I’ve been overwhelmed with work and travel lately and have got out of the habit of blogging. But I’m going to return to my monthly reading roundups now, skipping over May and June and just picking up again in July.
Our School Stories 2019: Tales inspired by Dulwich College and P.G. Wodehouse
I read this one because I wrote one of the stories in it, and I wanted to see what the others were like. It’s quite a mix of different styles, which is not surprising because the editors gave quite free rein in how to interpret the idea of a school story. Some of the more Wodehousian ones weren’t really for me (Wodehouse himself is not really for me), but I enjoyed the more contemporary ones.
And the Wind Sees All by Guðmundur Andri Thorsson
A novel that takes place in a single minute, in which the protagonist is a village rather than an individual. We flit from character to character in this small Icelandic village, getting pen pictures of each person and the secrets and regrets that bind them together. I had to read it twice to see how everything fit together, and it was worth doing.
That’s All, Folks!
Yep, that’s it. My shortest monthly roundup by quite a distance. As I said, life has been busy, and my reading has fallen by the wayside along with my blogging. I’m hoping that just the act of writing this woefully short post might spur me back into action.
I might as well give a brief mention to a couple of highlights from the months when I didn’t write the roundup:
- The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell: a sobering look at how rising sea levels will affect different parts of the world (hey, Miami, time to get the diving gear out).
- An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie: a memoir about a teenager in 1960s Togo who became obsessed with the idea of going to live in Greenland and his amazing journey to make that happen. I was in Greenland as I read it, and really enjoyed his descriptions of the country and Inuit culture as well as his own personal journey.
Also, I have almost finished an excellent book called Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, so I’ll write about that next month, along with (hopefully) a more usual quota of books.
As always, you can read more book bloggers’ roundups over at Feed Your Fiction Addiction.
Have you read any good books lately? Let me know in the comments.
There are 13 comments
I’m curious about your second book. Yes, I have read awesome books these past 3 months, see here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/08/01/2019-may-june-july-wrap-up/
Oops, I think a paragraph got lost—I’ve added it back in now! Glad you had a good three months. It seems we’re returning to blogging at the same time 🙂
I hope you find more time to read this month. Reading is usually the first thing I neglect when I’m really busy. Hope you enjoy your August!
Thanks, Alicia! I feel in a better frame of mind now, and that usually seems more important than the actual time I have available. So I feel optimistic about this month 🙂
Yes, I’ve just read Voices from Chernobyl, the earlier version of Chernobyl Prayer, partly inspired by your post. And On the Red Hill, a glorious combination of nature writing and memoir set in Wales. I’m looking forward to hearing more from you.
Ah, that’s great to hear, Mandy! I’ll head over and read your review—look forward to seeing what you thought of it. And On the Red Hill sounds great too.
I like the cover of And the Wind See All.
Donna @ Girl Who Reads
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? A lot of the stories are tied together by the sight of a woman with a polka-dot dress cycling through the village, so it’s appropriate too.
And the Wind Sees All especially appeals to me – I’ll have to look out for that one!
I’m loving the book I’m reading right now (and almost finished) – Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta.
Hi Naomi! Ah, Frying Plantain sounds great. I hadn’t heard of it before, so thanks for giving me another book for my (ever-growing!) TBR list 🙂
Any time! 😉
And the Wind Sees All is such a unique and intriguing format to me. And I thought the YA novel I read in June called I’m Not Dying with You tonight had a short time setting (a few hours). Congrats on being published in an anthology!
Yes, it was something I’d never seen before, Danielle. It was a little confusing at first—so many characters, each with only a small amount of space on the page—but it was quite satisfying when I read it a second time and made all the connections. Thanks re the anthology 🙂