December - what are you reading this month?

[Anonymous]

Finished What We Kept to Ourselves, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. 3/5 stars; I thought it was OK, "not great, not terrible" (in the words of Anatoly Dyatlov from HBO's Chernobyl). The passages--while beautifully written--got repetitive after a while, especially in the mother's yearning to return home to Korea from LA. The author manages to find infinite ways to say the exact same thing: that the mother misses her homeland, its sights, and smells.

Kim also uses narrative jumps, flipping back between the 90s and the 70s. This is done so often nowadays in novels, it's almost like a cliche... can any authors write a linear narrative these days? Kim uses this technique better than most, and manages not to muddle the timeline and introduce too much confusion. But I found myself rolling my eyes that this technique was used YET AGAIN... sigh.

Now reading The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell. Really liking it so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and enjoyed it. It was bleak, but that seems about right given the political climate.

I went through a phase where I was a bit obsessed with McCarthy. All the Pretty Horses was my favorite. Then I read something of his recently and wanted to throw it out the window halfway through. He's an intense writer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished What We Kept to Ourselves, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. 3/5 stars; I thought it was OK, "not great, not terrible" (in the words of Anatoly Dyatlov from HBO's Chernobyl). The passages--while beautifully written--got repetitive after a while, especially in the mother's yearning to return home to Korea from LA. The author manages to find infinite ways to say the exact same thing: that the mother misses her homeland, its sights, and smells.

Kim also uses narrative jumps, flipping back between the 90s and the 70s. This is done so often nowadays in novels, it's almost like a cliche... can any authors write a linear narrative these days? Kim uses this technique better than most, and manages not to muddle the timeline and introduce too much confusion. But I found myself rolling my eyes that this technique was used YET AGAIN... sigh.

Now reading The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell. Really liking it so far.

Your first thoughts on What we Kept to Ourselves are pretty much exactly how I felt. It was fine, nothing special.

I, however, generally like alternating timelines in novels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finally got around to reading The Berry Pickers. I really liked. Debut novel form Amanda Peters about a 4 year old indigenous girl who goes missing from her family for 50 years. Really great read, good character development and really felt I was sitting in the room with the family.

I really loved it, it was one of my favorite reads last year. I read it pretty much in one sitting and just felt enthralled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and enjoyed it. It was bleak, but that seems about right given the political climate.

I went through a phase where I was a bit obsessed with McCarthy. All the Pretty Horses was my favorite. Then I read something of his recently and wanted to throw it out the window halfway through. He's an intense writer.

I couldn’t finish Blood Meridian. I was just too disturbed. Loved The Road and All the Pretty Horses, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Finished What We Kept to Ourselves, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. 3/5 stars; I thought it was OK, "not great, not terrible" (in the words of Anatoly Dyatlov from HBO's Chernobyl). The passages--while beautifully written--got repetitive after a while, especially in the mother's yearning to return home to Korea from LA. The author manages to find infinite ways to say the exact same thing: that the mother misses her homeland, its sights, and smells.

Kim also uses narrative jumps, flipping back between the 90s and the 70s. This is done so often nowadays in novels, it's almost like a cliche... can any authors write a linear narrative these days? Kim uses this technique better than most, and manages not to muddle the timeline and introduce too much confusion. But I found myself rolling my eyes that this technique was used YET AGAIN... sigh.

Now reading The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell. Really liking it so far.

I’d say about 1/3 to 2/3 of novels published from 2022 onwards use the shifting time periods/alternating character POV framework. It often feels lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and enjoyed it. It was bleak, but that seems about right given the political climate.

I went through a phase where I was a bit obsessed with McCarthy. All the Pretty Horses was my favorite. Then I read something of his recently and wanted to throw it out the window halfway through. He's an intense writer.

Stella Maris? I had pretty mixed feelings about that one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished A Little Life; it was heartbreaking but very good.

I read that years ago and still remember it well. It was such a beautiful book, but at the end I just felt like the tragedy was over the top.

I agree. It was almost like you were desensitized to the trauma by the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finished What We Kept to Ourselves, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. 3/5 stars; I thought it was OK, "not great, not terrible" (in the words of Anatoly Dyatlov from HBO's Chernobyl). The passages--while beautifully written--got repetitive after a while, especially in the mother's yearning to return home to Korea from LA. The author manages to find infinite ways to say the exact same thing: that the mother misses her homeland, its sights, and smells.

Kim also uses narrative jumps, flipping back between the 90s and the 70s. This is done so often nowadays in novels, it's almost like a cliche... can any authors write a linear narrative these days? Kim uses this technique better than most, and manages not to muddle the timeline and introduce too much confusion. But I found myself rolling my eyes that this technique was used YET AGAIN... sigh.

Now reading The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell. Really liking it so far.

I’d say about 1/3 to 2/3 of novels published from 2022 onwards use the shifting time periods/alternating character POV framework. It often feels lazy.

I'm this PP and yes, this is how I feel about so many bestsellers lately. The authors who do this effectively are few and far between. The alternating POVs are especially hard to do well... to have each chapter read differently as though the reader feels genuinely inside the mind and voice of that character. Unfortunately, they often miss the mark, and it's done so often nowadays that it feels like a gimmick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finished What We Kept to Ourselves, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. 3/5 stars; I thought it was OK, "not great, not terrible" (in the words of Anatoly Dyatlov from HBO's Chernobyl). The passages--while beautifully written--got repetitive after a while, especially in the mother's yearning to return home to Korea from LA. The author manages to find infinite ways to say the exact same thing: that the mother misses her homeland, its sights, and smells.

Kim also uses narrative jumps, flipping back between the 90s and the 70s. This is done so often nowadays in novels, it's almost like a cliche... can any authors write a linear narrative these days? Kim uses this technique better than most, and manages not to muddle the timeline and introduce too much confusion. But I found myself rolling my eyes that this technique was used YET AGAIN... sigh.

Now reading The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell. Really liking it so far.

I’d say about 1/3 to 2/3 of novels published from 2022 onwards use the shifting time periods/alternating character POV framework. It often feels lazy.

I'm this PP and yes, this is how I feel about so many bestsellers lately. The authors who do this effectively are few and far between. The alternating POVs are especially hard to do well... to have each chapter read differently as though the reader feels genuinely inside the mind and voice of that character. Unfortunately, they often miss the mark, and it's done so often nowadays that it feels like a gimmick.

Agree. It’s done effectively sometimes. Usually it makes me annoyed.

[Anonymous]

I just finished "Wish you were here" by Jodi Picoult.
It is about a woman who goes on vacation to the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, then gets stuck there during the pandemic lockdown.
I thought it was good. Downloaded it from my library.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and enjoyed it. It was bleak, but that seems about right given the political climate.

I went through a phase where I was a bit obsessed with McCarthy. All the Pretty Horses was my favorite. Then I read something of his recently and wanted to throw it out the window halfway through. He's an intense writer.

Stella Maris? I had pretty mixed feelings about that one

It was The Crossing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I adored Sky Full of Elephants. One of my favorites as of late. Read The Midnight Feast, and it was fun. Entitlement was a letdown. It was just trying too hard. All Fours had me running to therapy. It was incredible and disturbing and hot and shocking.

I'm so happy when other people read and love Sky Full of Elephants!! I read this a few months ago and still think about it. It's definitely one of my favorite books of the year.

I tried to read Sky Full of Elephants but I stopped because I didn’t understand the author’s vision. In particular, why do positions in government and other important roles go unfilled after the disappearances? That seems like a weird statement to make about those left behind, and I don’t know why the author would make it.

[Anonymous]

Once More from the Top. A story about a pop star whose biography is a 99% match for Taylor Swift’s. That part was good, the author put a lot of thought into imagining what Taylor’s inner life is like. But the Taylor reflections are embedded in a plot about a missing girl that is plodding and comes to a let down ending. Without the missing girl plot, this would have been a great book for people interested in Taylor Swift or the imagined perspective of celebrity women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finished What We Kept to Ourselves, by Nancy Jooyoun Kim. 3/5 stars; I thought it was OK, "not great, not terrible" (in the words of Anatoly Dyatlov from HBO's Chernobyl). The passages--while beautifully written--got repetitive after a while, especially in the mother's yearning to return home to Korea from LA. The author manages to find infinite ways to say the exact same thing: that the mother misses her homeland, its sights, and smells.

Kim also uses narrative jumps, flipping back between the 90s and the 70s. This is done so often nowadays in novels, it's almost like a cliche... can any authors write a linear narrative these days? Kim uses this technique better than most, and manages not to muddle the timeline and introduce too much confusion. But I found myself rolling my eyes that this technique was used YET AGAIN... sigh.

Now reading The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O'Farrell. Really liking it so far.

I’d say about 1/3 to 2/3 of novels published from 2022 onwards use the shifting time periods/alternating character POV framework. It often feels lazy.

I'm this PP and yes, this is how I feel about so many bestsellers lately. The authors who do this effectively are few and far between. The alternating POVs are especially hard to do well... to have each chapter read differently as though the reader feels genuinely inside the mind and voice of that character. Unfortunately, they often miss the mark, and it's done so often nowadays that it feels like a gimmick.

I don’t think it’s necessary in the vast majority of books. It only seems like a necessity in a very lengthy series. George R. R. Martin has different POV’s in A Song of Ice and Fire and they are done well and necessary. It’s also a thousands of page long epic fantasy with multiple threads!