My favorite long weekend plans - new books from the library. My current read is at the top, and is so far a chilling, brilliant story.

A heart wrenching story of a woman coming to terms with her relationship with her mother and her culture and their impact throughout her life. A difficult journey, but I appreciated the way Patel took the issues in the book head on in this stark but beautiful story.

I liked this book a lot because I learned so much about Deaf culture. I found the parts of the book that interrogated family dynamics and racism within sign language to be the most powerful parts of the book. I agree with others‘ observations that the characters could‘ve had more depth and the ending was a little unsatisfying. I‘m glad I read it though! #CampLitsy

I don‘t read romance, so it may just be that the genre didn‘t sit with me. But for me, this book did not work. I found myself cringing through most of it, at both the story and the writing, and was glad when it was over. I do still want to read the author‘s other work, about which I‘ve heard great things. I‘ll be interested to hear everyone‘s thoughts at #CampLitsy.

I liked some aspects of this book, and some of the lines stopped me in my tracks so I had to read them over and over to take them in. However, overall I didn‘t love it as much as I‘d hoped. Definitely a creatively written take on life, decisions, regrets and love.

This book packed a real punch for me. It is one of the most authentic stories about mental illness I‘ve read, I think. I alternated between laughing and crying throughout and couldn‘t put it down. It resonated with me in so many ways, and I‘m grateful to Meg Mason for writing it.

This book! This character! This writer! 😍😍😍 I can‘t really describe what a sheer joy it was to read this book, which is every bit as good as The Idiot. I can only hope that Batuman is planning to write a book for each year of Selin‘s college life. 🤞 Looking forward to discussing this one at #CampLitsy in August!

This collection of connected stories was a delight to read - bizarre, quirky, and very funny. Kawakami‘s matter of fact narrative style about the events in these stories made me laugh out loud.

@EvieBee I think your review put this book on my radar, so thank you! 😊

The words “tacos, beige,” written on a piece of looseleaf paper made me feel the foreclosing of every possibility of anything exciting ever happening to me in the rest of my life.

So far this book is every bit as much of a joy to read as The Idiot! 😍

Happy PRIDE month y‘all. I‘m excited to try this beer from Fiction Beer Company here in Denver, named after the tagged book. I haven‘t ever read it, but would like to someday. Orange Creamsicle Witbier sounds like early summer to me, and their beers are great. ☀️

Intense from start to finish, this short novel left me reeling by the end. I absolutely love Melchor‘s narrative style and definitely now want to read Hurricane Season.

This collection of stories is bizarre and much of the time hilarious - what a fun read! I never knew where the next story in the collection was going to take me. Loved it.

I really enjoyed this satire on race, racism and whiteness that was also a fabulous page turner. I don‘t always love satire, but this was subtle and smart and a definite pick.

I read good reviews of this one, but I had to bail on it. Beautifully written, but it was too painful for me to endure the character‘s way of seeing herself. Maybe it‘s a sign of Nolan‘s talent that the book had such an effect on me.

Pretty excited about this lovely stack of books that came in at the library! I have Litsy to thank for some of these, and am looking forward to the first #CampLitsy selection as well! 📚

I loved this short, intense book, which layers the events of a day or two with a powerful depiction of the experience of black women. I hope Natasha Brown continues writing - I‘m excited to see what she does next.

I love the way Kawakami writes the raw, often painful experiences of her characters in such a quiet way. She is so matter of fact in her descriptions that it makes it a more emotional experience for me to read her work than I think it would be if her style were more dramatic. I loved this story and Fuyoko in her loneliness and struggle to connect with other people.

I really enjoyed this interior story of a woman‘s search for meaning and happiness. I have so many questions about Shirley, her experiences in the novel, and her account of events. Which means I‘m really looking forward to the discussion! #nyrbbookclub @vivastory

Having fun reading this book alone at a bar tonight, just like the main character. 🍷

Starting this month‘s #nyrbbookclub pick and was happy to see a quote from Ann Quin after reading so much about her in Checkout 19. Love these kinds of book coincidences. 😁 @vivastory

An eerie, mysterious and mildly disturbing story told through a series of interviews of the inhabitants of a space ship, this book had been on my list since last year‘s international Booker. Very clever and entertaining.

I really enjoy Sarah Moss‘ writing style, and this book was no exception. Similarly to Summerwater, she zooms into the details of her characters‘ inner lives to tell a larger story, in this case the experience of the pandemic.

This is a fabulous book!! There are stories within stories and such wonderful use of language. I loved it so much and am definitely going to need to read her collection of short stories now. Thanks for putting this one on my radar @Megabooks !

Here are six books I‘d love to see in #campToB this summer! All are ones I‘m looking forward to reading. Thanks for the tag @BarbaraBB !

A gut wrenching story with glimmers of hope. I really enjoyed the narrative style and loved the main character so much, and really wanted her to find the freedom and healing she so deserved. ❤️

How does censorship come into play in the novel?

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

#nyrbbookclub

Who is the narrator speaking to throughout the story? Who is the audience? @vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

#nyrbbookclub

What do you think of the fact that the place where the narrator spends part of the story is called a "school for fools”?

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

#nyrbbookclub

In the Spring '83 issue of The Slavic & East European Journal, future translator Alexander Boguslawski writes, "Sokolov's novel is essentially...showing the possibilities & capacities of artistic imagination at work; yet it may also be considered a passionate outcry against the norms & practices of socialist realism..." Do you agree with Boguslawski's statement?

Is a School for Fools a book narrated by an unreliable narrator or by multiple narrators? Once you became accustomed to the narrative switches, did you find it easier to navigate? @vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

Sokolov invented the word poetry for his particular writing style. Many reviewers have compared it to Ulysses. What do you think of Sokolov's style? #nyrbbookclub

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

Two books that were fun to read in succession, as stories of women finding their power and wielding it in unexpected, at times uncomfortable, ways. Both were picks for me. 💪🏼

This book broke my heart. 💔 Elena is such an incredible character, and the painstaking account of her physical and emotional journey over the course of a day is why I read books. Based on the books I‘ve read on the Booker shortlist, I‘d love for this one to win.

Very unsettling - I feel like I read most of the book on edge, waiting for something terrible to happen. Loosely connected stories that are bookended by two halves of the same story, exploring technology, human desires and how power dynamics impact interactions. I think he seems to want to keep the reader on her toes, and he definitely succeeded in doing that for me.

Such a beautiful book. As a daughter and a mother to a daughter, I think this story depicts so well the complexities and heartache of that relationship - which seem universal even though the details are unique.

This beautiful book was really difficult to read at times, although I‘m glad I did. Kawakami deftly captured the experiences of the young characters, and I think did justice to the complexity of thoughts and emotions of youth. She doesn‘t oversimplify. It is a heartbreaking story in many ways, and a solid pick.

This was a fabulous read. I love the paragraph-long sentences that capture the thought and speech patterns of the characters so well. Time runs in loops and sometimes you can‘t tell immediately when in the past/present something is happening. But it works so well to build the story of the MC‘s grappling with his identity and his family‘s place in Brazil.

Somewhere between a pick and a so-so. I was mildly annoyed by the first half of the story, but got much more interested in the second half. An interesting take on human relationships and what love is, exactly, or what it is motivated by.

I loved this book. ❤️ The weaving together of all the threads of identity, past, the uncertainty of the future, and how it might be best to just stay in it with each other and not give up on searching for humanity. I wasn‘t sure what it would be like to read a book set in part during the pandemic, but I actually found it strangely therapeutic. Now I‘m even more disappointed that this book didn‘t make it in the tournament.

These stories are wild. I liked some of them and others felt like a bridge too far for me. The title story was one of my favorites. For me it was a mixed bag, but it was worth the read for the ones I enjoyed.

I‘m pretty excited about my new Virginia Woolf phone case. 🤩

Oyeyemi writes my favorite kind of creepy fiction. I love the way the back of my neck tingled while I read this story of a haunted house and its doomed inhabitants. Can‘t wait to read more of her work.

I was happy this finally came in at the library so I could read it, and was glad it made the first #ToB cut. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It sucked me in and I liked the blurred lines between fact and story. The ending was pretty phenomenal.

An epic story. I was swept along by the interwoven story lines and loved the culmination of it all. I haven‘t read his other famed book, but I did love this one.

Moss drops us into the unexpected setting of an Iron Age re-enactment camp to tell a story of a young girl grappling with male chauvinism, disturbing family dynamics, and how to find her voice. Brilliant.

What can I say, I‘m a huge fan of Yanigahara and this book didn‘t disappoint. Despite the length I flew through it. I loved the clever threads woven through the three stories and the variations on themes of race, colonialism, sexuality. I think my favorite was book 3, set in a very believable future.

I had to miss the discussion yesterday, but I loved this beautiful book that shows how tragedy and devastating loss can change the trajectory of our lives forever. I‘m a fan of both books I‘ve read by this author now. Thanks for the great selection @GatheringBooks ❤️

A phenomenal book. I feel like the blurb about this one doesn‘t do it justice and I almost skipped it. It‘s a powerful, incredibly written labyrinth of a story complete with disturbing asterisks and very accurate commentary on the state of America. #ToB2022

It was close for a bit, but the pick for April #nyrbbookclub is A School for Fools.📚@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @sarahbarnes @GatheringBooks

An interesting book. I appreciated the style the text was written in and the creativity of the story. I didn‘t love it but I‘m glad I read it.