Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Anna40

Anna40

Joined November 2016

reading now icon
Un inverno freddissimo by Fausta Cialente
review
Anna40
The Secret of Luca | Ignazio Silone
post image
Pickpick

An old man appears in a small town in Abruzzo after WW2.The older locals identify him as Luca who has returned after serving a life sentence in prison for a murder he didn‘t commit.Andrea,a young communist & son of Luca‘s friend, is determined to find out why Luca held on to a secret although revealing it could‘ve set him free.I loved the writing & the way the story is told but found the overall theme - power of love- a bit cheesy.

review
Anna40
An Event in Autumn | Henning Mankell
post image
Pickpick

Wallander found a farmhouse in the country he likes & is about to make an offer to buy it when he stumbles over a human hand in the backyard. The hand belonged to a woman in her fifties but her identity is unknown. Wallander & his colleagues now have to find out who the woman was & who killed her. The fact that she died after WW2 makes that more difficult. The story also focuses on Wallander‘s thoughts on ageing & retirement, end of life.

kspenmoll Wonderful review! 2d
Anna40 @kspenmoll thank you 💕 1d
26 likes2 comments
review
Anna40
Italian Shoes: A Novel | Henning Mankell
post image
Pickpick

The first person narrator Fredrik lives with his cat,dog&anthill in his grandparents‘ house on an island.The only human he talks to is the hypochondriac mailman until Hariett,a former lover whom he abandoned,shows up&demands he keeps a promise he once made to her&broke by leaving.The 2 embark on a journey&Fredrik on an inner journey that doesn‘t make him a better person but a person who finally starts taking responsibility for his actions.

review
Anna40
Exiles | Jane Harper
post image
Mehso-so

The twists were okish-good but the lovey dovey we‘re all friends and happy family in a beautiful place drinking wine, eating lasagne, cheese from the farmers market and tahini, etc, plus, the endless romance blah blah were just tedious and annoying. Oh dear! What a disappointment after The Dry which I loved.

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

I waited a long time to read this because the story sounded like a tearjerker&what a tearjerker it is.But it is so beautifully written,a joy to read each sentence, the characters are all wonderfully developed, deep&rich. The plot draws you in,the ending is satisfying. Themes are love, parenthood, loss,betrayal,war,forgiveness. What a wonderful book but oh so sad, so incredibly sad.

32 likes2 stack adds
review
Anna40
Victorious | Yishai Sarid
post image
Mehso-so

I loved the Memory Monster but Victorious was only ok.It tells the story of Abigail a single mother and military psychologist specialising in making soldiers more efficient killers. When her son enlists in the paratrooper battalion she seems to question some of her beliefs.I disliked Abigail & found her behaviour and actions unprofessional and unlikely. So much was left unanswered.Plus,an unsatisfying ending with too many loose ends.Disappointing!

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Rosenfarb‘s stories explore the life of Shoa survivors emigrated to Canada and how they deal with their traumatic past. Written in Yiddish, Morgentaler,the author‘s daughter, translated her mother‘s complete work and wrote a fascinating foreword. Rosenfarb is a writer I highly recommend & I‘m thrilled to have discovered her work. Her stories&characters are complex, full of twists, inner journeys, her prose is haunting.

Gissy Beautiful cover too! 2mo
29 likes1 comment
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Quoting various thinkers&writers&drawing from religions,Armstrong wrote this beautiful book to impel the reader to repair the damage done to the natural world.She argues that everything is connected,we must overcome selfishness,we must cultivate the conviction that every natural thing is inseparable from our ultimate concern.She gives some practical advice on how to bond with our environment&promotes kindness,empathy&love.Very moving&necessary

30 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
The Tobacconist | Robert Seethaler
post image
Pickpick

Franzl,a young man from Salzkammergut,leaves his home to become the apprentice of a tobacconist,one of his mother‘s ex lovers.In Vienna he falls in love with a woman who doesn‘t reciprocate his feelings,has conversations with Freud&witnesses how the city changes under Nazi rule which he opposes but can‘t fight.I love how Seethaler writes about the “little” people with warmth,depth&humor without romanticizing working class life or Nazi opposition.

Tamra Seethaler is a fantastic writer! I need to see if there are more translated works published. 2mo
Tamra Shoot, I don‘t see any more listed I haven‘t read. 😒 2mo
Anna40 @Tamra I can read German but have only read Whole life and this one. Am planning on getting his other books in German but I think his latest about the cafe will get translated soon. Would love to read the translations. I wonder how she translated the Viennese and Bohemian accent 2mo
Tamra @Anna40 I hope so! I‘ve only read the three translated works - envy you being able to read the German editions. 2mo
27 likes4 comments
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Boyle‘s stories are playful,inventive,witty.He writes about misogyny,school shootings,teachers who have sexual relations with their students,our relationship with nature,a quarantined cruise ship during Covid etc. in a way that is original&unique.I didn‘t love all stories but appreciated the outstanding plot and writing of every single one.My favourites are the title story&The apartment.Highly recommend!

31 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
Tunnels | Rutu Modan
post image
Pickpick

Nili,the daughter of an archaeologist,thinks she can find the Ark of the Covenant,too bad it‘s no longer on Israeli territory.With the help of clever Gedanken & his hilltop youths,businessman Abuloff who buys artefacts from Isis,the IDF&2 Palestinians, she digs a tunnel that will hopefully lead to the Ark before her brother& Prof Sarid,the bad guy,get to it first. Modan published this before October 7,during the pandemic. Funny&thought-provoking.

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Debbie starts her first year at college in Dublin&commutes so that she can continue to help on her family‘s farm where she lives with her mother&her alcoholic uncle.She struggles with insecurities&anxiety but soon makes a friend. I enjoyed reading this novel & think I‘d have loved it when I was younger.It‘s a relatable portrayal of a young woman transitioning into adulthood,delightfully written & despite its heavy themes has some light moments.

review
Anna40
All Systems Red | Martha Wells
post image
Pickpick

Murderbot,a “messed-up second-hand SecUnit”-half bot half human- accompanies a team of scientists on a mission to collect data.But something or someone is after them and they don‘t know who&why.Murderbot loves watching TV shows where he learns about human behaviour&feelings.He prefers TV humans&is both annoyed&intrigued by real humans.This is a fun book but AppleTV is turning the books into a show&I‘d rather watch than read this. very original👍

BookmarkTavern This whole series is a delight! 💖 3mo
Anna40 @BookmarkTavern Yes, it is. But I think one book‘s enough for me. I‘ll watch the show. I guess science fiction is not for me 3mo
33 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Anna40
Afterlife | Julia Alvarez
post image
Pickpick

I enjoyed reading Antonia‘s story focussing on her life after her husband‘s death.Recently retired,she is also “dragged” into caring for an illegal immigrant& struggling with her sister‘s disappearance.The novel deals with love,loss,immigration,mental health,family,privilege. The elegant writing reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver.

review
Anna40
The Name of the Rose | Umberto Eco
post image
Pickpick

Whew!21hours.This is the longest audiobook I‘ve had the patience to listen to.The book&film adaptation are masterpieces.There is so much to discover:scholasticism,the Catholic Church-heretics& the Inquisition,postmodernism,crime&historical novel.So many references to medieval and modern thinkers.The untranslated passages in Latin are a challenge when listening but the audio is a delight especially when Salvatore comes alive.Thanks @rwmg

26 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
Sleepwalkers | Bernie McGill
post image
Pickpick

I loved this slim collection of short stories so much.I have no favourites,savoured each one.McGill writes about loss,love,travelling,youth,aging and quietly captures intimate moments with simple but powerful prose.Highly recommend!

review
Anna40
The Sun Walks Down: A Novel | Fiona McFarlane
post image
Pickpick

6-year-old Denny goes missing in 1880s South Australia.The novel spans 7 days moving back&forth between the numerous characters:Denny,his family,Aboriginal trackers,other members of the community,a European painter couple&Afghani cameleers.This is not a mystery but a quiet,poetic story that takes the reader to Australia when it was colonised.I felt immersed in the small town as if I was there.

blurb
Anna40
All Systems Red | Martha Wells
post image

My copy of the first in the Murderbot series has arrived! @Soubhiville @Adventures-of-a-French-Reader and all my Litsy friends who‘ve been praising this book and getting a no science fiction reader to get so excited about reading sci-fi

Anna40 @TheSpineView I have to finish another book first before I get to this one but am very excited to read it 3mo
23 likes2 comments
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

I bought this for my nine year old son who didn‘t want to read it. I‘d have loved The letter for the king at his age. Reading it as an adult was enjoyable but only ok. However, considering that Dragt wrote it when she was a child is truly remarkable. That‘s why I gave it a pick. I would say this appeals to kids aged 8-10.

CaramelLunacy Loved it when I read as a child, but hated the Netflix show (unfortunately) 3mo
Anna40 @CaramelLunacy I haven‘t watched the show. That‘s a shame. I think I would have loved reading it as a child too 3mo
25 likes2 comments
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

The 10 short stories are set during the Covid pandemic.The writing is a delight,I loved Worms it made me cry but the plots… I wish there was more to what happens in the stories and I feel it‘s generally something that seems to be no longer relevant for prize winning writing.I appreciate the character‘s inner turmoil&thoughts&insights but where is the story?And there‘s only so much older-dude-feeling-sorry-for-himself I can take as a reader.Soft pk

review
Anna40
Northern Spy: A Novel | Flynn Berry
post image
Pickpick

Set in Northern Ireland in the present,Tessa is a young,divorced mother of a baby who works for the BBC.Her world is turned upside down when her sister is caught on camera during an IRA attack&identified as a terrorist.Slowly Tessa gets sucked into the world of the IRA&MI5.This book does something many novels no longer do:entertain&guide the reader through a “world” they‘ll never “see” while addressing universal themes such as motherhood,family.

24 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
The Only Good Indians | Stephen Graham Jones
post image
Pickpick

4 Blackfeet men kill an elk herd,1 young elk is pregnant&Lewis promises to use the meat¬ let any part of it go to waste but the men get caught&are told to dispose of the animals.10 years later mysterious events kill first Ricky.Is it the elk ghost avenging her calf&herd?It‘s gory but I didn‘t find it spooky or creepy.The story is original,I‘ve never read anything like this.Dialogues are excellent&so is the writing.Great storytelling

Aimeesue Such a great read! 4mo
Anna40 @Aimeesue yes! I agree. I‘m gifting a copy to a good friend this year :) 3mo
26 likes2 comments
review
Anna40
The Last Hours | Minette Walters
post image
Pickpick

Lady Anne rules with reason,logic&wisdom after the outbreak of the plague kills her brutish husband.She isolates her community from the rest of the world&keeps her people safe while many around them die.In quarantine bad things happen within the walls of Develish:a murder,rape allegations.I liked it but wish it was shorter,wish Eleanor was multi-dimensional! &there was a proper ending.Thanks @Chrissyreadit for recommending!

Chrissyreadit I‘m glad you enjoyed it! there is a sequel that ties up the loose ends. 4mo
20 likes1 comment
review
Anna40
Shatter | Michael Robotham
post image
Pickpick

A sadistic murderer preys on his victim‘s biggest fears.How&why he chooses to kill women by targeting their children is what forensic psychologist Joe O‘Loughlin tries to find out with the help of retired detective Ruiz&the police.The story unfolds alternating between O‘Loughlin‘s&the killer‘s view.Some characters are a bit one-dimensional,but Joe,who has Parkinson‘s,is very likeable,the writing style is good,witty,the story gripping.Loved it

Robinsonbrandon129 Hello Anna 4mo
Anna40 Hello @Scottjordan7788 are you new to Litsy? 4mo
Robinsonbrandon129 Yes I am 4mo
See All 9 Comments
Robinsonbrandon129 How long have you been on Litsy? 4mo
Anna40 Welcome to Litsy! Funny that you ask: today is my 7 year anniversary :)! Or maybe it was yesterday … 4mo
Robinsonbrandon129 Wow that's awesome, please do you mind sending me an email, I just want to have a friendly conversation with you, I must say your profile is appealing. That's my email address, I expect to hear from you sooner or later, Thank you. robsonbrandon66@gmail.com 4mo
Anna40 @Robinsonbrandon129 this is a book app. We write reviews and comment on books. It‘s not a dating app 4mo
Robinsonbrandon129 Yes i know but that doesn't mean we can't be friends outside this book app 4mo
Robinsonbrandon129 So send me an email 4mo
27 likes1 stack add9 comments
blurb
Anna40
post image

This is a question/request rather than a blurb: I‘m somehow weirdly and for the first time and I don‘t know why interested in historical fiction or fantasy or both set in the Middle Ages or a world created on the ‘model‘ of the Middle Ages. Has anyone read anything like this and can make recommendations? Thank you

rwmg There are SO many. Here is a list of 100: https://bookriot.com/medieval-historical-fiction/

A surprising omission is tagged
4mo
Anna40 @rwmg thank you! I read the name of the rose twice! I actually forgot about that book. I‘ll check out your list. Thanks so much! 4mo
Chrissyreadit Sarah Woodbury is a really fun author- I think she has 2 very different series for this time. 4mo
See All 8 Comments
Chrissyreadit I also loved this and the sequel: 4mo
Dilara Here are some possibilities:
The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare, set in medieval Albania, with a hint of magical realism
Women in the Wall by Julia O'Faolain, inspired by the life of 6th-century queen-turned abbess Radegunda
The Forest of Hour by Kerstin Ekman (spans the M. Ages and the Renaissance), fantasy/magical realism (in Sweden, w/ a troll) - loved that one
The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk (Estonia, talking animals)
4mo
Anna40 @Chrissyreadit Oh! I read a few books by Minette Walters when I was younger. This sounds great! Thanks 4mo
Anna40 @Dilara Thank you! They all sound great but they have none of the books in my library. I think I‘ll buy The Forest Hour. I read one of Ekman‘s crime novels. She‘s a good writer. Thanks again! 4mo
Dilara @Anna40 Shame about your library! I hope you enjoy The Forest of Hours 😁 4mo
25 likes1 stack add8 comments
review
Anna40
Roman Stories | Jhumpa Lahiri
post image
Pickpick

Lahiri is like a 3star Michelin chef of literature. Whatever she writes is perfect. She is & always will be one of the best writers of our time. Still, I wish there was more to the plots, the stories are variations on the same themes & the setting Rome didn‘t change that.

32 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
Uncultured: A Memoir | Daniella Mestyanek Young
post image
Pickpick

The Children of God is a cult whose members lived as ‘missionaries‘ in communes,read the bible&raised their children to sleep with everyone within the family from a very young age-a blend of Christianity&counter culture gone terribly wrong.Daniella grew up in a family of devoted members,experienced rape,abuse,cruel punishments.At 15 she left,worked while going to school,then college&joined the army where she suffered more assault.Very tough read&I

Anna40 wanted to bail many times.Her resilience&determination are out of this world.I hope that she has found safety&love as she says she did in the end.It makes me so angry that all these men&women who hurt her got away unscathed! 4mo
22 likes1 comment
review
Anna40
Yellowface | R F Kuang
post image
Pickpick

June,the protagonist,&Athena have known each other since college,are both published writers but unlike June,Athena is very successful.June is in Athena‘s apartment when she dies&steals her last draft manuscript-a historical novel about the exploitation of Chinese labourers-polishes,finishes it.It gets published under June‘s name&becomes a success until allegations arise that it‘s plagiarised.June is simultaneously likeable& detestable.Brilliant

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

The story So late in the day is brilliant BUT I wish I‘d known that the other stories in the collection are Antarctica and The long and painful death. I expected a few new stories and 20$ for 2 that I‘ve read already read and were published in her other collections - and I didn‘t even particularly like them - feels like a total rip off. You can read So Late in the day in The New Yorker for free & spend 20$ on something else!

Tamra Oh that seems like a cheap move on the publisher‘s part. 😠 I have Antarctica already on my shelf, so thank you for the heads up. I wouldn‘t have known otherwise. 4mo
Anna40 @Tamra yes I was really annoyed because I have a book budget and if I‘d known I could‘ve bought a different book on my list. Why couldn‘t they wait until she had 2 or 3 stories ready? It‘s just a profit decision 😡 4mo
jlhammar Yup, totally agree. I knew that they were all previously published when I bought it (mentioned it in my new acquisitions post last week), but I'm sure it will be a surprise/disappointment for many. On the other hand, I'm guessing there are a lot of people who have only read Small Things Like These and Foster so this will be all new for them. 4mo
Anna40 @jlhammar yes, you‘re right. Next time I‘ll check before I buy :) 4mo
24 likes4 comments
review
Anna40
Winter in the Blood | James Welch
post image
Pickpick

In this novel a Blackfeet&Gros Ventre man travels to Malta in Montana to track down his girlfriend.He meets a sketchy character & some women, in the end finds Agnes but her brother beats him up.He returns home to find the house empty,his grandmother died&he learns more about his heritage&her life.Themes are loss of identity&trauma.The writing is exceptional,original,concise prose poetry.

review
Anna40
The Drive | Yair Assulin
post image
Mehso-so

An Israeli army recruit drives with his father to a military hospital to talk to the physician in mental health.I thought he wants to get out of military service but what he wants is to change jobs&I find it very difficult to understand what the story is actually about& why they couldn‘t just transfer him?!Throughout the book he whines about how terrible everything&everyone is even his girlfriend but nothing bad ever happens to him.🤷‍♀️

review
Anna40
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
post image
Pickpick

We follow Stephen as he goes off to university,feels cut off from his group of friends&Ghanaian community,returns to London to work as a chef cooking meals he‘s grown up with.There‘s music,dancing,church,immigration,racism,love&lots of spliff smoking.There‘s grief,parent-child relationship&more dancing,a trip to Ghana,history of slavery.I loved the first half,it‘s like a long poem but it got too long for me,plot meanders into what?I‘m not sure.

review
Anna40
Animal Dreams | Barbara Kingsolver
post image
Pickpick

Codi returns to Grace,her hometown in Arizona,because her father is struggling with Alzheimer‘s.She falls in love with her first lover Loyd,a Native American man.Codi‘s backstory&Loyd‘s character are well written&there are some beautiful scenes but there is too much going on:environmental issues,the Nicaraguan revolution,Native American culture&overall it reads a bit like a romance novel.I loved that it‘s set in the Southwest.Soft pick

review
Anna40
post image
Bailedbailed

I love the premise & the thoughts on communication, immigration, language & what it means for us if we cannot communicate because of language barriers or because of who we are. But the narrator‘s voice was irritating, worse was the going off topic especially at the beginning when I felt it needed to pick up pace…even though I‘d love to know what happened, I don‘t think I‘ll pick this up again. Not for me.

25 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

I loved the title story:a retired&widowed father visits his grown daughter who is pregnant with her second child,her husband is on a business trip&it‘s told alternating from father then daughter perspective.I loved the metaphor of the garden&how beautifully Lahiri writes feelings,relationships,domestic scenes.Overall though I found myself bailing on many of the other stories precisely because of that.I wanted a bit more variety in plot.Soft pick.

review
Anna40
Free Love: A Novel | Tessa Hadley
post image
Mehso-so

I disliked all the characters but was drawn into the story because of the brilliant writing and the late 60s setting was well captured. Sadly, this just wasn‘t for me. The way the story progressed in the second half felt trite and unrealistic. But I definitely want to read more by Hadley. I love the way she writes and develops her characters.

BarbaraBB I was disappointed by this one too while I had been looking forward to it! This one is better, in my opinion: 5mo
Anna40 @BarbaraBB thanks! I tried reading Late in the day once and had forgotten about it. Couldn‘t get past the first few pages. Might give it another shot. I borrowed a book of her short stories and The Past. I read After the funeral in The New Yorker and didn‘t like it much but I started the first story in the collection Bad Dreams and really enjoy it! 5mo
BarbaraBB That is good to know, thanks! 5mo
27 likes3 comments
review
Anna40
Cold Mountain: A Novel | Charles Frazier
post image
Pickpick

Set during the Civil War,Inman,after 4 years of fighting as a Confederate soldier,turns his back on war and walks to Cold Mountain where he hopes Ada is waiting for him.In the meantime Ada,the educated but ill-prepared for life pastor‘s daughter,learns how to live independently following her father‘s death with the help of Ruby,a free spirit who knows how to run a farm.Rich in descriptions of thoughts,landscape,characters,not to be rushed through.

review
Anna40
The Liar | Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
post image
Pickpick

A 17-year-old girl lies about an attempted assault.She doesn‘t do it with ill intentions,somehow gets sucked into the lie&her life after the lie changes so positively that she feels she can‘t say the truth.She‘s the main liar in the novel,but all characters lie.Some lies are bigger,some smaller.Wonderful thought-provoking book,builds tension until the end,provides insight into the psychology of humans,raises questions of moralsðics.

27 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Each story focuses on 1 life.A teacher in WW2 England becomes a spy in occupied France.A boy who grows up in a work house in the late 1800s abandoned by his parents makes something of his life.Set in the future a girl&her adoptive brother form an almost unbreakable bond.Set in France early 1800s a servant‘s life is linked with the family who employs her.A love story set in counter culture music scene.Themes are loss of self,abandonment,betrayal.

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

I liked the novella that gave this collection its name the least.There are two recurring themes in all stories:Paris under Nazi occupation&the narrator becomes obsessed with other characters‘ elusive pasts.My favourite was Afterimage:the narrator remembers his friendship with a photographer named Jansen who keeps disappearing.I also enjoyed Flowers of ruin:a young couple commits suicide&then there‘s Pacheco who perhaps was a Nazi collaborator.

review
Anna40
Nightwoods: A Novel | Charles Frazier
post image
Pickpick

Set in a 1960s North Carolina small town,Luce lives alone in the woods working as the caretaker of a deserted lodge.When her sister Lily is murdered by her husband Bud,a thug&rapist,she becomes the guardian of her sister‘s traumatised children.Stubblefield returns to his hometown,he once had a crush on Luce&soon courts her.But then Bud shows up,the jury acquitted him&he wants money he thinks Luce is hiding.Love story&Thriller

26 likes1 stack add
review
Anna40
Half a Life: A Memoir | Darin Strauss
post image
Mehso-so

When the author was 18 he killed a girl from his high school in a car accident.It was not his fault,he was neither drunk nor driving recklessly,it was bad luck.This book is his account of “half a life” lived with guilt&he tries to be honest&vulnerable.Even though he writes with sincerity,I couldn‘t connect with him,with what happened&neither with the victim.I‘m not sure if it‘s the writing or because of the trauma, but it feels cold&disconnected.

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Why did Dorfman write his memoir?To “teach” this “incredibly simple conclusion:we must trust one another,despite losses,despite betrayals or we shall all surely die”.The author writes with sincerity about his years in exile in France,Holland,the US,his country&opposition during the dictatorship,the difficulties of transitioning into a democracy with tormentors walking the streets unscathed,his writing,authors he met such as Böll or Kundera.

review
Anna40
The Trackers | Charles Frazier
post image
Pickpick

Set in the years of the Great Depression,the narrator Val,a young artist,gets his first job painting a mural in a post office in a Wyoming mountain town.He stays with the rich and charismatic couple John and Eve who commissioned the mural.Soon Val has a crush on Eve who is in her mid twenties-a free spirit,at times depicted like a femme fatale from a 1940s movie.Then Eve is gone and Val sent off to find her.Very slow pace,beautifully written.

review
Anna40
February's Son | Alan Parks
post image
Pickpick

This is a low pick because it was a bit too disturbing for me.Gritty,grim Glasgow.Sexual abuse of children,a psychopath,new drugs&McCoy‘s own issues with alcohol&drug abuse&he struggles with his distressing childhood.At least now he has a new smart feminist girlfriend who seems stable.What I enjoyed most were the soccer references to rival teams Celtic& Rangers-my husband is a huge Celtic fan-&setting of the novel:Glasgow in the 1970s.

review
Anna40
Little Stranger | Sarah Waters
post image
Mehso-so

Set in Warwickshire after WW2,a working turned middle class doctor in his 40s befriends an impoverished upper class family,hanging on to their crumbling manor,its splendor dying because they no longer can maintain the estate.The first half was a pick for me,it read like Jane Eyre meets Great Gadsby with a twist of its own.Unfortunately,it derails into something else,the ghost wasn‘t creepy but silly.Madness&hinting at another possible explanation

Anna40 for what occurs at the end felt more likely but by that point I was too disappointed by the pseudo spookiness of supernatural forces that it spoiled the book for me. (edited) 5mo
25 likes1 comment
review
Anna40
Bloody January | Alan Parks
post image
Pickpick

Grim, dark, triggers: sexual assault, abuse of children, but the writing is so good. Set in January 1973, Glasgow, this is the first case in the Harry McCoy series. A young prostitute is shot dead in broad daylight, her murderer commits suicide. McCoy is the 30 year old detective, a broken man with a drug lord friend and prostitute girlfriend, leading the investigation.

andrew61 Glad you enjoyed, great review 6mo
Anna40 @andrew61 thanks to your book review I discovered Alan Parks. He‘s brilliant at creating atmosphere and developing the character. I don‘t read much crime but this was great. I ordered the next one in the series at my library. (edited) 6mo
24 likes2 comments
review
Anna40
post image
Bailedbailed

I bail at p168.Maybe I should hang in there?Makkai addresses sexual assault,femicide&how terribly normal it is(she lists numerous cases).The story is engaging, well written, with complex characters. But to me it‘s overwritten &what made me throw in the towel -because it‘s too much! - are the subplots (the narrator‘s husband and lover). Not interested in that at all. I might get back to it or read her short stories but right now - nope.

ChaoticMissAdventures I bailed too. It was just so slow, I couldn't get into anything that was going on. Her Great Believers is one of my all-tie favorite books, but this one was not for me. I do wonder if it is better in audio, since it surrounds podcasting. 6mo
Anna40 @ChaoticMissAdventures I tried. I really did because the premise is great but I couldn‘t hang in there. I‘ll try Great Believers and I think there are a few of her short stories in the New Yorker my library doesn‘t have her collection. Thanks for the tip. 6mo
Anna40 @ChaoticCactus oh and I tried audiobook as well but found myself drifting off even more than with the print version 6mo
24 likes3 comments
review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

Everything in Li‘s stories has a meaning, even the mundane and her stories are sad. I‘m not sure why her writing is described as funny or perhaps the humour is so gentle that I miss it. I didn‘t love all the stories in this collection but I appreciated the seemingly effortless, beautiful writing of every single one. My favourites are Wednesday‘s Child and Alone.

review
Anna40
post image
Pickpick

The play was written in the 1990s when Chile was in a phase of transition from dictatorship to democracy.It is set in a house where a woman lives with her husband.Earlier his car broke down and a stranger gave him a lift.The stranger appears at their door in the middle of the night and she recognises in him her torturer and rapist.Her husband is a lawyer on the commission to investigate the crimes committed during the dictatorship.Brilliant