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Mar 25

Parade by Rachel Cusk

I’ve been trying to be proactive this year in my selection of novels in preparation for a more informed Booker prediction list. So, I requested, and received, an ARC of Cusk’s latest novel Parade (thank you to Farrer,Straus, and Gioux and net galley).

I have a love-hate relationship with Cusk’s novels. They are brilliant but they also often make me feel like I need an advanced literary degree in order to make it through them. So how did this latest novel stack up for me?

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Mar 20

James by Percival Everett

If you have yet to read a novel by Percival Everett, then you are missing out. While Everett has written 19 books over the last 20+ years, I didn’t discover his works until reading The Trees, which was shortlisted (it should have won) for the Booker in 2022. His latest novel, James, came out yesterday and will undoubtedly make its way onto at least one literary award list. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and here is what I thought…

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Mar 11

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Wild Houses by Colin Barrett

Acclaimed short story writer, Colin Barrett, is coming out with his debut novel, Wild Houses and I was fortunate enough to snag an Advanced copy (thank you to Grove Press). This book has been getting quite a lot of buzz in literary circles. Here is my review…

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Mar 7

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Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Life has forced me into a reading slump for the last several years and outside of the Booker challenge, I’ve found it increasingly more challenging to find the time or mental energy to read (which is why you’ve mostly seen Book worm post on the blog). Luckily for me, my partner is supporting my effort to read more. For the last several years we have been alternating book picks, reading together, and discussing books. The one upside of long distance relationships is that you need to be creative in finding ways to connect and share things that are important to each of you. For me, that’s reading.

This year we have decided to pick books based on monthly themes (that are pretty broad) to push us to read more widely and diversely. To be clear, we are very different readers. He prefers non-fiction and preferably history and I read mostly literary fiction. In February, it was his turn to pick for black history month and to my surprise he picked a fantasy novel. As a non-fiction reader, fantasy is pretty much on the other extreme of the spectrum from his usual genres. His choice was Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf. So how did this pick pan out?

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Mar 5

2024 Women’s Prize Longlist

The 2024 Women’s Prize longlist was announced today and this year the list includes many debut novels. You can read more about the longlist on the Women’s Prize website. The full lists includes the following 16 books (click on the book link to purchase a copy from Amazon):

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Mar 3

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Goodbye

Thank you to everyone who has read, liked and commented on my posts over the years, I have loved sharing bookish updates with you and hearing your thoughts.

Due to a change in my life in the offline world I will be leaving social media, including WordPress, for the foreseeable future.

I will miss interacting with you all but this is the best choice for me at this point in my life.

To reassure you all I will be continuing to read I will just not be sharing my updates anymore.

I am sure the other admins for this blog will keep you updated with what is happening in the world of books.

I wanted to say goodbye rather than disappear with no comment so this is my goodbye. I hope you continue to find books you love and books that challenge you I know I will.