O Beautiful | 
pickElinor fortuitously gets an assignment to write about a town booming from shale oil in her native North Dakota. What she finds when she arrives turns into an exploration of misogyny, toxic masculinity, and racism (Elinor is half Korean). Beautifully written, with a fantastically drawn central character, this book is phenomenal.
#doublespin
pickThis is a beautiful, sparse novel with an unsettling portrait of the underbelly of a ND town in the shadow of an oil boom. Elinor is an ex-model American-Korean woman, beginning a second career as a writer. She is given the story, and a reason to return home, by her ex-lover/professor, and begins to find her own way and new direction with the story. In a town of SO many men and so much toxic masculinity, this becomes a story of so many women. ⬇️
Megabooks, Cinfhen, Kalalalatja, BarbaraTheBibliophage, Cortg, jenniferw88, Laughterhp, alisiakae, BarbaraBB, RaeLovesToRead
pickElinor has her dream assignment: returning to her native North Dakota and writing about the oil boom. But the leering of the roughnecks haunts her with memories of the times she‘s been taken advantage of as a woman. I viscerally felt her fear moving through this land of men. Trauma is a bitch. It also brings up Elinor‘s wounds from being abandoned by her Korean mother. That said, the ending was rushed, however I do recommend this #audiobook!!
pickI wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book by the time I was halfway through. The book explores capitalism, racism, and misogyny. But it seemed for a moment there that every guy Elinor came across was a sleaze. It was a lot back to back. However, it all rang true. It was all honest and relatable. That's how it really is, especially in certain towns. So I couldn't not like it, especially with the beautiful writing.
pickThis story is interesting - Elinor is in her early 40s and back in North Dakota near where she grew up to write a story about the Bakken oil boom. She's been handed preliminary research by her mentor and former lover, but the story feels like it's about something else, especially from her perspective as a Asian-American woman.
Saw this ad on Instagram and got really excited. I loved Shelter. I'm definitely picking this one up, I'll have to wait a while though.
pickGlad to have finally read a Jung Yun book, as I've let Shelter sit on my shelf unread for years! I thought this was great - loved the setting and main character, and there were several stopped-me-in-my-tracks sentences. Pretty heavy in terms of the many intersecting inequalities it lays bare, but I loved it for that. This really makes me want to read some nonfiction about the North Dakota oil boom (I‘d love recommendations, if you have them!).
https://youtu.be/cMWbuBv32tg
A playlist of all episodes in the Bite-sized Book Chat series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU-61cZp1pQdBH5V0Zb9q-2ujl4PY8nhf
Chat #1: with Chris of The Book Cougars from Connecticut
O Beautiful by Jung Yun
A Blizzard of Polar Bears (Alex Carter #2) by Alice Henderson
A Solitude of Wolverines (Alex Carter #1) by Alice Henderson
pickReturning to her home state of North Dakota to report on life in a small town overtaken by an oil boom, Elinor Hanson encounters everything that is wrong with the USA. Misogyny, racism, capitalism run amok, environmental destruction, indigenous suffering, sharp division, hate, helplessness - Yun lays it all bare. Lots of pain, little redemption. It gets a pick for being well-written, but reading it felt a little like having a raw nerve poked.
pickREAD THIS BOOK!!! Comes out in November. Holy hell. It‘s a great American novel. It‘s a little clumsy at times. Some of the seams show. But what Yun accomplishes with this story overcomes that completely. I recently finished watching Deadwood for the first time, and this book is almost like a contemporary gold rush novel. Only oil instead of gold. It‘s fascinating.
One of those books I feel like I need to talk about as I‘m reading — fantastic so far. Takes place in a small town in North Dakota that‘s changed significantly because of an oil boom and has become a little condensed America with all of its heartache and horrors on full display. 1/3rd of the way though and can‘t put it down.
