jenny always reads

buying, reading, selling and reviewing books. manager of an independent book store and PhD student. art and dogs. introvert.

[jennyalwaysreads]

Current TBR in 2023

So many books, so little time! I’m currently reading ‘Jawbone’ by Monica Ojeda, and this is the pile of books I hope to read in the first months of 2023.

[jennyalwaysreads]

‘The Dry Heart’ by Natalia Ginzburg

Seen as somewhat of a feminist classic, this was my first foray into Natalia Ginzburg’s writing and to use the word ‘impressed’ is an understatement. The book is a mere 108 pages, but is undoubtedly one of the highlights of this year’s reading for me!

The book starts with a young woman shooting her husband between the eyes. The text then goes back in time and follows this quite deeply insecure and unhappy young woman as she tries to work out if she is in love with a man she spends her leisure time with. She then enters a relationship and eventual marriage with this older man with disastrous results. The main female character cuts a sad, unsupported and solitary figure, and the man a deeply frustrating and pathetic character. The other supporting characters of the story are peripheral, but her friend is entertaining in how open and honest she is with her feelings about the story’s central relationship. This relationship is problematic from the start, with poor communication, infidelity and a boiling lack of trust… essentially, a car-crash waiting to happen. And it most certainly does happen. I’m looking forward to reading more Natalia Ginzburg in 2023!

[jennyalwaysreads]

New poetry collections

Obsessed with these beautiful W&N ‘The Great Poets’ poetry collections from this year! Already ordered myself the Robert Burns to add to the collection.

[jennyalwaysreads]

New readers copies!

Coming out in March and May 2023. Thanks to @harpercollins for the copies. I can’t wait to write real reviews for these, closer to their publication date!

Yellowface is the new book from the author of this year’s sweeping ‘Babel: An Arcane History’ and is a raucously entertaining, sharp, darkly witty and immersive look into race, cultural appropriation and the behaviours people engage in when they think they won’t be caught. Don’t miss this!

Wandering Souls is an incredibly moving exploration of 3 siblings from Vietnam starting all over again alone as refugees in London after losing everything they knew to the Vietnam War. With no family, no home and no connections in a new unwelcoming country, this book masterfully explores identity, culture loss and the incredible strength and power humans can have to overcome adversity.

[jennyalwaysreads]

Spooky season recommendations!

Working in an independent book store, we are often asked for personal recommendations, as gifts and for various seasons and events.

Now October is upon us, here are some of my recommendations for the spooky season - some old, some new, some classic dark/spooky books and some lesser known, perhaps. Enjoy!

[jennyalwaysreads]

New in - where to begin?

[jennyalwaysreads]

'Joan' by Katherine J. Chen

I absolutely, completely and utterly adored this. This was immersive and richly descriptive from the very beginning, with incredible character development. The book brought Joan of Arc’s short existence to life, humanising her as both a powerful, strong and determined, yet deeply relatable and troubled young woman - 4.5/5

Treated scornfully by her violent and hyper-masculine father since her early childhood, Joan sets out from her small village of Domrémy to make her mark in the world and to defend France from their enemy, the ever-encroaching English. Facing ridicule and not being taken seriously as a capable warrior as a young woman, Joan is constantly having to prove her mettle and her worth in a world and society crafted and shaped for men to succeed, to rule and to subjugate. Though she is eventually respected and celebrated as France’s saviour in her victorious battles, Joan is quickly cast aside as a disappointment as soon as the first defeat comes.

This was a great read, and one which frustratingly highlights the still very real matter of women always having to do more to be seen as equal to their male counterparts.

[jennyalwaysreads]

‘Delphi’ by Clare Pollard

I did not enjoy this at all. Delphi is a meandering, and depressing yawn of a book describing a woman’s struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, with loads of Ancient Greek references that do absolutely nothing for the ‘story’ - 1/5

I use the term ‘story’ lightly, because the book has somehow made some of the most turbulent, dystopian and horrifying recent times seem utterly boring. I’m an archaeologist and love ancient history in general, so I thought the references might be able to spark some interest even if the story itself was a non-event, but it just didn’t work. This was not for me.

[jennyalwaysreads]

My latest readers copy

Very much looking forward to reading this soon! A behavioural scientist’s exploration into how emotions came to be seen as gendered, and what we can do to change these damaging stereotypes. ‘Hysterical’ comes out on 1 September - thanks to Canongate for sending me this readers copy and for always releasing such innovative and interesting titles!

[jennyalwaysreads]

Very excited about this one!

Out on 15 Sep 2022, ‘The Age of Doubt’ is a collection of Pak Kyongni’s most well-known writing and I am very excited to read this beautiful new edition from Honford Star! All of their books are so stunning 😍

[jennyalwaysreads]

My most recent book acquisitions!

[jennyalwaysreads]

'The Pachinko Parlour' by Elisa Shua Dusapin

This short and simple book was an incredibly beautiful story of one woman’s relationship with her somewhat fragmentary identity, where the sense of loss for all of the small cast of characters felt palpable. The writing was soft, touching and delicate - 4/5.

The descriptions of the main character Claire’s time spent with her ageing grandparents in Tokyo felt like a real sensory exploration, from the visuals of the neon lights and the sounds of the pachinko parlour, to the smells of the crispy doughnuts and the tender touches between characters throughout.

For being such a concise book, it felt like a deceptively bold tale of dealing with a fragmented existence between places and identities, where a feeling of loss is inevitable no matter where one lies. Really beautiful.

[jennyalwaysreads]

‘Case Study’ by Graeme Macrae Burnet

This was a fun and mostly enjoyable read, that alternates between a biography of Collins Braithwaite and the story of a sister seeking the truth about her sister taking her own life, after her visits to the controversial therapist - 3/5.

The prose is generally fun but feels very 'of its time' (the 60's) - read: language re: racism, classism, gender roles. I read the first two thirds very quickly. I especially enjoyed reading the main character of the sister, who is strangely likeable as an outsider, despite being such a stuck-up and egotistical individual. The interactions between the sister and Braithwaite were both entertaining and a bit unnerving. The author has crafted the two central characters with very different and somewhat grotesque personalities that are fascinating to read.

I felt that the book somewhat lost its pacing in the final third and ultimately fell a bit flat in the end, which was unfortunate when the majority was so enjoyable. Regardless, I overall enjoyed this a lot!

[jennyalwaysreads]

My ARC / reader copy finally arrived 😍

Working in an independent book store means we often get to request readers copies of books we'd love to read and review from publishers. My beautiful copy of Mona by Pola Oloixarac finally arrived this week.

[jennyalwaysreads]

Mini book haul

Today's mini-haul from a fundraiser at a non-profit bookstore in Copenhagen.

[jennyalwaysreads]

'Acts of Service' by Lillian Fishman

Where has the trend for not using quotation marks in modern fiction come from? I found this so disorienting. I did not enjoy reading this and, though literature is subjective and for some this may be a wonderful read, I’m quite sure I would not recommend Acts of Service to anyone, unless I wanted to annoy them - 2/5.

There were some glimmers of great writing, some questions around desire and one’s own sexual self-identity, some important (brief) discussion of the power dynamics in both heteronormative and queer relationships, and some (even more brief) discussion of white male privilege. But beyond that, I unfortunately found this book a somewhat hollow and overall unenjoyable read, where all of the main characters were extremely unlikeable, over-privileged brats.

I didn’t enjoy this so much that I don’t even want to waste more time elaborating on the specifics of why. I’m definitely going to read more by Lillian Fishman in the future, but this just was not it for me.

[jennyalwaysreads]

Currently reading

Currently reading: 'Acts of Service' by Lillian Fishman 'Revolting Prostitutes' by Molly Smith and Juno Mac 'Case Study' by Graeme Macrae Burnet 'Penge & Bacon' by Anna Juul

Current progress update: • Acts of Service - at around 50% done and not sure how I feel. • Revolting Prostitutes - so far this current book club read is great. • Case Study - I just started this and I already can't put it down! • Penge & Bacon - I love this even if I'm reading it at a snail's pace.

I'm a mostly physical book reader (nothing truly beats it!) and I mostly have a fiction and a non-fiction book on the go at any one time.

I've recently been getting back into ebooks again because it's sometimes a little more convenient and with the change of the seasons, it can sometimes feel nice to change up the format I'm reading in. If I fall in love with the book, I always buy the physical book anyway, sooo I'm never missing out!

Finally, I've usually got a Danish book ongoing too, even if I am a little slow compared to my English reads. So, my stack of 'currently reading' is usually 4 books at a time (or thereabouts).