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"Weather to spend money, save money, eat, not eat, be happy, be sad - everything was traced back to their arrival in their new country with nothing to their name."

#Booker #Longlist. This didn't make even the short list but I am enjoying it much more than the book that won.

In my review I said I liked everything about this except reading it. Terrific relatable characters, ideas, purposes with wonderful settings in different parts of India and elsewhere, and a striking story arc. Sonia and Sunny are Indians raised to be American and end up not fitting anywhere. The novel is long and wants to be read at a regular pace. The prose is maybe too safe. Not sure. A lot went into this. My last from #Booker2025

Well. That was depressing.
Very effective writing style, but I have some reservations about the plot. Soft pick.
Can I see why it won the #Booker ? Yes, but I would still have gone with Audition 😂

I just started this, my fourth book from the #Booker shortlist. I like the writing style, but damn that first chapter was uncomfortable! 🫤

White US male has mild midlife crisis and takes a roadtrip whilst re-evaluating his life and thinking a LOT about basketball. Everything is so mundane and unexceptional, it is both realistic and dreary. Very readable and I enjoyed all but the technical basketball talk. This is so American I would expect it to be a Pulitzer candidate (except Greer already won with a funnier version), but I am surprised to see it on the #Booker shortlist. Soft pick.

Very charmed with the audiobook version of this book. I have the song stuck in my mind now. It's not always a good idea when authors do their own narration, but here it could hardly have been otherwise. Readers of a text only version are missing out on both music and the sound of the ocean.

#BookerLonglist25 #Booker

I was so happy to have spent some time in the world of this book; I was a little sad to come to the end. I‘ll be thinking about these characters for awhile, and this book will definitely be on my list of favorites this year. Such an expertly woven story from start to finish. 🩵

Finished this a week ago & scenes come back to me randomly. It‘s epic in scope. Family trauma, family hopes, cultural shifts from North Korea to Japan to the US, misunderstandings, painful departures. It sounds so depressing but it‘s a journey I was willing to go on. If you‘ve read any memoirs by people who have escaped North Korea you‘ll know that parts of this book do not stray from the truth. Yes, it could be shorter but it‘s worth it. #booker

If now is everything, Pepper has chosen to use it for an afternoon snooze.

My 12th from the #Booker longlist is one to read slowly and carefully. Layered and indirect. Teresa returns to a coastal town in Greece to mourn and read Homer. And she instead spends a lot of time insinuating herself into the private lives of locals. The reader has to work out the actual story and what she‘s doing. Recommended, but know it‘s difficult.
#Booker2025

My 11th #Booker is one I really fell for and adore. Thomas Flett scrapes for shrimp at low tide with a horse and nets. He's feels old, but he‘s only 20. Then someone comes and gets him inspired.

That prose. We get excited when Tom gets excited, reserved when he's suspicious, won over when he's somehow won over, and we're steady and accepting when he is. And yet it's never too much.

I feel good recommending it to anyone.
#Booker2025