Simone2 in 2022

Hi everyone I am Barbara. I am from the Netherlands and will keep track here of the books I read. It will be mainly short reviews of literary fiction, both classic and contemporary. I am reading the list of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die and a big fan of The Tournament of Books. I’ll be also reading my way through every African country since I am hosting a Reading Africa challenge on Litsy. Laat but not least, I am always in for a good thriller or mystery but am mostly underwhelmed after finishing them. Suggestions are very welcome!

JANUARY - MARCH

JANUARY
1 - At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop: 3.5*
2 - The Sentence by Louise Erdrich: 3.5*
3 - Baho! by Roland Rugero: 3*
4 - Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke: 3.5*
5 - Subdivision by J Robert Lennon: 4.5*
6 - Blue Bay Palace by Nathacha Appanah: 3.5*
7 - The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey: 3*
8 - The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste: 2.5*
9- The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz: 2.5*
10 - In The Freud Archives by Janet Malcolm: 4*
11 - The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida: 2*
12 - Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart: 3*
13 - The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud: 3*

FEBRUARY
14 - The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba: 3.5*
15 - Pan by Knut Hamsun: 2*
16 - When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut: 3.5*
17 - To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara: 3.5*
18 - Wij Slaven van Suriname by Anton de Kom (Dutch): 3*
19 - We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo: 3.5*
20 - Het Testament van Senhor Araújo by Germano Almeida: 3*
21 - Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood: 4*
22 - How High we Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu: 3.5*
23 - Wij zijn licht (Dutch) by Gerda Blees: 3.5*
24 - Anthem by Noa Hawley: 3.5*

MARCH
25 - Seed by Ania Ahlborn: 4*
26 - Trust by Domenico Starnone: 4.5*
27 - A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park: 4*
28 - Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen: 4*
29 - The Aosawa Murders by Rika Onda: 4*
30 - Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono: 3.5*
31 - All's Well by Mona Awad: 3.5*
32 - Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban: 4*
33 - Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson: 3.5*
34 - Heaven by Mieko Kawakami: 4.5*
35 - What is the What by Dave Eggers: 4*
36 - The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout: 4.5*
37 - A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes: 3*
38 - After The Sun by Jonas Eika: 2*
39 - Allah is not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma: 3*
40 - The Return by Hisham Matar: 3*
41 - Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park:4*

APRIL - JUNE

APRIL
42 - The Master Key by Masako Togawa: 4*
43 - Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro: 4.5*
44 - The Journey by Abdul Musa Ada: 4*
45 - Liefde, als dat het is (Dutch) by Marijke Schermer: 4.5*
46 - La Bastarda by Trifonia Melinda Obono: 3*
47 - The Book of Mother by Violaine Huisman: 3*
48 - The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas: 4*
49 - Monterosso mon amour (Dutch) by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer: 3.5*
50 - Mijn pa is nooit alleen (Dutch) by Jan van Mersbergen: 3.5*
51 - Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: 4*
52 - The Fortnight in September by RC Sheriff: 4.5*
53 - Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel: 4.5*
54 - Paradais by Fernanda Melchor: 3.5*
55 - Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung: 3*
56 - Noodweer (Dutch) by Marijke Schermer: 4.5*

MAY
57 - The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith: 4*
58 - The House on Sugar Beach By Helene Cooper: 4.5*
59 - The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett: 3*
60 - Homo Safaricus by Ramsey Nasr: 3*
61 - His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie: 3*
62 - Born Under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield: 4*
63 - Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor: 4*
64 - Threatened by Eliot Schrefer: 3*
65 - The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak: 3.5*
66 - Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin: 4*
67 - Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig: 3*
68 - The Still Point by Amy Sackville: 3.5*
69 - Blood River by Tim Butcher: 3.5*
70 - An Island by Karen Jennings: 4*
71 - Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan: 2.5*
72 - The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin: 1.5*
73 - Seven Days in June by Tia Williams: 4*

JUNE
74 - Tell Me How To Be by Neel Patel: 4*
75 - A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa: 3*
76 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: 4*
77 - True Biz by Sarah Novic: 3*
78 - The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka: 3.5*
79 - When the Ground is Hard by Malla Nunn: 3.5*
80 - Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway: 3*
81 - Greengates by RC Sherriff: 4*
82 - Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout: 4.5*

JULY - SEPTEMBER

JULY
82 - Red Island House by Andrea Lee: 2.5*
83- Devil House by John Darnielle: 3.5*
84 - You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi: 3*
85 - After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell: 4*
86 - At the Table by Claire Bowell: 4*
87 - Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey: 3*
88 - The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager: 3*
89 - We Do what We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart: 4*
90 - Cabin Fever by Michael Smith: 4*
91 - Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay: 4.5*
92 - Mensen in de zon (Dutch) by Marijke Schermer: 3.5*
93 - The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji: 3.5*
94 - This Time Tomorrow Emma Straub: 5*
95 - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: 4*
96 - The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye: 3*
97 - Ain’t Burned all the Bright by Jason Reynolds: 4.5*
98 - The Little Snake by AL Kennedy: 3.5*
99 - All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami: 3.5*
100 - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan: 4*

AUGUST
101 - Either/Or by Elif Batuman: 3.5*
102 - Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley: 4*
103 - Chandelier by Mieko Kawakami: 4.5*
104 - Anos Ku Ta Manda by Yasmina Nuny: 2.5*
105 - Treacle Walker by Alan Garner: 1.5*
106 - A Single Rose by Muriel Barbery: 4*
107 - Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield: 3.5*
108 - Walking the Nile by Levison Wood: 4*
109 - The Colony by Audrey Magee: 5*
110 - Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer: 4*
111 - A Fish Caught in Time by Samantha Weinberg: 2.5*
112 - China Room by Sunjeev Sahota: 3*
113 - Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet: 4*

SEPTEMBER
114 - Let me Lie by Clare Mackintosh: 3.5*
115 - After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz: 2*
116 - Ik nog wel van jou (Dutch) by Elke Geurts: 4*
117 - The Lost Man by Jane Harper: 4*
118 - Kokoro by Natsume Soseki: 4.5*
119 - Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard: 3*
120 - Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto: 3.5*
121 - Ghosts by Dolly Alderton: 3*
122 - The Keep by Jennifer Egan: 3.5*
123 - An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina: 3.5*
124 - The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty: 4.5*
125 - Africa is not a Country by Dipo Faloyin: 4.5*
126 - Notes From The Blockade by Lidiya Ginzburg: 3*
127 - The Employees by Olga Ravn: 4*

OCTOBER- DECEMBER

OCTOBER
128 - Trust by Hernan Diaz: 3.5*
129 - Booth by Karen Joy Fowles: 3*
130 - Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah: 4*
131 - Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada: 4*
132 - Horseman by Christina Henry: 1*
133 - The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: 3.5*
134 - Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah: 4*
135 - The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig: 4*
136 - Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor: 4*
137 - Wie is die vrouw? (Dutch) by Elke Geurts: 4*
138 - Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yu: 3*
139 - The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline: DNF
140 - All This Could be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews: 4*

NOVEMBER
141 - The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green: 3*
142 - Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor: 4*
143 - The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell: 4*
144 - Golden Hill by Francis Spufford: 3*
145 - Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan: 3.5*
146 - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton: 4*
147 - Flamingo by Rachel Elliott: 4.5*
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn: DNF
148 - The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid: 2.5*
149 - Passage of Tears by Abdourahman Waberi: 3*
150 - The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen: 4*
151 - Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson: 4*
152 - Dr. No by Percival Everett: 4*

DECEMBER
153 - Grown Ups by Marie Aubert: 4*
154 - An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie: 3.5*
155 - Ocean State by Stewart O’Nan: 3.5*
156 - Where You Come From by Sasa Stanisic: 2.5*
157 - Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley: 3.5*
158 - H(a)ppy by Nicola Barker: 3.5*
159 - Dinosaurs. A novel by Lydia Millet: 4.5*
160 - The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li: 3.5*
161 - Cyclorama by Adam Langer: 3.5*
162 - We Spread by Iain Reid: 4*
163 - Touch by Olaf Olafsson: 4.5*
164 - Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka: 4.5*
165 - The Midcoast by Adam White: 3*
166 - Recitatif by Toni Morrison: 4*

I look forward to following along with your reads through Africa. I'm committed to the Asian Book Challenge this year, otherwise I would join you. I'm sure I'll be getting lots of good ideas from your thread.

Hi Barbara-Glad to see you here again. I was very impressed with your Asia journey on Litsy this year, and will follow your Africa journey with interest.

Hi Barbara. I will be mostly following you on Litsy, but here too. Wish you a good year and look forward to your comments on all you read.

Happy New Year, Barbara! Look forward to your thread as always.

>6 labfs39: I read Asia last year, it was great and made me discover some fantastic books. Enjoy!

>7 arubabookwoman: >8 dchaikin: Always happy to see you here or on Litsy. Looking forward to the Anniversaries buddy read!

>9 AlisonY: Happy new year Alison! Make the most of it. Thanks for folllowing again!

1 - At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

When Senegal was a French colony local soldiers were recruited to fight for France during WWI. This book shows what war can do to people and how it affects them. A small book but it packs a punch.

3.5*

>11 Simone2: Moving it up the wish list...

>11 Simone2: I'm trying to gage this one from readers... does it go soft-ish quality-wise anywhere, or is this one strong throughout?

>11 Simone2: This was $2.99 for Kindle in the US today, so I bought it.

>13 dchaikin: If you ask me I’d say it’s strong throughout. It gets even better toward the end.

>14 arubabookwoman: I hope you’ll enjoy it, although enjoying is not the right word.

2 - The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

A lot is happening in this book. It’s a book about books, about ghosts, about Native Americans, the pandemic and George Floyd. Erdrich is very good in bringing her characters to life. I loved Tookie, Pollux and Hetta and their interactions, I enjoyed many storylines, and I learned a lot. With a 100 pages less it would have been perfect!

3.5*

>15 Simone2: thanks! >16 Simone2: no Erdrich for me yet. Not sure why not. But maybe I should start with a shorter book.

Hi Barbara. I'm looking forward to following your Reading Africa challenge. While I won't be formally joining, I anticipate that it will add more than a few books to my wish list.

>18 Linda92007: Thank you so much. I hope to read some good ones!

3 - Baho! by Roland Rugero

Against the background of contemporary Burundi this is the story of a young mute man who is falsely accused of trying to rape a woman. All of the people turn against him and his fate is in their hands.

It’s an easy short book but it’s insightful as well.

3*

4 - Several People Are Typing by Calvis Kasulke

This book made me laugh out loud. It is so recognizable to me. Slack, the use of emojis, the attitude towards the clients: it's really like the typical office culture within creative agencies. I very much enjoyed how the whole book was written in Slack channels and I loved the storyline, even though I'm not sure how it ended with Gerald and the Slackbot. A fun read, but not really memorable I guess and I doubt if it's worth the Rooster!

3.5*

5 - Subdivision by J Robert Lennon

Wow, this book totally sucked me in. It reminded me of old school adventure computer games, each chapter learning a bit more about what the story is about. I loved the dreamlike style, the lingering sadness throughout the whole book and the way it came together in the end even though I’m not sure how it ends.
Books like this are why I love the Tournament of Books.

4.5*

>22 Simone2: I started reading the online preview and it also sucked me in, so on to the wishlist it goes!

>22 Simone2: Oh, I hadn't heard anything about this one. You've made me eager to read it.

6 - Blue Bay Palace by Nathacha Appanah

“Like this country, I am a child in extremis. That is why my parents named me Maya -- illusion, the one whom we believe is, but who is not.”

Maya grows up in poverty on the island of Mauritius, near a luxurious resort where tourists come to find paradise. When she falls in love with the manager of the hotel, she dares to dream of an escape but in the end the gap between their two worlds is too wide. For Maya, this is a crushing blow that turns her love into fury.

3.5*

>22 Simone2: added to my library TBR list

7 - The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

A solid read about a female scientist, renowned for her work in the field of cloning, who meets a clone representing herself. This woman is her ex husband’s new lover. A great start, an engaging middle and a weak ending make for a soft pick. I don’t think it should have made the ToB22 shortlist. I do think that of several books this year unfortunately.

3*

>26 ELiz_M: It’s a satisfying choice for Mauritius in the Reading Africa challenge!

8 - The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

I had a hard time with this difficult books about women in Ethiopia at war against Italy in the 1930s. The characters (Hirut, Kidane and Aster) were introduced well but soon they became mere characters in ongoing descriptions about battles, sieges, fighting and rape. In between we learned about Haile Selassi leaving his country in need, but even this part didn’t really work for me.

2.5*

>29 Simone2: Sounds grim. I think I'll pass.

Hi! Following along.

>30 labfs39: I can’t blame you!
>31 dianeham: Hi 👋🏽 Diane!

9 - The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz

Another tough read. A kind of Kafka in #Egypt. Governments and bureaucracy are hidden behind a gate and people are queuing to ask their questions and requests for all kinds of basic human rights. The gate never opens though and people spend their lives just waiting in line.

2.5*

Ooh, two tough ones. I felt about the same about The Shadow King.

>34 dchaikin: Real tough indeed. Fortunately I now just finished a gratifying one!

10 - In The Freud Archives by Janet Malcolm

Academic gossiping! I didn’t know I’d enjoy that but I did. Three academics fight about who knows best what Freud meant and thought. I learned a lot about Freud’s early seduction theory, which he abandoned in favor of a theory of infantile sexuality. It’s fascinating to read about the different interpretations and opinions of the three academics. And the author’s role in all of this, wow!

4*

>36 Simone2: I definitely want to read that.

>36 Simone2: that sounds terrific (and glad you found a good read)

ETA - I feel like I meant to read Janet Malcolm ages ago. Can’t remember, but i probably should regardless. She had lots of interesting titles.

>36 Simone2: I want that book.

>37 lisapeet: >38 dchaikin: >39 dianeham: If you can get your hand on a copy, I would absolutely read it if I were you. It’s non fiction and very informative in a fun way. It has been published by NYRB - not too expensive.

11 - The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida

I hadn’t expected this based on the reviews, but I didn’t enjoy this book at all. Set in Morocco it is full of prejudices which highly irritates me. And then that storyline or better, lack of. I think the author made quite a mess of what she was trying to say (Okay so your passport is stolen, what’s the big deal? A loss of identity? Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?) ) and I didn’t see the point. Nor was I interested any longer.

2*

>40 Simone2: on order

12 - Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart

I’m not sure what to make of this book. It has all the ingredients I’m looking for at the moment. Friends spending time together, romance, dealing with a new pandemic reality. And yet I never felt drawn it. The characters felt too flat, their storylines too thin and the final scenes made we just want to get it over with. Definitely not my favorite for the ToB22 play-in round.

3*

13 - The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud

This book is a counterpart to Camus' The Stranger. Told by the brother of the anonymous Arab murdered in that book, this is a reflection on Algerian identity and the consequences of French colonization.

3*

Only 3 stars? What didn't you like about it?

>36 Simone2: It arrived today in the mail.

>43 Simone2: Ok, I think I'll let the play-in round pass me by and read the winner of that round. I have a copy of The Sentence and I kind of want to be able to read it slowly. Thanks for the review.

>47 RidgewayGirl: I haven’t read Copeland but The Sentence is so good, I’d be surprised if it didn’t win the play-in.

>45 ELiz_M: There was a lot of repeating and I didn’t really like the style in which it was written.

14 - The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

This is the impressive and admirable story of a boy in Malawi who, despite famine, hunger and a lack of education manages to invent and develop windmills and electricity for his village. When he has been “discovered” by the world and becomes a protégé of international sponsors it is touching to see how he learns about the internet and elevators and all those things he grew up without.

3.5*

>50 Simone2: I loaned my copy of this book before I had read it, and it never made its way home. I should look for another copy.

15 - Pan by Knut Hamsun

I read this book only because I never read Hamsun yet and he won the Noble Price so I thought I should. This book is about a very unsympathetic man, a hunter in Norway. He uses the women he meets , he behaves stupid and he talks so childish. I have no clue what to think now that I’m finished.

2*

>52 Simone2: I read Hunger by Hamsun and found it incredibly depressing. I've not been in a hurry to read another one of his books.

>53 labfs39: Mine was depressing too indeed. And just like you I am in no need to pick up another one.

16 - When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

Labatut himself summaries his book as follows: “This book is about what happens when we reach the edges of science; when we come face to face with what we cannot understand. It is about what occurs to the human mind when it pushes past the outer limits of thought, and what lies beyond those limits.”
The result is an intens, uncomfortable and intriguing book.

3.5*

>55 Simone2: That sounds a bit like The Meaning of Human Existence based on this quote. Or maybe they are two different sides of the same multi-sided topic.

17 - To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

What is Yanagihara trying to tell? Are the books even related? And the names made my head spinning. I enjoyed all three books and the writing but I am not loving it like many of you did. Too little of a reward after 700 pages! I still don’t know what to think but am tending to think in line with the overall bleakness of the book.

3.5*

18 - We Slaves of Suriname by Anton de Kom

This book is a charge against Holland. And rightly so. My country has abused its power in a scandalous way. Suriname was a Dutch colony where slavery was everywhere until 1863 but after that circumstances remained poor for the native population until their independence. It’s a shame how little we still know about this part of our history if you’re not actively looking for it.

The book itself though is dryly written and it was hard to follow along.

3*

>57 Simone2: I felt like it would have been better without the middle section - both because that was the weakest one for me and also because it would have trimmed a couple hundred pages off it.

>58 Simone2: Thank you for that - I hadn't heard of Anton de Kom, even though it looks like he was an important figure in the anticolonialism movement. I've wishlisted We Slaves of Suriname.

19 - We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

It took me too long to read this book. It’s a good one though. Coming of age partly in the tin shacks of Zimbabwe and then living with an aunt in Michigan, life couldn’t have changed more than it did for Darling. From the chaos created by Mugabe she becomes an illegal immigrant and she sharply observes the many prejudices against and misconceptions about countries and people outside the US.

3.5*

>60 Dilara86: I heard about him in a podcast recently, hadn’t heard of him too before. But his book has been republished so that’s good!

>57 Simone2: That would have made quite a difference indeed!

20 - The Last Will & Testament of Senhor Da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida

This slim book reads like a typical Latin American story without the magical realism. It may be the Portuguese influence still present in #CapeVerde.

Anyhow it is a nice read about life and death of a humble man who, despite his successful trade business, leads his life mostly in solitude. He leaves behind a remarkable testament.

3*

21 - Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood

Although it went on a bit too long to my taste I was utterly charmed by the Lockwood’s. What a family! That father! I laughed out loud about the Catholic craziness, yet Patricia Lockwood writes so lovingly about all of them! Quite special!

4*

22 - How High we Go in the Dark by Seqoia Nagamatsu

Climate change has led the Arctic ice to melt, uncovering a virus that had been hidden for centuries.
It doesn’t take long before a pandemic is spreading g across the globe and this book tells about the pandemic and it’s aftermath. This premise made me think of Migrations and I was hoping for such a kind of novel but it’s a collection of short stories rather than a novel, more SF than dystopian.

3.5*

>I put that on hold at the library after reading Beth's review, but haven't received it yet.
I'm just finishing up Katalin Street four our NyRB discussion tomorrow. Will you be participating? I'm loving the book!

>66 arubabookwoman: Katalin Street looks good. I've been meaning to read Szabo, Door has been on my wish list for ages.

>66 arubabookwoman: >67 labfs39: I thought The Door was wonderful—I think you'd like it, Lisa. I've got Katalin Street and Iza's Ballad on the shelf and definitely want to read both of them based on the strength of that one, plus a friend has said I would love Abigail so that's on the list too. Is the NYRB discussion part of Club Read or somewhere else on LT, or elsewhere altogether?

>68 lisapeet: the nyrb discussion is on Litsy.

23 - Wij zijn licht by Gerda Blees

In 2017 a woman died of malnutrition in a Dutch commune, led by her sister. The people in this group thought they could live on light and air. They ate and drank the bare minimum to stay alive. Until one of them died. Their story was in the news for weeks, the accompanying pictures shocking. This book is a fictional account of life within the group.

3.5*

>66 arubabookwoman: >67 labfs39: >68 lisapeet: >69 ELiz_M:

I didn’t read Katalin Street yet, I was not in the mood. But I surely will read it soon since I loved The Door and especially Iza’s Ballad. Both books we discussed on Litsy.

24 - Anthem by Noah Hawley

Anthem describes a very bleak yet realistic future for America and Gen Z. It was really hard to read a book like this while the world is still dealing with Covid and Putin is talking nuclear weapons. I am very scared and try to escape in my current vacation location (Oman, which is so peaceful it’s soothing) and my books.

3.5*

25 - Seed by Ania Ahlborn

In rural Louisiana a car crash sets in motion all the evil that Jack (happily married and father of two young daughters) thought he had escaped from. Throughout the whole book I was left with a creepy, spooky feeling.
A wonderful horror book to lose yourself into.

4*

26 - Trust by Domenico Starnone

Pietro can’t believe he has become the man he never thought he would be worthy to be. He is a school teacher and passionate about the inequalities of an educational system that threats all equallly. This subject makes him a respected writer and speaker. He also has a wife and children he loves. Yet there’s always the pact he made with his ex girlfriend.

I loved this book. Pietro’s thoughts, and the wonderful way the author sticks to the essentials - no drama.

4.5*

27 - A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park

The hardest story told in the most simple way. Salva has been a refugee for years. He fled from war torn South Sudan across the Nile and the desert to Ethiopia and Kenya. He learns to take life a day at a time.
In between there is Nya’s story, who 20 years later in South Sudan walks 8 hours a day to fetch water.
A touching story!

4*

28 - Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen

Such an excellent and rewarding collection of short stories set in modern China. Each story I learned a bit more about this immense country and all left me wondering about its ending. So many possibilities and so many constraints.

4*

>76 Simone2: Were these interconnected stories, Simone?

>77 labfs39: No they stand apart but are all about China or Chinese immigrants in the US. It’s a very good debut!

29 - The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda

A slowly unraveling story about a murder that took place years ago and was never resolved. Different people remember the tragedy and share their point of view. The plot and the twist aren’t that mindblowing but I can read such Japanese books anytime, just for their setting.

4*

30 - Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono

This is the diary of Toundi, a so called “houseboy” of Europeans in Cameroon in the 20th century. He observes and interprets his life and chances and those of the white people. He is humble and kind but it‘s hard to please the whites. A touching book.

3.5*

31 - All’s Well by Mona Awad

Just in time before this book is up against The Trees in the Tournament of Books, I finished it. And I like it a lot more than I thought I would. Miranda is a theater director who suffers chronic pains and lives on painkillers. When she meets three weird men in a bar, all’s well. No, not really. The book becomes a mess after that but I liked it.
No match for The Trees though, I’d you ask me!

3.5*

32 - Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban

Two lonely middle-aged Londoners, Neaera and William, become connected by their mutual desire to free the turtles from London Zoo. In each chapter one of them takes the reader along in their days and thoughts. It all comes back to the turtles, to human connections and to finding a place in the world for yourself. The book is funny and poignant, and I could keep on quoting from it. A wonderful read.

4*

>82 Simone2: Turtle Diary sounds lovely. I'll keep an eye out for it.

>82 Simone2: I’ve been meaning to read Turtle Diary for years. Russell Hoban is a really one-of-a-kind writer.

>83 labfs39: >84 lisapeet: It’s a lovely read indeed! I hope you both will get to it one day.

33 - Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson

Nora is an amazing person. She is very authentic and never afraid to make bold choices. That’s why she leaves Australia for England and return in her golden years. She has led such an interesting life. Her memories are interesting as well, Nora has forgotten a lot of them but patiently awaits the confrontation with her past.

3.5*

34 - Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

Heaven tells the story of a boy and a girl who are relentlessly bullied at middle school. They find solace in each other’s company and try to find explanations for what’s happening to them and how they both react to it, in order for it to make sense.

It’s a well written brutal novella and it broke my heart.

4.5*

>87 Simone2: This has been on my radar since Kevin (stretch) reviewed it. Your high rating nudges it further up the pile.

>87 Simone2: Based on your and Kevin's comments about Heaven I'll read it soon.

>88 labfs39: >89 kidzdoc: I hope you’ll read it, although it’s a hard and brutal read.

35 - What is the What by Dave Eggers

Another book about The Lost Boys, who came from Sudan to the US after years of living in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. This is Achak’s true story, written down by Dave Eggers, who is so good in writing biographies (Zeitoun, The Monk of Mokha. The past and the present, a laugh and a tear: this book has it all.

4*

>91 Simone2: Sounds great. I can't believe I still haven't read anything by Dave Eggers. I've had A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius on my TBR for ages. Your review encourages me to move him up the pile for any of those titles you've mentioned.

>92 AlisonY: I didn't care for Staggering Genius. I thought he was insufferable. But since then he has written some books that sound more like Tracy Kidder. I should give him another try.

>92 AlisonY: You should. He is really able to tell unheard stories. Staggering Genius was his first work and I liked it but I understand what >93 labfs39: says and it is indeed not representative for his more recent work. I really loved the three books I mentioned above.

36 - The Burgess Boys by ElizabethStrout

I sometimes think no one can bring book characters to life like Strout can. She did it again in this fantastic book about two brothers, their sister and their lives. They are far from perfect, yet so incredibly human. And then there’s Maine, the state they love and hate. And in between all of this there is the Somali community living there, dealing with prejudices, racism and wondering about those strange Americans.

4.5*

37 - A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Although the book for me came nowhere near Circe or Song of Achilles, it was still an amusing read. To consider the Trojan war from the point of view of a chorus women and goddesses was original and cool!

3*

38 - After The Sun by Jonas Eika

I didn’t like this short story, nominated for the International Booker Prize, at all. Each story started out interesting but all soon became too absurd to my taste.

2*

>97 Simone2: Hmm. I won't plan to read it.

>98 kidzdoc: Don’t make it your priority, there are much better books on the International Booker longlist.

39 - Allah is not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma

What a mess, West-Africa in the 90s. When his mother dies and he is left without family, a young boy from Ivory Coast travels through war torn Liberia and Sierra Leone in search of his aunt. He becomes a child soldier and witnesses all the horrible things a kid shouldn’t. Drugged and hyper he writes down his story.

3*

40 - The Return by Hisham Matar:

This is the personal recount of the author in search of his father and the country he was born, Libya. His father’s resistance towards the Libyan dictatorship ended in his imprisonment and disappearance, torning the family apart. The book jumps back in time to various phases and places in the author’s life, always searching for or escaping from the memory of both his father and his country. Definitely not an easy read.

3*

41 - Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

Young is a queer millennial in Seoul, where there’s still a culture of shame about openly gay relationships. For Young writing is the way to give meaning to his life. With humor and a certain melancholy he writes about his job, the care for his dying mother, friendship and sex. And then there’s love and letting go. The love for his friend Gyu-ho can only be told in stories.

There’s much more to this book than blurp and cover do imply. Worthy of it’s nomination for the International Booker Prize.

4*

42 - The Master Key by Masako Togawa

This oldie uses a highly original approach to the classic crime story. Set in Tokyo, just after WWII in an apartment complex for single women, mysterious things start to happen. Many of the women have their own secrets, hidden in the anonymity of their homes, when suddenly they are being revealed.

4*

Barbara, you're really traveling widely in your reading these days!

>104 RidgewayGirl: I am! I’m reading Africa this year and I always love Japanese fiction. Also the book I’ll review below is set in Argentina and I think you’d love it too!

43 - Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro

Elena has Parkinson's, her daily activities depend on the times when she takes her medicine, and is able to move for a few hours. Elena needs those hours to find out who killed her daughter.

Moving between past and present, Claudia Piñeiro not just paints a beautiful portrait of the relationship between mother and daughter, navigating between dependence, hate and love, but also of aging and a cruel disease. A very sad and beautiful story.

4.5*

44 - The Journey by Abdul Musa Adam

When he was just 7 years old, the Sudanese army killed Abdul’s entire family and burnt his home in Darfur to the ground. He fled to a refugee camp in Chad. Via Lybia (another war) he manages to cross the Mediterranean and make it to England, a young boy with PTSD, all alone in the world. Today he is a British citizen and jockey of royal horses. His journey has been hard, his story is emotional.

4*

45 - Liefde, als dat het is (Dutch) by Marijke Schermer

I hope for you all that this book will be translated in English. It’s so good. It’s about love. A married couple. She leaves, she has sex with another man and her husband seems so boring. Their children, accidentally reading the whatsapp chat between their mother and her lover. The husband, left behind, trying tinder for the first time. The wife, wondering if what’s she’s doing is right. The eldest daughter, 15, in live with the cure Moroccan boy she knows from school. The father and all his love for his daughters. The mother, irritated by the responsibilities coming with being a mother. A great read.

4.5*

46 - La Bastarda by Trifonia Melina Obono

I think I got a rare and unique insight in Equatorial Guinea, a country I knew nothing about, a country that never makes the news. Having said that, the story was not written well. It’s about the coming out of a girl, being a “man-woman” as it is called. I do appreciate the book for its adding to African books though and make me acquainted with this small unknown country.

3*

>106 Simone2: That's the second glowing review of Elena Knows that I've seen. On the list it goes!

>110 japaul22: I’d absolutely recommend it to you! By the way, after months of waiting, I got notice from Amazon that they can’t deliver Anniversaries any time soon.

47 - The Book of Mother by Violaine Huisman

Elsa’s and Violaine’s mother, Catherine is beautiful, brilliant and bipolar; she is a dancer who is determined to live life to the max. Why would she give up her right to freedom? Just because she has two kids?

After the war and the bleak fifties in France, she parties, argues, drinks and makes love throughout the sixties. Despite their mother's unpredictability, her daughters love her unconditionally.

3*

48 - The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas

Ali’s friend Kaunda doesn’t cry when her husband dies. He had not been a good man and abused her so why should she be sad? Because her in-laws demand it, because that’s the way things are supposed to go in rural Namibia. Based on this main storyline, this novel explores the status of women in traditional Namibian society. A very good read. I am learning so much about Africa!

4*

Catching up. What's the English translation of the title of the Schermer book? You've had some great reads lately.

>114 AlisonY: It hasn’t been translated yet unfortunately.

49 - Monterosso mon amour by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer

Carmen reads a lot, but she never recognizes herself in her books. Stories are rarely about women like her. “I have experienced and accomplished little in my life yet I would like to read about it,” she tells her neighbor on the plane, flying home from Cinque Terre where she went in search of her first love. The neighbor is author Pfeijffer. He fulfills her wish. The result is this novella, written especially for the Week of Dutch Books promotion.

3.5*

50 - Mijn pa is nooit alleen (Dutch) by Jan van Mersbergen

A book about hermits, about fathers and sons and about getting away from our past only to cherish it when we’re older.

3.5*

51 - Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s debut novel is the beautiful, yet sad story of 15-year-old Kambili, set in post-colonial #Nigeria. Kambili is the daughter of a wealthy and fanatical religious man who has the reputation of a philanthropist to the outside world but who physically and emotionally abuses his family. He forbids his children to meet his own father, who is a traditionalist. During a sleepover with her free-spirited aunt Kambili does however meet her grandfather and her sense of identity develops and grows - which leads to an escalation within the family. Highly recommended, both in print as well as audio.

4*

52 -The Fortnight in September by RC Sheriff

It’s the 1930s, and the Stevens family travel to the English seaside town of Bognor. For two glorious weeks they are freed from collars and stockings, from work and duties.

It is the twentieth time they go and they recognize everything. During the years their guest house has turned shabby and the family can afford little but what dominates is their constant enjoyment and making the most of every little ritual.

A wonderful book, highly recommended.

4.5*

That's too bad about Anniversaries! I think most of the people in our group read are enjoying it. I am, though it hasn't fully grabbed me.

>118 Simone2: I've had Purple Hibiscus on my shelf for quite a while now - I need to pick it up soon. It's her only novel that I haven't read.

>119 Simone2: I also loved this book and read it as a Persephone. I need to look at buying a few more books from their catalog - I really liked everything I've read from them.

>120 japaul22: I am really sorry I couldn’t get hold of a copy, I think buddyreading it is the way to do it.

I am too always enthusiastic about all Persephones I have read. They are mostly so without drama and I love that!

53 - Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

Much has been said about this book and I too loved it and read it in almost one go. Once again ESJM has created characters who feel so real and human. Their relationships and fears, whether set in the past or the future, feel extra relatable now that we ourselves have just experienced a pandemic. But how Mandel writes about it makes COVID and the time we live in even more scary. Yet I could have read on and on about those characters - in any time or place.

4.5*

>122 Simone2: I haven't read any of her books! Do you have a favorite?

>122 Simone2: I thought that one was terrific, and I think I want to reread it just to take another look at how she handles the plot technicalities of it. The first time around I was completely drawn in by the story, but there's a lot of interesting authorial work going on there.

>123 japaul22: I think three are losely related so maybe you should start with Station Eleven then on to The Glass Hotel and then this one. But you can read them separately as well and I think this one is the best! Wouldn’t you agree, >124 lisapeet:?

54 - Paradais by Fernanda Melchor

This is the uncomfortable read about two Mexican boys, more or less condemned to each other out of loneliness, and frustration about how life is turning out. They can’t be more different yet they keep meeting each other. But it’s a toxic friendship and you know from the start that no good can come from this.

3.5*

55 - Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

I haven’t been feeling well for the last few days (the flu I think) and this book was obviously not the best companion. A mix of horror and violence and SF and monsters and rats and abortions… I had a hard time finishing these short stories, especially the ones in the second half of the book. Definitely not among my favorite short story books.

3*

>128 Simone2: I hope you feel better soon.

>128 Simone2: Ha! I just bought a copy of this today. I will not read it when I'm not well.

>129 labfs39: Thank you so much!

>130 RidgewayGirl: Don’t indeed! I read many good reviews but I had a hard time keeping up with all horror and weirdness!

56 - Noodweer (Dutch) by Marijke Schermer

Emilia and Bruch are happily married, but their relationship is based on a lie. When they first meet, Emilia conceals something that happened just before they met. At first, this doesn't seem to hinder their love and for a long time she thinks it won’t be necessary to tell him. But over time she realizes the impossibility of doing so. Should she be honest with her husband? Or is it too late for some things to reveal? From very close by, Schermer allows the reader to witness the doubt and despair of a forty-year-old woman.

4.5*

>128 Simone2: I didn’t care for it either.

57 - The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

If not for #ReadingAfrica2022 on Litsy I would never have discovered this popular series about the lovely Mma Ramotswe, who leads the first ladies’ detective agency in Botswana. The mysteries she solves are not the point I think, the book especially shows a deep love for Africa. It’s hard to believe a white man wrote this book but he did an excellent job!

4*

Catching up, and took a number of BBs. The Fortnight in September sounds up my street - not heard of that before.

>135 AlisonY: I hadn't either but its' so good and comforting. I hope you'll read it!

58 - The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

These are the memoirs of NYT journalist Helene Cooper, who grows up in Liberia. When the country falls apart after the coup of 1980, she and her family flee to the US. Her less privileged half sister Eunice stays in a country that for years suffers under crazy dictators who recruit child soldiers and drug them to fight for.. well, for whatever. Cooper tries to forget about where she came from, but the Liberian girl within her needs to go back, in search of Eunice. There is so much I never knew about this country, that I have come to love from afar. I’m in awe of its proud people, always hospitable and dressed up, even on the ruins of civilisation.

4.5*

>137 Simone2: This has been on my radar for a long time. I think I first saw it at Starbucks when they were promoting books (Just Mercy was another). Your review is a good prod to look for it.

>138 labfs39: It’s fantastic!

59 - The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Another lovely Persephone. No spinster lit this time but a story that starts off as a Cinderella one (plain girl meets her prince) but ends somewhere completely different. Not my favorite but I did spend some pleasant hours with Emily Fox-Seton and Lord Walderhurst.

3*

60 - Homo Safaricus by Ramsey Nasr

Author Ramsey Nasr accompanies a group of Belgian biologists to Tanzania where they research all kinds of animals in the rainforest, the savannes and along the beach. He feels like Darwin must have felt, discovering so many species he never knew about and nature in general.

3*

61 - His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie

This book showed a completely other side of Africa. The side of the wealthy in modern day Ghana. Arranged marriages are still possible though. Afi is supposed to be lucky to marry Eli, a rich and kind man. Their love story is quite unrealistic but it was easy and fun to read.

3*

62 - Born Under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield

Andrea Busfeld, an English writer, fell in love with Afghanistan and made it her home. This book is a declaration of love to a country that is so much more than war and drugs.
I felt really uplifted by the story of the young Fawad, his friends and family, the beautiful country, the food, the hospitality and the poetry. The optimism, despite the ever present political unrest.
It’s almost surreal to read this book now, when once again the people of Afghanistan are suffering under fundamentalism and neglect of human rights.

4*

63 - Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

“There’s a witch in that clock, holding it back.”

Time passes slowly in The Claremont, a hotel where elderly can live, though they are not allowed to die there. Each day is exactly the same.
Mrs Palfrey is a widow who has not much more to live for. She gets acquainted with the other permanent residents and they pass the time reminiscing and trying to hide their loneliness for one another. Just once in a while we get a glimpse of the persons they once were. An honest yet witty read about the last stage in life.

4*

64 - Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

A YA novel set in the Gabon jungle about a boy coming of age all alone with a bunch of chimpanzees is not generally a book I’d choose. And I wasn’t really interested but I admit the ending was touching and sweet.

3*

65 - The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

This is a wonderful read about Cyprus and love. Greek and Turkish people have lived separately for ages at the island, but Kostas and Isabella know how to find each other across visible and invisible borders. The fig tree is their witness and has always been.

3.5*

66 - Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin

She studied at the university in Seoul but now lives in Sokcho, a desolate fisherman’s village near the North Korean border. She works in a small guesthouse where one of the guests is a French man, apparently as lonely as she is.
It’s not a cheerful read but it’s wonderful, this little book about not daring to choose life and its risks over the safety of solitude.

4*

67 - Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzweig

Shirley Kaszenbowski , a Jewish immigrant in Toronto, escapes her “basic black” life and her husband and children for a more exciting one: one with secret rendezvous all over the world with a mysterious lover, who is a spy for the Agency. They communicate by code an this time this leads her to her hometown.
While walking the streets of Toronto it becomes clear how unreliable our narrator is. I can’t say too much without spoilers but it’s quite the read!

3*

I always get such great finds on your thread! Very interested in Winter in Sokcho. And I also really enjoyed The Island of Missing Trees.

>149 japaul22: Thanks! It’s really good! I love those quiet Japanese and Korean novels!

68 - The Still Point by Amy Sackville

Too many storylines intertwining in this book. Edward sails for the Antarctic to never return, his young wife keeps waiting for him, her granddaughter Julia lives in their house a century later and her husband Simon needed a storyline too. I don’t know. Like with her next novel Orkney I am not sure I do understand Amy Sackville.

2.5*

>148 Simone2: Basic Black with Pearls sounds like a diverting read for between heavier things. I'll keep it in mind.

>152 labfs39: It’s a good classic noir!

69 - Blood River by Tim Butcher

Tim Butcher travels through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Torn by war, violence, poverty and injustice yet the Congo is mostly a country that the world seems to have forgotten about. I learned so much about politics, geography, human rights etc. Most notable is that the country is not an undeveloped country, rather an undeveloping country. All keeps deteriorating: in the 20th century it was for a while an ordinary African country where travel and trade existed; now there’s hardly any infrastructure at all.

3.5*

70 - An Island by Karen Jennings

Samuel is self-exiled on an island tending a lighthouse. One day a stranger washes ashore - and everything changes. Samuel is suspicious and scared, feelings that bring back memories of the time he lived on the mainland. Of the times when a revolution made an end to colonialism only to lead to a corrupt government, ending in another revolution and a new dictatorship.

Samuel’s story is that of Africa, betrayed so many times.

4*

71 - Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

A decent courtroom thriller and exactly what I needed. Fast paced, some strong women and sharp dialogues. Very contemporary centered around a #metoo situation.

3.5*

72 - The Viceroy of Ouidah by Bruce Chatwin

This is the real-life story of Francisco Manoel da Silva, a white Brazilian who became the most powerful slave trader on the West African coast in the 1800s. He was born into poverty in Brazil and his wanderings led him to the port town of Ouidah in the African Kingdom of Dahomey (Benin), notorious for its thriving slave-trading enterprises and human sacrifice.
A great promise but the book self did nothing for me. Skimming towards the end, I’m sorry to say.

1.5*

>157 Simone2: Sorry this was such a dud. I've heard good things about the author, but have never read his books.

>157 Simone2: I feel that way about all of his books that I’ve sampled.

>158 labfs39: >159 dianeham: I think I read and enjoyed The Black Hill but I’m not interested enough to find out 😉

73 - Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

This book was just what I needed. I loved to escape in Eva’s and Shane’s world. I rooted for them from the beginning. I hurt when they did. I loved the dialogues, the flirting and the Love. I loved Audre and Cece.
I didn’t think it especially steamy or sexy but I wasn’t looking for that. I wanted romance and that’s what I got.

4*

74 - Tell Me How To Be by Neel Patel

This is a very sad book about a mother and her adult sons who come together a year after the father died. Their shared past is filled with lies and secrets, with misunderstandings and things unspoken.
He has died a year earlier but the invisible father still seems the only one to bring them back together.

4*

75 - A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa

At the heart of this story is Ludo, an agoraphobic Portuguese woman who is cared for by her sister, Odette in Luanda, the capital city of Angola.

When Ludo’s sister and brother-in-law suddenly disappear, the anxious woman is left alone in their luxury apartment. She builds a wall across the hallway outside her apartment door, effectively barricading herself off from the outside world where Independence is about to be declared. She embarks on a bizarre hermetic existence that will last for 30 years. Over the course of that time, she scribbles her thoughts on the walls when she runs out of journals and paper.

3*

76 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

“Too many brilliant minds are kept from scientific research thanks to ignorant biases like gender and race.”

This is a fun and inspiring feminist book about breaking through traditional visions on gender, roles marriage, education and religion - all by the subject of chemistry and a group of unforgettable characters led by Elizabeth Zott. A very good and entertaining book!

4*

>164 Simone2: I almost passed this by because of the chick-litty cover (nothing against it, just not my usual choice) but have heard so many positive things about it that I grabbed it up. Looking forward to it!

77 - True Biz by Sara Novic

Novic has a message, an important one. She calls out to the hearing world to stand with the Deaf community, and fight for their self-governance, dignity and the value of human diversity before the effects of educational isolation and genetic manipulation are irreversible.
How little did I know! I loved to learn about Deaf culture but the fiction storyline was distracting. The MCs felt cliché, their relationships flat and unfinished.

3*

>164 Simone2: I'm reading this now and enjoying it a lot.

>167 RidgewayGirl: It’s less fluffy that you’d suppose I think.

78 - The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

The swimmingpool is an escape for each of the regulars who go their frequently. Alice is suffering from Dementia but when she emerges from the pool she is always enlivened and alert.

When the pool closes permanently it’s no longer possible for Alice to come up for air. Slowly she disappears below the surface in a world similar the the underwater one.

3.5*

79 - When the Ground is Hard by Malla Nunn

A feel good coming of age novel set in Eswatini (former Swaziland). Two teenage girls with completely different backgrounds are brought together on high school. There is a lot of racism and prejudices but once they get to know each other, they have much more in common than they thought.

3.5*

80 - Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway

Kris lived for two years as a volunteer in a small village in #Mali. Here she befriends and works with Monique, the local midwife. I learned a lot about healthcare and especially births in Mali. Also I enormously admire Kris and Monique and all they meant to so many (way too) young mothers.

As an audiobook (maybe print is better) it’s however mostly as if I’ve been listening to the diary of a not especially talented author.

3*

80 - Greengates by RC Sherriff

A man retires, a life changing affair. What to do with his time? Gardening? Writing a book? It takes getting used to, for him and his wife.

Another wonderful book by Sheriff, whose The Fortnight in September I loved too, about daily life of two decent people in the early 20th century. A real gem!

4*

81 - Oh William by Elizabeth Strout

I just love Lucy Barton. She might feel invisible herself but to me she is so very present, thinking things I wish I would. How she interacts with her family, how she connects the dots in her life - and in William’s for that matter. Thank you Elisabeth Strout, for bringing her in my life. I hope there will be more.

4.5*

82 - Red Island House by Andrea Lee

This book started out strong and I was really curious to see what would happen in the Red House on Madagascar, where two worlds met: that of owners Shay and Senna ( an African American woman married to an Italian man) and that of the local community. I was intrigued by Shay’s relationschip with Bertine, who is working in the house but has an authority to which Shay gladly submits. So I was confused when the book turned out to be a collection of short stories. Set around the Red House but with too many characters and too little depth for me to really enjoy.

2.5*

82 - Devil House by John Darnielle

This is an originally set up book. In short it’s about a true crime writer doing research for his next book. This leads to various books and styles and stories. Like I said an original book, fun to read but not mind blowing.

3.5*

84 - You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Although the second half is better than the first and I wanted to read on just to know how it would end, to me this book was disappointing. It touches upon subjects worth exploring (grief, gender, sexuality) but sticks to the surface with an unbelievable storyline (meet three men and be completely into one another at first sight) and the cringing conversations between Feyi and Joy.
Oh and there’s romance. But I didn’t buy it.

3*

85 - After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell

How I love Maggie O’Farrell. This one’s another favorite. It’s about Alice who saw something in Edinburg, leaves the city immediately afterwards, steps into the traffic in London and is taken to the hospital in a coma.

Was it a suicide attempt? The book is about love and betrayal, family and friends, happiness and despair. It’s a wonderful sad read. I’ll carry Alice’s story with me for a while.

4*

86 - At the Table by Claire Powell

Such a fun read. A family (father, mother, adult son and daughter) falls apart after the parents separate. I recognized so much in all four of them. A delight to read.

4*

87 - Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey

A novella about a wedding or more specifically the wedding guests. The book sketches the guests in a minimal way and yet they feel like real people. Not very likable most of them, including the bride, but real. The mother of the bride tries to arrange all as best as she can but there’s more than meets the eye!

3*

88 - The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

Well that was surprising. At least the second half. The first one was The Girl on the Train all over again. I still wonder what all the alcohol added to the story.
And then that second half. A plot twist I didn’t saw coming. Not one I liked per se. But it was an okay holiday read I guess.

3*

>180 Simone2: An unforeseen plot twist is always a plus, but not enough to sell the book.

>181 labfs39: I love a good plot twist but this one is real genre bending, I was nog prepared for that! I didn’t know the author, maybe I could have known.

89 - We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart

In het first year at university Mallory meets the woman, a professor. They get into a secret relationship, marked by inequality: Mallory’s self esteem is quite dependent on the elder woman’s views, feelings and opinions. She admires the woman more than she loves her and takes all she experienced during their time together with her in further years.

A wonderful debut.

4*

90 - Cabin Fever by Michael Smith

A cruiseschip sets sail in March 2020 and inevitably COVID travels with one of the thousands of passengers. While people are getting sick the world closes down and leaves the ship drifting.
The book reads like a horrifying thriller.

Trigger warning: The parts describing how the seriously I’ll people fight for their lives were very painful to read.

4*

91 - Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay

I spent a perfect day at the beach with the perfect beach read. This is such an engaging read, from the first to the last page. Filled with twists, great characters and even cloudy eyes because of all that happens to the Pine family.

4.5*

92 - Mensen in de zon (Dutch) by Marijke Schermer

Five friends decide to pay a surprise visit to the man who has taken care of them as a friend and patron. They are tired. They are elated. They are about to be noticed and make a difference. Max and Stella as visual artists, Vik as a novelist, Leo as a pianist, Clara as a scientist. They believe that the world is a place to be conquered, and that talent and success are ultimately inextricably linked. It's dark and it's starting to snow. On the winding road to the village below, they drive head-on into another car at a speed of around 100 kilometers per hour.

The book is set twenty years after this accident.

I recently discovered this Dutch author and loved her other two books. This one is her debut and though less good than both others, her talent was showing already.

3.5*

>184 Simone2: I just read Cabin Fever, and it was a very compelling read--hard to put down and horrifying at the same time.

>187 arubabookwoman:

I felt that way too. It’s such a short time ago and yet seems so far away already. An unnerving read.

93 - The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

A group of university students goes to visit a misty island off the coast of Japan where a gruesome crime has recently occurred. They stay in a ten-sided house and are serially murdered. Who is the murderer?

The characters in the book are flat, there is no poetic line to be found, but this cult book is an example of the “shin honkaku” genre — a Japan-specific reboot of the classic whodunit.

Recommended!

3.5*

94 - This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

“It’s okay to lose people. Loss is the point. You can’t take away the grief, the pain, because then what are you left with?”

This book 💔. I can’t remember having read about fathers and daughters more lovingly. Or about New York for that matter. The time traveling added more wise lessons than I could have wished for.

5*

>190 Simone2: I like the sound of this and my library has it so I've added it to my wishlist.

>191 rhian_of_oz: It is really good, I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

95 - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

A great book! Such real to life and loving characters, their story, their lives and their games. They pulled me back into the 90s, into playing adventure games on enormous computers with hardly any capacity. I laughed and cried with Sam, Sadie and Marx and they left me behind with a smile on my face.

4*

96 - The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye

Clarence has been shipwrecked in Africa, lost all his money gambling, and is about to get kicked out of the dirty inn where he stays. So he needs to meet the king, who will surely give him, a white man, an important job. Instead of the king he meets a beggar and a pair of teenage rascals. They help him stay out of trouble and accompany him to the south where the king will probably show up again.

What seems a story of Clarence's often Kafkaesque adventures, is in the end more a book about the nature of perception and openness to experience: Clarence is simply incapable of experiencing or understanding West Africa.

3*

97 - Ain’t Burned all the Bright by Jason Reynolds

“This book is for everyone who endured 2020. “

In hindsight it’s even worse. It’s George Floyd, it’s BLM, it’s wildfires, it’s climate change and of course it’s staying at home, keeping our distance from one another, it’s too many people dying of this pandemic.

In three breaths and 300 pages of poetry and fantastic artwork this is a very special and moving book.

4.5*

98 - The Little Snake by AL Kennedy

This charming little book is a modern fairytale. One day Mary meets a small golden snake called Lanmo, and they become best friends. As the years pass, life becomes harder for Mary and her family. The city grows colder and darker. Wars start, bombs fall and kites no longer fly from the rooftops. When Mary and her parents are eventually forced to flee their home, Lanmo does his best to guide them to safety. The book has its dark sides and it is funny at times and so much better than the one it is compared to: The Little Prince.

3.5*

99 - All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

Fuyuko hardly speaks or connects with other people. She suddenly starts drinking after years of abstinence, yet living her life in a disciplined way, each day repeating the one before. I didn’t understand her at all, kept asking myself why she did (or mostly didn’t do) the things she did. Yet she made a fascinating character and I loved the Japanese context and Kawakami’s writing style.

3.5*

100 - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan:

“… the worst that could have happened was already behind him; the thing not done, which could have been…”

I had neve heard of the so called Magdalen Laundries, institutes usually run by Catholic orders, housing “fallen women” who were forced to labor there. The last one was shut down j. 1996! This little novella is set during Christmas and while also being quite atmospheric, packs a punch.

4*

101 - Either/Or by Elif Batuman

It took a while for me to get caught up again in Selin’s life at Harvard. But then it felt good to observe life with her in a way I never would myself. She really chooses an aesthetical way of life (instead of an ethical) and in line with that makes choices (or rather let things happen) that make her such an interesting person for me as a reader.

3.5*

>198 Simone2: Joni Mitchell wrote a song about the Magdalen Laundries.
https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=150

>200 dianeham: Thank you so much for sharing this. I have been listening to it on repeat.

102 - Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

I can’t believe this story is based on a true one. Call me naive or maybe things are different across the ocean but I was shocked to find out. Kiara’s story is so bleak. All alone she fights like a lioness to protect the people she loves. Fighting against the system, against a police force that’s supposed to protect her, against racism. Leila Mottley presents us a girl who should be a hero instead of a victim.

4*

103 - Chandelier by Mieko Kawakami

Another wonderful and wry story by Mieko Kawakami with another awkward main character. This one spends her days in expensive department stores where people spend insane amounts of money on clothes, jewelry and make-up. In between she checks her Twitter, where she follows anonymous girls who do everything to look like models.
In just 35 pages Kawakami again pulled me in completely.

4.5*

>203 Simone2: I'm interesting in reading Chandelier, but I couldn't find where to get it (at least not in English). Did you buy a physical copy or e-book?

>204 labfs39: A friend in the US sent me a copy. She received it on Independent Bookstore Day… I think it was printed for that occasion especially.

105 - Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

First I hoped this book would turn out to be some kind of Of Mice and Men but then it went totally off the road - or I did. Anyhow I have no clue what this was all about and do not really care either. It probably won’t make the shortlist for the Booker Prize.

1.5*

106 - A Single Rose by Muriel Barbery

This book touched my heart. Rose loses her unknown Japanese father and travels to Kyoto for his last will. She discovers the country, its culture and its people and all of this offers her the most beautiful way to mourn the father she never met.

4*

>202 Simone2: I'm eager to read this one. Amazing that she is only twenty.

>208 RidgewayGirl: I wouldn’t have guessed if it wasn’t in all reviews. She really writes very well.

107 - Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

Leah returns to her wife Miri transformed after a deep-sea voyage in a submarine.
Alternating between her account of the fateful expedition and Miri’s of its aftermath, Armfield sets two timelines hurtling towards each other as the text approaches its central question: what happened down there?

The book reads like a fairytale, a love story and a gothic horror novel, all done so well that it leaves me sad as well as unnerved.

3.5*

108 - Walking The Nile by Levison Wood

Another excellent travel book by Levison Wood. He is a great storyteller besides being a courageous and humble man who walks the Nile with respect for other people and cultures.

This journey turned out to be even heavier than he had expected with unbearable heat in #Uganda, civil war in South Sudan, the desert in Sudan without water and police control everywhere in Egypt.

4*

109 -The Colony by Audrey Magee

With the arrival of painter Lloyd and linguist JP on a sparsely populated island off the Irish coast, everything changes for the few inhabitants.
While the reader learns by short press notices of ongoing murders by both Protestants and Catholics on the mainland, life-changing choices and conflicts become the center of life on the island. Mage’s writing is subtle and unhurried, the tone often poetic, the plot devastating.

My favorite of the #BookerPrize2022 longlist so far.

5*

>212 Simone2: This sounds great. I love a book with a strong setting, and this sounds like it does.

>212 Simone2: I'm glad that you loved The Colony, Barbara. I'm waiting for a copy of it from my local library, so I'll almost certainly read it next month.

>213 japaul22: zit certainly does and I’m sure you’ll love it too.

>214 kidzdoc: I am loving the Booker longlist this year. How about you?

110 - Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer

The cancer is back. Lia’s dying. With that knowledge starts this book. Lia has to think about her life. Her past comes bouncing back, she needs to deal with this harsh present situation and to prepare her teenage daughter for a future without her.
It’s a heartbreaking story told in a most unusual way. Timelines interweave and the cancer’s got its own, cynical say in the story. It’d be almost funny if it weren’t so tragic.
It took some time for the book to grow on me but when it did I cried with Lia, Harry and Iris.

4*

Interested in the Nile travel book. Sounds great.

>215 Simone2: I am loving the Booker longlist this year. How about you?

I've enjoyed three of the four longlisted books I've read so far, The Trees by Percival Everett, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, and Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, which all earned at least 4 stars from me, but not Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout, which I gave a generous 2 stars and did not finish.

I'm taking a short break from my Booker reading this week, as I'm currently immersed in The Satanic Verses, but I did pick up a copy of Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo from my local library on Saturday, and I'll start it next week. It looks like the copy of The Colony by Audrey Magee I requested is on its way to my library, so I'll get to it soon.

Nice review of Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies. I hope that it makes the Booker Prize shortlist, which will be revealed on 6 September.

>218 kidzdoc: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I loved The Trees too and enjoyed Nightcrawling and Small Things.

A wise decision to read The Satanic Verses, one of my favorite books ever!

111 - A Fish Caught in Time by Samantha Weinberg

had never heard of the coelacanth but it’s a fascinating story, a deep dive in prehistoric times. This book is the non fiction account about Smith and his quest to find them in the Comores.

2.5*

112 - China Room by Sunjeev Sahota

I enjoyed this book, but I have some problems with it too. I wanted to know so much more about how Mehar, and the rest of her life. I can’t imagine she spent it as an obedient wife behind bars, she wanted so much more. And she lived during Partition, which had so many consequences for Punjab. I had gladly exchanged knowing more about this storyline against the one set in current times. I didn’t really see the point of that one to be honest.

3*

113 - Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet

A psychological drama, totally up my alley. A very unreliable narrator meets an anti-psychiatrist for some psychiatric sessions in which she wants to discover if he drove her sister to suicide.

I was very much engaged by this book, but not sure yet if it’ll make my shortlist for the #BookerPrize2022

4*

>221 Simone2: Have you read Sahota's earlier book, The Year of the Runaways? I loved it, and was expecting to love China Room, but was mightily disappointed.

>223 arubabookwoman: Yes I did but I never realized it was the same author while reading China Room. Such a different style!

114 - Let me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

For travelling this book was fitting, it’s the kind of thriller you want to keep on reading. Fast paced with many twists.
Anna’s parents have both committed suicide but a year later Anna receives an anonymous note saying: “Suicide? Think twice.”

3.5*

115 - After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz

This was not for me. It felt flat and repetitive and I skimmed the pages more than I read them.

2*

116 - Ik nog wel van jou (Dutch) by Elke Geurts

A good Dutch novel about a woman my age, married with children, living a similar kind of life in the city I live mine.
Then, unexpectedly, her husband wants to leave her. What follows are sharp and witty observations of herself, her husband and the remains of their marriage.

4*

>216 Simone2: I just had to return Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies to the library as it was due and there are a lot of people waiting for it. I thought it was excellent (the first half or so that I read, anyway) but I am not sure I will borrow it again. Sometimes with books like this, where the writing style is really the key to the book, and where the story meanders around through time without really going anywhere, I feel that the book could have the same impact in half the number of pages... I am curious to see whether you think there were developments in the second half of the book which made you like it more, or whether you just got used to the style?

Another problem I had, which is completely on me, is that the cancer uses nicknames to refer to the person with cancer and everyone in her life, and after a while I couldn't remember which nickname was which person, so I felt I was probably missing something important!

>228 wandering_star: I understand why you won’t borrow it again. It is a hard read and you know the concept when you’ve read the first half.
Of the second half I enjoyed (though that is hardly a fitting word considering the subject) how cancer more and more took over, demanding more space in the book, like it did in Lia’s life. I thought it was an extremely sad book, executed very well.

117 - The Lost Man by Jane Harper

Set in the Australian Outback this is such an atmospheric book again by Jane Harper. When one of three brothers is found dead in the middle of nowhere, it raises many questions. How did he end up there, without his car or supplies? The small community starts suspecting each other. A great psychological mystery!

4*

118 - Kokoro by Natsume Soseki

To read this book while arriving in Japan and spending the night in a ryokan (Japanese inn) with all its traditions, certainly has added to the experience. But I loved this book about a special friendship between a student and an elder man in the early 20th century. The quietness, the simplicity of the writing style and all that it stands for, the Japanese culture and history. A real gem.

4.5*

119 - Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard

I loved her other books so bought this one as soon as I heard of it, but my expectations were too high. This one about an unemployed actress asked for a role in a horror movie set in the woods of Ireland, is too far-fetched for me and in the end not that interesting.

3*

120 - Tokyo Express by Serchio Matsumoto

This is an old-fashioned crime novel. The two detectives are not so much worried about who did it as with how did he do it? The main problem are the time tables of the train. As a reader you follow their detective work in 1957 Japan and it all makes for an engaging read.

3.5*

121 - Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

Nina is in het thirties and single while almost all of her friends are getting married, have babies and move to the suburbs. While they chat about diapers and sleepless nights, Nina is having a rough time herself, with her father suffering from dementia and being ghosted in the world of online dating. A fun read; chicklit with a bit more depth.

3*

122 - The Keep by Jennifer Egan

It’s a rainy Sunday and the first day that implies autumn is approaching. A perfect day to curl up on the couch with this modern gothic novel. Egan is an excellent writer. I can visualize the medieval castle where the book is set vividly. There’s are two storylines, coming together nicely in the end and leaving much space for interpretation.

3.5*

123 - An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina

The genocide in Rwanda in 1994 made a deep impression at the time but after reading this book I realize how much I didn’t know or understood.
Over 800,000 people (mostly Tutsi’s) were literally slaughtered in 3 months time 😨.
The author of this book managed to safe more than 1,000 people by offering them refuge in the hotel he was manager of.
An impressive book that opened my eyes once again.

3.5*

>236 Simone2: Have you followed the more recent news about Paul Rusesabagina? I haven't read enough to know the details of his alleged association with terrorist groups, but his 2020 conviction seems suspicious. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that he was "illegally kidnapped, tortured, and sentenced after an unfair trial." He was given a 25 year sentence.

>237 labfs39: I had no idea!! I thought he was still working as a cab driver in Brussels. I will dive into it right now. Thanks so much for bringing it up. It sounds harsh!

124 - The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

I loved this book but it’s hard to review. Various storylines, various extremely intriguing characters. What they share is The Rabbit Hutch, a run-down apartment building in Vacca Vale, a city in decay.

There are rabbits, but there’s so much more. There are mystics, there is this great love affair, there is a woman editing obituaries, there is a famous actress and her estranged son, there are the three boys out of foster case who are sharing one of the apartments, there’s a goat. Maybe there is bit too much but I loved this debut and can’t wait to see what Tess Gunty comes up with next.

4.5*

125 - Africa is not a Country by Dipo Faloyin

Dipo Faloyin promised to break stereotypes of modern Africa in this book and oh man, he does. I felt so ashamed reading certain parts. For the colonial past in which my country participated actively, for never really listening to the lyrics of Band Aid, for museums worldwide with collections based on stolen works of art, for thinking of Africa in stereotypes. This book should be required reading for everyone.

4.5*

126 - Notes from the Blockade by Lidiya Ginzburg

An intellectual in Leningrad struggles to survive during the German siege of his city from 1941 to 1944. He tries to keep sane by taking notes. Gradually, however, hunger takes over everything else. The fear of bombs, the cold, human dignity, it’s nothing compared to the hunger, which dominates everything.

3*

>241 Simone2: That sounds so depressing! I take it from the 3 stars you gave it that it wasn't very successful as a novel?

>241 Simone2: So depressing, and right up my alley. I see that the author survived the siege of Leningrad and wrote a memoir about it. I might look for the memoir, as you didn't rate the novel highly.

>242 Dilara86: >243 labfs39: Don’t make too much of my rating. In the Netherlands the book has had a new translation and reviews are raving. So it is just me. I had such high expectations. It just couldn’t live up to them. If you are interested in the subject do read it! The prose is gorgeous!

127 - The Employees by Olga Ravn

A group of people is sent into space together with humanoids that are so human-like that the difference between them is not always clear. They all are employees on a unknown mission.
We get to know them a bit and learn what’s happening on board by their recorded statements. Or we think we do. Nothing is clear, the book is much more about questions than answers.
Big questions, regarding themes like humanity, affection, and transience.

It’s a tough little book and it packs a punch. I’m very impressed.

4*

>240 Simone2: I added this to my nonfiction wishlist. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

>246 MissBrangwen: It is a eye opening and important book. I hope you’ll get to it.

128 - Trust by Hernan Diaz

This was much more fun than I expected. I enjoyed the story in the story in the story and although I guessed the final twist early on this still was an enjoyable read about the American financial market in the fist quarter of the 20th century.

3.5*

129 - Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

I wasn’t really interested in John Wilkes Booth, who I hadn’t heard of before. Also he and his family didn’t really come to life for me. But I did enjoy reading about the historical context of the civil war even though the book could have done with some editing. It felt very repetitive at times.

3*

130 - Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah

On the day the next Noble prize winner has been announced I finally read a book by last year’s winner.
And I enjoyed it a lot. Not very much happens, when I think of it, yet I kept reading and didn’t want to stop when I had other things to do. Gurnah is a gifted writer and he brought Zanzibar to life for me. This is the story of a boy who can’t find his luck there and moves to London where he doesn’t fit in either. “Some people have a use in the world and some people don’t.” Such a sad conclusion.

4*

Just catching up here. You’ve done some marvellous reading

>250 Simone2: I agree that the book was so interesting, but also had a melancholic ending. I'm looking forward to reading more by Gurnah, especially now that it's easier to find his work here.

>251 Nickelini: Thank you so much!

>252 RidgewayGirl: I am looking forward to reading more by him too. Have you read Paradise?

131 - Scattered All Over The Earth by Yoko Tawada

Hiruko is a refugee from a Japan that no longer exists due to climate change. She spends her days in Denmark teaching immigrant children to speak Panska, a language she's invented. When she appears on tv, linguist Knut comes to speak to her, and together they embark on a quest through northern Europe in search of another speaker of Hiruko’s native language. A varied cast of characters joins along the way, each in search of something. It’s an original and beautiful written novel about language, globalization and immigration.

4*

I'm glad that you liked Trust, Barbara; I intend to read it later this month.

Gravel Heart is one of the few books by Abdulrazak Gurnah I haven't gotten to yet, but hopefully I'll do so by the end of the year.

>253 Simone2: Gravel Heart is the only one of Gurnah's books I've read, and I chose that one because it was the only book by that author available in my local library system. I do need to read another by him and also to see if there are any other Tanzanian authors translated into English.

>255 kidzdoc: >256 RidgewayGirl: I want to read more by him, I was really impressed by this book and his writing

132 - The Horseman by Christina Henry

A ridiculous book, easily the worst I read all year. The main character Bente is nothing but a cliche, repeating her few thoughts again and again. The plot is worked out so poorly and is completely unbelievable even though I was willing to - it’s horror after all. Characters are not worked out at all, people who die are forgotten the minute they do so. I could go on and on.

I can’t believe it was published in the first place.

1*

133 - The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

This was quite an interesting read about the which hunting taking place in 17th century Norway. Set on the small island of Varsø, where a sudden storm has wiped out the entire male population, women rule. One day a new Commissioner arrives with his wife. While she takes to the women of the island, his mission is to find out what caused that storm that took all the men.

3.5*

134 - Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah

In the aftermath of Sierra Leone’s civil war people return to the places they came from and try to live in peace. There is hope and optimism but unfortunately there are so many obstacles to prevent them from starting anew. For example there is the arrival of a mining company who seems to have corrupted all police forces. It’s such a frustrating reality and although it’s a novel I am afraid there’s a lot of truth in it.

4*

135 - The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig

Looseleft, Ozurie, idlewild, nighthawk, indosentia, foilsick, etherness, los vivados, mauerbauertraurigkeit, dorgone, sitheless, kenaway, silience, innity, wenbane, aulasy, enterhood, morii, yu yi, ellipsism, craxis, evertheless: these are just some of the words with which Koenig has named feelings that until now never had one.

Except for a dictionary of new words, the book is foremost a collection of truths, fears and nostalgia. It leaves me a bit sad but I am grateful I read it.

4*

Every time I visit your thread I add a few books to my wish list!
Interested in The Mercies and Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

>261 Simone2: How unusual and interesting

>262 japaul22: >263 labfs39: Thank you! I hope you’ll read it one day!

136 - Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor

This book consists of three parts (Lean Fall Stand), each telling a different stage of Robert’s life. In the first part he’s a researcher in Antarctica, in the second he deals with the effect of a serious stroke, in the third he is learning to live with its effects. Seemingly in the background but unmistakably present is his wife Anna, a scientist - and a good one - who suddenly becomes a full time carer.

A typical McGregor again with as little said as possible and a lot to read between the lines.

4*

137 - Wie is die vrouw? (Dutch) by Elke Geurts

This is the second autobiographic book the author writes after her divorce. Though she deals well with being single and is even dating a new man, taking care of her two daughters, finding a new house and being locked down due to covid, it's hard when she learns that her ex has been having an affair for eight years already. She tries to be reasonable (telling herself she is better off without him, right?) she now and then feels the need to be unreasonably angry.
It's a well written book, very good and relatable especially since it is set in the city I live.

4*

>261 Simone2: This started out as a website, which was great—I loved checking in and seeing what he came up with. I've got this one somewhere in the generalized pile, so thanks for jogging my memory!

>267 lisapeet: I discovered that afterwards, such a great initiative!

138 - Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yu

I had high expectations of this book because my peers loved it and I am a sucker for Japanese books. This one didn’t really work for me though. I wanted to know what had happened to the main character and I was interested in life in Ueno Park yet there was a lot of stuff distracting me from these two storylines. For me it was a bit too much in such a little book.

3*

139 - The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

A dystopian setting in which most people have lost the ability to dream, with catastrophic psychological results. Indigenous people, who can still dream, are hunted for their marrow to create a serum to treat others.
A great synopsis yet it’s another YA novel I cannot relate to. Call me a snob, I don’t know, but this really didn’t work for me.
Note to self m: stop reading YA adventures for a while.

DNF

140 - All This Could be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathew’s

Such a raw and impressive debut. S is the daughter of Indian immigrants who returned to India. She’s on her own in Milwaukee and feels the obligation to make her parents proud - they offered so much for her. She also feels unworthy- of love, of succes, of almost everything. She is so hard on herself and this doesn’t make her the most easy person to be around. Yet there’s is this small circle of loving friends, each struggling with adult life in a rather hostile US.

4*

141 - The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

I see why this book has got so many good reviews. John Green’s essays are funny and serious and I love the idea of reviewing the Anthropocene. BUT there were quite a few essays which didn’t work for me. Some of the very American subjects I could not associate with.

3*

142 - Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

This book of losely connected short stories reads like a novel. In every other story we come back to Lionel, Charles and Sophie. Charles and Sophie are a couple who meet Lionel a week after he did a suicide attempt.
My heart breaks for Lionel again and again. Maybe it’s my state of mind, I feel a bit down, but this book is so depressing. It is good though.

4*

>273 Simone2: I think it's easy for one's spirits to droop this time of year. Hoping all else is well with you and that your next book lifts you up.

>274 labfs39: It die, thank you so much! See my review below!

143 - The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Yes! This was as good as everyone says. What a storyteller O ‘Farrell is and what a great character she makes of the 15 year old Lucretia, the wild daughter of Cosimo de Medici, who had to obey and marry the Duke of Ferrara.

4*

>273 Simone2: The one Brandon Taylor novel I read earlier in the year was quite bleak. Perhaps that's what he gravitates towards.

>277 AlisonY: Did you read Real Life? That was bleak indeed but so good. I should have been warned though indeed!

144 - Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

An enjoyable read. The setting is great (18th century NYC, a place with 7,000 inhabitants!) where a stranger from London suddenly sets foot ashore. There are lots of twists and a surprising ending.

3*

145 - Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

It took some time getting into this book but when I did it turned out to be a very emotional read. It's the start of WWII and a group of promising musicians escapes Germany and moves to France. Before long the Germans invade Paris and all their hopes shatter. It is a time of betrayal and fear. Years later the friends have to come to terms with each other and with what happened in those dark days.

3.5*

>278 Simone2: Yes, it was Real Life. I was disappointed by it in the end, but most people seemed to love it.

>280 Simone2: This sounds right up my alley.

>282 labfs39: I hope you’ll get to it one day!

146 - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turtle

What a ride this was! I think I missed at least half of the clues (so much is happening in the same day, happening over and over again) but I don’t mind. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with Aiden from one host to another in his race against the clock; he has to find out who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle to be freed from this repeating day. What an original and fun locked room mystery!

4*

147 - Flamingo by Rachel Elliott

I LOVED this book. Although the cover isn’t that ugly it doesn’t do the book justice. It’s much more than that. Those characters. All of them so lovely. I can’t say it any other way. There’s not much of a plot yet the interaction between those loving individuals was all I needed!

4.5*

148 - The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

Mohsin Hamid’s books are always a hit or miss for me and this one clearly was a miss. I couldn’t connect to the style of the writing, the endless meandering sentences. And I did not really get the meaning of the book. A man wakes up and his skin has turned dark and then all pale people turn dark. An interesting starting point for what could have been a poignant novel, but it felt detached and it didn’t touch me the way it could have.

2.5*

149 - Passage of Tears by Abdourahman A Waberi

This is an interesting book where the readers learns about the clashes between modern and traditional #Djibouti through the eyes of two estranged brothers. One left the country to live in Canada but has returned to research the possibilities for American investments, the other who stayed and has dedicated his life to the Koran.

The former brother, Djibril keeps records of his new observations, and his old memories. They are interspersed with letters from his brother in prison who seems to observe Djibril’s every move.

3*

150 - The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

This feel good book was exactly what I was in the mood for. Corey was an excellent ice hockey player but due to a serious accident she starts College in a wheelchair. There she meets Adam, another would-be hockey star but he broke his leg and is walking on crutches. When they meet they hit it off immediately. Romance is in the air, Corey falls in love but he has a gorgeous girlfriend who is no “gimp” like her. Loved it!

4*

151 - Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

Patricia Highsmith could have written this literary thriller, that reads like a morality play told by an unreliable narrator and that raises questions that will linger with me for a while.

A struggling writer runs into his former classmate into Jeff Cook. They are waiting for their delayed flight, where Jeff tells the story (or confession) of how he, in his early 20s, brought a drowned man back to life. Afterwards he finds out that the man he saved is a famous art dealer named Francis Arsenault. In wanting to find out if the man recognizes him, Jeff infiltrates Arsenault’s personal and professional lives. Read it yourself, it’s delicious 😀

4*

>289 Simone2: I read that too. A wild ride!

152 - Dr. No by Percival Everett

Now that I’ve finished it I appreciate the book more than while reading it. It’s such a clever plot about a professor who’s an expert in “nothing” and a villain who wants the professor the help him to make sure that “nothing” happens to the world.
It’s an adventurous novel (not really my style) filled with the most colorful characters. It’s hard to follow at times but as I said super clever. Not my favorite Everett but wow, he keeps surprising me with each book.

4*

>291 Simone2: have you read other books by him?

>292 dianeham: Yes and I loved all of them. I can really recommend So Much Blue, The Trees and Telephone!

153 - Grown Ups by Marie Aubert

Ida is forty and single. She’s always tries to do things well and yet life has not worked out the way she expected. She needs to come to terms with this but that’s not easy with her mother, her sister and their families around in their shared cabin near the Norwegian fjords.
It’s a thin book but it packs a punch. I feel for Ida.

4*

154 - An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie

When the author was a boy in Togo he suddenly decides he wants to live in Greenland and sets of to do so. This book is about his travels getting there but mostly about living among the people of Greenland. I learned a lot about them. Family dynamics, hunting, alcohol, winter and cold. It’s a hard life under hard circumstances but with proud people. Very interesting!

3.5*

>295 Simone2: This one has been on my wish list forever. Glad to hear you liked it.

>296 lisapeet: It’s very readable and interesting!

155 - Ocean State by Stewart O’Nan

Angel is 18 and has been going out with Myles forever. But he’s cheating on her with Birdy, who is deeply in love with him. It’s a high school drama with a bad ending (no spoiler), witnessed by Angel’s little sister and mother who are each coping with life in their own ways.

The book is well written and the characters are very realistic. Small town life is described excellent. It’s a pick for me but I am not sure why it made the TOB longlist!

3.5*

156 - Where You Come From by Sasa Stanisic

This book was difficult to read, not in language but in style. The author tells about his life as a refugee in Germany, about his youth in Bosnia and about returning there after the devastating war that divided Yugoslavia and its people. Chapters are short, snippets of his memories. This made it hard to connect even though I am very interested in the Balkan war as well as in reading about life as a refugee in Europe.

2.5*

>299 Simone2: Interesting. I just read Besieged: Life on a Sarajevo Street. The author is a journalist who went and lived on Logavina Street for almost two years during the war and wrote about the people who lived there. It was good, but as you say difficult to read.

>300 labfs39: That’s such a coincidence. But I think it’s good we read about the Bosnian war. It should be remembered.

157 - Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley

This is a strange book but I did enjoy most of it. It’s a book about millennials in NYC, a setting I mostly like. I didn’t care much for the cult-like organization Lola’s former boss and best friend are running, not the role Lola plays in it as their “experiment”. But I liked how she runs into all of her ex-boyfriends because of it. Lola is such a sharp and witty character, I loved how she thinks and the dialogues are great.

3.5*

158 - H(a)ppy by Nicola Barker

I got completely lost in this book but in a good way. In a post-apocalyptic world there is The Graph, an all-seeing, nearly all-controlling system that monitors citizens’ emotions (represented in the book by colored typography) and aims at stability, calm and neutrality.

Mira A can’t keep calm. She has weird vision of the Guaraní people in Paraguay and of real-life Paraguayan guitarist Agustín Barrios.

The narrative is consuming Mira A, literally, by making use of fantastic typographic design.

3.5*

>299 Simone2: Oh, that's disappointing. I read this after it won the German Book Prize and was blown away by the writing. I guess the translation is disappointing?

>302 Simone2: I'm thinking of listening to this one as it sounds like it might work as an audiobook.

>304 RidgewayGirl: It could very well have been the translation. Impressive that you read it in German!
Cult Classic will work very well as an audiobook, as it is mostly an monologue. I enjoyed it in print too.

159 - Dinosaurs. A Novel by Lydia Millet

What a gem of a book. Gil is a wealthy man who hasn’t been happy in NY. He decides to give it all up, walk all the way to Arizona and start afresh. It’s not easy but he tries. He is such a kind and good man. I rooted for him all 230 pages. Beautiful and touching!

4.5*

>306 Simone2: Wasn't this one lovely?

159 books so far - wow! I'm in awe. Noting Dinosaurs.

>306 Simone2: this goes straight on the wish list. I somehow missed that she had a new book out this year!

>307 RidgewayGirl: It was! One of my favorites on the ToB shortlist so far and definitely my favorite Lydia Millet >309 japaul22:
I think you’d love this one too >308 AlisonY:

160 - The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

As children in rural France after WWII, Fabienne and Agnès live in their own private world, needing nothing or no one. Until Fabienne comes up with the plan to write a book together with Agnès as its official author. This is the beginning of the end of their perfect little world. I am not sure of the meaning of the book, I feel like I missed something, but it is an atmospheric and intense read.

3.5*

161 - Cyclorama by Adam Langer

"We don’t need the Nazis to destroy us; we’re destroying ourselves”. Otto Frank said it in WWII, but it is as true in America in 2016, when Trump gets elected. It’s the central message of this book, that is centred around Anne Frank’s diary. The first half is set in the 80s, when the diary is turned into a high school play by the kind of sexist teacher that was quite normal in the 80s. We follow all cast members.
The second half is set in 2016 when we learn what has become of the cast in a world where Trump could become president, racism is nothing to be ashamed of, walls are being erected, illegal immigrants are betrayed and #metoo is something new.
An interesting concept and a very readable book.

3.5*

162 - We Spread by Iain Reid

Penny is an elder woman, she starts forgetting things, has an aching knee, doesn’t take care of herself very well. When she moves to Six Cedars, a small housing facility for the elder, all seems to go better for a while. Penny is a lovely unreliable narrator, does she forget things or is time playing tricks on her? And what about Shelley, who manages the place? A disturbing read about aging, typically Iain Reid.

4*

>162 Simone2: That one sounds too good to miss!

Great new batch of books. I'm looking forward to Dinosaurs too. Happy holidays and good reading!

>315 lisapeet: Happy holidays! Dinosaurs is really good!!

163 - Touch by Olaf Olafsson

I loved this book. The plot, the setting and the style. A student from Iceland meets a Japanese girl in Londen in the early 1970s. They fall in love until she suddenly disappears. Many years later they reconnect on Facebook, just when Covid hits the world. It is a gorgeous read

4.5*

164 - Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

Is this a thriller? Certainly no whodunnit because we know from the start who did it. He’s on death row, hours before his execution. So maybe no thriller, but definitely one of the best books I read this year. Is it possible to pity a serial killer? Danya Kukafka made me in what is best described as a psychological drama. Wow.

4.5*

165 - The Midcoast by Adam White

Unfortunately I didn’t like this book as much as I expected. It is a slow read, and it takes so long to get to the point. A point that was obvious from the beginning. So, more than what could have been an interesting story, the book was about exploring class in Maine. And this could have been much more interesting without the plot and half of the characters. So it felt like a mixed bag to me.

3*

166 - Recitatif by Toni Morrison

This was a thought provoking short story. It is a story without racial coding about two girls (Twyla and Roberta) of different race for whom race is vital. This makes for an interesting experiment.

I read somewhere that apparently you can tell the race of the reader by what race they think Twyla is. An interesting thought!

Also, Zadie Smith’s introduction is excellent.

4*