September Reading Recap
What’s the spookiest kind of author? A ghostwriter.
Happy October, book lovers! It’s the start of my favorite time of year when we transition from shorts and tank tops to hot tea and cozy clothes. Where we no longer have to feel guilty for spending time inside reading when we should be outside soaking up the last of the summer sun. This month included a few of my favorite books that I’ve read so far this year, and a few books are being published within the next few weeks that I’m also excited to get my hands on. Stay tuned for that. Until next time, happy reading!
Christine by Stephen King
Quick Synopsis: Arnie, a 17-year-old from a small town, buys and fixes up an old car. He becomes obsessed with the car and names her Christine, and she begins to take over his life in mysterious ways.
Strong Points: If you know anything about me, you know I love Stephen King. My favorite book of all time is 11-22-63 (which happens to be the same book my now husband was reading when I met him and one of the many reasons I agreed to a second date). I try and savor his books, especially his older classics. And this felt like a good time to dive into Christine. I started it on my anniversary weekend trip away in remote Canada and devoured the whole 656-page beast in three days. I couldn’t put it down. My husband is in the shower? Pulling out the book. We have 20 minutes before dinner? Let me read just a few more pages. I was completely engrossed in this small town, car-murdering craziness. There’s something about King’s storytelling that feels like a comfy, warm hug. I hope he continues to write these comfy books for many years to come.
Weak Points: Not a personal weak point for me, but some points were a little cheesy; it’s a story about a murderous car. Odds are if you’re picking up a Stephen King book, you know that his writing/plot can sometimes be this way.
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Recommend
For Fans of: The Shining by Stephen King, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, and Carrie by Stephen King
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
Quick Synopsis: A story told between three characters' different lives, spanning different countries, cultures, and centuries. Arthur lives in London in the 1800s, Zaleekah in 2018, and Narin lives in Turkey in 2014. Each of these stories are connected by one drop of water and two powerful rivers, the Thames and Tigris.
Strong Points: After reading Christine, I needed a completely different genre because nothing was going to live up to King’s writing and storytelling. Oh man, I was satisfied with my choice. The writing and storytelling in this book were superb as well. The interwoven storylines from Arthur, Narin, and Zaleekah were beautiful, each equally interesting, leaving me engrossed from beginning to end. Which is a real feat when writing a book through different POVs and tones. More times than not, I find myself more invested in one character’s story than another when told like this. This was not the case. The way the stories all came together in the end was masterfully done.
The concept of the book was how one drop of water goes through many stages, constantly manifesting itself over millions and millions of years, long after we have died. Yet something as small as this one drop still connects us to each other centuries and centuries later. Growing up in Turkey, in an interview, the author noted that the Middle East and North Africa make up a large percentage of the most water-stressed places in the world, with the rivers drying up quickly. She believes we need to rethink our connection with nature. Right now, we think of nature in terms of how we can consume it, and that needs to change. I like that message.
I also like well-researched fiction books. The afterward breaks down the journey of a drop of water and how long it takes in each stage. For example, in the middle of its journey in 1872, it landed on Arthur’s face, which took about 5 seconds. It then evaporates, rests on a cloud, and falls as rain in the mountains, which takes 142 years. She also gives background about which characters were fictional and which were real. For example, Arthur was named King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums in the book, and she explains that the exact character was fictional but it was loosely based on George Smith, who decoded cuneiform and dedicated his life to ancient poems, much like fictional Arthur. I wish all historical fiction was forced to write an afterward detailing the fiction from the nonfiction. That would be something I could get behind!
I think the true test of whether a book is successful is if it sticks with you long after reading the last page and closing the book—a story that you know you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life. There Are Rivers in the Sky is doing just that. That’s what makes reading special to me. It’ll be a popular Christmas present from me this year.
Weak Points: Nothing really
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Flow/Pacing: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5
Highly Recommend
For Fans of: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari, and Playground by Richard Powers
Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
Quick Synopsis: In Sarajevo in 1992, nationalist gangs started to take over the city, splitting it up into different enclaves. Thinking this won’t last more than a few days, Zora sends her husband and elderly mother to stay with her daughter in London while she stays behind to keep an eye on the apartment and continue to work. Alone in the city, Zora soon finds herself trapped after the city falls under siege.
Strong Points: What a bone-chilling concept for a book and a too-real one for many.
The author’s mom is from Sarajevo and moved to England before the Bosnian war, but many of her relatives were trapped during the siege. Her father went to Sarajevo to help them escape. Her great-uncle described the burning of the Bosnian National Library and how the char of the burnt book pages floated through the air, almost like black butterflies. Hence the name of the book.
You can tell the author felt deeply about this period and that it affected her and her family deeply. It shows in her writing because nothing felt artificial about Zora's and her family's experience. You could feel the real human emotion, especially when Zora wasn’t sure if she should leave behind her home and her friends and give up everything she has ever known for safety. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch deals with the same concept of leaving your home to seek safety at the beginning of a war, and it felt so insincere and contrived. This book nails it, though. It’s another one of those books that’ll stick with you in a haunting way.
Weak Points: Once again, no weak points stuck out to me.
It was only 256 pages however, it was not a light or fast read. If you’re looking for something dark and thought-provoking, I highly recommend this.
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 5/5
Flow/Pacing: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Highly Recommend
For Fans of: Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin, Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler
Quick Synopsis: Moddie returns to her hometown after a tough breakup.
Strong Points: Taking a turn from the heavy Black Butterflies, I picked this up mere minutes after finishing. I needed something light, and this did the trick. For the first 20 pages, this book was cracking me up. There were a few times I laughed out loud. That doesn’t happen very often. It had so much potential! And then... it was all downhill from there.
Weak Points: Man, this book was not for me. I have to say, I was warned by the person who recommended it that they didn’t think I would like it, but me being stubborn, I wanted to find out why. So buckle up as I tell you why.
My first two problems with this book were the tangents, which went nowhere and were hard and boring to follow, and the weaving between random characters’ POVs. The author would be describing a scene and suddenly cut to the POV of a random stranger standing at a bus stop. The stranger adds nothing to the story (see next point for lack of plot) and takes away from getting to know any of the main-ish characters. I say “main-ish” because there weren’t really any main characters to begin with. Listen, if the writing was stronger, there may have been a world in which this worked, but it didn’t for this one since all of the voices of these random people also sounded the same and weren’t distinct enough to allow the reader to care.
My third problem is the lack of plot and overall lack of organization. If you’re going to publish a book, give us something to read about. Give us something with meaning, or at the very least, give us some good writing. Unfortunately, this didn’t have any of that. It’s like the author word vomited in a Word document and turned it in to the publisher.
I’ve learned my lesson by reading something despite a strong warning that the book probably isn't for you. One word: snoozefest.
Writing Style: 1/5
Characters: 0.5/5
Plot: 0.5/5 – I’m not sure how I’m supposed to rate a plot that doesn’t exist.
Flow/Pacing: 1/5
Overall Rating: 1/5
Not Recommend
For Fans of: Liars by Sarah Manguso, Worry by Alexandra Tanner, and The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya
Mina’s Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa
Quick Synopsis: Tomoko goes to stay with her wealthy aunt and uncle while her mother goes to school in Tokyo after her father passes. There she connects with her family and experiences love and comfort that she hasn’t experienced before.
Strong Points: You know me and my love for Japanese literature. This is from the author who wrote The Memory Police, which, by the way, is currently being adapted into a film by Charlie Kaufman. (Let’s hope it goes better than I’m Thinking of Ending Things.) It was originally published in Japan in 2005 as a series of stories in a magazine, until it was put together and translated to English by Ogawa’s longtime translator, Stephen Snyder, in August of this year.
Like The Memory Police, this book also looks at memory, but at a fond time from Tomoko’s childhood. It was both imaginative and mixed with real-world problems told through Tomoko’s POV three decades after this period in her life. You feel the nostalgia of growing up through this book. Like going to the first day of school and being nervous, signing up for your first ever library card, and the freedom of doing the first adult-like thing on your own. By the end of the story, you feel as if the cast of characters is your family as well. From the first to the last sentence, it was beautiful.
Weak Points: Not really a weak point, but since it is told strictly through Tomoko’s memory during that time, we don’t get the whole picture of what was happening between the parents and the world around her. I suppose when you're a kid, you're somewhat oblivious to complex adult relationships that are taking place around you. While I would have liked the whole picture, this “weak point” did give the book a charm, unlike any other book told this way.
A very wholesome, charming read.
Writing Style: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Highly Recommend
For Fans of: The Third Love by Hiromi Kawakami, Entitlement by Rumaan Alam, and The Bookshop by Evan Friss
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
Quick Synopsis: One day in America, all white people walk to a body of water and drown themselves. Charles Brunton, a black man living in this new world, is released from prison, where he was serving time for being wrongly accused of raping his white girlfriend. After his estranged daughter, Sidney calls him, asking to be driven down south to look for any family that she might have left.
Strong Points: Yikes, this book filled me with such anxiety. The writer’s voice was effective in making the reader feel like they were in ruin, decrepit lands filled with unknown dangers around every corner. It’s designed to make you feel uncomfortable. The concept was unique, and it didn’t go where I thought it was going. It’s a clever commentary on race and class.
Weak Points: At times, this book has some plot holes and things that were explained away with magical realism, which I wasn’t a fan of. It almost felt like the author came up with the concept and ran with it before thinking of tangible ideas to support this story from beginning to end. It felt very half-assed. For example, I didn’t like how the story only focused on black and white people. What about the other racial groups that don’t fit into that category? Instead of pretending the other racial groups don’t exist, the author could have added a cool subplot about this.
There was also a major pacing problem. The second act felt long and slow and didn’t add anything to the plot. It felt like filler to get from the first act to the third act. It could have been done with more editing and rewrites. This was Campbell’s debut novel.
Will I read more of his books in the future? Possibly, but this one didn’t do it for me.
Writing Style: 2/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Plot: 2/5
Flow/Pacing: 2/5
Overall Rating: 2/5
Not Recommend
For Fans of: The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley, Colored Television by Danzy Senna, and The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
Quick Synopsis: An American woman goes undercover to infiltrate an anarchist commune in France.
Strong Points: Nothing to report
Weak Points: I was disappointed by The Mars Room but thought I would give Kushner another read since it has been nominated for many literary awards. However, I think I’ve learned my lesson.
My biggest problem was that her writing (more like rambling) drove me crazy. I could not for the life of me get in the groove of it. It was unorganized, and I could never settle into it. It didn’t make me feel any certain way (other than bored), and I kept having to force myself to open it back up. So much so that I read both Mina’s Matchbox AND Sky Full of Elephants while trying to get through this one, and only because it was the only book I had left on my Kindle to read. Yikes.
The story was interesting enough but not nearly as engaging as it should have been considering it was branded as a spy novel. As Alexandra Schwartz from The New Yorker wrote, “Kushner is not writing a spy novel—she is subverting the spy novel! She is the true secret agent, using the ruse of promised genre pleasures to smuggle in a discussion of ideas! Stalling is not the same thing as suspense, and plot is an unfortunate thing to dispense with in a spy story, even—maybe especially—if it is only a pastiche of one.” I couldn’t agree more.
I felt nothing for the main character Sadie. She wasn’t likable, interesting, or a badass spy. In fact, none of the characters were likable. I couldn’t root for any of them. This left me with a “so what” attitude throughout.
I might be missing something because everyone seems to enjoy her writing. Oh well. I won’t be returning to Kushner ever again.
Writing Style: 0.25/5
Characters: 1/5
Plot: 2/5
Flow/Pacing: 2/5
Overall Rating: 1.5/5
Not Recommend
For Fans of: Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud, and My Friends by Hisham Matar
All That Glitters: A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art by Orlando Whitfield
Quick Synopsis: Orlando Whitfield tells the story of his friendship with Inigo Philbrick, the art dealer who was a part of the largest art fraud in US history.
Strong/Weak Points: What a fun and crazy story. It taught me so much about the art world and dumbed it down enough for even the most basic person to understand. For example, I didn’t realize that multiple people could technically be the owners of an art piece. Then, when they resell it, they each get a share depending on how much of the piece they own. Or how there are sellers that specialize in the primary art market (a piece being sold for the very first time) and a secondary market (the piece being resold again and again).
I know some people are criticizing the author for throwing his best friend under the bus for a book deal, but I didn’t feel that way at all. Whitfield was fair yet honest when describing Inigo and their friendship. He told stories about their early days in college and selling art, the lavish parties Philbrick would throw, and credited Philbrick with how nice he was to service staff and how everyone loved it. Also, you cannot tell me if these critics were friends with someone who committed the largest art fraud in US history, went into hiding in Vanuatu, and finally was found and arrested, that they wouldn’t write a story about that too. It wasn’t all happy times with Philbrick; the author was also scammed by him.
For the book itself, the writing was pretty decent—nothing too breathtaking. Whitfield was a good enough storyteller, and the story itself was interesting enough that it kept my attention.
Writing Style: 3/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 3/5
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Recommend
For Fans of: Guilty Creatures by Mikita Brottman, Cue the Sun! by Emily Nussbaum, and Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story By Olga Tokarczuk
Quick Synopsis: In 1913, a young man suffering from tuberculosis was promised a cure, and care went to a men’s guesthouse next to a health resort in the Silesian mountains. Only soon does he realize there’s something dark and mysterious going on in the shadows of the surrounding woods.
Strong Points: This is Tokarczuk’s first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. I’m happy to say she has not succumbed to the Nobel curse (winners crumble under the pressure to write after winning the award). This book was originally published in Poland in 2022 and has finally been translated by the talented Antonia Lloyd-Jones and published here. It draws inspiration from The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which takes place at a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps. I haven’t read this book, but it’s considered one of the most prolific German novels.
One of my favorite things about Tokarczuk's writing is how she sets the scene and mood so well without so many words. This is what sets her writing apart from others. She seems to do this in such an effortless yet effective way. It makes it really easy to get sucked into the book and forget the world around you. Having grown up in the area where this story took place, she’s able to add an extra layer of authenticity further sucking you in.
I also love the many, many layers of her writing. There’s a thick layer of misogyny among the men in the men’s house. Tokarczuk explains that these were views paraphrased from prolific writers back in the day such as Ovid, Kerouac, Plato, and Freud. What a great concept!
Weak Points: I didn’t care for the long-winded lectures between the men in the men’s house about God and women. While I got what she was going for, the monologues ran a little long at times, which slowed down the pacing.
I couldn’t recommend this more. While maybe not as thrilling as it should be considering it’s labeled a horror story, the writing is something to devour. If you haven’t read her Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, add that one to the top of your list as well. She is writing one last “long” novel, and then she claims she’s retiring due to back problems. What a sad day that will be.
Writing Style: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Flow/Pacing: 3/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommend
For Fans of: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, and There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
“All too often, we humans destroy nature and call it progress.” - There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
