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June 10 #SummerSouls Boat @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#boat #summerspecial @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Lovely, gentle, full of sorrow, difficult times, hope, and honest to goodness love. It certainly deserved its nomination.

I only heard of this because it was longlisted for the National Book Award. And it is excellent! It looks at Berg, mid-20s, who has an opioid problem since his first concussion. He leaves SF and heads north, settling in Talinas (a stand in for Bolinas?). The boatbuilder, Alejandro, teaches him about boats, meditation, and accepting what is. Berg is fitting in, making friends, and figuring things out. Mostly. #nationalbookawardlonglist

This was certainly not the most thrilling book, but I enjoyed the story and the characters and felt drawn to the texhnicalities of boatbuilding, which surprised me!

This NBA longlisted title (did not make the shortlist) looks at how a young man struggles to overcome his opioid addiction. He does so primarily by running away from his life and studying boat building. Beyond this, though, the narrative felt rather empty. 3⭐️ ebook is on #Hoopla

This story of quarter-life mentorship has some good sections between our main character and his mentor, a boat builder, but I found the townie characters to really add nothing to the story and that didn't interest me.