A Much Beloved Book I Finally Read, Substacks You Might Enjoy, & Links
Plus, an upcoming book project
Hello! Anyone else feeling like August is flying by? It’s a bit of a transition month I think. Not quite the end of the summer (per the calendar) but kind of the end of the summer in terms of wrapping up vacations and students everywhere heading back to school. As an empty nester with grown kids, I still feel like I’m in that back to school rhythm. In terms of reading, I’m very much feeling the seasonal shift from summer reading to fall reading. For me this means a shift to longer books, books with settings that evoke the fall season - scary books, books set in the woods or forests, books set in colder climates where there’s a chill in the air or snow on the ground- and more backlist literary fiction. Do you read differently in the fall?
I’m also feeling excited about a huge book recommendation project I’m starting. This project idea came to me out of the blue and is one that will include other readers and their recommendations. If there’s one thing I think we all love it’s getting personalized book recommendations and two of the best sources for those (in my opinion) are booksellers and other readers. I’ve been including bookseller recommendations in my Shelf Talkers posts (stay tuned for a new one coming this week) and now I want to expand with in depth research for reader recommendations. If you’re feeling excited about these personalized book recommendations, consider joining as a paid subscriber so you’ll get them delivered straight to your inbox:)
Recent Reads
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (audio 🎧)
As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were.
Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special--and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together
I know many of you have already read and loved this part literary thriller, part science fiction, part coming of age story that the New York Times calls a “beautifully atmospheric modern classic,” but it’s been lost on my tbr for years. I decided to finally read it after the NYT posted their Best Books of the 21st Century (gift link) list in July, followed closely by readers’ picks for the best books of the 21st Century (gift link). Never Let Me Go was number 9 on both lists, so I decided now was the time to find out what I thought of it. Spoiler alert….I loved it!
I listened and the audio narration was fantastic. The narrator was able to create a deeply atmospheric, often melancholic tone and it enhanced the story for me. I went into this book knowing only what was in the blurb although I knew that there was something “off” and “deeply troubling” about the school and these friends. And I knew that it had the potential to be heartbreaking. I love a heartbreak story. I found this story to be all of those things and more. More in terms of the sheer creativity of plot and storyline, of the ways in which the author explored humanity in a broad way and what it means to be human in a smaller sense. This is not a fast paced story, but it is a mesmerizing, hard to put down story. It made me sad, but it also made me feel deeply about life, love, and friendship. Highly recommend. I think would make a great book club choice too. This is going on my to reread someday list, I have a feeling the next time I pick it up I’ll take away something different, it’s that kind of book!
Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (audio 🎧)
Sitting alone beside the languorous blue waters of the lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach contemplates the men at the hotel bar. She has been happily married for twenty-seven years and has no reason to escape the life she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels by ferry here to the island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover.
Across sultry Caribbean evenings full of salsa and boleros, lotharios and conmen, Ana journeys further each year into the hinterland of her desire and the fear hidden in her heart.
This super short book was just what I needed for a recent weekend drive. I’ve wanted to read this author for so long and thought this audio would be the perfect way to take in his writing. And it was! This story was atmospheric, lyrical, and thought provoking. Narrated from Ana’s point of view, I liked her very much and was also fascinated by the choices she was making. I knew there had to be more to the story and there was. The author reveals the story in layers and at around 2 hours on audio I thought it was just the right length. This edition was released in March and I’ve heard absolutely nothing about it. I hope to change that.
The other books I’ve been reading are secret mystery/thriller reads for my upcoming Reading Simplified series! I just finished a 5 star read of an upcoming fall title! I’ll be sharing these picks via audio later this month
Current Nonfiction Morning Read
The Pivot Year by Brianna Wiest
A collection of everyday meditations, one for each day of the year. I’m loving these super short essays, often just a paragraph in length. If you’re looking to expand your nonfiction reading in small doses and enjoy uplifting, insightful meditations you might like this. The writing is clear, simple, and non-preachy
Added To My TBR This Week
Highway Thirteen :Stories by Fiona McFarlane
A gripping, enigmatic collection of linked short stories about the reverberations of a serial killer’s crimes in the lives of everyday people.
Links I Loved
This Boston doctor is a best selling thriller writer - so interesting, I had no idea (NYT Gift Link)
Obama’s Annual Summer Reading List (LitHub)
Emily Blunt’s creamy one pot pasta (Thekitchn.com)
How celebrity book clubs actually work (Esquire)
Why awe matters (from The Clearing by
) SubstackLonging to read (from A Reading Life by
) Substack
Have a great week!
I read The Buried Giant by Ishiguro. I was an interesting story. Slower paced and very contemplative. Was that how Never Let Me Go was?
I’m not much of a seasonal mood reader, except that sometimes in the summer when I’m traveling I will look for something a bit more fast-paced or, in the exact opposite direction, since I have more time, I will often pick up my big chunkers while I’m not working. I’ll pick up longer books around the holidays when I’m off work as well.
I just finished The Bankers Wife which I’m pretty sure I read about here, and it was the rare thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed! It was such a smart plot, and I binged it on audio over a couple of days. Has anyone read any of her other books?
Renee, I can’t wait to hear more about this book recommendation project! 🥳