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Exciting Times
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
98 posts | 89 read | 34 to read
Ava, newly arrived in Hong Kong from Dublin, spends her days teaching English to rich children. Julian is a banker. A banker who likes to spend money on Ava, to have sex and discuss fluctuating currencies with her. But when she asks whether he loves her, he cannot say more than 'I like you a great deal'. Enter Edith, a lawyer. Refreshingly enthusiastic and unapologetically earnest, Edith takes Ava to the theatre when Julian leaves Hong Kong for work. Quickly, she becomes something Ava looks forward to. And then Julian writes to tell Ava he is coming back to Hong Kong...
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review
Amor4Libros
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Bailedbailed

Got to 31% and was just bored…

dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 4mo
willaful But... it's got toothbrushes on the cover! How can it not be fascinating? 😂 4mo
Amor4Libros @willaful 🤣🤣🤣 Right?! 4mo
42 likes3 comments
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Amor4Libros
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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This book has dismal reviews and I need to know why… 😅

(Nothing exciting has happened at 14% 😂)

32 likes1 stack add
review
charl08
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
This post contains spoilers
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Mehso-so

Liked it, but I didn't think it was like Sally Rooney.
Story of a young woman who moves to Hong Kong after university. Lots of introspection and bad choices, and then a (not particularly credible) happy turn.

RobES
I felt exactly the same about it!!
5mo
charl08 I'm going to send it to be rehomed - hoping the next person gets more from it than I did. 5mo
10 likes2 comments
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charl08
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Madison's also-ran touched my arm. I flinched, and he asked if I liked girls. I wanted to say: my chief sexual preference is that I don't like you.

review
yourfavouritemixtape
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Bailedbailed

My #bookspin this month. Had to bail. I couldn‘t care less.

dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 8mo
13 likes1 comment
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ShananigansReads
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Well that‘s an exciting number!

ShananigansReads And thanks to @IndoorDame I‘m at 30K! 🎉🎉🎉 10mo
IndoorDame I‘m not sure I understand how those numbers work well enough to know what I did, but congratulations!!!! 10mo
ShananigansReads @IndoorDame each like gives one litfluence point. You were the first to like the post and that pushed me over to 30K 🎉 10mo
See All 8 Comments
ShananigansReads @IndoorDame also comments give 2 points. 10mo
AnnR 👏🙂 10mo
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 10mo
bthegood 🌞 🌞 10mo
27 likes8 comments
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LapReader
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Some Little Free Library finds from a while ago. New books all look the same nowadays.

review
MeganAnn
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

Another book I finished this week. I had a hard time rating this one because for the first half of the book I felt sort of blah about Ava‘s story. But the second half I enjoyed much more.

I liked Ava‘s thoughts on grammar and some of her pointed conversations. And her relationship with Edith seemed more interesting than her one with Julian… which makes sense once we got a bit more of Ava‘s backstory towards the end. Liked it, didn‘t love it. ⬇️

MeganAnn 1/2: This was one off of @xicanti ‘s #auldlangspine list that I didn‘t get to last month. And they compared it‘s tone to Fault Lines which I completely loved — I think that‘s an accurate comparison and if you liked one you may like the other. Personally I connected better with the MC in Fault Lines, but a different person might connect better with Ava‘s story here. (edited) 2y
MeganAnn 2/2: I think the ages of the characters is a contributing factor to that as I‘m at a stage closer to Mizuki from Fault Lines as a mother comparing her younger self with who she is now while Ava is younger and sort of unsure of who she is. In the end I did appreciate the themes of classism and queerness here, just didn‘t love it as much as I wanted to. But I did check off #tangelo and #crystalrose for #pantone2023 @Clwojick 2y
xicanti I‘m glad you got something out of it, even if it wasn‘t a fave! I found the first third tedious and ordinary, but then it all clicked into place for me and I went from about to bail to totally obsessed. 2y
Clwojick Great colour matches! 2y
54 likes4 comments
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MeganAnn
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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#auldlangspine wrap-up! I read 6 of the 20 books on @xicanti ‘s list. Of those, my absolute 5 ⭐️ cannot live without favorites were:
❤️The Charm Offensive
❤️Felix Ever After

I also gave 5 ⭐️‘s to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and loved it, but the other two were my favorites.

4⭐️‘s each go to the other three books: Battle Royal and All the Feels were fun romances I enjoyed getting swept up in. Underground Railroad I really liked also.
⬇️

MeganAnn As for the rest of the books off their list, I‘m planning to start the tagged book tonight. I also have two more currently checked out from the library (Something Fabulous and When No One is Watching). I‘ve purchased 3 more for my own shelves to read whenever: The Paris Apartment, Lessons in Fusion and The Archive of Alternate Endings. And I may check out a couple others when they are available from my library. 2y
xicanti I‘m so glad you found some books to love! 😍 Here‘s hoping the others you purchased work just as well for you. I‘m especially excited to see you got your hands on Lessons In Fusion. It was one of my biggest surprises of 2022. 2y
44 likes2 comments
review
IndianBookworm
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Bailedbailed

I was excited after reading the synopsis but the book just didn't sit well with me. I even struggled with relating with and/or enjoying the main character's thought process and actions. Some other time with some other intention probably. Had to bail out after finishing like 40% of it.
Also, don't wanna rate a book I didn't actually finish.
Your thoughts?

brittanybooks I also found this one boring and wanted to bail. I barely finished and wouldn‘t recommend it to anyone. 2y
IndianBookworm @brittanybooks I have found so many people of the same opinion, even I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Also, I guess people compare this to Normal people by Sally Roone! 2y
9 likes2 comments
review
xicanti
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

I found the first third of EXCITING TIMES tedious and ordinary. I was ready to bail—

—until, all at once, everything clicked into place and I became totally obsessed with it.

Dolan delves into so many corners. Colonial repercussions in both Ireland and Hong Kong. Language, with an emphasis on how English shifts depending on who speaks it. Class. Emotional depth. Financial uncertainty. Political debate. Queerness.

I‘m in book-love. 4.5 stars.

batsy Nice review! This has been on my TBR (for too long 😳) 2y
xicanti @batsy I hope it works as well for you as it did for me! 2y
34 likes1 stack add2 comments
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xicanti
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Today I learned how to sew shirt collars. I‘m happy.

I also listened to about a third of EXCITING TIMES, which is less happy-making. It isn‘t BAD, but so far it‘s one of those books where an ordinary person does ordinary things in ordinary ways. While I recognize that that sort of thing has value, I want my ordinary people fiction to make the ordinary feel extraordinary.

Maybe it‘ll pick up in Part II. If not, I‘m out. #audiosewing

Ruthiella Well done! 👏👏👏 I can‘t even sew on a button, so am massively impressed! (edited) 2y
xicanti @Ruthiella the buttons will be tricky for me, too. They‘ve gotta be so precisely placed. 2y
27 likes2 comments
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JillR
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Mehso-so

I didn‘t find this very exciting, but I really don‘t think I was the target audience. I struggled with the main character‘s intense introspection and self-analysis and yet her failure to do anything about what she disliked about her life. It was wry and amusing at times though and it slowly grew on me. Younger me may have read and appreciated this completely differently I suspect.

squirrelbrain I was put off this one by the Sally Rooney comparisons so haven‘t bothered yet…. 3y
JillR I loved Normal People, and disliked Conversations with Friends. There were some similarities here with CoF… 3y
mija333 @jillR totally agree that this is identically bad as it ends with us 2y
41 likes3 comments
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mija333
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Bailedbailed

I got to Chapter 19 before bailing on this one. I think that means that it wasn‘t unbearable. Reading any longer would have been forcing it. Just as terrible as It ends with us by Colleen Hoover

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mija333
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan

You could go manless entirely and I saw a great deal of elegance in that approach but enough people felt otherwise that I thought it best to have one. You had to pretend to feel sad if you‘d been single for too long. I hated doing that because there were other things I was actually sad about

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Night_Reader
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Bailedbailed

2/5 🌟

It started off well but then the main character just got really annoying, superficial and desperate. I couldn't finish it!

mija333 I got to chapter 19, so half way. Couldn‘t do it anymore. 3y
Night_Reader @mija333 Glad I'm not the only one. 3y
8 likes2 comments
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TiminCalifornia
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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#LGBTQ2021 #LGBTQBookBingo2021 #queer

On track to complete the board by year end!

BIPOC Author: Every Body Looking - Candice Iloh

Asexual or Aromantic Character: Rick - Alex Gino

Friend to Lover: Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan

Picture Book: Red Rock Baby Candy - Shira Spector

Set in Space: Winter‘s Orbit - Everina Maxwell ⬇️

TiminCalifornia Free Spot: ManBug - George Ilsley

Nonfiction: Lost Prophet, The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin

No Love Interest: Trans Medicine - Stef Shuster

M/M Romance: Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston

Fantasy: Future Feeling - Joss Lake

Memoir: All Boys Aren‘t Blue - George M. Johnson

YA: Pet - Akwaeke Emezi ⬇️
(edited) 3y
TiminCalifornia Own Voices: Memorial - Bryan Washington

Published in 2021: 100 Boyfriends - Brontez Purnell

Non-binary author: Maia Kobabe‘s Gender Queer

Published before 2020: Larry Kramer‘s The Natural Heart

Coming out story or scene: I Have Something To Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg

Local Author: 99 Erics by Julia Serano

Coming of Age: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown ⬇️
(edited) 3y
TiminCalifornia
Poetry or Novel in Verse: The Black Flamingo – Dean Atta

Read During Pride Month: Every Man Wants to Know – Nina Bouraoui

F/F Romance: The Price of Salt – Patricia Highsmith

Trans Author: Little Fish – Casey Plett
3y
See All 6 Comments
Suet624 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 3y
Reggie That‘s pretty awesome! 3y
Kenyazero Very excited to see you finish the blackout bingo! 🙌 3y
33 likes6 comments
review
TiminCalifornia
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

If you like your relationship books with witty repartee and progressive political views, this is the book for you. Fast-paced with a heroine I liked on the page and would detest in real life, I found myself enjoying this selection from #queerbookbox. The “literary fiction“ styled ending didn't quite fit this modern romance of a story that was mostly light but touched on real issues. The classism represented by the characters rang true.

#bookspin

Reggie Lol, yes I love reading about exhausting people in books but in real life, no thanks. 3y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 3y
39 likes2 comments
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rachaich
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Bailedbailed

Gave up after 55 pages... not holding my attention at all...

TiredLibrarian Oh, the irony 😊 3y
mija333 I made it to page 99! (About half way) meh 3y
rachaich @mija333 meh indeed! 3y
12 likes3 comments
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rachaich
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Returning books to the library and a few just leapt off the shelves!
So this references The Belljar in the reviews, also Sally Rooney... grabbed my attention any way.

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ChaoticMissAdventures
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Mehso-so

This was fine. I enjoyed it but I can see why others don't. It is so much the opposite of "exciting". It is similar to a Sally Rooney book but without the depth.
By far not the best or worst #womensprizelonglist this year.

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Sharpeipup
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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What do you do when you find yourself locked in a public restroom?

Good thing I‘ve always got a book with me! 😂🤣

BookDadGirlDad 😲😲😲🤣🤣🤣 3y
AmyG Omg! 3y
vivastory 😬😬🤣 3y
See All 10 Comments
Lcsmcat 😱 I hope you‘re already out by the time you see this. 3y
Tamra Oh crap! Literally?? 3y
megnews Oh no! I hope you got out. 3y
Soubhiville Oh gosh! This post was 2 hours ago, surely you‘re out by now!? 3y
wanderinglynn Oh my! Were you able to finally escape? 3y
Lcsmcat @Sharpeipup I‘m glad you were rescued! 3y
42 likes1 stack add10 comments
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Dalaine
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Mehso-so

I can't say for sure if I enjoyed this book or if I'd even recommend it. It took me a while to get into the story. Ava, our main character, is so self-loathing that it's difficult to want to read more about her.
I think that way queerness and class emerge as themes in this story is interesting. The book also ends in a way that leaves things feeling unresolved. All that being said, it was definitely an interesting read.

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miribelladiamond
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
Panpan

Meh

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emmanugent
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
Mehso-so

Felt like a rip off of Sally Rooney. Was interesting but fell a little flat.

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BookishClaire
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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On episode 71 of the Brit Lit Podcast, we hear from Naoise Dolan. She talks about cultural and literary differences between the UK, the US, and Ireland, what she thinks of the idea of “likeable” characters, some great Irish authors, and more.

https://britlitblog.com/2021/05/06/brit-lit-podcast-episode-71-exciting-times-wi...

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Megabooks
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Mehso-so

This book was fine. I neither liked nor disliked it. Ava was too analytical of herself for me to get emotionally invested in her entanglements with Edith and Julian, and I want to be emotionally invested in fiction. The other thing I like is tension among the characters, and they all felt too cold to have that. This was well written but a miss for me.

squirrelbrain Great review! This was one of the only two books I didn‘t get to on the #womensprize longlist and I‘m not inclined to read it now anyway. 4y
Cinfhen This was a meh for me too!!! Not so much exciting after all..... 4y
Megabooks @squirrelbrain yeah, it‘s just okay like @Cinfhen said. I‘m interested to see what she does next. I might get it from the library, though. 😉 4y
squirrelbrain I‘d borrow this one if I see it in the library... but it sounds like a definite #borrownotbuy..... 4y
92 likes4 comments
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Curvybookgirl
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Panpan

Finished it but just wasn‘t for me

6 likes1 stack add
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AnneCecilie
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

For most of this book, this was a so-so reading experience, but the ending changed this into a weak pick. That ending had me thinking.

We meet Ava has she has arrived in Hong Kong. She has decided to take a job there as an English teacher, and has traveled from Dublin. Navigating a new country is never easy, and we meet Ava as she finds her way.

She makes a couple of friends/ relationships. If you have read the book, you know what I mean.

Buechersuechtling How come, you read all those interesting books that I mostly don‘t find at my library❓🙃 4y
AnneCecilie @Buechersuechtling Lately I‘ve been reading a lot of books from the Woman‘s Prize for Fiction Longlist that was announced late March. This book is in that list among others. It also appears that I‘m more lucky with my library 😉 4y
60 likes2 comments
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Cinfhen
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Mehso-so

Nothing exciting here at all!! Very ho-hum! Not a pan but a definite #BorrowNotBuy #MoreMehThanYeah Wow! I can‘t even recall the MC‘s name... maybe it was never shared (🙄) So, unnamed narrator relates her time spent in Hong Kong where she enters into two sexual relationships, one with a male the other female.

AnneCecilie Seems like we have very similar opinions of the book, only difference being that the ending pumped it up to a weak pick for me 4y
Cinfhen I get the comparisons to Sally Rooney but this one lacked something for me @AnneCecilie 🤷🏼‍♀️ 4y
AnneCecilie I agree. I love Normal People. 4y
76 likes3 comments
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AnneCecilie
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Periodically she touched her Celine trapeze bag. I thought: it‘s still there, Victoria. It‘s not going anywhere. The cow‘s dead.

(Picture of the bag found online)

Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick It's pretty! 😍 I'd keep touching it, too. 😂 4y
59 likes1 comment
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Redwritinghood
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

I‘m on the fence about this one, but I think it‘s still a pick. The writing is sharp and often funny. There are good observations about family, money, and relationships. The narrative, however, is often as directionless as the narrator. I breezed through it so it is a quick and enjoyable read, but maybe not a lot of staying power. 3.5⭐️

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BekaReid
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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VRM1975
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
Mehso-so

.

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Kazzie
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
Pickpick

Consumed this book as an audiobook - which was perfect. It‘s so much about language, and the difference between Irish and English. An engaging love story, made me happy to not be 23 again! Liked the discussions about sexuality and honestly calling out peoples‘ trash white rich privilege.

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Kalalalatja
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

You know those books, that you really enjoy while reading, but it fades away as soon as you finish reading? This was such a book, for me. I get why this is being compared to Sally Rooney (but on another note, can we stop with all the Rooney comparisons??), but it didn‘t make me feel like Normal People did. I don‘t mind 20-somethings-existential-crisis-books, but they have to make me feel something to be memorable.

#WomensPrize

ephemeralwaltz Exactly, not memorable at all, nothing like Rooney for me. 4y
BarbaraBB Rooney is for contemporary literature what Flynn is for thrillers. Super annoying indeed! 4y
Megabooks Fantastic review! I often feel that way about books. 4y
saresmoore Great review! 4y
68 likes4 comments
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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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I‘ve spotlighted four witty Irish novels on my blog today: https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2021/03/witty-novels-by-irish-authors.html?

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Booksnchill
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Mehso-so

If you are a fan of Sally Rooney you will enjoy this. I am not. Good narrator on audio. This is my second book completed from the #WomensPrizeLongList and so far #Piranesi is far ahead. 3⭐️

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mhillis
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

I don‘t usually binge listen to audiobooks or read books about TEFL teachers, but Exciting Times is an exception! Ava‘s observations about relationships, money, and language were interesting and funny. First book finished for #MarvellousMarch 🎧🌼

mhillis @Cinfhen Since you were interested! I like unlikeable characters & unreliable narrators so this was up my alley 😉 4y
Cinfhen Thanks so much for the tag!!! I‘ll definitely move this up my list 💕it‘s on the long list for the Women‘s Fiction Award 4y
Cinfhen And im ALWAYS looking for audio recommendations ~ tagging @Megabooks you *might* like this ❣️ 4y
See All 10 Comments
Cinfhen Actually I think @KarenUK and @Kalalalatja might like it too!! 4y
KarenUK @Cinfhen One of my absolute favorites of last year. Read it in print though..... Sally Rooney vibes for sure..... 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I picked this up as an ebook deal awhile back but the mixed reviews haven‘t pushed me to read it. 4y
Kalalalatja @Cinfhen I had been hesitant about this, but seeing it nominated for the Women‘s prize tipped it into my tbr 😄 4y
Cinfhen I thought you might have read it @KarenUK / I got the ebook deal too @Megabooks 4y
mhillis @KarenUK ohhhh I need to read Sally Rooney 4y
KarenUK Conversations with friends is amazing! 💕 4y
64 likes3 stack adds10 comments
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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Pickpick

A love triangle plot, even a bisexual one, doesn‘t usually appeal to me. In this case, however, I was totally enthralled because of the central character‘s unique & witty voice. Ava is 22, teaching English in Hong Kong. She didn‘t fit in when she was growing up in Dublin, but leaving Ireland hasn‘t helped. Ava hates herself & is socially awkward, but that begins to shift when she finds the right friends. #audiobook read by Aoife McMahon #LGBTQ

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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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So, you‘re saying it‘s like London?
I dunno. I‘ve never been.
You‘ve never been to London?
No.
Ever?
Never, I said, pausing long enough to satisfy him that I‘d tried to change this fact about my personal history upon his second query and was very sorry I‘d failed.

(Internet photo)

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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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He often said he didn‘t meet many people like me, but I didn‘t know if that meant there was necessarily a vacancy for them.

(Image: collage by Scott Nolan)

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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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With my college brain on, I knew more people lost their jobs when banks like Julian‘s played subprime roulette, but the college brain came with a dial. I turned it up for people I hated and down for people I liked.

CarolynM Don't we all😆 4y
38 likes2 comments
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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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“The textbook said a speaker‘s ability to observe [the distinction between ‘bring‘ and ‘take‘] was a sure way to tell if they were native speakers or non.”

(Maybe it‘s because my mom‘s first language wasn‘t English and I attended a French language school, but I still don‘t see the point of distinguishing between bring and take.)

charl08 Scratching my head over this one! 4y
Lindy @charl08 How are you with bring and take? It wasn‘t until I was an adult and moved to a city that I realized I should know the difference. 4y
AlaMich That textbook was wrongity wrong wrong! Plenty of native speakers use those terms—as well as similar pairs like go/come—“incorrectly,” as prescriptivists would say. 4y
Lindy @AlaMich There are many times when the central character disagrees with the textbook she‘s required to use. That British English is the only correct English. A mirror for her own experience of not fitting into an acceptable standard of behaviour. (edited) 4y
33 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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We got speciality coffees in Sheung Wan and laughed as we drank them. Mine was charcoal with cashew milk and hers was bright pink dragonfruit.

(Internet photo)

Nebklvr Love dragon fruit 4y
Lindy @Nebklvr They look spectacular. I don‘t think I have ever tasted one. 4y
Nebklvr Sweet but not too sweet. Had in Taiwan 4y
Lindy @Nebklvr 😋 4y
42 likes4 comments
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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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Lindy
Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan
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I wondered if Victoria was a real person or three Mitford sisters in a long coat.
(Internet photo)

batsy 😆 4y
33 likes1 stack add1 comment