I read Discontent by Beatriz Serrano (translated by Mara Faye Lethem) almost two months ago (yes, catching up on reviews, so I’ll keep this brief). Anyway, the point is that when anyone asks, “Have you read anything good lately?”, this is the book I suggest. I’m not constantly thinking about it, yet it’s the book that immediately comes to mind. Because it’s funny, it’s relatable, it’s well written and it’s also sad (or perhaps poignant) in an unexpected way. Continue reading
Tag Archives: fiction
The Four Spent the Day Together by Chris Kraus
Are you familiar with Chris Kraus’s writing? I have never read her seminal work, I Love Dick, but did enjoy the TV series based on the book that came out a couple of years ago. It’s certainly not necessary to have read her previous work to appreciate her latest ‘novel’ (it’s actually a combination of autofiction, memoir and true crime), The Four Spent the Day Together, however, I suspect it would have been a richer reading experience had I. Continue reading
Wait Here by Lucy Nelson
In previous years, I’ve attempted to read the full Stella Prize longlist – that took some effort in terms of coordinating predictions, library reservations and bookshop visits! This year, the longlist announcement crept up on me and I was totally unprepared. Nevertheless, I got my hands on a copy of Lucy Nelson’s short story collection, Wait Here. Continue reading
Latest Listens
Love Machines by James Muldoon Continue reading
We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad
Looking for something bonkers? Look no further than We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad. It’s both a prequel and a sequel to Awad’s breakout novel, Bunny (technically, it could standalone, but I reckon it would too weird if you hadn’t read Bunny).
The story opens with the Bunnies kidnapping Samantha, who has just published her first novel to critical acclaim (exposing the Bunnies and the highly selective writing workshop that they had all participated in). At the New England stop on Sam’s book tour, her one-time frenemies literally make her their captive audience, to tell their side of the story.
…Samantha’s a fucking asshole, and I do want her to fucking die, but then I thought: Why give her better book sales? Why go to jail for her when I don’t even like orange? Continue reading
First two for Reading Ireland Month
First up for Reading Ireland Month, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books – Continue reading
Six Degrees of Separation – from Wuthering Heights to Constable’s Skies
It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up. Continue reading
Literary Wives Club: Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell
For the same reasons I enjoy the work of Richard Yates, I enjoyed Evan S. Connell’s novel, Mrs Bridge – spare prose (not a single unnecessary word); intensely depressing; bleakly suburban; and satirical.
It does not go unnoticed that the protagonist, Mrs Bridge, has an exotic name – India – and that despite initially thinking to herself that ‘…she could get along very nicely without a husband’, she marries Walter (Mr Bridge) who promises her that ‘…one day he would take his wife on a tour of Europe.‘ Mr Bridge proceeds to focus on building his law practice, and providing well for his family (they have three children, Ruth, Carolyn (Corky), and Douglas). And India leads a very staid, conservative suburban life.
They had started off together to explore something that promised to be wonderful, and, of course, there had been wonderful times. And yet, thought Mrs Bridge, why is it that we haven’t – that nothing has – that whatever we–? Continue reading
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Dear Ann,
I am writing to congratulate you on your most recent novel, State of Wonder, which was given to me for my birthday by my brother…
Yes, the protagonist, Sybil Van Atwerp, is referring to Ann Patchett. She goes on to say that if Ann was to ever visit Annapolis, she’d be glad to host her. Sybil’s familiar tone (which she also employs in letters to Joan Didion and Kazuo Ishiguro) is wonderfully endearing and I’d like to imagine, disarming for the receivers of those letters.
However, letters to authors are just a small part of The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Continue reading
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
It’s been a while since I’ve had a reading experience as visceral as what I had when I read Olga Ravn’s The Wax Child. Continue reading