Reading Round-Up
I've found myself reading some seasonally appropriate books recently, so I thought I'd share my favourites. But be warned, they're not the usual festive fare.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
In a remote Polish village, Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs. She is reclusive, preferring the company of animals to people; she’s unconventional, believing in the stars; and she is fond of the poetry of William Blake, from whose work the title of the book is taken. When members of a local hunting club are found murdered, Duszejko becomes involved in the investigation.
This is a dark and beautiful story. I loved the bleak setting, the idiosyncratic narrator, and the melancholy reflections on life.
The Hunting Party
In a remote hunting lodge, deep in the Scottish wilderness, old friends gather for New Year. The beautiful one; the golden couple; the volatile one; the new parents; the quiet one; the city boy; the outsider; the victim.
I was drawn to The Hunting Party for its remote setting, and small number of suspects - I'm far from the first reviewer to describe it as Agatha-Christie-esque. But what I really loved was how well it was plotted and paced. This is definitely one you won't want to put down.
The Discomfort of Evening
Jas lives with her devout farming family in the rural Netherlands. One winter's day, her older brother joins an ice skating trip; resentful at being left alone, she makes a perverse plea to God; he never returns. As grief overwhelms the farm, Jas succumbs to a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies, watching her family disintegrate into a darkness that threatens to derail them all.
A dark coming-of-age story, whose language is as beautiful and brutal as the landscape. This is not one for the faint-hearted.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
In a remote Polish village, Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs. She is reclusive, preferring the company of animals to people; she’s unconventional, believing in the stars; and she is fond of the poetry of William Blake, from whose work the title of the book is taken. When members of a local hunting club are found murdered, Duszejko becomes involved in the investigation.
This is a dark and beautiful story. I loved the bleak setting, the idiosyncratic narrator, and the melancholy reflections on life.
The Hunting Party
In a remote hunting lodge, deep in the Scottish wilderness, old friends gather for New Year. The beautiful one; the golden couple; the volatile one; the new parents; the quiet one; the city boy; the outsider; the victim.
I was drawn to The Hunting Party for its remote setting, and small number of suspects - I'm far from the first reviewer to describe it as Agatha-Christie-esque. But what I really loved was how well it was plotted and paced. This is definitely one you won't want to put down.
The Discomfort of Evening
Jas lives with her devout farming family in the rural Netherlands. One winter's day, her older brother joins an ice skating trip; resentful at being left alone, she makes a perverse plea to God; he never returns. As grief overwhelms the farm, Jas succumbs to a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies, watching her family disintegrate into a darkness that threatens to derail them all.
A dark coming-of-age story, whose language is as beautiful and brutal as the landscape. This is not one for the faint-hearted.
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