I loved Towles' last two books and this one delivers as well. This is definitely a character-driven novel. The storyline is a bit anxiety-inducing at times and I get the feeling there could be a second book. Three young men from a work farm travel across the country. Along the way Towles creates some wildly diverse characters and some pretty scary situations. Heart-warming as well as heart-breaking.

Some interesting Icelandic history. Learned a lot about Iceland's importance in WWII.

Catriona Ward is a new favorite of mine. Perfectly creepy and an excellent Halloween read. ☠

This is the fantasy series I've been looking for! Can't wait for next installment. Perfect world-building, well-developed characters, bawdy humor....Its a win! Recommended for fans of Scott Lynch.

Wow! This is one of those “what did I just read?“ books. The storyline cannot be explained without giving something away. So if you like a bit of a mind game, I highly recommend this one.

Audiobook courtesy of #NetGalley and #Tor. Physical book courtesy of #GoodreadsGiveaways. #Comfortmewithapples

This charming novel is very much a character-driven story. I chose it because i'm on a bit of a Nordic reading kick. It definitely delivers. Lots of history, arctic survival facts, and a peek into a world that is rarely seen. I would highly recommend this book to fans of Nordic literature, Eowyn Ivey and dogs.

Audiobook provided courtesy of #NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company

I requested this book on NetGalley because I'd like to know more about Munchausen's and narcissistic personality disorder. The book is the author's cathartic memoir of pain and healing. I understand her fear of repeating her mother's behaviors with her own child. .

Recommended for children of narcissistic parents.
#NetGalley

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for sending me a copy of The Paradox Hotel. I read Hart's first book,The Warehouse, and enjoyed it. The Paradox Hotel was a bit of a struggle to get through and to be honest, I almost gave up. However, I wanted to give a review based on the whole book. I found this book difficult to follow. The time slippage element was confusing and there were too many undeveloped characters.

Alice Feeney is as messed up as Gillian Flynn. 😂 I read “His and Hers“ last year so i wanted to follow up with this new one. It was just as deranged. 😵

For fans of psychological horror, creepy old chapels and The Shining.

Another dark tale from Charlotte McConaghy about nature and human nature. Set in Scotland, the protagonist works with a project to repopulate the Highlands with wolves. #page158subscription @sudalu

For fans of wolves, nature and Barbara Kingsolver.

(TW - domestic abuse)

With September and fall comes the reading of gothic novels. Laura Purcell is one of my favorite gothic fiction authors.

Is the narrator reliable? It's hard to tell in this gothic novel set in Victorian Bath. A silhouette artist must come to grips with the truth about the murders which hound her.

For fans of Daphne du Maurier.

Part magical realism, part indigenous arctic circle history, part Viking history, this book is just beautiful. An Inuit baby is born with the body of a female but the spirit of a male. Interesting take on transgender.

For fans of Inuits, Vikings and ancient gods.

I didn't know about the existence of the Blue People in the Appalachians until I read this book. Some interesting science behind their appearance and history behind where they came from. The story is charming but painful at times.

For fans of librarians, mules and Appalachian literature.

This was a wild ride of a post apocalyptic novel! The world is completely flooded. No land at all. The protagonist is living on a floating garbage pile that has been sorted and colonized by the survivors. Climate-change fiction.

For fans of The Boxcar Children.

Heart-wrenching story of a woman with dissociative disorder and her plan to follow her beloved birds on their yearly migration. Climate-change fiction.

For fans of Barbara Kingsolver.

College admissions scandal-fiction anyone? Disturbing AF. Read for Sep2021 Book Club. A lot of good discussion around this warped book.

For fans of rich people involved in scandals.

(TW - rape)

Post apocalyptic, climate-change fiction. Very creative. Very well-written.

For fans of Margaret Atwood and the Madd Adam series

“Maxwell's demon“ is a thought experiment that would hypothetically violate the second law of thermodynamics. This novel is a trippy suspension of reality and I loved it. Planning to read Steven Hall's first novel, Raw Sharks Texts. #page158subscription @sudalu

For fans of the movie “Inception“ and physics.

The Golem and the Jinni are back....with relationship problems. Although not as compelling as the first novel, this one has some very interesting mythology and a satisfying ending.

You can never go wrong with Kingsolver. Wonderful coming-of-age story of a Mexican-American boy during the Mexican revolution. Lots of good stuff about Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera. Inspired me to read a book on Frida Khalo for our book club. Highly recommend this one. I always love how her titles have 2 meanings.

Post-plague dystopian novel. Well-written though not necessarily unique. I enjoyed it.

“We‘re most fallible when trying to raise our children.”

Literary/Historical fiction. Needed about 200 pages cut. 3 ⭐s
#page158subscription @sudalu

Gilded age historical fiction. Caroline Astor versus Alva Vanderbilt. 4 ⭐s

OMG, this book! I don't normally read celebrity memoirs because, I mean, why? But this book is great. Matthew certainly has had an exceptional life and truly has a unique outlook. Highly recommend for road trips. Get the audiobook. He narrates it. 5 ⭐s. Read for Jul2021 Bookclub.

The history of Lafayette and the French Revolution. Historical fiction. 4 ⭐s

Three wars: WWI, WWII and the French Revolution and how the Chateau Lafayette was the common denominator in the lives of 3 women. 4 ⭐s

A feminist ahead of her time, she encourages women to work outside of the home, but also gives practical advice on home management and child rearing. Read for Jun2021 Bookclub.

Read by the author. Raw and uncensored look at who the United States really is, where they started and what the goal really was. It will open your eyes. 5 ⭐s

I love Margaret Atwood ❤ This is a retelling of the feminist variety. The main characters are so very well drawn that you feel like you know them or you want to. 4.5 ⭐s

Pretty cool pandemic fiction. Really makes you think “What if...?“ 4 ⭐s

Best book I‘ve read so far this year. All the ⭐️s

Sweet!

Vacation 2021. Cabo.

This one was just too depressing. #page158subscription @sudalu

Pretty good. Nice and short. Would make a good beach read. Recommended for people who enjoy the science of herbs, London and vengeance.

#page158subscription @Sudalu91

Decisions, decisions. Really need a good book to get over that last one. 🤔

Possibly one of the sloppiest, most poorly edited book I‘ve ever read. So very many plot holes. Overkill of coincidence. WTH Reese?

Read for May2021 Book Club

Picked up the series in an Audible sale and now I've finally read the first book. While I love the Hobbit characters and Gandalf, I'm hoping the other characters are better fleshed-out in the subsequent books. It's easy to be critical about an extremely popular classic so I will keep my mind open and continue reading.

Pretty good start to a long fantasy series. I'll probably read more.

This was the first book of my new in-person book club. We haven't decided on a name yet but it should probably be “The Vaccinated“. It was the perfect book club book in that it has multiple themes that are well-suited for discussion. These include: regret, choices and life. Excellent read. Plus the cover is beautiful, which is important :)

A Tudor era historical thriller involving spymasters and spies sent to infiltrate James VI of Scotland's court to find out if he was truly protestant in order to protect England since he was the heir to the throne. Very interesting.

A very bookish girl whose mother is a witch and she, herself, sees fairies ends up in a boarding school after her twin sister's death. A TON of Sci-Fi references. Its a coming of age, Sci-Fi, magical realism novel set in Wales. And somehow it works. Reads like literary fiction.

Since reading The Secret Garden in the 5th grade, I'll read any book about a garden :). This was very Kate Morton-esque.

This was pretty cool. A retelling from the women's point of view.

Book 4 of the Bone Season series. The cover sucked me in