Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novels. Show all posts

Oct 6, 2017

Two Book Reviews: The Vegetarian by Han Kang and Mad by Chloe Esposito

Here are two brief reviews of books I finished this week. Both are controversial, I think, and a little
out of the ordinary.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Think Franz Kafka and his Metamorphosis. Yeong-Hye stops eating meat and soon imagines herself one with the plant world, needing only sunlight. But her body remains the same, a human body needing food, even if meat-free.

I am not sure if this is a psychological study of extreme delusion or a study of a woman reacting to the strictures of a patriarchal world and a society with strict laws, especially when it comes to women's status. It could be both.

The story is told from three points of view - that of Yeong-Hye, of her brother-in-law who becomes obsessed with her, and of her older sister, the supposedly responsible, sane sister in the family.

It's a bit disturbing, this story, but with lots to ponder.

Book beginning:
Before my wife turned vegetarian, I'd had always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way. To be frank, the first time I met her I wasn't even attracted to her. Middling height, bobbed hair neither long nor short; jaundiced, sickly-looking skin, somewhat prominent cheekbones; her timid, sallow cheekbones told me all I needed to know. As she came up to the table where I was waiting, I couldn't help but notice her shoes - the plainest black shoes imaginable. And that walk of hers - neither fast nor slow, striding nor mincing.  
Mad: A Novel (Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know Trilogy) by British author Chloe Esposito, June 13, 2017, Dutton
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars[ 3 of 5 stars ]4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars

I am, like some of the other reviewers, ambivalent about the direction the main character headed. Alvie was a scattered young woman asked by her identical twin sister to fly to Sicily to switch places with her for a few hours.

I was surprised at the turn in the character in the story in the second half of the book. Her sister Beth acts strangely about the identity swap, and things go awry quickly. This is the first in a trilogy, so I'm wondering where the story will go from here. Alvie/Beth is probably not going to be everyone's idea of a perfect protagonist, though she certainly is an interestingly"mad" one.


Book beginning:
Alvie darling, 
Please stop ignoring me. I know you received my last two emails because I put that recipient-tracker thing on, so you can stop pretending. Despite being at risk of repeating myself, I would like to invite you, yet again, to come and stay with us at our villa in Taormina. You would LOVE it here: 16th century, original features, the smell of frangipani in the air. The sun shines every single day. There is a pool to die for....
Meme: visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Jun 22, 2013

Bought at the Book Store/Borrowed from the Library

I was only going to look to see what new books were at the bookstore yesterday. I came back with this.

I have been seeing The Firebird on lots of blogs and was getting very curious. I liked what I read on the cover and started reading, then had to buy it. I am loving it! The heroine with psychic abilities appealed to me, especially while she is trying to establish the provenance of an old Russian wood carving, the Firebird.

At the library, returning some overdue books, I also went browsing and came back with these:


The Hour of the Rat is a thriller set in Beijing, with an Iraqi war vet representing the work of a Chinese artist and dissident, who has recently disappeared. The disappearance is the result of a conspiracy that leads the main character further into the mystery and into a wild chase through scenic parts of the country.



Bad Blood A Kate Shugak Novel by Dana Stabenow was another book I found at the library. I have enjoyed the series and read most of the early ones. Bad blood between two native tribes in Alaska intensifies when a young man from one of the groups is found dead. Kate is called in to resolve the problem and find the murderer. I always enjoy the Alaska setting.


A Tale for the Time Being is one I almost bought but found at the library, conveniently. A diary by Nao, a sixteen year old girl in Japan documents the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun, who has lived over a century. After the Japanese tsunami of 2011, the diary is found washed up on the shores of a remote island in the Pacific Northwest by a woman named Ruth. By reading the diary, Ruth is "pulled into Nao's drama and unknown fate and forward into her own future." I couldn't resist a description such as that.

Great books! I wish the last three had been in my mailbox and that I didn't have to return them eventually to the library :)

What have you bought or borrowed recently?

Jun 18, 2012

It's Monday: New Book Releases


It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey. Visit her to join in.

Here are some new release books that I hope to begin reading this week and possibly review, thanks to the publisher.


Size 12 and Ready to Rock


And Laughter Fell From the Sky


Keepsake: A Novel



The Girl Below: A Novel










Would you believe that Size 12 and Ready to Rock is a mystery novel? And Laughter Fell from the Sky is about an Indian-American. The Girl Below is written by a British writer who has lived in New Zealand for about two decades.
Keepsake deals with the question of what can happen when someone values things over love.
What's on your calendar to read this week?

Books I finished reading last week:

Title: Brownies and Broomsticks : A Magical Bakery Mystery
Author: Bailey Cates
Published May 1, 2012 by Signet
Source: publisher
Rating: 4/5

and

An Unmarked Grave: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd, which I will review tomorrow, June 19 for a TLC Book Tour. See you then!

Sunday Salon: Letting Go of September by Sandra J. Jackson

  Books reviewed Letting Go of September by Sandra J. Jackson, July 31, 2024; BooksGoSocial Genre: thriller , family drama Themes: reflectiv...