Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Shuggie Bain is a tragic and heartbreaking novel with no happy ending, but I think this coming-of-age story set in 1980s Glasgow is worth every second you will spend reading it.
…The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams
I had been interested in reading The Liar’s Dictionary for quite some time, and now that I have read it, I have to say that I found it to be disappointing. It is not at all as interesting as the blurb on the back cover makes it out to be. As I was reading it, I kept waiting for more plot to occur, but it feels like not a lot happens in this novel.
…The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Secret History is Donna Tartt’s first novel and was published in 1992, but it is not the first novel of hers that I have read. I read her third novel, The Goldfinch, first, and I love The Goldfinch; however, if I had read The Secret History first, I probably would not have read The Goldfinch. The Secret History is a somewhat interesting novel, but I was surprised to find that there is not a single likeable character in it. The main characters are so insufferable, I almost stopped reading after a few chapters. But I hate to leave a book unfinished, and I was curious enough to know how this novel would end, so I persevered in reading.
…A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
A Little Life is one of the most devastatingly beautifully written novels I have ever read. I sobbed my way through about the last quarter of this novel, but I still think it is one of the best books I have had the fortune to read and I am so glad I decided to read it. I will warn you, though, that A Little Life is very frank, and somewhat detailed, in its depiction of emotional, physical and sexual child abuse, which can make it very difficult to read at times. But it is such an exquisite portrait of a friendship that span decades, that A Little Life deserves to be read and loved.
…The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry
I really enjoy Brunonia Barry’s novels, The Lace Reader, The Map of True Places and The Fifth Petal. All three novels are set in and around Salem, Massachusetts, and are loosely interconnected by the characters that appear in each novel. Salem’s history of witches features prominently in the novels, but the novels do not lean too much into the occult or the mystic. As much as I do appreciate supernatural stories, I like that Barry’s novels are grounded in reality, so that when uncanny things do happen, they can be written off as coincidence. Barry’s novels focus on complicated relationships, and each one involves a protagonist who must confront the painful and traumatic events from their past. The Map of True Places is Barry’s second novel, but it is the third one that I have read. These novels do not have to be read in order to be appreciated, and they can each be appreciated on their own (meaning, this is not a series where you have to read each and every novel to understand what is going on).
…The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
The School for Good Mothers is Jessamine Chan’s debut novel and was just released this year. The timing of this novel is impeccable with anti-abortion rhetoric in the US really ramping up, the recent passing of restrictive abortion laws in the US (with more to come), and the US Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. The School for Good Mothers examines the lack of women’s rights, how the State controls women and how the concept of “motherhood” is weaponized against women. It examines how society judges mothers, especially mothers who are poor and who are not white. It is an incredibly imaginative novel, but it is bogged down by a disappointing protagonist and a depressing ending.
…Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Washington Black reads like a Dickensian novel with its intriguing and varied cast of characters and the unexpected adventures that the protagonist finds himself undertaking. The protagonist’s narration is as educated and articulate as that of David Copperfield’s. The difference between Esi Edugyan’s novel and anything written by Dickens is that the protagonist in Washington Black is a young Black man who was born a slave and who cannot escape racism even when he is freed from slavery. I found Washington Black to be an engaging and enjoyable read, despite its dark subject matter, until the very abrupt and completely unsatisfying ending.
…Normal People by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney’s Normal People is a novel that has been buzzed about since it came out in 2018, and then there is the TV miniseries that aired in 2020 that, again, people seem to not be able to stop talking about. I came across Normal People the novel while I was browsing books to buy on Bookoutlet.ca and decided to give it a read, but I tempered my expectations because I find that heavily hyped books usually do not turn out as good as I hope. With Normal People, though, I was surprised to find myself totally engrossed by it. It is an interesting story about two flawed characters with emotional and behaviour issues. These characters often wish they were “normal people”, but Normal People has me ruminating on the concept of the “normal person”. Is there even such a thing? We all have our issues, which we mostly keep hidden from other people, so maybe we all are “normal people”?
…Bewilderment by Richard Powers
Bewilderment is a novel that I think everyone should read, but I know they will not. For some people, it may seem like a strange book, but it tackles important subject matters, such as raising a child on the autism spectrum, raising a sensitive child who is very much aware of the problems with our world, climate change, mass extinction of animals, the erosion of democracy, and our bewilderment in the face of all this. It would seem like Richard Powers is prophesizing our future in Bewilderment, if it were not for the fact that what he writes about is very much happening right now.
…Family Trust by Kathy Wang
If you have read and liked Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, then you may like Kathy Wang’s Family Trust. I have read Crazy Rich Asians and I thought it was just okay. I really wanted to like Family Trust because it sounds like an interesting novel, but I thought it was also just okay (I guess I should not be surprised). My biggest problem with Family Trust is that nearly every single character, except maybe one, is not likeable and therefore I did not enjoy reading about them (the quote on the cover is a lie; this book was not a joy to read from start to finish).
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