#reading2018

[bibliolectors]

Ha sido un 2018 lleno de interesantísimas lecturas (ilustración de Bea Tormo)

[engelsk]

[ 7 / 1 O O ] — One week done, 93 days left! Trying to finish Giovanni’s Room today.. though, I’m finding this book hard to read bc it’s very sad and I’m trying to be happy! At least I’m almost done with it..

playlists — studygram

[jeffstern]

Ottessa Moshfegh - My Year of Rest and Relaxation

I love Ottessa Moshfegh’s writing - she has a style and voice that is unique and hard to describe. She also creates fascinating characters, and the leads in this story are no exception, even though I wouldn’t have expected to want to read a book about a privileged white girl in nyc with dealing with depression and pill problems. 

I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed reading this. Moshfegh is smart and funny and dark and thoughtful and also just a great writer. This is another one that I’m looking forward to reading again, but not because there were things that I didn’t understand/catch (e.g. The Iliac Crest) - I just want to enjoy it again some day in the future when my memory has faded a bit.

[jeffstern]

Nick Drnaso - Sabrina

This was another book club selection, and I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s been a while since I read a graphic novel, and initially I was turned off by the art, which is not very fancy. But getting into the story, and seeing how much some of the simple drawings were able to convey (in terms of plot as well as emotion), the art became something that I really appreciated and came to love by the end.

I think it was good to read this as a book club, because I was forced to break it up over 2 weeks, and therefore think a bit more about each section. There is a lot going on in the storyline, and it’s incredible just how many aspects of our current world are captured within this book. It’s dark, a story about a woman who has been murdered by a serial killer, and how those who love her move on afterwards. And yet despite all of the darkness (and there’s quite a bit, within several storylines/character arcs), I never got the feeling that it was dreary, depressing, or overwrought. Nor did it feel sensationalist or voyeuristic like so many true crime stories. As one of my book club friends said, “it’s kind of like a day in the life story, just with someone who has a very odd life.”

[jeffstern]

Samantha Hunt - Mr. Splitfoot

This was a fun read, with great pacing and lots of suspense. In my mind it’s an adventure story in a creepy setting, though I could see others thinking of it as horror or something else altogether. Samantha Hunt tells two stories, one “present day” and a linked one from the past, and the reader moves back and forth in time as each life is revealed a bit more. Good stuff.

[jeffstern]

The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Garza

This was a book club selection back in September, and I really enjoyed it. It was one of those books where I knew that there was a lot that I was missing, but I kept going because the story and characters were fascinating, and I felt like I could re-read it later and get more out of it then. Finishing the book, I felt the same way, and also the desire to return and re-read. 

The story is somewhat science fictional and dystopian without being either of those things, and I’m honestly at a loss as to how to describe it. I liked it, though, and look forward to picking it back up a few years down the road and seeing how it reads with different eyes.

[jeffstern]

Lydia Davis - The End of the Story

I was introduced to Lydia Davis recently via two of her short stories, which I really liked. I’ve also been on a kick the past few years of reading memoirs, with a particular interest in those that may not typically fit under the category of “memoir.” So when I went looking for Lydia Davis books and saw that she had written a novel wherein an unnamed narrator tries to put back together memories of a past love affair in order to write a novel...that sounded right up my alley. 

While I think that I might have been better served by starting with a collection of short stories, I enjoyed reading this quite a bit. Some parts were formally interesting, and her observational/descriptive skills are sharp and precise, while coming in a voice that is distinct and unique. There were some parts that were slower, or where I lost interest, but then I’d come across a sentence or a sentiment that would strike me and bring me to a pause. 

I liked this a lot, and I’m looking forward to getting into the short stories, which is more of what Davis is known for.

[jeffstern]

I’ve been interested in non-standard memoirs / autobiographical fiction for the past few years, and Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was a pleasure to read in this category. Telling the story of a young Jeanette growing up in a very strictly religious household in rural England, this coming-of-age story does a great job of walking the line between heartbreaking and hilarious (though I didn’t find myself at either extreme - more often these elements were interwoven so that I felt bits of each emotion at the same time). The main character’s voice is distinctive and her interior life rich. Winterson’s writing style is a pleasure to read, and she manages to take a life in a world that seems completely foreign to my experience and bring it to life in a vivid, compelling, and ultimately relatable way. I’ve already bought one more of her books, and have several others on my list - looking forward to reading much more of her writing.