nomadreader

The backstory: A Burning is the debut novel of Mega Majumdar, who was born and raised in Kolkata, India. She moved to the United States to attend college at Harvard University, followed by graduate school in social anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. She works as an editor at Catapult, and lives in New York City. The basics:  "An electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise--to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies--and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India. Jivan is a Muslim girl from the slums, determined to move up in life, who is accused of executing a terrorist attack on a train because of a careless comment on Facebook. PT Sir is an opportunistic gym teacher who hitches his aspirations to a right-wing political party, and finds that his own ascent becomes linked to Jivan's fall. Lovely--an irresistible outcast whose exuberant voice and dreams of glory fill the ...

The backstory: Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favorite writers . I've read and loved all of her books.  American Wife , a fictionalization of Laura Bush's life, is one of my all-time favorite novels (and the first one I loved so much I rated it 6 stars out of 5.) When she announced she was writing a novel imagining what might have happened if Hillary Clinton never married Bill Clinton (she famously said no twice in real life), it immediately became the most anticipated novel of the year. My thoughts: This novel is best enjoyed the less you know about it. Of course, as I read, I kept wondering: will Hillary become president? That is a compelling plot point, for sure, but it's also a deceptively simple question in what is a brilliantly complex novel. This novel is both the story of the life of one woman and the ways in which her life would be similar or different if she didn't marry Bill Clinton. As the story of the life of a fascinating, if sometimes frustrating, person,...

Often I find myself listening to audiobooks that fit together, either by narrator, genre, theme or setting. As I find myself staring at a long list of them to review, I decided to start writing Litsy-length reviews and grouping them together in a new recurring series I'll call Audio Interludes. Today's installment features a trio of contemporary novels narrated in British and Irish accents. When All Is Said  by Anne Griffin narrated by Niall Buggy If an old maudlin Irishman narrator is your thing: do I have a book for you! Maurice Hannigan, over the course of one night, orders five different drinks a hotel bar and toasts each one to a different person who impacted his life. Through these five (very long) toasts that are more like stories, we learn about his life in interesting, and non-linear ways. For a debut novel, this book is bravely told, but for such an emotional book, it also felt like it was trying to be a little too clever. Is a lovely goal, but it didn't fu...

Dear Ruth Emmie Lang, I'm sorry it took me so long to read Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, but I'm so glad I finally did so I can tell the world how much I loved it. I've had it on my shelf since October 2017, when Steph Opitz picked it for Book of the Month . It wasn't a book I would picked without Steph's recommendation. It didn't sound like something I would like. I don't usually like magical realism. I don't really animals or nature very much (I know, I know.) But Steph introduced me to Taylor Jenkins Reid with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo , so I vowed to always choose her picks when she was a Book of the Month judge. But on my shelf it sat, unread. Then I signed up for the sixth  Litsy Markup Postal Book Club , and I thought, why not use one of the (many) Book of the Month books sitting on my shelf unread? So I picked six and had my group pick, and they all picked Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance . The choice was made for me: I ...

Dear Mia Barron, I just finished listening to you read Good Riddance , the latest novel from Elinor Lipman. I remember reading and enjoying some of her novels in the 1990's and early 2000's, but I haven't read one in years. The premise of this one (a yearbook thrown away, a nosy neighbor, a documentary film!) sounded so fun, and its length (8 hours 7 minutes) is my audiobook sweet spot. Immediately after I started listening, your voice sounded so familiar. I searched Audible to see if you'd narrated another audiobook I listened to. Nope. I read your IMDB page , and the most likely reason your voice felt so familiar is one episode of Grey's Anatomy  in season six . Or maybe your voice is one of those that feels familiar for no reasons. Either way, I kept finding excuses to listen and finished in a week. Then, about half-way through, after what passes for a twist in this book, I realized (can I be honest?) I didn't really like this book very much, but I wanted...

The backstory:  I bought this audiobook in 2014 when it was a Daily Deal, but like so many of the Daily Deals I buy, it never rose to the top of my audiobook TBR. On Litsy, CareBear hosted a low stakes read-a-long: read the book in February and discuss it at the end of the month. I'm so glad that I read this book but also that I had people to discuss it with because there is SO MUCH to discuss. The basics: This novel is set in a country house West Hall, Vermont in 1908 and the present day. The town has had quite a few strange disappearances and deaths over the years. In 1908, Sarah Harrison Shea, who is struggling with the death of her daughter, Gertie, and writing in a diary. Her husband and doctor confuse her grief with psychosis. In present day, 19-year-old Ruthie and her little sister Fawn live in Sarah's house, and their mother is missing. When looking for clues, they find Sarah's diary. My thoughts: If I'm being honest, if I knew I was reading a paranormal gho...

The basics:   "Kim Lord is an avant-garde figure, feminist icon, and agent provocateur in the L.A. art scene. Her groundbreaking new exhibition, Still Lives, features portraits in which she depicts herself as famous, murdered women—the Black Dahlia, Chandra Levy, Nicole Brown Simpson, among many others—and the works are as compelling as they are disturbing, implicating a culture that is too accustomed to violence against women. As the city's richest art patrons pour into the Rocque Museum's opening night, all the staff, including editor Maggie Richter, hope the event will be enough to save the historic institution's flailing finances. Except that Kim Lord never shows up to her own gala."--publisher My thoughts: I am perhaps the perfect audience for this novel: it's a mystery, but it's also a thoughtful examination of the contemporary Los Angeles art world, the role of women in art (as artist and subject), and how we view violence against women. I would ...

Four years ago I bought the audiobook of Crazy Rich Asians when it was the Audible daily deal. This month, I finally listened to it. These are the things I learned: 1. There are A LOT of characters. Don't let it worry you. In the first chapter featuring all of the mothers, I almost gave up or started over. Keep listening. The more important characters emerge, and I wasn't confused. Part of that is due to: 2. Lynn Chen's narration is excellent. She utilizes voices so well, I wasn't even aware of them. I soon could tell who was talking simply through her performance, which makes me sad because: 3. She doesn't narrate the next two books in the series. This book is the last one she narrated. I hope it's because her acting career has really taken off and she doesn't have time. 4. Speaking of the next two books, this book's ending is: abrupt and unsatisfying. I looked at my phone and couldn't believe the book was over. It begs the reader to start ...

Dear Chloe, You probably don't remember me, but I was first in line for your galley signing of The Immortalists  at the American Library Association conference last summer. When you got there, you were surprised and excited to see so many people in line for you, a relatively unknown author who was already garnering serious  buzz about your sophomore novel six months before its publication. I admit, at the time, I thought it was your first novel because I didn't remember hearing about you. I'm sorry. I've requested your first novel, which was longlisted for a prize I follow very closely , from the library. I can't wait to read it. I didn't pick up The Immortalists  until December because I like to read books about a month before they're published. From the very first pages, I knew I was in good hands. I'm writing this letter because I want to thank you for writing the best book I've read in the last two and a half years. It's a really big deal...

The backstory: The Lucky Ones  is longlisted for the 2017 Center for Fiction's  First Novel Prize . The basics:   "A literary jigsaw puzzle of a debut novel set in Colombia during the peak of its decades-long conflict, and in New York City."-publisher My thoughts: When this year's First Novel Prize longlist was announced, I'd already read two. The Lucky Ones  was the first one I picked up from the longlist, so I had high expectations. I started it on my lunch break. The first chapter left me breathless; it was extraordinary. It, and many of the other stories, were originally published as short stories, and it shows. Some chapters are stronger than others, and the order certainly matters. Pachico uses names sparingly, and I spent the first parts of most chapters trying to figure out who the narrator was and if/when I'd read about them before. I enjoy non-linear stories told in this way, and I enjoyed it (for the most part) in this novel. I was hoping for ...

The backstory:   Marlena  is Julie Buntin's first novel. The basics:   "The story of two girls and the wild year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades." My thoughts: Marlena  consumed me as I read it. It opens in the present day, where we meet Cat. This glimpse into the present felt brief, but I soon realized the real action of this novel is in the past. Initially, I found myself hungering to return to the present, which is at least partly do to my fascination with knowing how things end because figuring out how characters move from the past to the present (or future) fascinates me. But as this novel went on, I found myself much less invested in present Cat, which surprised me. Buntin is a gifted writer, and she made me love reading about teenage angst in a way I haven't enjoyed in years. She made me prefer a teen storyline to an adult storyline. At times, she even made me remember my teen years with fondness, "Everyone has a se...

The backstory: I saw Wendy Walker speak at ALA in June. I started All Is Not Forgotten  the morning I heard her speak, as I figured it would be a good book to read during a conference--something that would keep my attention, but that I could put down while I was busy attending programs and events. I was right on one of those. The basics:  "It begins in the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut, where everything seems picture perfect. Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, struggles to pretend this horrific event did not touch her...

The basics:  "Twenty-two, and knowing no one, Tess leaves home to begin her adult life in New York City. Thus begins a year that is both enchanting and punishing, in a low-level job at “the best restaurant in New York City.” Grueling hours and a steep culinary learning curve awaken her to the beauty of oysters, the finest Champagnes, the appellations of Burgundy. At the same time, she opens herself to friendships—and love—set against the backdrop of dive bars and late nights."--publisher My thoughts: I am not often a reader who makes much of first lines. I don't know if that's a trait unique to me, or a result that the first lines of books I read aren't remarkably good or bad. But when I started Sweetbitter , I read the first paragraph, put the book down, added it to my favorite passages, and texted it to Mr. Nomadreader: "You will develop a palate.  A palate is a spot on your tongue where you remember. Where you assign words to the textures of taste. ...

narrated by Tavia Gilbert The backstory: Girl Through Glass  is on the 2016 First Novel Prize longlist. The basics: Told in alternating chapters, Girl Through Glass  is the story of a young girl's coming of age at the highest levels of New York City ballet in the late 1970's, and where she is now, a dance history professor somewhere in Ohio. While it appears to be a simple narrative at first, it soon becomes clear there are many mysteries between the 1970's and today for the reader to discover. My thoughts: Over the years I find myself less drawn to traditional coming of age stories, so I was excited to see this one offered two timelines, a narrative technique I enjoy. As is often the case with such a structure, I find myself trying to fit the pieces together as I read. The biggest challenge of dual narratives are what to revela when, and while I took issue with a few of Wilson's choices as I read, I admit I can't come up with a better way to tell this st...

The basics: Yasmine El Rashidi's debut novel is set in Cairo in three pivotal summers in modern Egyptian history: 1984, 1998, and 2014. My thoughts: I admit, most of what I know about contemporary Egyptian politics comes from watching the documentary The Square, which is harrowing and amazing. El Rashidi has the daunting task of writing a novel about a time and place readers may or may not be familiar with. She attempts to address this problem through her narrator. We meet her in 1984 when she is a child trying to filter the different things she hears from friends and family members to make sense of them. Child narrators don't often work for me, but this one was successful. She served as a filter for the reader to learn the state of things, and this section also sets the stage to offer contrast to the coming sections (if you know anything about Egypt, that is not a spoiler.) The second section was my favorite. I partially attribute it to the fact that the narrator, and per...

The backstory: Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favorite authors. I've thoroughly enjoyed all her novels, Prep,  The Man of My Dreams , Sisterland  and my all-time favorite novel, American Wife .  The basics: Eligible  is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It's set in contemporary Cincinnati. My thoughts: I begin this review with a confession: I have never read Pride and Prejudice . Unless you count the BabyLit version , which I have read to Hawthorne more times than I can count. Despite never having read it (or seen any of the film adaptations), I am quite familiar with the plot. I debated whether or not to read Pride and Prejudice  before or after Eligible. I spent months, in fact, with a copy of Eligible  on my Kindle debating. So I finally read it, and I'm glad I didn't read Pride and Prejudice  first. Sittenfeld writes in a way that is thoroughly modern and authentic, but I was able to guess the actual events of Pride and Prejudice ...

The backstory: The Book of Memory  is on the 2016 Baileys Prize longlist. The basics:  "Memory, the narrator of Petina Gappah’s The Book of Memory, is an albino woman languishing in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare, Zimbabwe, after being sentenced for murder. As part of her appeal, her lawyer insists that she write down what happened as she remembers it. The death penalty is a mandatory sentence for murder, and Memory is, both literally and metaphorically, writing for her life. As her story unfolds, Memory reveals that she has been tried and convicted for the murder of Lloyd Hendricks, her adopted father. But who was Lloyd Hendricks? Why does Memory feel no remorse for his death? And did everything happen exactly as she remembers?"--publisher My thoughts: The Book of Memory  was one of the novels I most anticipated this year. The premise is downright beguiling. Gappah's background is as a lawyer, and I loved that she infuses law in this novel without ...

The basics: The Expatriates  is the story of the large American expatriate community in Hong Kong, and it's centered around three different women: Mercy, a young Korean-American and recent Columbia graduate adrift in Hong Kong; Hilary, a wealthy housewife struggling to have a baby; and Margaret, a happily married mother of three. My thoughts: Longtime readers of this blog know how much I love to travel vicariously through reading, so I was excited to explore Hong Kong's expatriate community in The Expatriates . The novel certainly delivers on armchair travel, but the reading experience was much deeper and richer than that. It offers so much more than an escapist read set in an exotic world of wealth. The three female narrators are both the heart and backbone of this novel. Each woman is unique, fully realized, and wholly human. I found sympathy with each, but I also found reality in their faults. Although a smaller part of the novel, I found myself enchanted with Lee...

The backstory: My experiences reading Elizabeth Strout have been uneven. I liked Olive Kitteridge , which won the Pulitzer Prize , but I didn't love it, mostly because I wanted more of a novel feeling than interconnected short stories. I was not very fond of The Burgess Boys , despite "beautifully detailed prose and richly developed characters." My review for Amy and Isabelle  hasn't posted yet, but it was my favorite Strout to date. Until My Name Is Lucy Barton. Update: My Name Is Lucy Barton  has been longlisted for the 2016 Baileys Prize . The basics:  "Lucy Barton, a writer, married with two young children, is in the hospital in New York City due to an infection from a simple appendix operation. (Her medical condition is incidental—it’s not about the illness). Her mother, whom she hasn’t seen in years, comes from Amgash, Illinois, to visit her, and sits by her bedside, reminiscing about people she and Lucy know from Lucy’s childhood, before Lucy went of...

The basics:   "A sharp, funny, delightfully unhinged collection of stories set in the dark world of domesticity, American Housewife features murderous ladies who lunch, celebrity treasure hunters, and the best bra fitter south of the Mason Dixon line."--publisher My thoughts: I knew from the first line of the first story in this collection that it was exactly what I needed to be reading: "Inspired by Beyonce, I stallion-walk to the toaster." I was hooked. I devoured this collection in a single morning. I read voraciously and was rather despondent when I finished. I didn't know what I could possibly read after that could stand up to Ellis's voice (my only option was to pick up something completely different.) While the stories in this collection have some similarities and share some common themes, my reading experience was filled with surprises and delight. I read with glee. Favorite passage: "You are so bad!" is Southern Lady code for: Th...