Himself: A Novel | 
pickIn 1976 Dublin Mahoney receives a note from the convent where he had grown up saying that the mystery of his birth was to be found in a small Mayo village. His return to villages raises ghosts both metaphorically but also in a supernatural aspect to this novel. I really enjoyed this book, which skilfully combined mystery, great characters, and the feeling of a haunted life and history.
pickStunning. And now i need to go find more from this author 😍. A man returns to the town where he was born in Ireland after receiving a mysterious note stating that the town may have contributed to his mother's disappearance when he was an infant.Paranormal murder mystery with Irish folklore woven in. Beautiful writing. 5 ☘️ ☘️ ☘️ ☘️ ☘️
pickMan, if I were keeping track, June's read pile would blow the rest out of the water. This house move/reno is allowing me so much time for audiobooks.
Loved the narration, the characters & the magical nature of this story (can I call this magical realism?). A little confused at times by the amount of characters but I blame that on listening to it in 2 sittings so not giving myself time to "process" them. Kidd's on the list to read more of.
Wow. Sometimes you put a book down and think “that was a great story”. Himself is indeed a great story, but my biggest takeaway is “What an incredibly talented writer!” Jess Kidd puts together prose magically. Every word, every turn of phrase, every page is wonderful. I‘ll be reading her backlist and everything she publishes from here on out. Highly recommend Himself. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finished Americanah earlier today, so decided to head from Nigeria to Ireland for my next read. HIMSELF has been on my kindle for a long time and I loved THINGS IN JARS so I have high hopes for this title…the description certainly ticks lots of my reading boxes!
#WeekendReading
pickThis was a wonderful listen: all Irish take full of the fey; deeply drawn characters and setting; characters to get behind, in front of, and away from!
Ohhh 😯 thank you so much for sending this to me @kathedron It‘s described as dark, atmospheric Irish fiction about strange kindnesses, casual violence and buried secrets! This sound right up my street!! 😀 ☕️ 📖 I can‘t wait to read it. 👍
The cover grabbed me, then the blurb set the hook deeper. #tbrpile #resistancewasfutile
pickThere‘s a growing sense of violence as this great story unfolds. Unfelt by some of the residents of Mulderrig, Co. Mayo, unacknowledged by others, and actively fed by a few. Mahoney has arrived from Dublin to seek the truth about his mother. His quest upsets the fragile sanity that folk have crafted around a terrible act. Mrs. Cayley, whose past as an actress allows her to see truth is a ally, as are others. And ghosts!
A wonderful read.
Swinging back to Himself after how much I adored Things in Jars, because, while one of my besties loved this one when we both worked at the bookstore, she did not tell me that it was the particular brand of literary weird I love. Jess Kidd has been one of my favorite discoveries of 2020.
pickHimself is the first novel of Jess Kidd. It‘s a murder mystery set in a tiny town in Ireland. It‘s not a typical murder mystery at all, it‘s much more magical with ghosts and unexplained events. Her newer book Things in Jars is along similar lines of magical mystery. I can‘t wait to see what else she writes
#MarchMadness #StPatricksDay
It‘s still St. Patrick‘s Day here. ☘️🍀☘️I thought of this Irish-set book for today‘s prompt. I enjoyed it & have the author‘s new book in my library #TBR stack. Our library‘s closed today, at least until the end of the month. If I look on the bright side, it gives me more time to finish my checkouts.
I read a #1wordtitle in January so totally tagging along #readwithMrBook even if it wasn‘t intentional at the time. 😁📚
so-soAtmospheric and lyrical but I couldn‘t get into this. I have been striking out with my audio picks lately. Too much going on here and I had a hard time following on audio.
so-soI honestly wasn‘t sure what to expect when I started this. It‘s been on my TBR for 3 years. It was an interesting, haunting mystery surrounding a small town in Ireland. IMO there was unnecessary dog death. Yes, you saw how evil the bad guy was but the author put you in the mind of the dog while it was being beaten and killed and that ruined my enjoyment of the book. It was 300 pages in so I was already invested and couldn‘t bail at that point.
1. Tagged and Poirot Investigates on audio
2. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
3. I have an aloe Vera (which I don‘t know how it‘s still alive, a jade plant, asparagus fern, and an ivy plant, a Christmas pine plant (that I don‘t know how long it‘ll live)
#weekendreads
What a great day. It was 64°F today so all I wanted to do is be outside. We went on a 3 1/2 mile walk/hike.
And now we are having a campfire outside in January! I know it‘s not a good thing (unseasonably warm), but it‘s nice to spend time outside and in nature.
I wasn‘t sure what to expect from this book, I‘ve had it on my TBR for 3 years. I‘m really enjoying the mystical story.
so-soContinuing my TBR project:
This is one the oldest selection on my TBR list - Originally added March 12, 2017.
This is an odd little magic realism book that may take me a few reads to fully comprehend. I liked it but often times I felt like I was in a fever dream.
#7days7covers #covercrush Day 4
@samanthagutt Do you want to join in? Post a favorite cover every day for 7 days. No explanation required. Then invite another Litten to do the same.
I literally bought this because I love the cover. Does anyone else do this?
I am so in love with this book! 🐝🍃 Not only is the cover art beautiful, but the story is captivating. Jess Kidd writes her characters - both human and ghost - into the same world, sharing an adjacent existence. Her prose is poetically crafted and a delight to read! 📗
#jesskidd #himself #ireland #book #ghost #irish #fiction #inlove #readmore #beautiful #coverart
pickA book I got from my library following a recommendation. Interesting and strange in equal measures, I found this book to be compulsive reading and devoured with a couple of days; I loved it and I‘m now off to read Jess Kidd‘s other 2 books.
1. There's a fairly intense murder scene at the very start (not usually my thing) but the thing I remember is how funny much of the book was. It's brilliant.
2. Bit of a tough week so I'm glad it's Friday!
3. Japanese
4. 12
5. Watch me go!
#Friyayintro
pickI absolutely L💛VED this book. Meandering, whimsical, poetic, magical and witty. Oh my goodness to have this writing talent! I mean really THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
pickA strong contender for the strangest book I've read in a while, once past the brutal prologue I enjoyed this very much. Dublin orphan become "Mayo Heathcliff" Mahony returns to the village of his birth to uncover what happened to his hellraiser of a mother. He's aided by Mrs Cauley, retired actress and the brains behind the operation. Oh, and he sees the dead. By turns violent, tender and darkly funny, this crime story is quite the wild ride!
Oh this is GLORIOUS! The prose is just beautiful and meandering. A third of the way through and I feel like applauding the author
bailedI gave this a good 100 pages but I couldn‘t finish it. It wasn‘t cohesive for me to continue. I am probably in the minority‘s here 😟
pickLiked the Irishnish of the language & setting. Although book is in Co Mayo, in my mind I kept picturing Inistioge in Co Kilkenny. Didn't seem like Instioge was hiding any deep dark secrets while I was there, but you never know when you are outsider in a small town. Really wanted to like this one but just couldn't do the violence & descriptions of dead people. Did want to know the ending. ☘☘☘ #skimmedandreadlastfewchapters
#BookMail Pt4 I read the authors 2nd novel, The Hoarder, last year & it was one of my #TopTenOf2018 She has a knack for writing the strange & darkly bleak & making it very memorable. This is her debut novel, which also has the touch of strange about it. Mahoney returns to the tiny Irish village he was born in, hoping to find out more about his mother & his birth. But his presence is unwanted, especially when old secrets start surfacing.
pickLittens who have read this, help! I thought this book was fantastic, but I probably shouldn‘t have read so much of it in the middle of the night while nursing, because...what was the killer‘s motive?
pickAtmospheric and dark but scattered with humour. It‘s got a murder mystery, the supernatural and small village life going on. Great cast of characters but Mrs. Cauley made the book for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #newyearwhodis
Work, yoga and bath done now time for #bookandbrew 😁
I do love a book that‘s set in a small town/village, especially when they have a good set of characters like this one. It‘s intriguing so far. #newyearwhodis
pickThis is the second Jess Kidd novel I‘ve finished this year, and it‘s safe to say I am now a certified fan. I love the way she weaves together humour, horror and the supernatural. I adore her characters. Looking forward to her new novel due out next year.
Große #coverliebe!
Der Klappentext klingt auch vielversprechend:
Ein junger Hippie reist ins irische Mulderrig um das mysteriöse verschwinden seiner jungen Mutter vor mehr als 20 Jahren aufzuklären. Die Dorfbewohner stellen sich quer, doch kommt ihm die scharfzüngige alte Mrs. Cauley zu Hilfe, denn sie glaubt schon lange, dass jeder weiß, was damals wirklich geschah....
Na? Auch neugierig geworden?
#buch #buchliebe #leseliebe #bibliophile
1. The humour in this one had me laughing out loud which doesn't often happen. Even though it starts with a fairly brutal murder
2. December
3. No. Don't plan to have any!
4. Crisps
#FriyayIntro @jesshowbooks
so-soA handsome stranger shows up in a small Irish town, trying to find out what happened to his mother, an unwed and ostracized teenager who suddenly disappeared when he was a baby. I don‘t have much substantive criticism of this book— it just couldn‘t hold my attention. There are some vivid, well-drawn secondary older women characters but I didn‘t find the central male character that interesting. Lots of magical realism, which isn‘t my thing.
This has been my commute reading off and on for ages. But I‘m finally at the point that I‘m super into it and want to read it even when I‘m not in transit. i.e., I‘m totally finishing this tonight, if I don‘t fall asleep early!
Today‘s zen audiobook listening spot: the Fens in #Boston while I wait for a movie at the MFA French Film Festival. I was supposed to do #24in48 but I only read 4 hours the first day and then forgot to restart my stopwatch at some point in day 2. Enjoying a quiet no-pressure, no-goals reading day instead.
pickCouldn't put this one down. I loved the feisty old ladies and liked Mahoney and the dead that bear witness to all the sins that occur in a small town. I thought the ending didn't quite live up to the rest of the book but the beginning and middle were really good. Fast paced and filled with fun characters.
Taking a break from The Twelve Caesars. It's part ghost story, part murder mystery set in a small, remote Irish town full of secrets. A little more than 100 pages in. Nicely written. Great pageturner so far.
