The Keep | 
pickI have no idea what I just read! I loved A Visit from the Goon Squad and Manhattan Beach, so I read this whilst (im)patiently waiting for The Candy House to be released in paperback. This story is on the crazy/confusing side, but the writing is just great and I couldn‘t put it down, whilst also having no idea what was going on!
#manicmonday #letterK @CBee @The_Penniless_Author
📖 The Keep (Jennifer Egan)
✒ Stephen King
🎬 Knives Out / Keeping Mum
🎤 The Killers (❤)
🎶 Kiss It Better (Rihanna)
The film choices here are a bit half-hearted. I will note in the comments if I think of any TV shows or films I like better.
pickIt‘s a rainy Sunday and the first day that feels like autumn. A perfect day to curl up with this modern gothic novel. Egan is an excellent writer. I can visualize the medieval castle where the book is set vividly. There are two storylines, coming together nicely in the end and leaving much space for interpretation, which I like.
Thank you for sending me this book Meg, I knew nothing about it before diving in and it was a wonderful surprise 🖤
A wonderful package arrived today from my dear friend Meg 💕. Your card is so sweet, it‘s been a consolation to share my father‘s illness with you. I love the cream (I am addicted to hand cream) and the books. The Keep seems fantastic, a gothic one! China Room I‘ve been meaning to read since it‘s publication! And I love that I can add one to my #BOTM collection. I bet I‘m the only one in the Netherlands who has one 💪🏽 😉. Thank you so much 🤍
pickEgan continues to impress me with her skill and imagination. This is so much wilder and more unexpected than I want to share in the summary! A must-read for gothic novel lovers!
When they were kids, Danny left his cousin Howard lost in a cave. This caused a rift in the family, but years later, a wealthy Howard invites Danny to a castle he‘s bought in Europe. However there‘s a previous occupant in the castle‘s keep wreaking havoc on all who enter.
I‘m having a little gothic/horror weekend. ☠️
The Keep is a gothic revenge tale about two cousins and a castle in Europe. Tagged ⬆️
Hide is a thriller/horror tale about a girl playing a game of survival in an amusement park. Tagged ⬇️
Hidden Pictures is supernatural horror about a kid being haunted in a house in New Jersey. He draws increasingly disturbing pictures for his babysitter. Tagged ⬇️
2nd & Charles was good to me this time. 😁 I got my id and was able to sell my books! Then I couldn‘t help but get a few backlist titles from favorite authors with some of my credit. 😏
@vivastory they had a copy of the Egan we talked about! I‘m so excited to see what she does with noir.
Continuing with #12booksof2021 - here is my July pick!
The Keep was a weird little book that read more like two intertwined novellas. I was pleasantly surprised by how much it engaged me!
I can't think of much to compare it to. It was quirky.
pickEgan is a polarizing writer, but I thought this was terrific. I liked it from the start & I liked it all the way through, but the whole time I was semi-consciously measuring it in the back of my mind against 'A Visit from the Goon Squad' (which is one of my favorite books) & it wasn't quite measuring up. But I finished it a couple of days ago & I can't stop thinking about it. It is still not my favorite of hers, but it's pretty damn good.
pickThis book was incredible.
Two stories wrapping around each other and coming together in a magical way. I loved it.
Manages to be compelling despite having really unsympathetic characters.
What a surprise gem ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Good afternoon to all my lovely Litsy buddies! ❤
It's boiling hot and I am not coping 🥵🥵😅
Luckily I'm free today, so I can lounge around in my beachwear wishing it was snowing 😆
Today I'm reading The Keep. Im surprised how compelling it is, given that both the narrator and the MC aren't at all likeable!
You may notice a couple of new arrivals too... I got a bit overexcited while ordering screen protectors and treated myself 🤣😍
pickBoth surreal & puzzling, this wasn‘t what I expected—but I really enjoyed the ride. At first, we follow Danny as he arrives in Eastern Europe to help his cousin renovate a castle, their reunion bringing up memories of childhood he‘d rather forget. There‘s a framing narrative woven throughout that made me question the first narrative, and the way both stories twist & turn, then wrap around & collapse into each other, is fascinating & so well done.
I completed my Goodreads challenge when I finished this book last night! I showed it to my husband and he said: “Oh, that‘s a bummer. You‘ve maxed out and now you can‘t read any more books till January.” 🤪🤣
#7days7covers #covercrush Day 4
@merelybookish
@GripLitGrl want to play? Post 7 covers in 7 days, no explanation needed, and tag a new person each day.
panReads like two novellas awkwardly jammed into one. I don‘t usually notice curses, but this is excessive. Is it for shock value? I just think it‘s lazy. And yes: I “get” the plot. It‘s about power, confinement & escape. The characters are all imprisoned in some way, if not in a physical location (i.e. a tunnel, a castle keep) then in a mental cage of their own making (i.e. paranoia, addiction). In the end, it was irritating & didn‘t appeal to me.
pickHow brilliant is Jennifer Egan?! I devoured this Gothic tale of guilt and redemption in two sittings, caught up by the dynamics of Danny and his cousin Howard's history. A must read.
pickThis is amazing!
Completely modern - exploring themes of communication, reality, reinvention - in an ancient, crumbling castle, thereby capturing all the gothic essence this is ensconced in.
Egan is a masterful nuanced storyteller. Even before you know how much the narrator is involved in this tale, you sense that this isn‘t really Danny‘s story.
And then there‘s Holly - & I have no room for her - ugh.
Just READ THIS. Even with its stupid cover.
Starting tonight, & sharing the blurb because the cover is stupid. But 20 pages in, I‘m already reminded how Jennifer Egan is BRILLIANT!❤️
Good news, #LMPBC #GroupB and more specifically @ForeverNerdy, the book was here when I got home 🤩🤩🤩
"This was how the worm got in. You opened yourself to that kind of thinking and the worm crawled inside you and started to eat and didn't stop until nothing was left. You saw yourself as a weak powerless guy and it was only a matter of time before everyone agreed you were that guy."
But Danny felt good. Too good, almost. Not because he didn't like feeling good -- who doesn't like feeling good? Because some little part of him didn't believe he could feel this good. It seemed too easy. And because of that, there was an anxious feeling in Danny's gut, a wobbly feeling, the kind of feeling that makes you worry (even though you feel good!) that something bad is about to happen.
pickThis book had been sitting on my shelf for ages. Not my favourite book of hers, I loved A Visit from the Goon Squad, but I really like her style of writing, and I thought this was pretty clever and entertaining.
This postmodern take on aspects of classic gothic novels has the main character summoned by an estranged childhood friend to help him in restoring a centuries old castle in Eastern Europe that he recently purchased, a crumbling #brokedownpalace of sorts. But the friends have a complicated history and the narrative takes some unexpected turns, to say the least. Loved my first Egan- will probably visit the goon squad next. #JuneTunz @Cinfhen
panI'm sorry, but what did i just listen to??
⭐
Day20 #photoadaynov16 #setineasterneurope Books set in Eastern Europe are in scarce supply on my shelves, but these three are set or partially set there. The Historian & The Keep have been on my TBR stacks for longer than I'd like to admit & I grabbed Dracula in October for .25 cents without fully realizing it was a 'Classic Starts' copy for young readers-abridged & rewritten. Hah! Maybe I will enjoy it more than the original read years ago?!😆
To help soothe my election day jitters, I spent an hour in the stacks at the used bookstore. Limited myself to these three. May go back for the Muriel Spark biography. Anyone read any of these?
pickAt first this felt kind of amorphous (not in a bad way), but the deeper I got into it the more it built and the more invested in it I became. It was a quick read, but a slow burn of a book for me.
