Same Page librairies only lend their audio books for 2 weeks, which is a bit tight for some longer ones.
I squeaked through "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett with about 2 minutes to spare before it was to expire, by listening at 1.25x speed.
I did enjoy it. Interesting storyline, I understand it's a favourite of Barack Obama. #EllieKPosts #IAmReading#libraries#audioBook#audioBooks @bookstodon
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the U.S. for October 17, 2023:
Straw Dogs of the Universe, Ye Chun. [19th century Odyssey from China to CA, highlighting the brutality endured by Chinese immigrant railroad workers.]
If You'll Have Me, Eunnie. [Very sweet New Adult sapphic romance graphic novel.]
House Gone Quiet, Kelsey Norris. [Dark short story collection about connections, community, and what it means to feel you belong somewhere.]
The Goth House Experiment, S.J. Sindu. [Departure from her earlier work. These are stories designed to elicit a reaction, to make you think. Sly and razor-sharp.]
These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs. [Layered, complex, and twisty Space Opera.]
The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young. [A curse, a mystery, and an unexpected romance.]
Let the Dead Bury the Dead, Allison Epstein. [How 'bout a little alt-history of early 19th century Russia, accented with magic, folklore, and social conscience?]
Generation Ship, Michael Mammay. [We can just start over on another Earth-like planet without bringing along any of the problems that plagued us originally, right, Guys? Um . . . Guys?]
Distant Sons, Tim Johnston. [Crime thriller which examines the tiny little events which make a dramatic event possible.]
The House of Doors, Tan Twan Eng. [Surreptitious alliances, intelligent but isolated characters, and the upheaval of both imperialism and revolution, all provide the cracks and fractures in this novel which encourages a close reading.]
Our Divine Mischief, Hanna Howard. [Celtic legends, Scottish folklore, even a talking dog? Sign me up for this YA fantasy!]
@bookstodon I finished a book last night that I didn't really enjoy. Not the story, nor the writing. It wasn't too long and it was entertaining enough that I didn't drop it though.
Then I picked up Fool's Assassin by #RobinHobb and it's such a pleasure to dive into a book by someone who truly knows how to write one.
And visiting loved characters again, of course.
Finally getting around to listening to 'Van Gogh audio book, a 44 hour listen. It was one of my last choices before I cancelled my audible subscription. Now it's mostly library audio books. I couldn't easily have fit 44 hours of listening into a 21-day library borrow.
@bookstodon Notable new book releases in the US for September 12, 2023:
The Free People's Village, Sim Kern. [Alt history where Al Gore won and we combatted Climate Change.]
Rouge, Mona Awad. [The author of BUNNY has created a gothic horror fairy tale? Yes, please.]
This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America (GN), Navied Mahdavian. [Creating cultural identity via that delicate dance of learning to belong]
The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff. [What if the power to break settler colonialism, and to learn to live in a new way, were simply a matter of inspiration?]
A Market of Dreams and Destiny, Trip Galey. [What if granting each of your desires were merely a matter of price, at a very special underground market?]
Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women, Molly Llewellyn, ed. [Honestly, the title sold me.]
The Death I Gave Him, Em X. Liu. [Queer retelling of Hamlet.]
The Best Short Stories 2023: The O. Henry Prize Winners, Lauren Groff, ed.
Normal Rules Don't Apply, Kate Atkinson. [The rule should be that we always read Kate Atkinson. Eleven interconnected stories.]
Rez Ball, Byron Graves. [I'm hearing rave reviews about this heart-tugging YA tale of a First Nations teen trying to live up to legendary dreams.]
Those Pink Mountain Nights, Jen Ferguson. [Stand-out contemporary YA author gives us a lesson in how we all need each other.]
Hemlock Island, Kelley Armstrong. [Locked room mystery, the island version, with a bit of paranormal thrown in.]
@bookstodon Are you in the mood to read something which plays with form and style? HANGMAN, by Maya Binyam might be for you. It is one of those novels where you both wonder what the heck is going on, and where in the world you're headed, until it all comes together. I really enjoyed it, like nothing else I've read this year. And it's under 200 pages.
My full review: This novel is deftly, smartly written, and demonstrates a paradox about the nature of life itself, which is that it is equally obscured when the lens is too wide, as it is when the lens is too close to its subject.
The story is told via the narrator's journey, but that's not really the heart of this story. The author's delivery has a funhouse, "there but not there," stretched and surreal feel. There are very real observations, however, and they are all deeply political. It's like a mashup of Kathryn Davis and Helen Oyeyemi books, with an even deeper level of social commentary.
I enjoyed the experimental nature of this short, but impactful novel.
And that ending?!? I'm so glad I didn't put it together until the last minute.
This book satisfied my need for something completely different, where the author takes chances. I will gladly read anything Maya Binyam writes.
The Square of Sevens, Laura Shepherd-Robinson [Dickensian tale of an orphaned fortune teller, who finds that the path to truth is filled with twists and turns.]
The Spirit Bares its Teeth, Andrew Joseph White [Dickensian tale of a spiritual medium, who finds that the path to authenticity and self empowerment is torturous.]
Herc, Phoenicia Rogerson [Instead of centering Hercules, this feminist retelling of the Greek myth tells the stories of those around "Herc."]
Hush Harbor, Anise Vance [No justice, no peace means what it says.]
Phoebe's Diary, Phoebe Wahl [Illustrated story of adolescence. Honest and forthright.]
The Circumference of the World, Lavie Tidhar [Sly SciFi Pulpfic Puzzle.]
The September House, Carissa Orlando [That creepy house is going for cheap. What could go wrong?]
The Trespassers, Stephanie Black [How long can paranormal powers be kept secret?]
Mother-Daughter Murder Night, Nina Simon [Marketed as "Gilmore Girls, but with murder."]
Wednesday's Child: Stories, Yiyun Li [What jolts you out of the mundane, out of your ordinary life? From the author of The Book of Goose.]
Dayswork, Chris Bachelder, Jennifer Habel [Not for everyone, but if you like subtextual metaphors, this introspective novel is for you.]
Dearborn, Ghassan Zeineddine [The complex immigrant experience, told in stories.]
@bookstodon
I really want to read the next Penric and Desdemona collection by Lois McMaster Bujold. I think she only publishes the individual stories on Amazon.
Enjoying Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher right now, though.
@bookstodon Y'all like a time-loop novel with a fresh premise? I just read The Never-ending End of the World, by Ann Christy, and this novel does just that. Instead of being in a time-loop herself, the main character discovers that just about everyone else is stuck in their own little time loops. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Maybe you will too. #TimeLoop#Books#IAmReading#BooksWorthReading
Yesterday I got author copies of my most recent book, a collection of short stories titled Where Rivers Go To Die. They look lovely and the red tones make me want to change my favourite colour from blue to red. You can find yourself a copy of this book on online stores.
These are stories I've written over twenty years, since the earliest I first wrote circa 2003-4
@bookstodon Still thinking about a remarkable book, like nothing I've ever read: I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN, by Jacqueline Harpman. It's speculative and post-apocalyptic, but also eerily psychological, examining what makes us human, what we need to form an identity, and the importance of friendship and intimacy.