What did you read in ~~ November 2024

[Marie]

madrano wrote: "Marie wrote: "My November reads:..."

Thank you for sharing here, Marie. Isn't it sad how a long and unfortunate book will stymie our reading enthusiasm? I know you'll perk up soon enough, though.
..."

Thank you Deb. Happy that my rating sayings give you pleasure! lol :)

[madrano]

LOL!

[Xoe]

Hi everybody! I read 5 books in Nov:

Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte. 3-4 stars? Tulathimutte's cynical authorial voice tells of the lives of 4 characters rather contemptuously, but funnily. I felt almost fond by the end of these slightly despicable people despite, or because of, each being a bit of a failure.

Beautiful World, Where Are You?, Sally Rooney. 4 stars. My first read of the much-hyped modern lit fic of Rooney. I wasn't all that into it as a story at first since it's so didactic and can seem a political essay, as it's partly letters like some old-style epistolary, but such a well-written essay. Her skills at observation sucked me in eventually.

Hummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer. 2-3 stars. Into New Weird spec fic in which VanderMeer's such an influence, but his own stuff sort of underwhelms me. Standard conspiracy thriller with lead whose personality = 'everywoman with convenient combat training in backstory'. The environment/cli-fi theme moved me as VanderMeer does world-building beautifully, but that alone.

Maeve Fly, C. J. Leede. 3 stars. Decent horror debut whose first-person female antihero has one hell of a voice, though the writing/plotting sometimes shows inexperience.

The Down Days, Ilze Hugo. 3 stars. Collection of fun characters in South Africa in a near-future pandemic not unlike the near-past one; could use more plot and pace. Was cool to read a spec fic thriller set in Africa (a better one is Lauren Beukes' Zoo City).

Hope that's OK, new to this site (would love to make friends by the way)! Can't seem to embed links sorry...

[Alias Reader]

Xoe wrote: "Hi everybody! I read 5 books in Nov:

Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte. 3-4 stars? Tulathimutte's cynical authorial voice tells of the lives of 4 characters rather contemptuously, but funnily. I..."

Welcome to Book Nook Cafe, Xoe. Thank you for joining our group and sharing your reads with us.

I haven't read any of Sally Rooney books yet. I may give her a try in 2025. So I appreciate your review.

As to Private Citizens I see that author Jonathan Franzen gave Private Citizens a nice blurb. I like his writing. He said, "One of the really phenomenal novels I've read in the last decade." I'm going to add it to my TBR notebook. Thanks for brining the book to my attention.

Have you read any of his books ?

It looks like you had a very nice month of reading, Xoe. Thank you again for joining in and posting.

By the way, to add GoodRead links you will see on top of the box you are typing in Add book/author. Click on that to add links to your post. It's not a big deal if you can't add them.

[Bella (Kiki)]

Xoe wrote: "Hi everybody! I read 5 books in Nov:

Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte. 3-4 stars? Tulathimutte's cynical authorial voice tells of the lives of 4 characters rather contemptuously, but funnily. I..."

Interesting books, Xoe. Thank you for sharing.

I have a hold on Sally Rooney's Intermezzo at my library.

[madrano]

Xoe wrote: "Hummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer. 2-3 stars. Into New Weird spec fic in which VanderMeer's such an influence, but his own stuff sort of underwhelms me. ..."

Great to "meet" you, Xoe. I appreciate the titles you listed, as most of the authors were new to me. I'm drawn to the Jeff VanderMeer novel because i'm not familiar with much of that "New Weird spec fic". I hesitate because Michele, a regular here & many others disliked it, as did you. Still, curious, though.

Thanks for sharing here!

[Xoe]

Alias Reader wrote: "Xoe wrote: "Hi everybody! I read 5 books in Nov:

Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte. 3-4 stars? Tulathimutte's cynical authorial voice tells of the lives of 4 characters rather contemptuously, bu..."

I'll give Franzen a go some time! So far I haven't read any.

[Xoe]

madrano wrote: "Xoe wrote: "Hummingbird Salamander, Jeff VanderMeer. 2-3 stars. Into New Weird spec fic in which VanderMeer's such an influence, but his own stuff sort of underwhelms me. ..."

Great to "meet" you,..."

Admittedly I've not read VanderMeer's most acclaimed works, his Southern Reach series, and did like the movie. So I'll have to try that some time. I've read other books of his years back but don't really remember them haha (rather like I'm not sure this one will stick with me). I think Finch was one...

Re New Weird stuff I'd much more recommend China Mieville's The City & the City .

[Lindsey]

Xoe wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "Xoe wrote: "Hi everybody! I read 5 books in Nov:

Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte. 3-4 stars? Tulathimutte's cynical authorial voice tells of the lives of 4 characters rath..."

I've enjoyed the Jonathan Franzen books I've read (Freedom and Purity.)
Both quite long. I'd compare to maybe The Goldfinch in terms of writing and style; long drawn-out descriptions of time and place, deep character development, not always a face-paced storyline, but good for those who like detail and literary fiction.

[Alias Reader]

Xoe wrote: Post 57
I'll give Franzen a go some time! So far I haven't read any.
..."

I've read and enjoyed his:

The Corrections

Freedom

How to Be Alone (essay collection)

Lindsey, you gave a good description of his books.

[madrano]

Xoe wrote: "Re New Weird stuff I'd much more recommend China Mieville's The City & the City .a..."

Thank you for the title, which sounds appealing. I've added it to my TBR, but moved it onto my '25 Challenge, making certain i'll read it soon.