nomadreader

The backstory: Lila  is the third novel in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead trilogy. I did not like Gilead  ( my review ), which won the Pulitzer Prize . So far, Lila  has won the National Book Critics Circle award , been shortlisted for the National Book Award , longlisted for the Booker Prize , and named a New York Times  Notable book . The basics: Lila  is the story of Ames's wife Lila, from her troubled girlhood to her unlikely marriage to the much older pastor. Readers will find the characters and many of the events familiar. *spoiler* unpopular opinion ahead! My thoughts:  Despite not liking Gilead , I was somewhat excited to read Lila. One of the biggest issues I took with Gilead  was the believability of the marriage of Lila and Ames. I hoped seeing things from Lila's perspective would even make me appreciate Gilead  more. Near the end of this novel there is what I presume is intended to be a poignant religious scene, yet I rolled m...

The backstory: Veteran comic artist Roz Chast's graphic memoir was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award (non-fiction), one of the top 5 New York Times  nonfiction titles of 2014, and a finalist for the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography.) The basics: Chast, an only child, recounts her struggles with her parents, who lived into their 90's, refusing to plan for their death. My thoughts: I've enjoyed Roz Chast's cartoons in The New Yorker  for a long time, which makes sense given the back of this book tells me she's been drawing them for the magazine since before I was born. Parts of this memoir resemble comic strips, but I was surprised to see some pages have exclusively text (handwritten.) Chast plays with format in interesting ways in this graphic memoir, but it's her more traditional images I found most entertaining. What I liked most about this memoir was Chast's ability to provide some levity to the darkness. She writes ...

Translated from German by Damion Searls The backstory: Comedy in a Minor Key was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction . It was originally published in German in 1949 and was only translated into English last year. The basics: The story of a marriage during war, Comedy in a Minor Key follows Marie and Wim, a Dutch couple who take the risk to secretly house Nico, a Jew. They bravely take in a stranger despite their trepidation. My thoughts: With less than 150 pages in this novella, Keilson infuses a remarkable amount of danger, beauty, and action. Marie and Wim are heroic yet ordinary. Their relationship with Nico is haunting to watch. The story itself jumps around through time, which helps maintain both the action and the suspenseful contemplation of its characters. I've found myself increasingly drawn to tales of marriage, across many places, ages and spectrums. The Story of Wim and Marie was fascinating and their love moved me deeply. T...