Hello book lovers! It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these. What have you all been reading this month? I haven’t come across anything too mind blowing, to be honest, but some of these were lovely reads.
THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON BY KATE MORTON
Quick Summary
The House at Riverton is a gorgeous debut novel set in England between the wars. Perfect for fans of “Downton Abbey,” it’s the story of an aristocratic family, a house, a mysterious death, and a way of life that vanished forever, told in flashback by a woman who witnessed it all.
Three-line Review
If you miss Downton Abbey, this is the book for you. Seriously though, I love Kate Morton. A lot of her writing is kinda trashy, but she’s masterful at character development and I love how she weaves a story. Her endings are always so satisfying.
☆☆☆☆ / ☆☆☆☆☆
THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN BY KATE MORTON
Quick Summary
Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra’s life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.
Three-line Review
Found this one in the bookshelf of my hotel in Levanto, Italy. Really interesting read as per usual but the cheese factor nearly killed me. This one was probably my least favourite of the books I’ve read by her so far.
☆☆☆ / ☆☆☆☆☆
CAMINO DE SANTIAGO: CAMINO FRANCES 2015 BY LESLIE GILMOUR
Quick Summary
All the information for preparation, planning, and walking the Camino de Santiago.
Three-line Review
A really useful guide for planning your pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago — I particularly found the updated list of albergues helpful. However, the day-by-day guide didn’t match what most people were walking (in March) so I ended up disregarding a large portion of that.
☆☆☆☆ / ☆☆☆☆☆
FLYPAPER BY ROBERT MUSIL
Quick Summary
One of the very first rank of prose stylists, Robert Musil captures a scene’s every telling detail and symbolic aspect with a precise and remarkable beauty. In these nine stories and essays, he considers holidaymakers and stone monuments, tales of war and blackbirds, and the great pathos of a tiny death: a fly’s impossible fight against the grip of flypaper.
Three-line Review
I appreciate Musil’s wry humour but I kinda feel like he wrote a crapload of essays about literally NOTHING just to see how the literary critics would react. Well played, sir. This book bored me to tears, even if I could appreciate the quality of work.
☆☆☆ / ☆☆☆☆☆
A CONCISE CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY FOR LOVERS BY XIAOLU GUO
Quick Summary
When a young Chinese woman, newly arrived in London, moves in with her English boyfriend, she decides it’s time to write a Chinese-English dictionary for lovers. Xiaolu’s first novel in English is an utterly original journey of self-discovery.
Three-line Review
It’s weird to me that this book has such a low rating on Goodreads because I thought it was absolutely adorable. A sweet, simple, unique love story. Sure, Z is a piece of work, but I think that’s the whole point. A light and easy read. I like that you can see Z’s process with English learning as the book progresses.
☆☆☆☆ / ☆☆☆☆☆
SNOW BY ORHAN PAMUK
Quick Summary
Dread, yearning, identity, intrigue, the lethal chemistry between secular doubt and Islamic fanaticism–these are the elements that Orhan Pamuk anneals in this masterful, disquieting novel. An exiled poet named Ka returns to Turkey and travels to the forlorn city of Kars. His ostensible purpose is to report on a wave of suicides among religious girls forbidden to wear their head-scarves. But Ka is also drawn by his memories of the radiant Ipek, now recently divorced. Amid blanketing snowfall and universal suspicion, Ka finds himself pursued by figures ranging from Ipek’s ex-husband to a charismatic terrorist.
Three-line Review
I couldn’t read this one, and I’m not really sure why not. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to dig into a political piece (I was moving back to Canada), which is a shame because I don’t think I’ve ever read a Turkish author before. I’ll try some of his other works.
0 / ☆☆☆☆☆
