They Who Do Not Grieve - Who's Reading? / Discussion

[Odette]

The April 2016 Endicott book is They Who Do Not Grieve by Sia Figiel.

Please post if you're reading.

Writer Sia Figiel chants on three generations of Samoan women

[Katy]

Count me in on this one.

[Jalilah]

My library doesn't have it, so I ordered it as an inter-library loan. Unfortunately this means I never know exactly when the book will arrive.

[Odette]

Kathy, I'd love to hear what you think.

Jalilah, I have access to three library systems and the only copy available is a reference-only copy. So frustrating, since I rarely have time to spend an entire day at a library reading.

This kind of book is exactly why I started this Good Reads group. As fun as it is to read a Neil Gaiman or Michael Chabon novel, it's the mythic fiction books which fall through the cracks, which disappear from the libraries or were never purchased in the first place, which go out of print completely, which I wanted to draw attention to.

I haven't loved every single book I've read from the Endicott list, but there have been a few which have become a permanent part of my imagination and which I never would have heard of otherwise. I don't know if They Who Do Not Grieve would be one of them, but I'm glad to have heard of it and I'll be keeping a lookout for it.

[Katy]

Odette wrote: "Kathy, I'd love to hear what you think.

Jalilah, I have access to three library systems and the only copy available is a reference-only copy. So frustrating, since I rarely have time to spend an e..."

Odette, can you name a Top 5 of those that you have read? Do we already have a thread for something like that?

I've been so behind the last year in reading & want to make an effort to read the books if I can find copies this year.

[Odette]

Happy to!

1. Mortal Love - Elizabeth Hand
2. The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue
3. The Limits of Enchanment and The Facts of Life - Graham Joyce (I just couldn't choose between them)
4. Lambs of God - Marele Day
5. Wild Life - Molly Gloss

Those are my favorites of the books I'd never heard of before the Endicott lists. (I liked mythic fiction before discovering Endicott, so some books on the list were already favorites - like The Bone People by Keri Hulme and The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin.)

I think starting a separate discussion thread about this is a great idea! I'd love to hear which books other group members liked best. I'll set one up & send out an all-members-message another time (headed off to much-needed sleep right now).

And don't worry about being behind in reading in this group. (I am too, frankly.) I'm sort of hoping people will feel free to re-initiate discussions on any of the threads whenever they feel inspired to, so just read at your own pace of enjoyment and post whenever you want to. :)

[Katy]

Thanks Odette. I loved A Wizard of Earthsea & the rest of the cycle also and loved The Stolen Child too. I did not enjoy The Facts of Life but I don't remember why or anything about the book.

[Katy]

I started this book, They Who Do Not Grieve. The language is rougher than I usually read so I had to push myself to get past that -- I am not far enough along to really get a feel for where we are going with the story. But it is intriguing enough to continue.

[Katy]

Sorry all. I think I will abandon this book. I just can't get past the crudeness of the language to get into the story. And I have no idea what is going on.

[Jalilah]

Kathy wrote: "Sorry all. I think I will abandon this book. I just can't get past the crudeness of the language to get into the story. And I have no idea what is going on."

Thanks for letting us know Kathy!

[Odette]

Thanks, Kathy. Sometimes it works out that way.

The list I'm not going to post is the one of Endicott books I just couldn't get into, or flat out didn't like. Happily there were very few of those, but there have definitely been books worked for other readers, but didn't work for me at all. I find it really interesting when that happens - it's so often decided by our associations with a book and what we bring to it, what bores or offends - or inspires us.

I do feel strongly that it's good to give up on a book if it really isn't working for you. Recreational reading should never be drudgery - there are too many wonderful books out there.