Books read in July 2018

[nou]

As per last month, by default I’m just stating whether I’d recommend the book (yes/maybe/no), whether I decided not to finish it (DNF), whether it’s a re-read, and whether I can remember there being any content that needs to be warned for (cw). I’m happy to expand on the reasons for my opinions if anyone is interested though — just comment and ask.

Recommend:

• Ariah, BR Sanders (cw: police brutality, internalized homophobia, racism, rape, incest, conscription)
• Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik (cw: anti-semitism, violence)
• Bad Blood, John Carreyrou
• Circe, Madeline Miller (cw: rape, slavery, murder)

Maybe recommend:

• The Last Place You Look (re-read) and What You Want To See, Kristen Lepionka (cw: imprisonment, rape, violence, alcoholism)
• Lark Rise To Candleford, Flora Thompson (cw: bullying, child abuse, racism, blackface, ableism, domestic violence, racial slurs)
• Under The Pendulum Sun, Jeannette Ng (cw: incest)
• Record Of A Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers

Wouldn’t recommend:

• Ascension, Jacqueline Koyanagi (DNF)
• Give It To Me, Ana Castillo (DNF)

What have you recently read and enjoyed? (Feel free to point towards posts on your own journal.) Do you have any opinions (good or bad) on the books above?

Comments

[bob]

I just read slaughterhouse 5 and enjoyed it.

[nou]

I’ve been meaning to read that for years, mainly because I think I ought to. So I’ll try to give it a go soon.

[bob]

indeed that was my thinking and it came up cheap on kindle the other day.
Its also probably time I get round to reading 1984

[booklectica]

I keep seeing Becky Chambers recommended by friends - what are your thoughts?

[nou]

This is quite a tricky question! I enjoyed her first one quite a lot, though the ending wasn’t as good as the rest of it. It was the domestic SF aspect of it I was enjoying, so the shift to more traditional “let’s have some dramatic tension” stuff at the end didn’t really do it for me. The second one annoyed me so much I almost didn’t read the third one (there is something of a rant about it here). The third one is better than the second one, but overall I still have this feeling of things not being entirely thought through.

[doseybat]

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street was really sweet and unexpectedly hit emotional buttons. Had to immediately read again from the beginning.

[nou]

I remember looking that up when it was being advertised all over train platforms a while back, but can’t remember why I decided against giving it a try (possibly because it was being referred to as “steampunk”, which is a genre I’ve never got on with). Your recommendation has made me think again, so I’ve just downloaded a sample of it — thank you!

[doseybat]

The way she writes small detail of interpersonal situations appeals to me (now reading her second book and it is still powerful). Must have mainly ignored the ether experiments, and the clockwork stuff was pretty. Not sure I have ever attempted to read anything steampunk so not sure how to comment on that. Bloomsbury do seem to have gone into over the top with marketing.

Aged around nine I had an obsession with the Count of Monte Cristo which I kept having to reread; wonder if my linking of the Watchmaker is a kind of nostalgia for that book. Not sure I should say this in case it spoilers you too much.

[nou]

I haven’t read The Count of Monte Cristo and have no idea what it’s about, so no worries there. I love love love stories that include small details of interpersonal situations. The to-read queue is unusually long at the moment, but I will report back!

[doseybat]

Tribe by Sebastian Junger: disrecommend, bleurgh, that served me right for impulsive Foyles purchases with zero research

[nou]

Noted, thanks! (I did enjoy reading the bad reviews of it I just googled, though.)