Elsa is a famous concert pianist who drifts around Europe after she, mid-performance, walked off stage.
In meeting her doppelgänger, she sees a signal to figure out who she really is.

As a child she was adopted by Arthur Goldstein, a genius piano teacher, when her talent became clear.
Now he is dying and she can‘t keep sheltering in the trance of performance.

As always, I love reading Deborah Levy‘s words and sentences.

#WhereAreYouMonday

I am in Greece with Elsa, a famous pianist, who is here now but who is about to start drifting around Europe, in the wake of a catastrophic performance. I‘ll gladly accompany her!

#WeeklyForecast 47/24

The covers of these two books look a bit alike but that‘s a coincidence. I hope to read both of them and am on audio still listening to The People in the Trees.

Dimes Square apparently is an über hip corner in Manhattan where a new generation of writers and artists have been meeting and inspired one another.

This book consists of 4 plays about these Gen Z Dimes Square people. They are dealing with their uncertainties, traumas and anxiousness by hanging with each other, doing drugs, have sex, and talk. Witty conversations, hardly longer than one sentence.

Interesting style, not really my thing though.

#WeeklyFavorites

I haven‘t been reading much bit I am glad I read and finished the tagged yesterday. It made my week!

“Slowly, over time, God had moved further and further away, until He was eventually nothing more than an idea - and someone else‘s idea, at that.”

No, it‘s not as good as Our Fathers, but this story about a young woman and her 12 year old daughter, falling under the spell of The Prophet, pulled me in from the first page and I read it in a day!

Sosuke and his wife Oyone lead a quiet, monotonous life in a shabby rented house in Tokyo. Although they live isolated due to past events, they are still relatively happy. However, when the events of the past gradually catch up with them, Sosuke is faced with a dilemma. How much obedience do you owe to those around you and what are the consequences when you choose to listen to yourself?

I feel blessed and happy by all messages, cards, parcels and emails filled with love and books and goodies 🩷🩷

Thank you so much Meg, Helen, Trish, Sue, Christie and Cindy!

This book helped me get through some tough days after the election, the horrible violence in Amsterdam and all the fake news surrounding that night.
I knew I could count on Marrs. This is another good speculative novel set in a near future Britain where people are encouraged to upgrade their relationship to a Smart Marriage, which is tempting because then you benefit from NHS and top education for your kids etc. ⬇️

#WhereAreYouMonday

Today I am in Micronesia. In Yanagihara‘s book it‘s the 1950s and a young doctor signs on with an anthropologist for an expedition to the remote Micronesian island in search of a rumored lost tribe. I joined them 😉

I am not sure if this is true but it sounds very plausible. And yet AI is taking over… so scary!

#WeeklyForecast 46/24

I‘ve found my escape in another John Marrs, and am halfway through now. Next will be this Japanese #NYRB book, also comfort reading!

The narrator of Martel‘s debut is born a man, yet becomes a woman overnight. This is an interesting premise yet it doesn‘t add much to the story, which is a report of sex and travels, without any real depth to the plot or the characters.
The last part of the book is very disturbing (I‘ll add a TW in the comments) and feels very real. The result of what happens makes sense and makes the book worth reading. A light pick.

💔

“Has the world gone mad
Or is it me?
All these small things they gather 'round me
Gather 'round me
Is it all so very bad?
I can't see
All these small things they gather 'round me
Gather 'round me
And I can‘t see my love”

(Ben Howard, Small Things)

This is such a sad book. It starts with Max in an afterlife, after his death. He watches his girlfriend Hannah grieving in their London apartment. She‘s grieving for him but also for the echoes of the past, her growing up in rural Australia and all the secrets she left behind when coming to England.

Evie Wyld is a great storyteller and all pov‘s of the story are build up so well. An impressive book about love and grief and heritage.

#WhereAreYouMonday

The Echoes is set between rural Australia and London. So I‘m traveling a lot today 😎 and enjoying it a lot!

#WeeklyForecast 45/24

Somehow I haven‘t read as much lately so I think these two books might me ambitious already. I have started The Echoes already and am enjoying it.
The tagged one (by the author of Life of Pi) has been sitting on my shelves for ages so I am glad to pick it up for #FoodAndLit 🇨🇦

I did it, I included all #Pantone24 colors in the covers of my books! Fun challenge!

#OctoberStats #OctoberWrapUp

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Prima Facie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Earth
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tell Me Everything
I Who Have Never Known Men
For Reasons Unknown
Annie Bot
⭐️⭐️⭐️
American Psycho
Rejection
Blood like mine
Someone at a distance
Keep it in the family
City of the Lost
The Book Censor‘s Library
⭐️⭐️✨
Beautyland
⭐️⭐️
The extinction of Irena Rey

DNF
Victory City
Dead in Long Beach, California

You can ban books but you can‘t ban people‘s imagination. That‘s the takeaway for me from this super original novel. It‘s the story of a book censor in a dystopian future who can‘t resist the books he has to read - and ban. Distracted by rabbits with watches the book turns into a kind of Alice in Wonderland like story. The censor and I as a reader had no idea what was real or what wasn‘t. A good book from this Kuwait author.

#TOBwaiting

In a recent post of @BkClubCare we‘ve been guessing about the ToB longlist, which will be published sometime in November. I thought why not make the most of our anticipation and share the six books we hope to see on that longlist?

It‘ll definitely give us some inspiration for books to check out - whether they make the longlist or not.

These are mine, I hope you‘ll share yours!

(Tagging the #CampLitsy24 participants for a start)

#weeklyfavorites

Adding Annie Bot after a short week in which I read little, completes October. These five are all so good but my favorite this month has been Prima Facie.

I have no clue what this book is about and frankly, I don‘t give a damn 🤷🏻‍♀️😉

#WhereAreYouMonday

Pretty obvious 😂

Such an original and interesting concept about what it means to be human. Annie is a bot, developed to please her owner. She is really intelligent though, although human emotions confuse her. Her owner is a 34 years old man who in his way cares for her but also wants to control her and is not pleased with her sharpness. A quick and fun read that leaves me thinking. Which is good!

#weeklyforecast 44/24

I am reading and enjoying Annie Bot. I am about to start People in the Trees for #ReadingOceania24. The tagged one is on my to read list for this week too.

Adina is an undercover, asexual alien reporting on human behavior on Earth. Quite the blurb and so many people raved about it that I was sure I would too but I didn‘t. I didn‘t like the writing and thought the story was a bit boring. Glad I finished it. #unpopularopinion.

Another detective series I started but this one I won't continue. An interesting concept (it follows homicide detective Casey Duncan in the hidden Rockton, a small, off-the-grid town in the wilderness of the Canadian Yukon where people go when they wish to disappear) but I didn't care much for the characters (as compared to those in For Reasons Unknown that I reviewed yesterday).

And of course there are only so many thriller series I can handle!

By finishing today‘s book I can add # four more #Pantone24 colors. Just two left to complete the challenge. Here are Baritone Blue, Starlight Blue, Raw Umber and Iguana!

I started a new detective series. In this one the main character is DCI Matilda Darke and she‘s a great person, well worked out by Michael Wood. Also I enjoyed the plot a lot, even though I saw some of it coming. I am definitely going to read the second book!

#WhereAreYouMonday

I am in Sheffield with DCI Matilda Darke. It is the first book in a series and I am enjoying it so far so maybe I‘ll spend more time here in the future!

#WeeklyForecast 43/24

I am looking forward to all of these three books although I probably won‘t be able to read them all this week. I have just started For Reasons Unknown.

“I have understood nothing about the world in which I live “.

The narrator is a young girl locked up in a cabin with 39 other women. No one knows how or why they are there and who the men are who guard them. One day they can escape and what follows is what is described as “a hollow freedom”. A poignant story that leaves me with many questions and that will stuck with me.

I used to be such a Rushdie fan but I can‘t finish this one. I just can‘t concentrate on this fairytale-like story. It‘s not him, I knew what to expect. It‘s me 🤷🏻‍♀️

#pop24 visually impaired author

A brilliant and extremely painful book that touches me deeply. It‘s short, it‘s a play for a solo actor.
It‘s the story of Tessa, a successful barrister who is one day confronted with the patriarchal power of the law.
I can‘t believe law still works like that. And I do believe Tessa‘s story. Every man should read this book or see this play.

TW: rape

So in your face and so true.

A lot of twists make this a dark and entertaining read but the plot is so unrealistic and the main characters make such stupid decisions that my annoyance is as big as the entertainment. So. A so-so. My least favorite John Marrs so far.

(Photo: Manchester)

#WhereAreYouMonday

Somewhere in wilderness of the Canadian Yukon is Rockton, a small, off-the-grid town where people go when they want to disappear.

At least that‘s the setting of this book which I am reading as an audiobook.

#WeeklyForecast 42/23

I am reading Keep it in the Family, which is super scary. Next will be the tagged, of which I‘ve heard such good things. Only I think I maybe grabbed the wrong version, as this is not the novel but the play?
Last but not least a Salman Rushdie, who I haven‘t read for years even though he used to be my favorite author.

I spent a few hours in Manchester and completely lost it in this “House of Books and Friends”. No friends but the books made up for that 😅 #bookhaul

I‘ve had a wonderful three days at #Gladstone24! Meeting so many wonderful Littens and spending time just reading in one of the beautiful reading rooms, surrounded by green hills, sheep and graveyards. So indeed, North Wales is always a good idea!

#10beforetheend

I have planned to read these ten at least to get rid of the last and most difficult reading challenges‘ prompts. There are some books among them that I probably wouldn‘t have read otherwise so I have this challenges to thank for that!

A Persephone book really fits my current #Gladstones24 setting. I thought I‘d love this one but was a bit underwhelmed. A man gives up his happy marriage of twenty years for a fling with a younger woman. His wife and their kids are furious - of course. So it‘s all a bit predictable. An okay-ish book for me, except for the ending. I kind of loved that. A light pick.

I needed a vampire book for one of the reading challenges and this one absolutely firs that prompt. It starts out as a thriller but halfway through the vampire part takes over. I did enjoy the first half better yet wasn‘t disappointed in the vampire parts, even though it‘s not my usual choice of books.

Photo: The reading lounge at #Gladstones24

I already finished it thanks to some undisturbed reading time at #gladstones24 🥰

I loved this book just as much as the first in the series, maybe even more. It‘s dark and sad. Evan is a professional football player. He‘s gay and would‘ve have preferred to be a painter. Life just doesn‘t go according to plan. And now he‘s standing trial for his part in the rape of a girl.

So good. I have to preorder Fire!

I love John Boyne and I already love this book after barely 10 pages. “…. films that didn‘t have explosions in it.” 😂

On the photo is my room at Gladstone‘s! And that‘s where I just finished this book. I loved being in Lucy‘s company again and I was happy to reconnect with Bob and Olive. Strout writes as beautiful as ever and yet it‘s not my favorite of hers (you were right @squirrelbrain !). It felt as if she had so much to say that she had to put a dozen different stories in just this small book. #gladstones24

I have chosen my books, packed my small suitcase and am ready to go to Gladstone in the morning. Very excited!
All week I have read little, too busy with life and stuff. Hopefully I‘ll make up for that in that famous library reading room!
For now I am only able to add four more #Pantone24 colors for the challenge. Only five left!

This book contains loosely connected stories, all of them about people who‘ve been rejected in one way or another.
I enjoyed some a lot, some less. Be prepared for very explicit sex, going on for pages and pages, and some extreme bullying.
So it‘s not an easy or very pleasant book but it‘s written very well. I hope it‘s fiction - as it states on the cover.

#WeeklyForecast 41/24

This will be the week of my traveling to Gladstone for the very first time and meeting up with a lot of Littens! Very excited about this and about the books I‘ll be bringing. I think, because everything can change of course. 🤦🏻‍♀️

A Persephone seems fit to read in an old library, Keep it in the Family and Blood like Mine are comfort reads and Earth and Tell me Everything are favorite authors so I can‘t go wrong!