Books #31

[slugella]

*kicks door open* slugella i have been WAITING for you to read it!

i was devastated it just felt like a betrayal of the first book to me, but then i am a tony superfan. like you say, i wanted more backstory or at least for tony and eilis to have a proper conversation about WHY he’d done it. it made me sad because the whole thing so underlined the ending of brooklyn in a way that i don’t think i’ll read that book the same ever again.

i think she stuck to her guns about not going back tbh and the photo of tony with the baby just made her mind up for her. whether she managed to stay with jim i don’t know but i think it was very much like her life in the us was over.

Spoiler: More Brooklyn/Long Island spoiler

I loved Tony too so I was really surprised at the plot! I've only read Brooklyn once but seen the film a good few times so that is in my head more and might be warping my memory of the book a bit, but I don't remember his family seeming as cold either.

The bits with her mum were so sad, like their lack of communication really tainted their relationship. Eilis thinking she hadn't kept the photos then finding out she had them all organised was . And her thinking her mum didn't really care/want them there and then her mum was wanting to show them off at church and in the street etc.

I think she went back to the US but not to Tony. Not convinced she stuck to her plan of Jim to follow her though after finding out about Nancy. Jim seemed a bit weak too so I can imagine him just marrying Nancy out of ease.

 

[LaBlonde]

Spoiler: More Brooklyn/Long Island spoiler

I loved Tony too so I was really surprised at the plot! I've only read Brooklyn once but seen the film a good few times so that is in my head more and might be warping my memory of the book a bit, but I don't remember his family seeming as cold either.

The bits with her mum were so sad, like their lack of communication really tainted their relationship. Eilis thinking she hadn't kept the photos then finding out she had them all organised was . And her thinking her mum didn't really care/want them there and then her mum was wanting to show them off at church and in the street etc.

I think she went back to the US but not to Tony. Not convinced she stuck to her plan of Jim to follow her though after finding out about Nancy. Jim seemed a bit weak too so I can imagine him just marrying Nancy out of ease.

i agree that the film has probably rose tinted my view of it! but his family were definitely much kinder in the book. it did make me sad because one of the key plot points of brooklyn was really did she “want” to stay or did the pieces just fall that way and i think by not showing any of her and tony’s life together or actual happiness it really laid on the she should have married jim instead narrative. i found the depiction of what distance had done to her relationship with her mother so sad too.

jim had no backbone whatsoever. as soon as nancy started telling people they were engaged i was like well that’s that then he’s never getting out of it! in my mind she stays because tony and his mother have made going home impossible but i agree with you that there’s a definite argument for her going to new york and living solo.

i wonder if it will end up as a trilogy in the end! in my head though i do think i’ll treat brooklyn as a stand-alone book because i loved it so much 🥲

 

[nbt]

I’ve just finished Piglet. I really enjoyed reading it and just find the food and meal descriptions so satisfying to read. If anyone has watched The Bear, it gives me the same feeling as watching that. Almost therapeutic.

I can’t decide whether to give it a 4 or 4.5 because we never get to find out what Kit did! I feel like it could have been a 5 star had it had a satisfying ending.

Anyone have any theories? I feel it wasn’t cheating for some reason. Could potentially be money related with him questioning the joint account transfer to her sister, but then you wouldn’t have thought that’d be an issue for his family. This may bug me for a while! I almost want to message Lottie Hazell and ask what she had in mind

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

So glad it's not just me who didn't enjoy Cinnamon Bookstore!

i keep looking at that and the Pumpkin Spice cafe etc and then i see them described as spicy romance. i dont really like romance in books or as a genre. I might read a few superlight ones that are not really that love and romancey.. like Jenny Colgan or Trisha Ashley.. which are cosy and romance adjacent but thats about where my interest stops

 

[anniemouse]

i keep looking at that and the Pumpkin Spice cafe etc and then i see them described as spicy romance. i dont really like romance in books or as a genre. I might read a few superlight ones that are not really that love and romancey.. like Jenny Colgan or Trisha Ashley.. which are cosy and romance adjacent but thats about where my interest stops

I loved Jenny Colgans The Christmas Bookshop last year. I also love Trisha Ashley

 

[Libbylulu]

I loved Jenny Colgans The Christmas Bookshop last year. I also love Trisha Ashley

Nice Christmas books. I usually listen on audible when I’m putting out my Christmas decorations

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

Nice Christmas books. I usually listen on audible when I’m putting out my Christmas decorations

both of them do lovely Christmas books..I look forward every yr. Trisha's annual fan meet up has been a staple of my festive season for many years

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I think the issue is with 'tik tok recommended' or 'tik tok sensation' isnt like booker award winning.

Its the expectation going in that its so highly rated. They tend to be 3/3.5 star inoffensive fluff. Thats ok but if you go in expecting a masterpiece youre going to be left feeling thirsty.

Books and genres are so wide reaching there is something for everyone.

 

[LydiaDeetzHat]

I think the issue is with 'tik tok recommended' or 'tik tok sensation' isnt like booker award winning.

Its the expectation going in that its so highly rated. They tend to be 3/3.5 star inoffensive fluff. Thats ok but if you go in expecting a masterpiece youre going to be left feeling thirsty.

Books and genres are so wide reaching there is something for everyone.

if i am honest both of those promo approaches puts me right off reading a title. TIKtok just makes me think YA , vacuous, romance etc and Booker(insert other prize here)nominated just makes me think dull and boring because i'm hard pressed to find one of these prize nominated/winning titles I enjoyed despite being a lit fic girlie

 

[anniemouse]

I love a 3.5 star fluff when it’s not dragging on for me. I also love historical fiction, fantasy, crime & psychological.
I recently left a book sub on Reddit as some of them seemed to come across as judgey book snobs. I don’t care what people read, I’m just happy to see people reading and enjoying it.

 

[SaintLeo]

if i am honest both of those promo approaches puts me right off reading a title. TIKtok just makes me think YA , vacuous, romance etc and Booker(insert other prize here)nominated just makes me think dull and boring because i'm hard pressed to find one of these prize nominated/winning titles I enjoyed despite being a lit fic girlie

Occasionally there’s a Booker or Pulitzer nominated book that I love and lulls me into a false sense that I should be reading more of them! Things like Shuggie Bain, The Underground Railroad and of course Small Things Like These, all of which were stand outs for me. Unfortunately they do seem to be rare gems in a load of other pretentious, long winded tediousness!

I found it really telling that the readers version of the NYT Best Books of the 21st Century contained way more things I’d read or wanted to read than the “official” version!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

if i am honest both of those promo approaches puts me right off reading a title. TIKtok just makes me think YA , vacuous, romance etc and Booker(insert other prize here)nominated just makes me think dull and boring because i'm hard pressed to find one of these prize nominated/winning titles I enjoyed despite being a lit fic girlie

Thats fair enough. Ive read some books I adored on the Booker list but also some that were awful or I just didnt get like Milkman by Anna Burns.

 

[epl000]

Thats fair enough. Ive read some books I adored on the Booker list but also some that were awful or I just didnt get like Milkman by Anna Burns.

My mum's book club read Milkman a few months back and I'm not sure any of them enjoyed it. My mum described it as bleak. Needless to say I declined the offer of her passing it on to me!

 

[chickhicks86]

Spoiler: More Brooklyn/Long Island spoiler

I loved Tony too so I was really surprised at the plot! I've only read Brooklyn once but seen the film a good few times so that is in my head more and might be warping my memory of the book a bit, but I don't remember his family seeming as cold either.

The bits with her mum were so sad, like their lack of communication really tainted their relationship. Eilis thinking she hadn't kept the photos then finding out she had them all organised was . And her thinking her mum didn't really care/want them there and then her mum was wanting to show them off at church and in the street etc.

I think she went back to the US but not to Tony. Not convinced she stuck to her plan of Jim to follow her though after finding out about Nancy. Jim seemed a bit weak too so I can imagine him just marrying Nancy out of ease.

This is exactly how I felt about Long Island. I feel like Jim was a bit too much of a wet wipe to follow her to the USA.

 

[Libbylulu]

Brooklyn - Long Island

Spoiler

I was sorry I read Long Island because it totally shattered my happy ever after for them. Though I suppose it gave us our ‘what happened next’ just I didn’t like it. Brooklyn is about the only book that I enjoyed the film more.

 

[AllieBee]

I love a 3.5 star fluff when it’s not dragging on for me. I also love historical fiction, fantasy, crime & psychological.
I recently left a book sub on Reddit as some of them seemed to come across as judgey book snobs. I don’t care what people read, I’m just happy to see people reading and enjoying it.

Exactly. The whole point of reading for pleasure is that you enjoy it. There's a genre for everyone, just read what you love!

 

[LaBlonde]

Brooklyn - Long Island

Spoiler

I was sorry I read Long Island because it totally shattered my happy ever after for them. Though I suppose it gave us our ‘what happened next’ just I didn’t like it. Brooklyn is about the only book that I enjoyed the film more.

yes on ALL counts

 

[061wan]

Long Island is still sitting unread on my bookshelf.. it is taking every shred of my willpower not to click any of those spoilers

 

[HoGi]

I’ve just finished Piglet. I really enjoyed reading it and just find the food and meal descriptions so satisfying to read. If anyone has watched The Bear, it gives me the same feeling as watching that. Almost therapeutic.

I can’t decide whether to give it a 4 or 4.5 because we never get to find out what Kit did! I feel like it could have been a 5 star had it had a satisfying ending.

Anyone have any theories? I feel it wasn’t cheating for some reason. Could potentially be money related with him questioning the joint account transfer to her sister, but then you wouldn’t have thought that’d be an issue for his family. This may bug me for a while! I almost want to message Lottie Hazell and ask what she had in mind

I agree so much with this.

I described my view as I loved it until I didn't. I was fuming we don't find out what he did.

 

[Throwaway89]

Thats fair enough. Ive read some books I adored on the Booker list but also some that were awful or I just didnt get like Milkman by Anna Burns.

Milkman was 100% the worst thing I have ever read and put me off ever reading another Booker prize winner (or whatever prize it was).
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I’m halfway through Love Story by Lindsay Kelk. If anyone else has read it I just need to express that Charlotte is just a total spoiled cat - why does everyone indulge her so much? Why did Sophie let her take the bloody Chanel bag?