When I look through the new book shelf at the library, I always do it in hopes that something will surprise me and end up being exactly the book I wanWhen I look through the new book shelf at the library, I always do it in hopes that something will surprise me and end up being exactly the book I want. This almost never happens. But it happened today with MERCURY, which I checked out this afternoon and finished by bedtime.
I am a book person. I read a lot of advance copies of books. I pay attention to buzz. I have heard NOTHING about this book, and yet it grabbed me from the beginning and would not let me go. I don't know how this book flew under the radar but don't let the fact that you haven't heard of it deter you.
This book is both my favorite kind of book and my least favorite kind of book. I probably overlooked it seeing its plot about a marriage growing stale. I get bored of books about tedious marriages stuck in middle-aged meditations. But I love books about regular people in normal circumstances who find themselves involved in something they never would have predicted through a series of mostly reasonable steps. I love the way this kind of book builds, I love wondering what is the big thing that is clearly going to happen, I love a narrator that drops just enough hints to keep you going.
Somehow Donald and Viv, the couple at the center of the book, did not bore me. Sure, Donald is the exact kind of character I'm totally tired of. A man who loves his wife and kids, grieving the recent death of his father after a long illness, didn't reach the heights he'd originally hoped in his career because of family obligations, living a comfortable life in a comfortable place. Donald is the kind of character you hate in a lesser writer's hands. And while I can't explain why Donald's narration immediately brought me into the story, it absolutely did. Donald cares very much about people. Donald feels good about the decisions he's made in his life. (Donald's greatest regret is giving up on a youthful penpal.) Donald sees his wife drifting away from him and doesn't understand.
Perhaps what's different about Donald is that eventually he does understand, at least a little. Donald is forced over and over again to see life outside himself, to try to consider someone else's point of view, to let himself be upset by what he sees when he changes his perspective.
Or maybe it's just that Livesey is so good at the subtle dropping of hints here. It's clear quite early that something is going to go bad. The horse, Mercury, will be at the center of whatever this something is. But it's not at all clear what this something will be, even as the hints get larger. It's excellently done. I could not stop reading. And even though the climax comes earlier than I expected (about halfway through) Livesey still keeps the tension up as Donald tries to decide how to respond to the big, terrible thing and what it will mean for everyone going forward.
I have read at least one (maybe two?) of Livesey's novels before and have not had strong feelings about them. So I don't know if this is a typical novel from her or a big leap forward. Regardless, I enjoyed it quite highly. A great domestic drama that you can tear through and also pick apart at length. Definitely recommended for book clubs. There are similar elements to Fates and Furies here, but it's a much more normal and realistic marriage at the center, which may make it more accessible to some who found F&F to be too much....more
It took me much longer than expected to finish this book through no fault of its own, just an issue of sourcing/formatting.
It is really difficult to hIt took me much longer than expected to finish this book through no fault of its own, just an issue of sourcing/formatting.
It is really difficult to have a book that looks at the world through a few different perspectives. It is really difficult to write a book featuring drastically different characters that treats all of them fairly. Behold the Dreamers does all of that and more.
It's strange to me that we have so few books about the recession even though it had such a huge impact on the country. Behold the Dreamers through its dual families--white, wealthy Wall Street and struggling Black African immigrants--manages to make all of its characters sympathetic some of the time and frustrating at other times. Jende and Neni are not martyrs or saints, they are fully fledged people with dreams and failings. Likewise Clark and Cindy are not villains, and the more we see of them through Jende and Neni's eyes, the more interesting they become. There is a lot to dwell on here in what the American experience is and how different people define success.
Mbue is a writer who keeps you moving forward, wanting to know more, wanting to spend time with these characters. The audiobook has one of the industry's best narrators and the accents and voices all lend themselves well to the story....more
I waited for a long time to read this book even though it came highly recommended from several scientists. I was skeptical about the title. And while I waited for a long time to read this book even though it came highly recommended from several scientists. I was skeptical about the title. And while I am not a scientist by profession, I did train as an undergrad and earn a BS. The thing about scientists is we are very territorial. I am a Chemist. My Physicist friends say, "But Chemistry is all Physics!" and they are not entirely wrong. I often scoff at Biology, Botany, Zoology, etc. and say, "But you're ignoring all the Chemistry!" So the Botany angle here did not move it up my TBR list.
But. As a baby scientist myself, and as someone who spent several years married to a scientist during his PhD and basically lived and breathed lab culture, ultimately I couldn't stay away. I had to see what all the fuss about and I had to see if Jahren got it right. Many people don't.
If you are intimidated by a very scientific read, don't be afraid. Jahren's years of teaching experience have clearly created someone who is skilled at turning complex scientific processes and ideas into easily digestible narratives. If you are concerned it will not be scientific enough, there's enough interesting data here to sate you, though I did wish I learned more about Jahren's own research.
The thing about this book, though, the thing that makes it one of my favorites of the year isn't just that Jahren gets lab life right, it's how skillfully she tells the stories of trees alongside her own story. I have never ever cared about a tree more than I did during this book. And I was lucky enough to listen to the audio (read beautifully by Jahren herself) while I drove past the blazing autumn leaves of New England, so every tree seemed somehow magical. If someone had taught me about plants the way Jahren does, where it is not just a process to learn and a life cycle to memorize, but where every single step along the way is a miracle in and of itself, I can see myself seriously considering Botany as a potential major. This book in the hands of a college student could be life changing.
Some may find Jahren's story not interesting enough for a memoir. But this is not a memoir that is built around a journey. It is showing you who she is, and a big part of it focuses on the incredibly close relationship she has with her lab partner, Bill. While they mean absolutely everything to one another, they are not intimate friends, not secret sharers, not confidants. Learning the rhythms of their conversation and the routines of their friendship will show you the kind of relationship you probably haven't seen before.
Jahren covers many things here besides science. Parenthood, the chill Scandinavian traditions of the Midwest, the slog of early academic life, and her own struggle with bipolar disorder. Her writing is simple but deliberate and lovely. I enjoyed every moment listening to her read. ...more
While I'm reading a book I may stop and ask myself where I think it's falling star-rating-wise. I'm a reviewer, it's part of the job, right? Tana FrenWhile I'm reading a book I may stop and ask myself where I think it's falling star-rating-wise. I'm a reviewer, it's part of the job, right? Tana French is tricky because she's always so solid that I need to get a little more critical. I'm basically her ideal reader and the Dublin Murder Squad series is basically my ideal series. This time around I started wondering if I should re-read the whole thing and rank them, I've been thinking about where to start, and how to deal with the classic IN THE WOODS vs. THE LIKENESS divide. I have yet to complete that re-read, but for now I have to say that THE TRESPASSER is currently in my #2 slot. (Behind IN THE WOODS because I'm on that side of the divide.)
There's a lot about it that would obviously appeal to me. Female detective, strong personality, great voice. But there's a lot of the perfect procedural here, too. A story where the detective and the victim have parallels in their lives, a sub-plot where the detective isn't just fighting to solve the case but is fighting against a larger foe, a twisty-turny plot that throws enough twists at you to keep pages turning but earns them, and (thankfully) a take-no-shit detective who doesn't have that tired worn-out trope feel that often happens in cop novels. As I was reading I was thinking, "I think this is 5 stars. I think it is. Don't mess it up." As you can see from my rating, the book delivered.
Conway was exactly who I needed. I was hoping she'd be the center of this book since reading THE SECRET PLACE. Like all of French's protagonists, the case is just as much about her journey as it is about solving the case. Getting inside her head, it's nice to see the prickly demeanor isn't just an act, it's nice to see where it comes from and to feel her out in more detail. And I'm anxious to re-read THE SECRET PLACE to see her relationship with Moran from his perspective. It's common with the Dublin Murder Squad novels for a detective to disappear after you get attached to them (WHERE ARE ROB AND CASSIE???) so this was a nice change.
I saw someone worry while reading this that they'd solved a key plot point too early. I had the exact same experience. We were both wrong. It's beautifully laid out, plenty of pieces to put together, meticulously plotted as always. If Tana French writes Dublin Murder Squad books forever, I would be okay with that. Though I admit, I would also be happy if they were all Conway books going forward. ...more
I heard a few rumblings about The Hike from people I trust so I ignored the blurb that made it sound like not really my thing. (A man who'll do anythiI heard a few rumblings about The Hike from people I trust so I ignored the blurb that made it sound like not really my thing. (A man who'll do anything to return to his family? Snooze.) No offense to the marketing team of this book but you should avoid reading the summary. Completely. Here is what you need to know about this book: you never know what will happen next.
It is very hard to pull off any kind of story where the entire plot is built on doing things the reader does not expect. Because eventually you're going to find a rhythm and start anticipating the surprises, right? But somehow Magary manages to gradually explain the structure of his book to you and still catch you off guard on a regular basis.
Within 10 minutes of reading I cursed aloud, which is not a thing I do. I do not talk while I read. But I was shocked. And I am not easily shocked. And the shocks kept coming.
It's also worth saying, this book has the best ending I've read all year. Honestly it's the best one in recent memory. An ending that is both incredibly satisfying and a total gut punch.
Highly recommended. You don't have to be a fantasy reader to enjoy this book, because it does not follow the rules or tropes of the genre. It is its own thing, all you need is some curiosity and a willingness to hold on and go for a ride....more
It took me a month to read this book. Writing a review for it makes you want to pull out your Thesaurus and find all the synonyms for "bleak." But theIt took me a month to read this book. Writing a review for it makes you want to pull out your Thesaurus and find all the synonyms for "bleak." But the word that came to me as I read the first chapter was "visceral." And that is the word I'm going to stick with, though there are many other words you could use to describe it.
You do not read a book set in a war-torn country refugee camp and expect happiness and light. It will not be that kind of book. And yet there is something about this story that is not lovely exactly, but that is utterly human. It is, in a strange way, if not a celebration of life then a heightened awareness and observation of what life means and what it feels like.
Arudpragasam tells you with his title what will happen and how the story will end. You are not waiting for anyone to be saved, it is clear that it is not that kind of story. It is just being with Dinesh, being with him as he takes in the world, as he tries not to feel and sometimes can't help but feel, that is utterly transporting.
This is a book that writes about bodies with the same utter frankness one thinks of one's own when no one else is paying attention. It is a book where an entire chapter is just Dinesh walking to the well and washing himself. And yet that chapter had me completely transfixed. I do not know how Arudpragasam is able to do that but he does.
It took me a month to read this book because it is a book set in an arbitrary and hurtful universe. It is hard to read more than a little at a time because it is so vivid and affecting. I picked it up because it was blurbed by Garth Greenwell, and while it is very different than his WHAT BELONGS TO YOU, there are elements they have in common. The immersive-ness, the delicate and beautiful language. You cannot read this book without being changed by it in some small way....more
I read most books long before publication, so other people's reviews or recommendations rarely matter to me. But sometimes a book will build and buildI read most books long before publication, so other people's reviews or recommendations rarely matter to me. But sometimes a book will build and build and I'll hear enough about it that I'll finally crack and have to read it. THE REGIONAL OFFICE IS UNDER ATTACK! is that kind of book.
Luckily I started this book with no idea what it was about. (Yes, my friends are excellent non-spoiler types.) I recommend you do the same. Don't read the jacket. Don't read the summary. Don't read the reviews.
What I will tell you that may be useful in deciding if this book is for you is that it is bonkers. It is totally bonkers in a really delightful way. There are sci-fi and supernatural elements and multiple narrators (some of whom are not actually characters at all). It is fun to read, the flashes across time and across narrators work shockingly well. The ending is not tied up in a bow, but then again that is my personal preference.
The closest readalike I can get to this book is THE LIBRARY OF MOUNT CHAR, which was a book I heard so much about last year that I finally caved and read it much the same way I did with this one. That book is also best described as "bonkers" and while the books aren't similar on their face, they both have a degree of mischief and unusual storytelling that you rarely find. They are both books that are constantly surprising to read. LIBRARY is definitely darker and more stoic, REGIONAL OFFICE is a light more breezy even though the stakes are still high.
Basically this is the kind of book that you read and immediately tell everyone else to read, too. Which is an incredibly high compliment. Great readability for planes, beaches, or road trips (I listened to about half of the book in one long stretch in the car). ...more
The Mothers is at heart a simple book about a few people over a relatively short period of time. But it feels revolutionary because these characters aThe Mothers is at heart a simple book about a few people over a relatively short period of time. But it feels revolutionary because these characters are normal, everyday, middle-class people of color. That says much about the state of fiction, even today.
Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey all fill the kind of roles you've seen in stories before. Nadia is smart and pretty, but her ambitions are thrown awry by her mother's abrupt suicide. Luke is the pastor's son and former football hero who doesn't have football anymore. Aubrey left a difficult childhood behind and has given herself over to God and goodness. These three come together and fall apart over and over again over the course of these pages. You can see how it is going to go before it happens, but they can't and Bennett's skill is showing their feelings in the moment so acutely.
Yes, this book is about those three characters, following them from 17 or so until their mid-20's. But its theme is mothers and love and family and community. Nadia and Aubrey lose their mothers in different ways, and it affects their feelings about their own potential motherhood dramatically. And there are the elderly "mothers" of the Upper Room, the church where Luke's father is pastor, that all their lives gravitate around, as they watch the three young people knowing, as the reader does, that what is happening now has happened before and will happen again.
I loved this book, as I often love books that treat religion as a normal fact of life. I don't always love books that show me the drastic and dangerous decisions of the young and hurting, because I know very well what that is like and if you get it wrong I know it. But Bennett doesn't get a thing wrong. ...more
Some people will probably be repulsed by the narrator of Arcade, a man in his late 20's stuck in a self-destructive spiral. He is gay, but still mostlSome people will probably be repulsed by the narrator of Arcade, a man in his late 20's stuck in a self-destructive spiral. He is gay, but still mostly closeted, and he clings to the two things he loves most: his former lover, the cop, and the Arcade. The Arcade is one of those seedy places with racks of porn DVD's in the front and viewing booths in the back, and the booths are where men in this small Texas town go to cruise. Our narrator is able to think of little else and the book is a chronicle of his experiences.
The Arcade is seedy and dark and dirty and probably dangerous. Our narrator is probably unrecognizable to people who have never found themselves in a deep well of self-destruction and denial. He is lonely and obsessive and doesn't seem to know anything about what he wants (besides the cop, who has moved in with someone new). It's a short novel, a series of scenes, and Smith's prose is simple and frank, while still plumbing depths of character and establishing a strong sense of place.
I have been thinking about the state of the gay novel. This year I read WHAT BELONGS TO YOU and EDINBURGH not long before I read this book and the three seem to fit together to me. It's interesting that while the gay novel has moved past the narratives of HIV and coming out that dominated for so long, it still contains at its heart darkness, sadness, loneliness, and sex. These books are often about obsession and the sides of gay culture and sex that are still outside the mainstream, unacceptable to society. (Greenwell wrote a lovely piece on how cruising made him a poet.) Smith actually about his own experience finding out that Greenwell's novel would be released shortly before his and eventually interviewed Greenwell. As Smith notes, their novels are quite different even though they share something similar at their heart. Smith and Greenwell are very different writers. But I enjoyed them both in a similar way and actually reading them close together enhanced the experience. 2016 is a good year to give us both of these books....more
The single biggest victim of my reading slump has been YA fiction. I've been in a place where nothing sounds good and nothing I start hits me right. BThe single biggest victim of my reading slump has been YA fiction. I've been in a place where nothing sounds good and nothing I start hits me right. But when I saw Three Dark Crowns' description--three queens are born, only one can rule--and knew it came from Kendare Blake, I was in. I enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood and I figured a slump was maybe a good time to try some Fantasy, a genre I don't read often. And it absolutely did the trick.
Three Dark Crowns is indeed quite dark and you know it from the first chapter. The introspection and shmoopy romance that has been keeping me away from YA was gone, and instead there was looming terror and dread. Count me in. Each queen has her own unique story line, her own set of weaknesses and strengths, her own friends and foes. It's a complicated web but Blake keeps it remarkably simple and smooth. The prose is heavy and fits the setting without feeling dense or difficult. I think it's a pretty fantastic book.
Of course, the biggest downside of this book is that it is the beginning of a series and you realize that about halfway through. There simply aren't enough pages left in the book. And while I know people love series, I hate them. So I'm going to mope about that. But the bright side is that there is a lot left to tell of this story and these characters and I'm definitely excited about that. ...more
About halfway through The Underground Railroad, I started to see the next turn around the bend. I knew what was going to happen next. This isn't becauAbout halfway through The Underground Railroad, I started to see the next turn around the bend. I knew what was going to happen next. This isn't because of lazy writing, it's because the story rises beyond itself and becomes almost an allegory or fable. What happens to Cora simply becomes inevitable. The beauty of this book is that while it has that deep communal feel of folk tale, it also lives vibrantly through its characters. This is not archetypes and cardboard cutouts going through motions to make a moral point. This is a book whose characters are fully alive. The details of their lives are richly expressed. It feels new and interesting. These are not characters you've met before. These are not the same old staunch abolitionists and earnest slaves in the stories we tell ourselves of our history. I cannot remember another book about this era that so completely brought the world to life in my mind.
Choosing to read a book about slavery means choosing to immerse yourself in brutality, violence, and inhumanity. But there's something essential about reading this kind of book. In the United States it's too easy to forget the dark times in our history. While this book isn't easy or light, it is deeply moving and very powerful.
I've thought about doing a Reading Pathways post for Colson Whitehead before. Reading Pathways is basically a post where you tell people the first 3 books by an author they should read to see what their writing is like. But with Whitehead this is an impossible task. Every book is completely different. He not only changes genres but writing styles. A Whitehead book is not recognizably a Whitehead book, and that is, to me, a huge feat.
The one thing you can usually count on from Whitehead is to leave reality just a little. (Though there are exceptions like Sag Harbor, one of my favorites.) And it happens here, too. When I was a kid and I learned about the underground railroad in school, no one ever told me it was a metaphor. I'm not sure I knew what a metaphor was. So for a few years I thought it was a literal underground railroad, with tunnels and trains and it seemed legitimate. After all, escaping slavery must take some kind of miracle, making your way across hundreds and thousands of miles when anyone could catch you and turn you in was just as fantastic an idea. The little bit of fantasy in this book brought back that memory, and the burst of magical realism works very well. If only because you need a miracle. You need something beyond the realm of reality. Cora needs it and you want it for her.
A spectacular book. I haven't even started on the prose yet, but it's luminous and delicate and strong and vivid and I don't have enough words for it. It's truly impressive to have a book where every sentence feels so meticulous but you never get bogged down in the words.
I could go on. And I'm sure others will. This book's page will be stuffed with glowing reviews soon, I'm sure. Just do yourself a favor and get this book. And if it's not out yet, go read some backlist Whitehead (starting with The Intuitionist, which is probably the closest book to this one, would be my recommendation) and get ready....more
People have been saying I should read this book for months and months and I'm not sure why I didn't prioritize it earlier. I guess my general impressiPeople have been saying I should read this book for months and months and I'm not sure why I didn't prioritize it earlier. I guess my general impression was that it was a nice little book and I should get around to it. Someone really should have told me to run not walk to this book. And I wish I had because HOLY COW this is a book.
Technically I've labeled this as a crime novel because it is in many ways about a crime and its aftermath. But mostly this is a book about the ways families keep secrets from one another, especially the deeper secrets they keep from one another when there are shameful secrets they all share.
Kyung's life isn't in the best place. He's in a rut where he's checked off all the boxes, married with a child and a job, but is stifled by anxiety. But it's at least a consistent existence until it's disrupted by his parents. Kyung witnessed his father hit his mother, who in turn hit Kyung, and while he's tried hard to run away from that knowledge and those secrets, he is completely defined by them and cannot shake them off.
When his parents are the victims of a terrible crime, he can no longer ignore them but instead finds himself with them under one roof again. Kyung's long buried anger and shame can't be ignored either. The tension rises slowly but surely, it's not a fun book to read, it's a book gripped with anxiety and shame, but it's absolutely addictive.
Yun's writing is amazing. These characters feel so fully realized and so complex, that it's not surprising when layer upon layer is revealed. Absolutely one of my favorite books of the year, a truly impressive novel.
2024 reread: I wanted to come back to this ever since I read Yun's second novel, which I loved so much. Coming back to this it's funny how I forgot how intense it is. Incredibly intense. I can really see how her two novels are taking very different themes but exploring them in such carefully and perfectly plotted ways. She is one of the best. This novel is looking at generational trauma in ways we weren't really talking about yet in 2016. It also isn't afraid to have a deeply unlikable protagonist and make the most of it. There is a lot she's able to do here that works because Kyung is so awful and because you're not always rooting for him....more
I have been trying to gather my thoughts on this novel, but I haven't come up with any kind of all-encompassing statement about this book. It doesn't I have been trying to gather my thoughts on this novel, but I haven't come up with any kind of all-encompassing statement about this book. It doesn't exactly have a plot, it is one of those books where you see how people's lives play out, you jump back to give context to something that didn't make sense before, and there's all kinds of little a-ha moments when things click together. Loyalties shift, stories change, characters grow.
When I was nearly halfway through someone asked me what it was about and I answered, in all honesty, "I'm not sure yet." I'm still not quite sure, except that it's about its characters.
The 6 step-siblings at the center of the book are so vivid, and I flipped back quickly to some of her nonfiction and quickly recognized it as drawing from Patchett's own childhood. Which explains a lot. This book is, in many ways, about what happens when you fictionalize a person's life, though that's really more of a sub-plot than the big picture.
So here's what I have: it's almost impossible for me to tell you what it is about this book that's so intriguing. All I can tell you is that I couldn't stop reading it. I was immediately drawn in and read the entire second half of the novel in one sitting. I just kept coming back for more. There is something magical that Patchett does, even though this isn't one of her books set in an exotic locale, it just sucks you deep inside and leaves its footprints all over your brain when you're finished....more
Do not be fooled by this warm and fuzzy title. This is an amazing mess of a book. It does not hold your hand and talk sweetly to you while you walk a Do not be fooled by this warm and fuzzy title. This is an amazing mess of a book. It does not hold your hand and talk sweetly to you while you walk a well-trodden path. It is running out ahead of you through dense jungle and you aren't sure you can keep up, oh and you have no idea where it is you're going.
It's the kind of book where anything could happen at any moment, where there's this feeling of tension that lies under the surface. Not like a thriller where someone suddenly reveals they're about to blow up a building. No, this tension is knowing that so many things are wrong, so many things are close to breaking, that at any moment everything could fall apart and when that happens you don't know what it will look like.
I love the messiness of it, I love the craziness of Charlotte and Callie's stories. There is no flinching or holding back. This book just goes for it. It takes risks, it doesn't follow a formula, it doesn't feel like anything else you've read. It's unusual that after a book is over I want to ask its author a hundred questions, but in this case I really do. It got my brain moving, it got me off kilter, and that so rarely happens....more
The cover and title of this book may be going for light and sunny Jamaica, but this is not a light and sunny book, and I mean that as a great complimeThe cover and title of this book may be going for light and sunny Jamaica, but this is not a light and sunny book, and I mean that as a great compliment. Margot, who lives with her mother Delores and her sister Thandi, is not the happy islander who doesn't worry about making ends meet. Margot cares about only one thing: saving her sister.
Even though Margot has a desirable job in a luxury hotel, her life is anything but beautiful. She carries deep secrets as she puts on a strong face for Thandi, making sure she gets her to the critical exams she needs to get into a university and a real career. But Margot is not the only one with secrets. Delores has made horrible choices to get by, choices Margot is determined not to repeat. Thandi is becoming more interested in art and a boy than getting the life her sister wants her to have. And there is also Margot's secret relationship with a woman which she must keep hidden at all costs.
It's rare that a book packs this heavy of an emotional punch. These women make desperate choices in terrible situations that they justify as best they can. Margot's journey from being her sister's savior to destroying her sister the same way her mother destroyed her is seriously Shakespearean levels of drama. Dennis-Benn slowly reveals the things these women don't say to one another, their secrets and betrayals. Margot, in particular, starts out as so sympathetic, a woman forced to sell herself to save her sister, and gradually becomes the thing she fears most without even realizing it.
All dialogue is in Jamaican patois, which I'm sure will turn off some readers. It does break up your reading, since you must slow down to hear the dialogue in your head, but it's not at all difficult to translate, just an adjustment in reading speed. And it's worth the trouble, this is a book with a lot to say about tourism in poor countries, about the horrifying treatment of LGBTQ people in cultures that don't accept them, and much more. Highly recommended....more
I started this book during my reading slump and I put it aside. I realized that this book required more care than I was able to give it. I came back tI started this book during my reading slump and I put it aside. I realized that this book required more care than I was able to give it. I came back to it as soon as my slump ended and I'm glad I waited.
I am not always a fan of slim books of lyrical prose and deep emotions. If that is not normally your bag, I understand why you may avoid this title. You shouldn't. Yes, it is full of lyrical prose. Greenwell is a poet and you feel that delicacy and deliberateness in his language. But he also brings a raw vulnerability and openness that is truly rare.
How easily do we discuss our shame? We may show our scars, but how often do we discuss what those wounds looked like when they were first inflicted? The unnamed narrator here, an American teacher living in Bulgaria, knows shame and regret and all the complex emotions that surround them. The book loosely follows his relationship with a hustler, but this is not a prostitute-with-a-heart-of-gold book, it is not a book about a sex worker who opens someone's eyes with their deep wisdom. It's sadly unusual to have a novel about a modern, out, openly gay man. And while we like to think we live in an enlightened society, there is still so much to explore.
A beautiful book, it's already been much discussed in the book world (though I see very few of YOU have read it) and expect to see it on many best-of lists this year (including probably mine)....more
I have probably read at least 5 books with a similar premise to this one: girl returns to hometown after her friend went missing 10 years ago. I almosI have probably read at least 5 books with a similar premise to this one: girl returns to hometown after her friend went missing 10 years ago. I almost didn't get this one because I'm so over that premise and I've never actually enjoyed any of the books that do it. But I'm glad I got this one. Because it's awesome. (It'll also serve as a nice companion to GIRLS ON FIRE, with that one the more dark and gritty and this one the more twisty-turny.)
I'm a sucker for playing with structure, and the publisher did a good job of blurbing the unusual format of this book right off the bat, (the middle section of the book, a good 90% of it, is told backwards) which is why I stuck with it through the first half even when I wasn't sure it was really going to work.
But it works. It really does. Get at least halfway through this book and you will be absolutely unable to stop reading it. The thing about a backwards narrative is that you don't have the same kind of flow. When a story goes "and then this happened" that "and" is itself a callback to the thing that happened just before it. But here, every chapter exists almost in a vacuum, as if you're starting anew. And while it could be confusing, it's not. Mostly because you're so wrapped up in all the new (old) discoveries that you stop worrying so much about all the logistics. The best I can tell, she seems to have the plot pretty tightly wrapped up. This is a meticulously plotted book.
And I just have to take a moment to tell Megan Miranda how nice it is to get to the end of a book where you've been tearing through page by page with one reveal after another only to get to the end and NOT be disappointed. I didn't feel jerked around with red herrings. I felt like there were a good number of suspects and they all seemed to change with every chapter. I felt like each new piece of information made sense. So many top notch thrillers have totally awful endings that basically destroy your up-to-that-point-awesome experience. This book does not disappoint. Like I said, it starts slow, and gets better.
This book could be compared to plenty of others. Dark crime novels with lots of flashbacks and teenage frenemies and small towns are in right now. But when I read this book, I didn't feel like I was reading something I'd read before. I didn't feel like Nic was a character I'd read many times before (although in retrospect, she checks a lot of the boxes of a lot of other characters I've read recently). Miranda makes this book feel like its own furious, frenzied, ride of an experience. Nicely done. I hope we see more like this from her....more
These days there's much discussion about what to do with the difficult legacy of H. P. Lovecraft. What do you do with one of the founders of modern hoThese days there's much discussion about what to do with the difficult legacy of H. P. Lovecraft. What do you do with one of the founders of modern horror who was not only racist but includes those views in his writing? If you're a person who reads widely or likes to deep dive, at some point you may find yourself confronting the question of whether you should read Lovecraft and what it means.
I have good news for you. You don't need to read Lovecraft anymore. Instead, you can read THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM. LaValle has done something incredible. He's written a Lovecraft novel with themes of racial injustice at its center, turned Lovecraft's legacy on its head. And his real feat is that by giving his book a strong emotional center, he's surpassed Lovecraft.
I read a bit of Lovecraft, I appreciated the weird and the dread and the undercurrent of malevolence in his books, but I never felt like I could burrow myself into one and live in it. There's a coldness to Lovecraft. I don't know if LaValle wanted that same coldness. He certainly holds the reader at arm's length. But there is a big fat beating heart in this book no matter how careful and calculated it is. This is a book that is more about feelings than it is about Cthulu. It is more about shame and hatred and anger and what those feelings do to you than it is about the weird and supernatural.
This is my third LaValle book and I am consistently excited by his work. He does things no one else does. I don't know where his books will take me. And that's one of the highest compliments I can give. ...more
Tell me there's a novel about destructive teenage female friendships and I will be there with bells on. What takes this book to the next level is thatTell me there's a novel about destructive teenage female friendships and I will be there with bells on. What takes this book to the next level is that you can't ever really be sure if Lacey and Dex are good for each other or if they'll completely destroy each other. Just the slightest touch could send everything reeling. It's an impressive tightrope walk that Wasserman manages with skill.
There are actually three girls in this story. Each of them, at first, seems like a girl you've seen before: quiet and mousy Hannah; rebellious, Nirvana-loving Lacey; and heartless queen bee Nikki. But the more you get to know them, the less they resemble these now-classic characters and become something deeper. Any time two of them are together, sparks fly. And it's no mistake that the three of them are only together in the book's final climax.
You'll find plenty of typical teen novel tropes here: the big party that goes bad, the mysterious suicide that starts the action, the transformation of an unpopular girl, a dangerous relationship with an older man, and the adult fear around Satanic worship. But like the characters, the more you read, the more you realize there is more here than you initially thought. It's a book that is never expected, which is one of the highest compliments I can give....more
I won't say this is an easy book to read. It's not difficult, there's just so much to take in. The novel covers well over 100 years following two lineI won't say this is an easy book to read. It's not difficult, there's just so much to take in. The novel covers well over 100 years following two lines of an African family, one that is sent to America as slaves and another that remains in Africa profiting off of slavery. Yeah, heavy stuff. Gyasi is amazingly talented. She follows each generation through time, giving each successive person in the lineage just one chapter to show us who this person is and how things have changed. The choices feel natural, but they're clearly very sharp and well-chosen. It's beautifully written, moving and relate-able, both epic in scope and intimate in character.
I could never read more than two chapters of the book at the time, covering one generation each time I picked up the book. It was devastating, I won't lie. As time passes and people struggle, there is so little that gets better, so much suffering. The first few chapters after slavery are among the worst, because you realize that it hasn't really been left behind at all.
I know that taking on a book that is, in large part, about slavery and how it started and what it left behind is a commitment to read about suffering and sadness. But I can still heartily recommend this beautiful book....more
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