Books #42

[LaBlonde]

reading my first ever elizabeth strout (olive kitteridge) and omg it’s so beautiful i can’t believe i’ve never read anything by her before and i now want to buy her entire back catalogue.

i’m going to guess most people here have already read her but if you (like me) are a huge anne tyler/anne patchett/marilynn robinson fan and love small slices of beautifully described domestic lives; would recommend

 

[Carapop]

reading my first ever elizabeth strout (olive kitteridge) and omg it’s so beautiful i can’t believe i’ve never read anything by her before and i now want to buy her entire back catalogue.

i’m going to guess most people here have already read her but if you (like me) are a huge anne tyler/anne patchett/marilynn robinson fan and love small slices of beautifully described domestic lives; would recommend

Omg I can’t believe you haven’t either. Wait until you get to the Lucy Barton series. You’re in for such a treat!!! She has a new book out soon too.

 

[LaBlonde]

Omg I can’t believe you haven’t either. Wait until you get to the Lucy Barton series. You’re in for such a treat!!! She has a new book out soon too.

i literally bought the lucy bartons about two minutes ago what a writer! i can’t believe i’ve somehow missed her this whole time when her writing is so far up my street that it’s in my HOUSE

 

[ordinaryjelly]

If Carapop remembers them, they must surely be something special.

Her books are just beautiful. I feel like I will always remember Olive. The Amgash/Lucy Barton books are just as brilliant. I can't wait to be far enough away from these books that rereading them will be lovely.

Her new book is a standalone novel, I can't wait for it.

 

[Harlot O'Scara]

I think I'm just a philistine, but whenever I look at the lists for all these book prizes, most of the books sound really boring

 

[ordinaryjelly]

What a funny coincidence. I checked my email and had an email about the upcoming Elizabeth Strout book, a signed hardbdack edition of The Things We Cannot Say.

I am still sticking to my 8 book tbr. It has been easy once I got used to it. At the beginning I kept wanting 99p deals or books I saw well reviewed on BookTok or somewhere. But then I realised they would just be filler books or just because books that would bulk up my shelves back into the 20s, 50s, 100s of tbr books that I would almost certainly never get around to reading as they'd become buried. I started saving up the money that I would have spent on those books. I have £287.46p currently. Which suggests a book buying habit that was completely out of control.

I really put some conscious thoughts into my purchases now, will I read it soon? Is it actually a book I want? How does it fit in with my other current tbr books? and so on.

Now I have got used to it it is actually fun doing it this way.

 

[veronica71]

I've read two what I thought were going to be cosy murder mysteries that both turned into weird almost sci fi nonsense - is this now a thing? Never had this with Marple!!

Spoiler: titles spoilers

The Examiner - Janice Hallett - not too sci fiy but was much darker than what I was expecting and The Mirror Cracked - Chris Brookmyer - I really enjoyed this till it went WEIRD and then it just kinda ended

I am still plodding on with the book about the start of WW1 and oh my its a slog but interesting (and completely infuriating as all war is) - I'm going to have to choose my next book very carefully. A nice medieval history I think

 

[Booklover]

reading my first ever elizabeth strout (olive kitteridge) and omg it’s so beautiful i can’t believe i’ve never read anything by her before and i now want to buy her entire back catalogue.

i’m going to guess most people here have already read her but if you (like me) are a huge anne tyler/anne patchett/marilynn robinson fan and love small slices of beautifully described domestic lives; would recommend

Oliver Kitteridge is one of my all time faves. And the Lucy Barton books are fab. You'll love them if, like me, you love Anne Tyler and Ann Patchett too. Enjoy.

 

[CommentBelow]

reading my first ever elizabeth strout (olive kitteridge) and omg it’s so beautiful i can’t believe i’ve never read anything by her before and i now want to buy her entire back catalogue.

i’m going to guess most people here have already read her but if you (like me) are a huge anne tyler/anne patchett/marilynn robinson fan and love small slices of beautifully described domestic lives; would recommend

I read the first 20 pages of Lucy Barton and had the same thought - so much so I paused reading and saving it for a summer holiday read for full immersion. I got Backman vibes - has anyone else thought this? Admittedly this is based on reading less than 10% of a book 🫣

 

[Carapop]

I read the first 20 pages of Lucy Barton and had the same thought - so much so I paused reading and saving it for a summer holiday read for full immersion. I got Backman vibes - has anyone else thought this? Admittedly this is based on reading less than 10% of a book 🫣

Nooooooooo. No not Backman. Backman is all heart but Strout is soul.

I read 20% of The Mercy Step and returned for refund. I forgot that I don’t enjoy a child narrating. I wonder is it my lack of maternal genes.

 

[LaBlonde]

I read 20% of The Mercy Step and returned for refund. I forgot that I don’t enjoy a child narrating. I wonder is it my lack of maternal genes.

this has immediately put me off getting it - i hate child narrators, and really any book where a child character features REALLY heavily (like you i think this is my lack of maternal genes )

 

[MaryLou32]

Has anyone got any recs for a good psychological thriller that's especially good to listen to on audiobook? Ta!

 

[Cheddar Chalpupa]

Has anyone got any recs for a good psychological thriller that's especially good to listen to on audiobook? Ta!

Recall by JD Kirk on Audible - it's narrated by James McAvoy and he really makes it good.

 

[MaryLou32]

Recall by JD Kirk on Audible - it's narrated by James McAvoy and he really makes it good.

Oh thank you, just had a look at the synopsis for this and it sounds right up my street!

 

[Harlot O'Scara]

I've read two what I thought were going to be cosy murder mysteries that both turned into weird almost sci fi nonsense - is this now a thing? Never had this with Marple!!

Spoiler: titles spoilers

The Examiner - Janice Hallett - not too sci fiy but was much darker than what I was expecting and The Mirror Cracked - Chris Brookmyer - I really enjoyed this till it went WEIRD and then it just kinda ended

I am still plodding on with the book about the start of WW1 and oh my its a slog but interesting (and completely infuriating as all war is) - I'm going to have to choose my next book very carefully. A nice medieval history I think

I've just looked up the synopses for those books and they definitely sound like they're trying too hard to be clever.

The first one calls itself a "pause resistor" which I assume is ridiculous "trendy" speak for "page turner"? Cringe.

 

[LaBlonde]

I got Backman vibes - has anyone else thought this? Admittedly this is based on reading less than 10% of a book 🫣

i guess a little bit in how poetically matter of fact the style is - i see it!

the quirks in backman’s writing had sadly really grated on me by the time i read the winners though. i hate how much he would say something was about to happen but not quite yet!

 

[emmer_moans]

I think I'm just a philistine, but whenever I look at the lists for all these book prizes, most of the books sound really boring

Same, but I'm not really a Lit Fic fan, which a lot of these books seem to be, each year. I tend more towards murder mysteries, dystopians, older historical classics and fantasies and when I've dipped my toe into some of the contemporary lit fic stuff I've not gelled with the book, sadly. I also then feel a bit of a philistine

 

[Harlot O'Scara]

Same, but I'm not really a Lit Fic fan, which a lot of these books seem to be, each year. I tend more towards murder mysteries, dystopians, older historical classics and fantasies and when I've dipped my toe into some of the contemporary lit fic stuff I've not gelled with the book, sadly. I also then feel a bit of a philistine

I'm glad it's not just me!

I used to read a lot of crime but I've dropped off a lot, currently it's mostly a mixture of historical fiction, horror, and bit of a sci-fi and fantasy. I'm a pretty big non-fiction reader, as well.

I'm too thick for Lit Fic

I just checked and the last Booker Prize winner I read was Lincoln in the Bardo from nearly a decade ago
Bloody good book, though!

 

[LaBlonde]

I just checked and the last Booker Prize winner I read was Lincoln in the Bardo from nearly a decade ago
Bloody good book, though!

lincoln in the bardo is one of my favourite books EVER and everyone i have recommended it to has hated it so thank you for this validation 🥲

 

[Carapop]

I am halfway through alone with you in the ether by Olivie Blake and LOVING it. It’s a really unconventional romance and the writing is beautiful. Reminds me of Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow but superior prose.

I like it so much that when I saw a book of hers is currently on kindle deals for £1 I knew I had to have it. It’s over 500 pages long and apparently a mix of Succession and magic. What the holy mother of god. I’m broadening my horizons if nothing else.