Finished a reread of CROSSING TO SAFETY by Wallace Stegner. I read it 33 years ago and nominated it for my library book club giving me incentive to reread it. It did not disappoint me, but the book club largely disliked it. (Philistines!) It might have been a mistake to introduce my "all time favorite" book to others. I've never read his National Book Award winner Spectator Bird so that's on my list.
I liked REGENERATION. Also watched the film adaptation with Jonathan Price. Grim but pretty good.
To keep existential dread at bay, I chuckled through Alexander McCall Smith's latest 44 Scotland Street installment, BERTIE'S THEORY OF ICE CREAM, and continue through Mick Herron's SLOW HORSES series. Oh, and Anthony Horowitz's latest in his Hawthorne series, DEADLY EPISODE. I need some laughs, so aside from the various slow reads, I'm keeping it light.
Love Jonathan Price and was excited to learn here that there was a film adaptation. Just watched the trailer...and guess, I can't handle the grim. (You warned me) My heart is too heavy with news these days, though I truly loved the compassion in REGENERATION. Looking forward to THE INHERITORS.
Just finished THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS by Ocean Vuong. A beautiful tribute to American society's struggling underclass. Poetry as prose. I highly recommend.
I’ve just finished PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee and it’s got 5* from me. Totally engrossed in a family history to the backdrop of Japan’s annexation of Korea until WWII and beyond. History I knew so little about nor how poorly Koreans were treated. Definitely can recommend.
I read it last year with The Reader and the Writer book club - it is such an amazing book. There is a series too, I found out (haven’t watched) - the book is really vivid and propulsive.
Slow reads? I’m an even slower reader. Just 26 pages left of Midnight’s Children. I’ve loved this book so much. More than W&P and APOGS..and I couldn’t give it up when I dropped behind. I’ll finish it tonight and only then will I read the notes , which I’ve avoided because I didn’t want spoilers.
THE EYE IN THE DOOR (Pat Barker) - I couldn't wait for this, and I'll be finishing the trilogy before long. It's a very different book from REGENERATION - it has clearer, or more obvious, plot lines. I find it interesting how Barker can get you rooting for characters that are, at heart, unlikeable.
A SPOT OF BOTHER (Mark Haddon) - possibly my favourite book. I read it every so often and always find something I missed. It's a book that genuinely makes me laugh out loud. It's a story of a family that has all sorts of issues - yes, Tolstoy, we know - and meshes comedy and drama, leaving you feeling that we can all muddle through. The book is about 20 years old, and people still write letters, nobody has used a mobile phone and Facebook wasn't a thing. It never lets me down.
DAVID COPPERFIELD (Charles Dickens) - I'm doing this as a one-chapter-a-day read, and it's a delight. (I'll move on to GREAT EXPECTATIONS next.) There are some things that feel a bit off - attitudes towards young women - but then they are overtaken by some of the social commentary, and some of the livelier characters. I have laughed out loud at several points. And Betsey Trotwood is such a wonderful character far from the caricatures that I remember. It's a delight.
I'm currently reading all the ongoing slow reads with Simon.
I'm also reading DOCTOR ZHIVAGO with Cams Campbell.
BLIND SIGHTED by Karin Slaughter - A first-time author for me. Two chapters in and I'm loving it.
And I just finished an ARC copy of 'TIDES AND TORMENT' BY Caitlan Honer. This was one of those books where the cover sold me, and I was not disappointed. It’s a Romantasy x murder mystery in a Pirates of the Caribbean setting, and it was so much fun!!
Taking part in all our slow reads and looking forward to the Inheritors. I am a tad behind on Bring Up the Bodies reread, but it makes me appreciate the details of Mantel’s prose. Also progressing on THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, which is an amazingly powerful story (didn’t expect to get so involved with it).
Finally finished the audio book of Cromwell biography by Diarmade McCullough. I really tried to pace it to at least the first 2 books if the trilogy, but just got too swept up in the narration. It’s an excellent listen, like a big audio course. I guess Tracy Borman books might be next.
Also finished Louise Penny - THE MADNESS OF CROWDS - (with some advice from the group) - for local book club. Not bad although ultimately not my genre (at least this had social commentary and reference to other books we read). Unbelievable, but the next book choice in my club is also a murder mystery 🫠
I also finished a beautiful book I found quite by chance just at the end of our Rushdie slow read - THE BOOK OF EVERLASTING THINGS by Aanchal Malhotra, carefully crafted and with smell and perfumery as a conduit for history and memory. Reminds me a bit of The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish - perfect plot of past and present, connections through history and an artistic medium to make the connection itself. And a love story and family saga - would anything be more perfect?! The perfumery part is technical and very detailed - I loved that.
I guess The Perfume (Das Parfuem) by Sueskind would be a good next book choice.
I am also looking forward to 1000 words of summer writing camp that’s starting on May 31.
@Jami Attenberg does it every year with a big group in her Substack and slack. I am pretty sure Simon participates as well. You can just write 1000 words a day working in a project of your choice, rewrite something, work on a project of your choice with support of the group.
Regeneration was an excellent read, thank you Simon.
I am also reading, and loving, Robert Fagles’ translation of the Odyssey with Vashik of Genius and Ink. Will I see the movie? Maybe. Moby Dick with Church Blogmatics, and The Brothers K with Henry Elliot. And, of course, War and Peace.
This month I finished SUSPICION by Seichō Matsumoto, SOLDADOS DE SALAMINA (Soldiers of Salamis) by Javier Cercas (that one took months), LA GUERRA CIVIL CONTADA A LOS JOVENES (The Civil War told for young people) by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
Current reads are THE BATTLE FOR SPAIN by Antony Beevor (understanding the Spanish Civil War is a quest of mine), SUPERFAN by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (incredibly relevant to my personal life), THE SPACES THAT MAKE US by Danish Kurani (philosophy of design), and 30 pages left in ANIMA by Kapka Kassabova, my surprise favorite book so far this year, about sheepherding in the Balkans. I read a few dreamy pages before bed. And I was so excited to discover that Anima is the fourth book of her Balkan quartet. So much to look forward to. If you like Rebecca Solnit you might like Kapka Kassabova.
I notice that many of us are fitting so many books into our lives. My method is to read a few pages of each, at different times of the day, every day. I I am a slow reader usually, because I like/need to taste every word (I also have astigmatism and it is an effort to guide my eyes across the page). I never leave the house without a book, except to walk at the park. I’m curious how others do it.
I’ve been recovering from surgery for the last week so my reading has accelerated even more than usual. This month:
- REGENERATION of course
- STRANGE PILGRIMS, a short story collection by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, very good
- finally finished REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE by Julian of Norwich, a true treasure
- THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION by qntm, a total surrealist sci fi horror blast
- VOYAGE AU CENTRE DE LA TERRE by Jules Verne, my latest French reading milestone and very fun
- books 6-7 of the EMMA M LION series, which has stolen my heart
- IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES by Katherine Rundell, which was good but didn’t live up to the hype for me (but I bought her biography of John Donne and am looking forward to it)
- MEDEA by Euripides, astonishingly effective
I am still working on THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO by Ann Radcliffe which is finally getting gothic a third of the way in; NOT THE END OF THE WORLD by Hannah Ritchie, THE BOOK OF HOURS by Rilke, and ENDLING by Maria Reva.
THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley, THE ASTRAL LIBRARY by Kate Quinn, ISOLA by Allegra Goodman, THE TRUE, TRUE sTORY of RAJA the GULLIBLE by Rabih Alameddine, THE DARK ANGEL by Elly Griffiths and my first Michael Connolly crime novel, NIGHTSHADE. I typically shy away from sci-fi/fantasy, but the first two titles on my list were surprisingly delightful.
I'll join for the inheritors (although shh, don't tell anybody that I have inexplicably never read the lord of the flies)
I've had a good month for reading - THE NAMES was good and provided plenty for my book group to talk about; TOM LAKE was excellent, every time I read an Ann Patchett I wonder why I forget about her in between books and I really should read the others; WRECK by Catherine Newman actually genuinely made me laugh out loud a few times and that almost never happens these days; NOTES FROM AN EXHIBITION was a re-read for my other book group and worth a second go; and finally finishing THE PAPER GARDEN about the life of Mrs Delany, who pretty much invented collage in the 18th century, means I can line up a field trip to Dunham Massey where they have some of her pieces on display this summer.
Ohhhh the spire! I started to listen to it on audio then sort of wandered off and didn’t get very far (I need to do long drives to get through audiobooks). I’d completely forgotten about that, should revisit
While I can say I read Lord of the Flies, in (US) high school English about 1975, I remember almost nothing… Looking forward to The Inheritors. Am very slowly reading the nonfiction-with-imagination AFTER THE ICE, by UK archeology prof (and wonderful writer) Steven Mithen, about humans around the world post-ice age, 20,000 to 5,000 years ago. After the Neanderthals I hear but stirs up the old human mood!
Hi all- currently reading THE ELEMENTS by John Boyle- four loosely connected novellas examining aspects of evil.
SON OF NOBODY by Yaan Martel with the Lonsesome Readers Bookclub. Great take on the Iliad from a commoners point of view.
WHITE RIVER CROSSING by Ian McGuire- a dark novel about finding gold in the American Frontier.
TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE by Yang Shuang-Zi winner of this year’s Int booker prize. Did not like it at all but listened to it. I will try reading it. Sometimes reading and listening can be totally different experiences. Some books shine on Audible while others simply don’t.
THE LEOPARD by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa the great Italian novel about an aristocratic family in Sicily. In preparing for an upcoming trip to Sicily I noticed this book is on every recommended reading list. I tried three times to get into it but failed twice and pushed through the third time. It’s s good but not a favorite.
All while slow reading WAR AND PEACE -caught up after starting out three months behind! As well as REGENERATION which was superb with the background material provided by Simon.
I bought Taiwan Travelogue a while ago snd have moved it closer to the top of my tbr, since the Booker announcement. It’s interesting that you did not like it, because I often find that Booker winners are not my cup of tea.
I started The Leopard last year with a substack read along and dropped out. Maybe I’ll finish it someday. The Netflix melodrama based on the book is pretty good.
THE TESTAMENTS by the superlative Margaret Atwood. Third reread, and I’ve had a different reaction to it each time. It’s very far from her best book, but I’ve been watching the TV adaptation and wanting to get back into the world of Gilead.
WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG by Any Remeikis. A short non-fiction about the political crimes of John Howard, ex Australian prime minister. An enraging read.
THE WASP FACTORY by Iain Banks. His debut novel. Was deeply shocking when first published. The prose was perfection; the story itself compelling but not fun. The ending was flat as a tack. I believe his later sci fi novels are all very well regarded.
THE BOOK OF THE UNNAMED WIDWIFE by Meg Ellison.
This was just ok. I love me a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but this was a bit lacking for me.
WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks. Second reread. I loved this first and second time around. It is a series of recorded interviews with various players in the story of the Zombie apocalypse and the aftermath, and is much much better than that sounds.
Currently reading CALL THE MIDWIFE by Jennifer Worth, on which the series is based. And then I’ll be starting THE INHERITORS for my very first F&L slow read!
I remember reading The Wasp Factory some years ago, back when I hadn't read much that was shocking – and it stood out! I never tackled his science fiction, although yes I have heard good things. Hope you enjoy reading The Inheritors with us!
Ages ago I read Banks’ THE BRIDGE, but I preferred his SciFi. Those that stand out in my memory are CONSIDER PHLEBAS, THE PLAYER OF GAMES, LOOK TO WINDWARD (all Culture universe), and AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND.
I remember reading The Wasp Factory some years ago, back when I hadn't read much that was shocking – and it stood out! I never tackled his science fiction, although yes I have heard good things. Hope you enjoy reading The Inheritors with us!
Looking forward to Golding! Meanwhile apart from W&P I’ve been reading THE MEMORY OF LOVE by Aminatta Forna (stunning), HONEY by Imani Thompson (darkly disturbing and delicious), THE MERCY STEP by Marcia Hutchinson (a-may-zing), BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN by Pat Barker (bleakly brilliant) and THE COSSACK by Mr Tolstoy (not as good as W&P 😆).
Finished a reread of CROSSING TO SAFETY by Wallace Stegner. I read it 33 years ago and nominated it for my library book club giving me incentive to reread it. It did not disappoint me, but the book club largely disliked it. (Philistines!) It might have been a mistake to introduce my "all time favorite" book to others. I've never read his National Book Award winner Spectator Bird so that's on my list.
I liked REGENERATION. Also watched the film adaptation with Jonathan Price. Grim but pretty good.
To keep existential dread at bay, I chuckled through Alexander McCall Smith's latest 44 Scotland Street installment, BERTIE'S THEORY OF ICE CREAM, and continue through Mick Herron's SLOW HORSES series. Oh, and Anthony Horowitz's latest in his Hawthorne series, DEADLY EPISODE. I need some laughs, so aside from the various slow reads, I'm keeping it light.
Love Jonathan Price and was excited to learn here that there was a film adaptation. Just watched the trailer...and guess, I can't handle the grim. (You warned me) My heart is too heavy with news these days, though I truly loved the compassion in REGENERATION. Looking forward to THE INHERITORS.
Just finished THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS by Ocean Vuong. A beautiful tribute to American society's struggling underclass. Poetry as prose. I highly recommend.
This is a want-to-read for me. I found ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS really moving.
Couldn't make it past the monkey-scene. So painful, I still can't pick up the book.
Yeah, that's brutal, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. But it's worth going further...
So I’ve heard. And yet, that scene is in my mind as if I read it this morning. Somewhere a friend had the skippable pages marked off.
I’ve just finished PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee and it’s got 5* from me. Totally engrossed in a family history to the backdrop of Japan’s annexation of Korea until WWII and beyond. History I knew so little about nor how poorly Koreans were treated. Definitely can recommend.
I read it last year with The Reader and the Writer book club - it is such an amazing book. There is a series too, I found out (haven’t watched) - the book is really vivid and propulsive.
Slow reads? I’m an even slower reader. Just 26 pages left of Midnight’s Children. I’ve loved this book so much. More than W&P and APOGS..and I couldn’t give it up when I dropped behind. I’ll finish it tonight and only then will I read the notes , which I’ve avoided because I didn’t want spoilers.
The Inheritors start 5th June..I’m ready!
.
Excellent! Btw, I do make sure that each week's notes are spoiler free so you should be ok when you're doing other reads.
As well as all the slow reads, I've managed:
THE EYE IN THE DOOR (Pat Barker) - I couldn't wait for this, and I'll be finishing the trilogy before long. It's a very different book from REGENERATION - it has clearer, or more obvious, plot lines. I find it interesting how Barker can get you rooting for characters that are, at heart, unlikeable.
A SPOT OF BOTHER (Mark Haddon) - possibly my favourite book. I read it every so often and always find something I missed. It's a book that genuinely makes me laugh out loud. It's a story of a family that has all sorts of issues - yes, Tolstoy, we know - and meshes comedy and drama, leaving you feeling that we can all muddle through. The book is about 20 years old, and people still write letters, nobody has used a mobile phone and Facebook wasn't a thing. It never lets me down.
DAVID COPPERFIELD (Charles Dickens) - I'm doing this as a one-chapter-a-day read, and it's a delight. (I'll move on to GREAT EXPECTATIONS next.) There are some things that feel a bit off - attitudes towards young women - but then they are overtaken by some of the social commentary, and some of the livelier characters. I have laughed out loud at several points. And Betsey Trotwood is such a wonderful character far from the caricatures that I remember. It's a delight.
I'm currently reading all the ongoing slow reads with Simon.
I'm also reading DOCTOR ZHIVAGO with Cams Campbell.
BLIND SIGHTED by Karin Slaughter - A first-time author for me. Two chapters in and I'm loving it.
And I just finished an ARC copy of 'TIDES AND TORMENT' BY Caitlan Honer. This was one of those books where the cover sold me, and I was not disappointed. It’s a Romantasy x murder mystery in a Pirates of the Caribbean setting, and it was so much fun!!
Read recently:
WE DO NOT PART by Han Kang. Mind-expanding.
HOW TO LOVE YOUR DAUGHTER by Hila Blum. My third read (second reread?) and I'm still noticing nuances previously missed.
WRITERS AND LOVERS by Lily King
Very satisfying and well-written.
JANE AND DAN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Colleen Oakley
Silly but fun.
Taking part in all our slow reads and looking forward to the Inheritors. I am a tad behind on Bring Up the Bodies reread, but it makes me appreciate the details of Mantel’s prose. Also progressing on THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, which is an amazingly powerful story (didn’t expect to get so involved with it).
Finally finished the audio book of Cromwell biography by Diarmade McCullough. I really tried to pace it to at least the first 2 books if the trilogy, but just got too swept up in the narration. It’s an excellent listen, like a big audio course. I guess Tracy Borman books might be next.
Also finished Louise Penny - THE MADNESS OF CROWDS - (with some advice from the group) - for local book club. Not bad although ultimately not my genre (at least this had social commentary and reference to other books we read). Unbelievable, but the next book choice in my club is also a murder mystery 🫠
I also finished a beautiful book I found quite by chance just at the end of our Rushdie slow read - THE BOOK OF EVERLASTING THINGS by Aanchal Malhotra, carefully crafted and with smell and perfumery as a conduit for history and memory. Reminds me a bit of The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish - perfect plot of past and present, connections through history and an artistic medium to make the connection itself. And a love story and family saga - would anything be more perfect?! The perfumery part is technical and very detailed - I loved that.
I guess The Perfume (Das Parfuem) by Sueskind would be a good next book choice.
I am also looking forward to 1000 words of summer writing camp that’s starting on May 31.
Please tell us more about your writing camp…
@Jami Attenberg does it every year with a big group in her Substack and slack. I am pretty sure Simon participates as well. You can just write 1000 words a day working in a project of your choice, rewrite something, work on a project of your choice with support of the group.
I did this last year. Maybe I should be doing some sort of drawing challenge this summer!
I'm trying to slow-read BRING UP THE BODIES but it's so damn good I'm racing through it unable to stop!
It's the hardest of the three to read slowly!
Regeneration was an excellent read, thank you Simon.
I am also reading, and loving, Robert Fagles’ translation of the Odyssey with Vashik of Genius and Ink. Will I see the movie? Maybe. Moby Dick with Church Blogmatics, and The Brothers K with Henry Elliot. And, of course, War and Peace.
This month I finished SUSPICION by Seichō Matsumoto, SOLDADOS DE SALAMINA (Soldiers of Salamis) by Javier Cercas (that one took months), LA GUERRA CIVIL CONTADA A LOS JOVENES (The Civil War told for young people) by Arturo Perez-Reverte.
Current reads are THE BATTLE FOR SPAIN by Antony Beevor (understanding the Spanish Civil War is a quest of mine), SUPERFAN by Jenny Tinghui Zhang (incredibly relevant to my personal life), THE SPACES THAT MAKE US by Danish Kurani (philosophy of design), and 30 pages left in ANIMA by Kapka Kassabova, my surprise favorite book so far this year, about sheepherding in the Balkans. I read a few dreamy pages before bed. And I was so excited to discover that Anima is the fourth book of her Balkan quartet. So much to look forward to. If you like Rebecca Solnit you might like Kapka Kassabova.
I notice that many of us are fitting so many books into our lives. My method is to read a few pages of each, at different times of the day, every day. I I am a slow reader usually, because I like/need to taste every word (I also have astigmatism and it is an effort to guide my eyes across the page). I never leave the house without a book, except to walk at the park. I’m curious how others do it.
I love this group!
I’ve been recovering from surgery for the last week so my reading has accelerated even more than usual. This month:
- REGENERATION of course
- STRANGE PILGRIMS, a short story collection by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, very good
- finally finished REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE by Julian of Norwich, a true treasure
- THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION by qntm, a total surrealist sci fi horror blast
- VOYAGE AU CENTRE DE LA TERRE by Jules Verne, my latest French reading milestone and very fun
- books 6-7 of the EMMA M LION series, which has stolen my heart
- IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES by Katherine Rundell, which was good but didn’t live up to the hype for me (but I bought her biography of John Donne and am looking forward to it)
- MEDEA by Euripides, astonishingly effective
I am still working on THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO by Ann Radcliffe which is finally getting gothic a third of the way in; NOT THE END OF THE WORLD by Hannah Ritchie, THE BOOK OF HOURS by Rilke, and ENDLING by Maria Reva.
I hope you are recovering well, Anne.
I am, thank you!
THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley, THE ASTRAL LIBRARY by Kate Quinn, ISOLA by Allegra Goodman, THE TRUE, TRUE sTORY of RAJA the GULLIBLE by Rabih Alameddine, THE DARK ANGEL by Elly Griffiths and my first Michael Connolly crime novel, NIGHTSHADE. I typically shy away from sci-fi/fantasy, but the first two titles on my list were surprisingly delightful.
Loved RAJA!
I'll join for the inheritors (although shh, don't tell anybody that I have inexplicably never read the lord of the flies)
I've had a good month for reading - THE NAMES was good and provided plenty for my book group to talk about; TOM LAKE was excellent, every time I read an Ann Patchett I wonder why I forget about her in between books and I really should read the others; WRECK by Catherine Newman actually genuinely made me laugh out loud a few times and that almost never happens these days; NOTES FROM AN EXHIBITION was a re-read for my other book group and worth a second go; and finally finishing THE PAPER GARDEN about the life of Mrs Delany, who pretty much invented collage in the 18th century, means I can line up a field trip to Dunham Massey where they have some of her pieces on display this summer.
Don't tell anyone but I've never read Lord of the Flies either! I have however read two others of his, The Spire and Pincher Martin. All kind of wild.
Ohhhh the spire! I started to listen to it on audio then sort of wandered off and didn’t get very far (I need to do long drives to get through audiobooks). I’d completely forgotten about that, should revisit
I've never read Lord of the Flies either. Looking forward to The Inheritors.
TOM LAKE was excellent! Ann Patchett is excellent! I'm on the library's wait list for her latest, WHISTLER.
While I can say I read Lord of the Flies, in (US) high school English about 1975, I remember almost nothing… Looking forward to The Inheritors. Am very slowly reading the nonfiction-with-imagination AFTER THE ICE, by UK archeology prof (and wonderful writer) Steven Mithen, about humans around the world post-ice age, 20,000 to 5,000 years ago. After the Neanderthals I hear but stirs up the old human mood!
P.S. Do people in England call English class “English“ ? Question from across a pond and another continent! (Pacific coast US)
We do! Sometimes Eng Lit or Eng Language, but often just English at school.
Hi all- currently reading THE ELEMENTS by John Boyle- four loosely connected novellas examining aspects of evil.
SON OF NOBODY by Yaan Martel with the Lonsesome Readers Bookclub. Great take on the Iliad from a commoners point of view.
WHITE RIVER CROSSING by Ian McGuire- a dark novel about finding gold in the American Frontier.
TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE by Yang Shuang-Zi winner of this year’s Int booker prize. Did not like it at all but listened to it. I will try reading it. Sometimes reading and listening can be totally different experiences. Some books shine on Audible while others simply don’t.
THE LEOPARD by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa the great Italian novel about an aristocratic family in Sicily. In preparing for an upcoming trip to Sicily I noticed this book is on every recommended reading list. I tried three times to get into it but failed twice and pushed through the third time. It’s s good but not a favorite.
All while slow reading WAR AND PEACE -caught up after starting out three months behind! As well as REGENERATION which was superb with the background material provided by Simon.
Have a great month! Onto THE INHERITORS!
I bought Taiwan Travelogue a while ago snd have moved it closer to the top of my tbr, since the Booker announcement. It’s interesting that you did not like it, because I often find that Booker winners are not my cup of tea.
I started The Leopard last year with a substack read along and dropped out. Maybe I’ll finish it someday. The Netflix melodrama based on the book is pretty good.
This month I’ve read:
THE TESTAMENTS by the superlative Margaret Atwood. Third reread, and I’ve had a different reaction to it each time. It’s very far from her best book, but I’ve been watching the TV adaptation and wanting to get back into the world of Gilead.
WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG by Any Remeikis. A short non-fiction about the political crimes of John Howard, ex Australian prime minister. An enraging read.
THE WASP FACTORY by Iain Banks. His debut novel. Was deeply shocking when first published. The prose was perfection; the story itself compelling but not fun. The ending was flat as a tack. I believe his later sci fi novels are all very well regarded.
THE BOOK OF THE UNNAMED WIDWIFE by Meg Ellison.
This was just ok. I love me a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but this was a bit lacking for me.
WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks. Second reread. I loved this first and second time around. It is a series of recorded interviews with various players in the story of the Zombie apocalypse and the aftermath, and is much much better than that sounds.
Currently reading CALL THE MIDWIFE by Jennifer Worth, on which the series is based. And then I’ll be starting THE INHERITORS for my very first F&L slow read!
I remember reading The Wasp Factory some years ago, back when I hadn't read much that was shocking – and it stood out! I never tackled his science fiction, although yes I have heard good things. Hope you enjoy reading The Inheritors with us!
Ages ago I read Banks’ THE BRIDGE, but I preferred his SciFi. Those that stand out in my memory are CONSIDER PHLEBAS, THE PLAYER OF GAMES, LOOK TO WINDWARD (all Culture universe), and AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND.
I remember reading The Wasp Factory some years ago, back when I hadn't read much that was shocking – and it stood out! I never tackled his science fiction, although yes I have heard good things. Hope you enjoy reading The Inheritors with us!
Looking forward to Golding! Meanwhile apart from W&P I’ve been reading THE MEMORY OF LOVE by Aminatta Forna (stunning), HONEY by Imani Thompson (darkly disturbing and delicious), THE MERCY STEP by Marcia Hutchinson (a-may-zing), BLOW YOUR HOUSE DOWN by Pat Barker (bleakly brilliant) and THE COSSACK by Mr Tolstoy (not as good as W&P 😆).
Oh nice! HAPPINESS by Aminatta Forna is one of my favourite novels, so I must push THE MEMORY OF LOVE higher up my TBR.