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Author: Josie

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

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The Dictionary of Lost Words was recommended to me by both of my husband’s parents. I was also looking to read a book by an Australian author (besides Kate Morton) while we were visiting them in Australia. The Dictionary of Lost Words is about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the first edition of which took 71 years (!) to complete, and the gender politics of the time it was being edited and published. It is a very fascinating subject, and The Dictionary of Lost Words is great for fans of historical fiction.

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To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

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I love Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, so I was pretty excited when I first heard about her follow up novel, To Paradise, until I started reading the reviews on Goodreads, which criticize the novel’s lack of cohesion and even suggest that it is boring. This put me off reading it until the paperback version came out. To Paradise consists of three very loosely connected stories about love, loss and finding one’s own version of paradise, and a Washington Square townhouse. I found the first two stories to be both interesting and boring at the same time, but the third and final story is what makes To Paradise worth reading.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

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I can understand why the African American classic Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered an important work of 20th century American literature. First published in 1937, it is a novel written by a Black female writer and it tells the story of a Black female protagonist, Janie, from her own perspective, at a time when stories were seldom told from the female perspective, and if they were, it was from a (white) man’s idea of the female perspective. Their Eyes Were Watching God is also mostly told in the Black vernacular, which makes Janie’s story more authentic, but also makes it a more challenging read. I am usually a speed reader, but I had to force myself to slow down while reading this novel so that I did not miss anything.

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Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

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When I first heard about Young Mungo, I thought it was going to be Shuggie Bain Version 2.0. Both novels are set in working-class neighbourhoods in Scotland in the late 20th century and both novels are about a queer boy with an alcoholic mother. However, while Shuggie Bain is by no means full of sunshine and rainbows, Young Mungo is a much darker, violent novel.

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Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Gods of Jade and Shadow is Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s second novel following her debut novel, Signal to Noise, and itself followed by Mexican Gothic, Velvet was the Night and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. I find that I prefer Moreno-Garcia’s earlier works more than her more recent novels, because I enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow, a fairy tale based on Mayan folklore, as much as I enjoyed Signal to Noise.

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Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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You have probably heard of Octavia E. Butler, who was a renowned writer of science fiction novels and who wrote at a time when there was not a lot of female sci-fi writers, let alone Black ones. Sci-fi is not a genre that I gravitate towards, so I had never read any of Butler’s novels. But since I am always expanding my reading horizons, I wanted to give Butler a try and came across Parable of the Sower. It turns out Parable of the Sower is not so much sci-fi as it is speculative fiction. It is set in a dystopian future where climate change has led to the break down of societal and economic norms. I think Parable of the Sower is an interesting novel, and I am glad that I read it, but to be honest, it does not inspire me to want to read the second novel (Parable of the Talents). I kind of wish that I had picked another one of Butler’s novels to read instead.

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The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

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The Whispers is the second novel by Ashley Audrain. I have reviewed her first novel, The Push, on this blog. Like The Push, The Whispers is a story about motherhood with a central mystery involving a child. Ten-year-old Xavier has fallen from his third story bedroom window and is in a coma with a traumatic head injury. But how did he fall out of the window? Did he jump? Or was he pushed – by his mother? Sounds thrilling, but The Whispers is not a thriller. The mystery of Xavier’s fall is a catalyst for exploring the different roles that women are expected to take on, and what little satisfaction women get out of juggling these different roles. It also leads to an implosion in the female relationships in the novel.

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Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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Stone Blind is the newest novel by Natalie Haynes. I have previously reviewed her books A Thousand Ships and Pandora’s Jar on this blog, so if you have been following along, then you know that Haynes uses her extensive knowledge of Greek mythology to retell the stories of Greek mythological women through a feminist lens, picking apart the misogynist views passed through time by the white men who originally told their stories. Stone Blind is an interesting read infused with Haynes engaging humour, but it did not inspire any strong feelings in me, I guess because it does not tell me something I have not already learned through Haynes other books and through other feminist retellings of Greek mythology.

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