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Misinterpretation, by Ledia Xhoga (2024)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Premise: An interpreter in New York‘s Albanian diaspora has her life complicated by her poor boundaries with her clients and friends.

Review: This Booker longlist title strikes a balance between being accessible and enigmatic that perfectly fits its themes. ⬇️

This is #8 from the #bookerlonglist and another one I wasn‘t overly excited to pick up. There‘s a lot of (inappropriate) sex at the start and I really dislike that on audio ?.

As the book continued, though, I grew to like and appreciate the MC, István, even though he remains monosyllabic throughout a life that just seems to happen to him.

Currently, this would make my shortlist, albeit from a longlist where nothing is standing out yet.

#bookerlonglist
This novel made me so sad about the state of the world, yet I want to reread it! Was interesting reading this right after the nonfiction book White Trash. Some of the same world views were expressed in both works.
I'm not sure it would be on my short list, but it is the first Booker read for me this year.
@BookishTrish @JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke

The first of my #bookerlonglist library holds to come in and not an especially auspicious start. In the beginning I was hooked but then things went off the rails. There was too much going on and.then nothing was resolved leaving me wondering what I was going to take away from it all.

Saw this on the #bookerlonglist and got a kind of feeling. So I had to read it immediately. I think it‘s the cover‘s fault, but I expected something more poetic? I liked the character and the story but the writing was too little atmospheric for me.

Of course I still needed to borrow more books from the library, even though I‘m reading the #bookerlonglist.

And of course I‘m still waiting for another 6 holds to come in - these are all books that I reserved ‘just in case‘ they made the longlist and that I still want to read anyhow! 🤦‍♀️😜

#bookerlonglist book 7

Another one that I wasn‘t overly enthusiastic about but I really liked the first part. The narrator is an Albanian translator in NYC who gets too involved with her clients, leading to misunderstandings with her husband, and even danger to herself.

I thought this would likely make my shortlist but then the final third got really confusing, with no loose ends tied up and too many unanswered questions.

A soft pick.

Sweet Potato is getting bigger! (This is a rare photo of him asleep!)
Started tagged audiobook on a whim and went in without any foreknowledge, a selection from the #bookerlonglist. About a Trinadadian woman who gave a baby up for adoption at 16. So far, so good.

Reading this #bookerlonglist book at an 8u baseball tournament and feeling suppper awkward next to a bunch of kids, my mother in law, husband, and mom. 😳

The (UK) Times newspaper has published its thought on the #bookerlonglist, including 2 word summaries at the end of each review. They think the overall theme this year is ‘quietness‘ and their winner is Flesh.

My thoughts on these:

1. Everyone else but me seems to adore Love Forms.

2. I‘m not sure we should trust a reviewer that hasn‘t got an ARC of Sonia & Sunny and therefore hasn‘t read it! 🤣

What do you think of these 2 word synopses?