Despite (or maybe because of) my continuing struggle with the "blahs," reading continues to give me great pleasure when little else does. I may not have the energy right now to write formal reviews, but that's freed me up to wander rather serendipitously from book to book as things catch my eye.
These are the ones I read in October:
- Beautifully written novel
- Longtime series fans will especially appreciate catching up with familiar characters such as Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, and Bob Burgess, among others.
- Explores the impact of Covid on the world, families, and friends
- 5 Stars
- Crime Fiction set in England
- Main character is a young teen girl with the instincts of a modern Sherlock Holmes
- Requires a committed suspension of disbelief
- Fun read and setting but a little too far over the top for me in the end
- 3 Stars
- Perhaps the worst 2024 Booker Prize nominee
- Pretentious and confusing style
- Who cares?
- 1 star
- Would make a perfect Tom Hanks movie
- Two strangers meet in a cemetery once a year to help each other cope with the grief of losing a loved one.
- Thoughtful but funny
- A little too predictable, but fun
- 3 Stars
- An explanation of and renouncement of Cancel Culture"
- Frank, brutal, and sometimes funny as hell
- Author's sense of humor is all over the map - from subtle irony to slapstick
- 4 Stars
- Very clever format and points-of-view
- Sometimes cartoonish characters that the reader still care about
- Somewhat predictable but does have a few fun twists
- My October Cover of the Month
- How to make the world a better place by "deleting" certain people
- 4 Stars
- Salman Rushdie memoir detailing the New York knife attack that he miraculously survived
- A chance to learn about Rushdie's post-fatwa life in his own words
- Even those who are not fans of Rushdie's fiction will appreciate this memoir.
- 5 Stars
- The kind of feel-good novel about books, bookstores, and booksellers that we all just need to read sometimes
- Two great characters: old bookseller and a little girl who sees right through him
- A bit of a German fairytale
- 3.5 Stars
- Lots of theories about slowing down brain aging
- Debunks lots of things we've all been told about demential and Alzheimer's
- A suggested lifestyle approach that, at the least, can't hurt anything by trying it
- Who knows? Something else to consider
- 4 Stars
- Based on the Netflix series called Killing Eve
- Some characters are the same
- Some characters are the same but meet different fates
- Some main characters are created just for the series
- Some characters are of different gender
- Basic plot is the same
- One of those rare times I think the adaptation works better than the original novel it's based on
- 3 Stars
So that was my October. I've only read four books so far in November but I'm reading some nonfiction that slows me down a bit, so I'm not surprised by that. I hope you are all doing well. I hope to catch up on comments sometime soon and appreciate your patience. Hang in there, guys.
Hi Sam! Bookish serendipity is one of my most favorite things. It's a good way to read. Both Knife and The Door-to-Door Bookstore are on my TBR list. They're two I really want to read. And I'm curious about that Murder Your Employer one, too. Glad you're still around; I've missed chatting with you. I haven't felt much like reviewing books either, but these short reviews of yours are great! Have a great Sunday and an even better week next week. And happy reading! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to believe that book blog reviews have a particular life cycle of their own - and that they evolve over time until they finally reach a point where they either die or change enough to find a kind of second wind rebirth. I've seen many longtime favorite blogs die a quiet death somewhere between their fifteenth and twentieth years. And I've seen a few survive because of a slight change in direction or schedule. I'm hoping to be one of the survivors even if it's in a more minimalist format.
DeleteI hope you're one of the survivors, too! I would hate not having you or your blog around any more. So many people are leaving book blogging, I can think of five just this year, and I get it. I don't know how long I'll realistically stick around either. Though I hate saying goodbye to the people, and not being able to chat with them about books and reading and life any more. That's the thing that makes me really sad. So selfishly, I hope you'll find a new review format that works for you so that you stick around for many more years. :D
DeleteI appreciate your kind words. Thanks. It really is sad to look back on how many good blogs have quietly shut down in the last few years. I blame that more on TikTok and YouTube than on the old bloggers because blogging is just not all that impactful anymore in the great scheme of things. But we still have our hardcore communities, and that's what makes it all worth it and so hard to give up.
DeleteI realized I had the book blahs only afterward when I contemplated my monthly reading recently and wondered if any had been memorable! I am hoping the beginning of the college basketball season will cheer me up (although my team has lost three in a row and is going to get abused by the University of Colorado on Sunday; my mother and I have season tickets so it may be a long winter). I also tried to find a new television show and enjoyed the first episode of Murder in a Small Town (based on the series by L.R. Wright) and have recorded the rest because I keep forgetting what night it's on! You might enjoy that.
ReplyDeleteI am curious about the Rushdie book and appreciate your sharing your impression. I worked at Penguin shortly after the fatwa so missed the brunt of the bomb threats and daily upheaval but it didn't end for years and I think there was a general impression that he didn't deserve to have his life destroyed but The Satanic Verses had been gratuitously offensive. But the recent attack was indeed dreadful and I hope that writing the book provided him some release.
I was surprised someone chose The Door to Door Bookstore for my book group earlier this year but I enjoyed it. And I love that cover of Murder Your Employer.
I'm looking forward to the college basketball season, too, and I'm hopeful about my team - as always - even though it seems like "next year" never comes for them. We are 3-1 right now and just had a nice win over Ohio State on Friday night.
DeleteI'm about to wind down the French police procedural television series "Candice Renoir" right now. That thing is 10 seasons long, with 96 total episodes, and I have only 3 more episodes to go. I'll miss it and really need to find another French series of some sort to replace it. Rather surprisingly, my ear for French has gotten much better from having watched so many hours of French TV in the last couple of years. I'll have to take a look at Murder in a Small Town, too...thanks.
I bought a first edition copy of Satanic Verses the week that bookstores all over the world were removing it from the shelves out of fear, but I found it pretty much unreadable - as I've found most of Rushdie's fiction. But it is one "banned book" that I think was literally banned, so I'm glad to own a copy. Rushdie has never impressed me as being a very likable fellow, and the memoir doesn't change my opinion of him personally, but it is a very frank accounting of what happened to him and how it all took over his life.
I think you might enjoy Murder Your Employer. The setting is really wonderful and the way the book is constructed is all very clever. It did sort of become a little too predictable as it approached the climax and resolution, but I enjoyed it.
Hi Sam, I know what you mean about the blahs. I've been having trouble finishing books as of late but I like the way you are doing the reviews, bullet points and I am getting a real sense of what each of these books is about.
ReplyDeleteKeeping Sharp is an important book which can give us alot of tips on how to eat and exercise.
Knife a very important book as well but I am nervous to read it because
It's so horrible and unfair what Salman Rushdie has suffered simply for writing a book. He is such a courageous man and I know Knife must be a powerful memoir.
I hope the bullet point reviews work - at least for now - Kathy. I can't shake the feeling that the amount of time I spent on longer, more formal, reviews would have been better spent on reading the next book. That's especially the case now that I take notes as I read most everything, even if it's only digital highlights and notes, and don't feel the need to sort through my thoughts as much as I used to.
DeleteRushdie went through so much. If you read the memoir, you'll see how unlikely it was that he survived the knife attack. Amazingly enough, the young man who almost killed him was not even all that familiar with the book or what it contained. He was only aware that the Iranian fatwa had never been rescinded and couldn't have cared less about the details. Another example of blind faith leading to tragedy.
I am glad you are still reading, and glad that you provided your thoughts on these books. I have missed your posts.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting list of books, even if you did not care for some of them. I will definitely be getting Tell Me Everything but I plan to read some of her earlier books first. At one point I wanted to read Held by Anne Michaels because the author is Canadian, but I think I read some reviews that changed my mind. Based on your comments, I will give it a pass.
I am interested in Murder Your Employer but I have two other books by that author that I haven't read yet. I am glad you reviewed The Door-to-Dour Bookstore because your comments encourage me to go ahead and get it. Keep Sharp sounds very good; I will look into it more.
Thanks, Tracy. I really miss the conversation because this is the only place I can count on it. I think you'll like the books you mention, and while Held was something I regret spending any time on, it does have its defenders. But that one just seemed unnecessarily dense and obscure to me, never could get into any kind of reading flow and absolutely could not wait to get to the end. I hoped for the fog to lift from my eyes at some point, but it just never happened.
DeleteIt's good to see you back. It's been awhile. Glad for your recap. I've got the Strout going right now, titans Lucy & Olive meet! And I like the looks of Grave Talk and Door to Door Bookstore. Also Knife. I will add to my list. His attack must be gruesome to hear about. Poor Rushdie.
ReplyDeleteI reacted the same way...Lucy and Olive in conversation...never thought that would happen. And it was as great a conversation, and relationship, as I could have ever hoped for. Grave Talk was fun even though I wanted to shake some sense into both the main characters on more than one occasion. lol The little girl in Door to Door Bookstore was one of those characters I just couldn't get enough of. Smarter than anyone around her, and determined to make things happen. The Rushdie book is an eye-opener for sure.
DeleteI've spent the morning trying to sort out a car problem so it was nice to come on here and see you posting, Sam, it cheered me up. That's an eclectic mix of books you've been sampling. You made me laugh re the Book Prize nominee! The Salman Rushdie is the one that interests me. I've got a book of his essays to read on my Kindle, must get to them. Also wondering what the suggested lifestyle might be in Keep Sharp!
ReplyDeleteI hope you got the car problem sorted, Cath. What a frustrating start to the day that must have been. You know, I haven't read anything by Rushdie that I've actually finished other than Knife, so maybe I should look into his essays next time. Keep Sharp is helpful - and hopeful - but I think I waited a few years to late to much benefit from the advice. lol
DeleteI have to say "Requires a committed suspension of disbelief" is one of my favorite sentences to ever appear in a review. I had never heard of "I Used to Like You Until..." and know I would've passed if I'd seen it in person, but I love reading about folks with different lives, lifestyles and views than I have. I'll be on the lookout for that one.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see you back, Sam! I personally like the short, bullet point reviews and think they're very effective.
ReplyDeleteTell Me Everything is one of my favorites this year. It was wonderful to have Lucy and Olive finally meet after all these years. One thing Elizabeth Strout said when I saw her in NYC was that Olive would never die on her watch... what a relief!
I took Held off my library list a while ago... still no regrets. Can't decide whether to give Orbital a try since it won the Booker. The premise doesn't appeal to me at all. I would like to read Knife though.
Wishing you a Happy 2025!
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