Friday, September 30, 2016

September books, digested



So many books, so little time to talk about them.  Whirlwind trip through this month's books:



literature/fiction:
The Vegetarian, by Han Kang:  damn, I loved this book!  More to follow on this one, but it will definitely be on my 2016 favorites list

The Honeymoon, by Dinitia Smith:  September's real-world book group read. Sorry, but I wasn't over the moon about this book -- to me it just flat-out  lacked depth. My book group was split on this one, but we did have a great discussion about George Eliot.

The Book Collector, by Alice Thompson -- from Salt Publishing; I liked it much better after the second read. Haven't posted about this one, but definitely recommended. Reminds me so much of Angela Carter's story "The Bloody Chamber," and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

*****

dark fiction/horror/weird fiction and everything else that falls in this category:

The Dark Domain, by Stefan Grabinski : more to follow about this one after I read his The Motion Demon, but I loved it.

Strange Medicine, by Mike Russell : I love Mike Russell's work. He's just so out there it's an actual pleasure to lose myself in his stories.

Eltonsbrody, by Edgar Mittelholzer -- Barbados, a creepy old house on a cliff and lots of chills -- what more can you ask for? By one of my favorite Caribbean novelists

All Souls' Night: Stories by Hugh Walpole:  Collection of supernatural/other stories by Hugh Walpole, released by Valancourt Books.  Fun.

Night-Pieces, by Thomas Burke. Another Valancourt edition; lots of good stuff.



*****


crime fiction
The Investigator, by Margarita Khemlin:  shortlisted for the 2013 Russian Booker Prize -- intense mystery at its core; one of the most literary crime novels I've ever encountered. Great read.

The Disappearance of Signora Giulia, by Piero Chiara - a true conundrum of a mystery and another good book from Pushkin Vertigo.

*****

nonfiction
Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America, by Patrick Phillips: reveals "the process by which racial injustice is perpetuated" in the US -- a must read

News of a Kidnapping, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: -- after season two of Narcos, I had to know what was really going on in Colombia at the time -- another fine book that kept me on the edge of my seat.


*****
and now, for October...



Aside from a few must-reads, October is dedicated to creepy books just perfect for Halloween,  so most of the action will be taking place over at oddly weird fiction.  Pop on in!








2 comments:

  1. Glad you have such a good reading month.
    I've wondered about The Vegetarian, which sounds like it's about worsening women's oppression. Is that what it is?

    Also, the Chiara book sounds intriguing. I'll look into it.

    And, yes, these small publishers are hidden treasures.

    Hope you're surviving this presidential campaign. I'm trying to avoid as much as I can and bury myself in fiction, crime-related and not.

    By the way, Lisa McInerney's The Glorious Heresies is a quirky, well-written book about some people in the underbelly of Cork, Ireland society. I thought it was imaginative and creative and the characters interesting.

    Have a good October. I shall not be reading any horror, but immersed in some good books that will get me through the elections.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Vegetarian - it's not really what you think, although oppression is definitely involved. It's very powerful. I think you'd like it.

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