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#gillerprize
review
Gleefulreader
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Mehso-so

Another recently finished book. This one sits between a so-so and a pick for me. A difficult and challenging read, I suspect that I would glean more from it on a second read. Set in the present in a norther country, it is a story of historical injustices and the ways that communities avoid facing their past, and personal complicity in those injustices. Not a fun read, but I think there is something worth the difficulty here.

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merelybookish
Light Lifting | Alexander MacLeod
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Rainy Saturday and managed to finish two books. Even better, they both fulfill a #192025 prompt. And they coordinate. 😀
Anais Nin's diary has been my morning coffee read and I've been making my way through the MacLeod collection for a few weeks. The stories reminded me a lot of his father's (Alistair MacLeod) writing. Quintessential Canlit.
Anyhoo feeling accomplished and grateful for an un-schdeduled Saturday.
@Librarybelle

Librarybelle What a great way to spend a Saturday! 3mo
48 likes2 comments
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Tamra
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😳 I‘ve been bailing left & right on audiobooks, including the tagged novel, The Wren the Wren, two Toibin novels, among others.

I‘m in an audio drought. 🏜️🌵

Leftcoastzen It could be just me but honestly, I find it hard to listen to literary fiction in audio format. A good mystery, thriller, or compelling non fiction works for me. 6mo
TheBookHippie I cannot do audio at all so … 🤣😵‍💫😅 6mo
Tamra @Leftcoastzen I think that is true - I‘ve noticed the same. Requires more concentration. 6mo
See All 15 Comments
Tamra @TheBookHippie gotta be the right book! 😉 6mo
BarbaraBB I bailed on The Wren in print too and I didn‘t like your tagged book either. So maybe it‘s not you but the books 😀 6mo
Cuilin I also bailed on the Wren, and I usually love her writing. 6mo
squirrelbrain I really disliked the tagged, and can‘t imagine listening to it, so I don‘t think it‘s you. 6mo
Tamra @BarbaraBB @Cuilin @squirrelbrain glad I‘m not alone! 😅 6mo
Tamra @Cuilin I think I need to try another. 6mo
Cuilin @Tamra wonderful but incredibly sad story of hers that I recommend is 6mo
Tamra @Cuilin thank you for the recommendation! Stacking 6mo
Ruthiella I‘m with @Leftcoastzen . I prefer audio books with a strong plot. I also prefer series via audio because you have a built in familiarity with it. 6mo
jlhammar I hate when that happens! I also bailed on The Wren, The Wren audiobook. Hope you land on a good one soon 🎧 6mo
Tamra @Ruthiella strong plot definitely makes an audio easier to follow. 👍🏾 (edited) 6mo
Tamra @jlhammar 🤞🏾 Just a matter of time. But it‘s funny how dry spells run in streaks. 6mo
44 likes15 comments
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Graywacke
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On the #Booker2023 longlist

I've been reading the longlists since 2019 and this was a really good year in that small window. I gave five stars to four different books. I really liked that there was a lot of value given to poetic prose, not purple, but poetic and rhythmic, often personal and always generating reflection. Many of the authors are also published poets, and it shows.

I finished last week. My personal rankings are in the comments

Graywacke My five-star reads
1. Study for Obedience** by Sarah Bernstein (Canada)
2. Prophet Song** by Paul Lynch (Ireland)
3. In Ascension* by Martin Macinness (Scotland)
4. Western Lane** by Chetna Maroo (England - Kenya-born British Indian)
6mo
Graywacke Other fantastic reads - still highly recommended
5. The House of Doors* by Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia)
6. All the Little Bird-Hearts* by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow (England)
7. How to Build a Boat** by Elaine Feeney (Ireland)
8. Pearl** by Siân Hughes (Wales)
6mo
Graywacke Great reads - still recommended
9. This Other Eden** by Paul Harding (USA)
10. A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (Nigeria)
11. Old God's Time* by Sebastian Barry (Ireland)

Good, but mixed - YMMV
12. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Ireland)
13. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (USA - Jamaican descent)
(edited) 6mo
See All 12 Comments
Graywacke * means I really liked the prose style and it has a really nice rhythm to it
** means I thought the prose was poetic in spirit
6mo
BarbaraBB Wow thank you for sharing this. You had a great reading experience, so many you thought fantastic! 6mo
TrishB Thanks 👍🏻 I still have a few of these on the pile to get to. 6mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB 11 of 13 is pretty good. And the other two made the short list and have plenty of fans. Yeah, it was a fun year. 🙂 6mo
Graywacke @TrishB thank you. Do you have any favorites? 6mo
TrishB I‘ve read 2, 5, 6, 11 & 12 so far. I enjoyed them all except Bee Sting which I found numbingly boring! I have 3, 4 & 7 still on the pile to get to. 6mo
Graywacke @TrishB well, i loved those three you have waiting. How to Build a Boat is actually uplifting. 🙂 The other two, Western Lane and In Ascension, give them time for narrative flow to kick in. 6mo
rockpools I really like your approach to this. It‘s ridiculous, but I tend to think I‘ve missed the chance, if I haven‘t read the bulk of a list before the winner is announced. Will stop being daft and actually tackle this year‘s International Booker - thank you! (edited) 6mo
Graywacke @rockpools Awesome! I‘m working on the international booker. Less enamored, unfortunately. But it calls. And nothing had been bad so far. 6mo
55 likes12 comments
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Graywacke
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this curiosity, found it wonderfully done, found the writing, which focuses so much on the sound, always interesting and terrific, with its own rhythm and life. And I say this even I didn't really get it. (I missed a lot, as I discovered afterwards reading online reviews) This maybe should have won the Booker (and I loved the winner, Prophet Song)

50 likes1 stack add1 comment
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LiteraryHoarderPenny
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Lindy On September 4 I‘m going to be at a week-long fibre arts retreat without power or internet. So I will see it the next week. 7mo
LiteraryHoarderPenny @Lindy oh wow okay! Have a great time!! 7mo
12 likes2 comments
review
Robotswithpersonality
Fifteen Dogs | Andre Alexis
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Mehso-so

Honestly, should have known as soon as I realized the gods placing the bet were Olympians/of the Ancient Greek pantheon, that this would have a tragic tone. As much as one might expect introducing a human-analogue consciousness into the minds of dogs would at least make things complicated, I think this was the bleakest possible interpretation of the premise. 1/2

Robotswithpersonality 2/2 There is a quality to the writing that might lead me to consider picking up another work from this author, but I'd want to make sure it wasn't this dark.
⚠️animal cruelty/abuse, animal death, SA
7mo
6 likes1 comment
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Robotswithpersonality
Fifteen Dogs | Andre Alexis
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Those willows... suspicious. 🤨

RaeLovesToRead This book was good but made me so miserable! 7mo
Robotswithpersonality @RaeLovesToRead Miserable is the word! 7mo
5 likes2 comments
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Robotswithpersonality
Fifteen Dogs | Andre Alexis
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Part exculpation from world-building, part segue. Nicely done! 👍🏻

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Robotswithpersonality
Fifteen Dogs | Andre Alexis
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I wonder about that sometimes too, Benjy. 😏