This author‘s first book didn‘t quite work for me, but her follow up is superb. Following a small family across a week in Kolkata during significant food shortages, it looks at human depth and how we all carry both guardian and thief within ourselves. It is a literary read with the propulsive pacing of a thriller. It would be a very worthy winner of the National Book Award.

#NBAshortlist, fiction

I‘ve liked some of Klune‘s books and liked the premise of this, but ultimately it was not for me. As others have mentioned, it is repetitive and the central relationship was too problematic for me. Also, I found myself irritated by some of the writing. I probably should have bailed.

This #NBAlonglist book (nonfiction) was a mixed bag for me. The content, about a genderqueer Asian couple, their life together, and lives before meeting, is great. But the construction of one partner writing as the other felt gimmicky to me. The best section is Lam‘s childhood in Vietnam and escape from that country at 12.

I wanted to take a moment to pay homage to Portlanders who, instead of being cowed by a dictator, embraced their first amendment right to peaceful assembly and continued protesting, but in costume, to prove the lie to their city being “war ravaged.” I cannot think of a better response. I love their creativity and stance for their, and our, rights.

As a straight “person gets swallowed by a whale” book, found this too preposterous. But as an allegory for grief and struggling with a difficult relationship with a parent, I thought it worked really well. I do wish this had been marketed for a YA audience, as I think it falls into that space more than the adult space.

This is ostensibly about the next pandemic, the one that, as bad as COVID was, will be even worse. But really, it‘s about looking back at the COVID pandemic to parse everything we got wrong (which was a lot) and learn from that in the hopes of being more prepared next time. The author is an epidemiologist and therefore well situated to address this. It‘s good nerdy science for those like me who like that kind of thing. 😬

My #BOTM books have arrived and I finished the reading challenge, so the book sleeve came, too. I love the idea of the sleeve, but I wish they had made it just a tiny bit bigger, as you have to kind of cram to get a book in (it‘s tight on the top and bottom edges). And if the idea of a sleeve is to protect a book, why damage the book taking it in or out of the sleeve?

I love the idea of this, but I listened to about an hour of the audiobook and it is so dull. I thought maybe it was the format, but I‘m seeing other reviews calling it dry, so nope. So, I won‘t be trying it in print after all.

I have finally read Morrison‘s debut, my second read for #BannedBooksWeek. I listened to a couple podcasts about it thereafter, which helped me break it down. Child rape and incest do happen, and hiding that by removing books depicting it allows it to continue without being examined, which serves no one.

#ReadBannedBooks

I‘ve read and enjoyed books that take place on whaling ships before, but this one is really different. It starts largely as one might expect, but as it moves forward, there are fantasy elements I wasn‘t expecting and a sprinkling of horror as well. Parts of t the book are rather dreamlike There is some graphic animal death and dismemberment here, so be prepared for that.

#NBAshortlist, fiction

I meant to post this before. Oops! Here‘s my books for #ReadYourEbooks. I‘m hoping to at least get to the tagged, as I‘ve wanted to read it for a while and it keeps coming up (and I keep not reading it). But, with my focus still on the NBA books, we‘ll see‘

And here‘s the #NBAshortlist for fiction! I haven‘t cracked the Majumdar yet but am 2/3 through North Sun and really liking it, and have read the other 3. Today, my vote would go to Raja (tagged), as I absolutely loved it. I‘m very happy to see The Sisters not be here but am a little surprised Flournoy was left out, though I haven‘t read hers yet.

Here‘s the #NBAshortlist for nonfiction! I‘ve read all but the tagged and can attest they are all really good. Motherland was the one from the longlist that intrigued me most, so I have the audio preordered (it‘s out 10/20). Of the ones I‘ve read, I‘d most like to see One Day or Wards win.

It‘s National Book Awards shortlist day! Though they call them finalists, but whatevs. Here‘s the shortlist for translated literature! Though I have read half of the longlist, I‘ve only read the tagged from this shortlist. My hold for The Remembered Soldier literally came in while I was making this graphic. 😂

I somehow made it through public schooling in the US and almost to age 50 without reading this one. I have now corrected that! I did see one of the movies (the DiCaprio one), and I appreciate how much more subtle the book is. So subtle, in fact, that I missed a major event and had to go back a bit to catch it. Tim Robbins reads this one and is superb, and there‘s also some very interesting FSF letters included at the end.

To kick off Banned Books Week and in honor of our dear leader, I read the new GN version of Animal Farm, coming in November. It‘s drawn to excellent effect in only black, white, and red. All components of the novel are there, especially the messaging about the push into authoritarianism, benefiting the few to the detriment of the many. Huh, I wonder why they don‘t want us to read this one?

I stretched a bit to give this fantasy a try as the premise sounded fun, but it‘s actively bad. There are weird second person interludes early on that just kind of stop, giant plot holes, and a limp noodle main character that just does whatever a man tells her to, even if she met him 5 minutes ago. 🤮

I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I found it overly sweet and was deeply irritated by it opening with a 50-something woman screaming because a toilet is about to overflow. (Really? At that age? Grow up.) On the other hand, there‘s some good humor in it and some topical moments. So I give it a low pick.

😂

Palaver is a quiet, spare, intimate story of a man‘s relationship with his mother. He now lives in Tokyo (a character in the book well explored in the interspersed photos) and his mother arrives in an attempt to reconnect. Their past is tempestuous, and the novel says as much with what it leaves out as what is on the page. It‘s well crafted and I think it‘ll stick with me for a while.

#NBAlonglist, fiction

This one just didn‘t quite come together for me. Despite being called “The Sisters,” much of the book centers a male character who seems intrigued by them but not really associated with them, and it felt fragmented to me. I also felt like the narrative tense didn‘t quite work in a way that was believable. I never would have made it through in print.

#NBA longlist, fiction

In the early 1960s, 2 dairy coops in Tillamook County, Oregon, went to battle. The coop of farmers felt they were being ripped off by the distribution coop and based on their story here, I think they were. They actually won several lawsuits but because of the actions of the distributors, lost the cheese war. Of course, this is just one side, but I found it really interesting, written by the adult daughters of the farmer leading the charge.

This is the design for next year‘s Independent Bookstore Day and I love it! Here‘s the link if you want to order a shirt:

https://www.bonfire.com/indie-bookstore-day-2026/?utm_source=copy_link&utm_mediu...

Here‘s my list for October #ReadYourEbooks. As I predicted, I read none of the picked books for September, although I did read one that wasn‘t picked, so that‘s a win! I‘m still pretty focused on the NBA lists this month, so we‘ll see how I do with this.

Homelessness is at once a complicated and simple topic. The simple part is that it is fundamentally a lack of adequate, affordable housing. And we are failing at that in so many places in the US. Mary Brosnahan ran a major homelessness organization in NYC for 30 years and delves here into the history and current reality of homelessness, breaking down myths as she goes. More dense than I was expecting, but superb.

HO. LY. CRAP. You think the Sacklers are bad? (They are.) Turns out, J&J is even worse. Harris brings the receipts and shows how the company buried data and lied to customers, patients, doctors, and the FDA for DECADES. All in the name of money. Quite frankly, I never want to use another of their products ever again. Tremendous narrative nonfiction.

I wasn‘t a Swamplandia fan and thus initially passed this one up, so I‘m glad the #NBAlonglist for fiction got me to read it. I found this unique Dust Bowl historical fiction with some fantastical components to be fully engrossing. The characters are great and I like that we hear rotating perspectives from them, which helps keep the book moving. I really liked it!

Gailey goes full horror in their latest, wherein a small, isolated research group brings an unusual specimen into their facility. Then they start to get sick. The creeping dread is so well done, but the main character has a sexual predilection that was too weird for me.

This book is such a mixed bag. It starts with such a hardcore pro-growth anti-regulation argument for the US that I almost stopped reading. Then there‘s a lot about China, which was interesting though a bit lacking in some necessary criticism. He also says US companies have gone too far into financialization to the detriment of process knowledge, and I think that‘s true. So, I‘m just going to take the good bits and leave the rest.

Today, my library had a local authors‘ event with a variety of local authors who brought their books for sale and were available to chat. I talked with some interesting folks and picked up these, several of which the authors were kind enough to sign for me. It was a small event but really cool!

This book I didn‘t want to pick up quickly became a book I could not put down, as Neige details her 7 years of sexual abuse and rape and the hands of her stepfather. The writing it superb and the balance is excellent, as she pulls in the aftermath, the trial, and evaluations of literary works dealing with child rape. I‘m halfway through the #NBAlonglist for translated lit and this is my clear winner thus far as well as on my best of the year list.

Said by Arundhati Roy on the Poured Over podcast while discussing the tagged book and her life. Something for those annoyed/bothered by those speaking out to keep in mind.

Like some others on here, I just seem to keep reading these! This is the longest one so far, yet still under 7 hours on audio. I enjoyed this one, but found it a little uneven. Great in places, dragging a touch in others.

This is the story of a German trans man just as Hitler is coming to power and just as WWII is ending. It‘s not a perfect book: the writing isn‘t great and it pushes too hard into melodrama, but it‘s such an important story to tell and a reminder trans people have always been here. We think of the end of WWII as a liberation, but for trans people, it was not—they were in just as much danger as before.

Maybe a tad heavy handed, but in our current war on trans people, it needs to be said.

The text uses “transvestite” for trans people, which I replaced in the quote. The book is looking for historical accuracy (which is good), but I feel the modern phrasing resonates more with our current moment.

Yahooooooooo!!!!!!!! Look what they let me have! When I requested it I just frankly expected a rejection and I‘m totally delighted to actually have this. More #NBAlonglist reading for me!

Raja is a 60-something teacher in Beirut and his 80-something mom has just moved in with him. Their relationship is absolutely hilarious, and through it we see a bit of Lebanon, especially as we get the backstory of Raja‘s gay awakening during their civil war. The tone is masterful, maintaining humor while never diminishing serious events. I absolutely loved this.

#NBAlonglist, fiction

In the 1960s, writer Mowat decided to get a boat and pilot it from Newfoundland to the Caribbean. Get a boat he did, but never made it that far, as he and the boat really had no business ever being on the water. Other than a bit too much of “isn‘t drinking heavily hilarious?!” (it‘s not), this is a funny, entertaining book about a temperamental boat and some of the inhabitants of maritime Canada.

I‘m happy to report Mary Roach‘s latest is a ton of fun! It‘s about human anatomy, specifically the parts we can or are trying to be able to replace. Think hair plugs, prostheses, organ transplant. I snort laughed in any number of places. Be aware this is not for the squeamish—she doesn‘t hold back on descriptions of surgical dissection.

Despite having the absolute best cover of any of the NBA longlists (according to me), this is so far the weakest read for me from the translated lit list. It‘s not a bad book, but it‘s mix of dreamy/fantastical with reality and the lack of clarity on which is which doesn‘t go far enough. It gives a good commentary on a state‘s decision to jail those making dissident statements, which is timely. Between pick and so-so for me.

I‘m so glad I got over my hate of Trust Exercise to read this one, as I really liked it! Exploring themes of belonging and nationalism by zooming in on a single small family, the reader gains greater understanding of Japan and Korea. I‘m glad I had already read Pachinko so I had some background with Korea/Japan. I do think this could have used a bit of editing, but it‘s quite good.

#NBAlonglist, fiction

This cousin to Office Space is a darkly funny look at office culture and the inanity of certain jobs. But, it goes a step further by critiquing the emptiness of modern online life. When it inevitably goes off the rails, it does so in ways I didn‘t expect. I really enjoyed this and am happy to see BOTM stretching a bit.

I haven‘t even started this book and yet already have a history with it. When it first came out, I was firmly opposed to reading it, as I HATED Choi‘s last book. Then I read a description and it sounds completely different. I eventually decided I actually want to read it and put it on hold about a month and a half ago, but the line‘s still crazy long so I used a Libro credit. Now to start while I work on my crochet plant!

I picked this for the title, figuring it would be funny and fun, and I suspected it would be from the detective‘s perspective. Instead, it‘s from the assistant‘s perspective, basically not funny at all, and the ending in particular is so derivative of Agatha Christie I almost started calling the detective Poirot. Apparently this is the start of a series, which I will not be reading.

#Bookhaul! My order from B&N has arrived, with 3 books from the #NBAlonglist for translated lit and one from the nonfiction list. Then, I stopped into Beach Books in Seaside on my way home and picked up the tagged since it‘s now out. I‘m excited to continue my reading of the lists!

Hannah‘s not so lucky in love and decides to start up a correspondence with an accused serial killer. She then proceeds to lose her job and decides to go to his trial to support him. This is clearly a debut and shows promise (I liked her bananas second book), but just doesn‘t quite get there. Plus, it‘s just a tad too cringey.

Two men went out fishing in a small boat off the coast of Mexico and were caught in a storm. Their boat was disabled and ended up drifting across the Pacific all the way to the Marshal Islands. If, like me, you found the on the sea part of A Marriage at Sea a little thin, this is the book for you. Salvador is an extraordinary man with a great attitude, and I loved this book.

I wasn‘t planning to continue this series quite so soon, but i knew my library had book 2 and I just felt the urge to dive in. I liked this one even more, probably because the stage has been set and I can enjoy continuing to spend time with Emma and company.

This is another superb selection from the #NBAlonglist for nonfiction! Thomas was an anthropology grad student when he started participating in fighting wildfires. Here he details that part of his life and weaves in the history of indigenous land management via fire and the environmental/climate change side of the story. It makes for a very rich reading experience. I can‘t recommend this enough.