I was getting very tired of this book until I got to the last 15-20%. And then I LOVED it. I wish the first 80-85% had been tightened up a bit. And, no spoilers, but the structure is an exact copy of a 2019 book that was turned into a limited series a few years ago. We read it for my book club, and I’m not sure we’ll have too much to talk about, as everything about it is relatively light and forgettable. It was nevertheless an entertaining read.
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GG finished reading Good Material by Dolly Alderton
From the New York Times best-selling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About a …
GG started reading Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
From the New York Times best-selling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About a story of heartbreak and friendship …
GG finished reading An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
It is 1948. Japan is rebuilding her cities after the calamity of World War Two, …
A subtle and beautiful portrait of post-World War II Japan, viewed through the eyes of an unreliable narrator. It examines the way the people who supported the totalitarian society (and informed on their friends and neighbors) dealt with their guilt (or lack thereof) and social ostracism.
GG started reading An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
It is 1948. Japan is rebuilding her cities after the calamity of World War Two, her people putting defeat behind …
GG finished reading You Dreamed of Empires by Natasha Wimmer
I loved this novel! I also learned a lot, as I stopped to do Wikipedia deep dives on the real history of the between Hernan Cortez and Montezuma, the Aztec emperor. I didn’t realize, until I read this book, that the Conquistadors actually stayed at the palace for a year, with various kings from throughout the empire coming to meet with them. It’s unclear to historians whether they were guests or prisoners. I appreciated how the novel imagines this time, and really humanizes the characters and the political conflicts between the many players, sort of like Game of Thrones, but in 15th century Mexico. My only complaint is that the person who reads the audiobook (the author?) has a VERY heavy accent that made it difficult to understand, and the many long words and names (like Atotoxli) are easier to track written on the page rather than aurally (or maybe …
I loved this novel! I also learned a lot, as I stopped to do Wikipedia deep dives on the real history of the between Hernan Cortez and Montezuma, the Aztec emperor. I didn’t realize, until I read this book, that the Conquistadors actually stayed at the palace for a year, with various kings from throughout the empire coming to meet with them. It’s unclear to historians whether they were guests or prisoners. I appreciated how the novel imagines this time, and really humanizes the characters and the political conflicts between the many players, sort of like Game of Thrones, but in 15th century Mexico. My only complaint is that the person who reads the audiobook (the author?) has a VERY heavy accent that made it difficult to understand, and the many long words and names (like Atotoxli) are easier to track written on the page rather than aurally (or maybe that’s just me). Anyway, I recommend reading this rather than listening to it.
GG started reading You Dreamed of Empires by Natasha Wimmer
GG stopped reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, Blood Meridian …
I got through half of it. With Cormac McCarthy in the news recently, I realized had never read the book that was considered his masterpiece. Unsurprisingly, it is nihilistic and violent, and despite the beautiful prose, is a grim slog about man’s affinity for violence. I feel like I got the gist without having to finish the emotionally exhausting and gratuitously violent remainder.
GG started reading Open Secrets by Alice Munro
GG started reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, Blood Meridian brilliantly subverts the conventions of …
GG finished reading The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
GG started reading The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
GG finished reading Liars by Sarah Manguso
When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: …
I’m not sure others would love this book as much as I did, mainly because the husband reminded me so much of my awful ex-husband, and we were together the same length of time as the couple in the novel: 14 years. But I found it to be an incredibly incisively-written portrait of what it’s like to be in a long relationship in which one spouse is always carrying the heavier load. It will be too much of a downer for a lot of people, but it’s also not very long.
GG started reading Liars by Sarah Manguso
Liars by Sarah Manguso
When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to …
GG finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey
A singular new novel from Betty Trask Prize–winner Samantha Harvey, Orbital is an eloquent meditation …
This was not really a novel, it’s a character study of a group of astronauts living on the ISS, and the thoughts they have while in space. It’s a nice philosophical journey, and doesn’t overstay its welcome.