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October Reads | 52 Books 2015

11.16.2015 by Nicola Balkind //

I am very late to getting around to posting these. I do apologise.

So – here are my thoughts on the nine books I read in October.

did-you-ever-have-a-family

64. Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
★★★★★ – Literary agent Bill Clegg’s debut novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and found its way onto my review pile. This is beautifully and subtly drawn. I’m usually a sucker for multiple character perspectives, but these were overly detailed in ways that left me a little cold.

Read my full review in the Big Issue.

 

fates-furies

65. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
★★★★★ – The more you put into this book, the more you get out of it. It’s a fairly standard story of a marriage, followed by a complete deconstruction of its set-up. Groff’s insights are on point and it’s the characters rather than the plot that spark surprises and turns throughout. One of my favourite books of the year.

Read my full review in the Big Issue.

 

grandmother

66. Grandmother Divided by Monkey Equals Outer Space by Nora Chassler
★★★★★ – I read this in one sitting on a train and although a few scenes and general impressions stick in my mind, I can barely tell you what this book is about. It’s a family drama set in NYC, there’s a lot of drugs and alcohol involved, and its most interesting character – a psychic – is incidental to the plot. Give this one a miss.

 

1004

67. 10:04 by Ben Lerner
★★★★★ – Ben Lerner’s a very decorated author. New Yorky, intelligent, nuanced and insightful characters… yet somehow underwhelming.

 

in-order-to-live

68. In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
★★★★★ – Yeonmi Park’s autobiography tells of her experiences living in then defecting from North Korea. It’s tightly written and, though harrowing at points, never verges into misery or melodrama. I read this in two sittings. A remarkable woman and a remarkable story.

 

Poor Things
69. Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
★★★★★ – Alasdair Gray is very darkly comic and very on the nose. Here he borrows heavily from Frankenstein and related stories, adding a layer of comedy and politics that’s laid on so thick you can barely read the characters beneath. I was never able to forget that I was reading a story by Alasdair Gray that outlines Alasdair Gray’s cleverness and Alasdair Gray’s ability to put Alasdair Gray in Alistair Gray’s novel. I see what you did there, Ally, but I’d had enough after 100 pages.

 

barrel-fever

70. Barrel Fever by David Sedaris (audiobook)
★★★★★ – My final Sedaris book! I’ve been reading his books for years now, always whenever one happened to cross my path – so reading his first published book last didn’t give it the best chance to stand out. I listened to this as an audiobook with the author’s signature wry vocal performances, some featuring his sister Amy. As ever with his works, I preferred the personal essays to the stories here. Not his best work, but still Sedaris.

 

on-cats

71. On Cats by Charles Bukowski
★★★★★ – I couldn’t help but request this title when I spotted it on a website for advanced readers copies. Bukowski’s poetry is gruff and gentle as he expresses love for his pet cats so profound it’s near tangible. Some poems and short passages are a bit repetitive, playing on the same ideas and interactions, but overall this was a great wee collection to read before bed, and would make a lovely gift for any literary cat lover.

 

faces-in-the-crowd

72. Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli
★★★★★ – I bought this debut after purchasing the author’s latest book, The Story of My Teeth, but vowed to read it first so as to follow Luiselli’s growth as an author. I loved her essay collection, Sidewalks, and here I found many of her best quirks. The story is fragmented and divided by stars, popping up in different times, places, and character perspectives and relying on you as a reader to keep up – or to break it down farther on your own terms. I’d need a lot more words to do it justice, but I was not disappointed.

 

Your turn! Read anything good this month?

 

Categories // News Tags // 52 books 2015, audiobook review, ben lerner, Book Review, david sedaris

Adventures in Audio: Breakfast at Tiffany’s Review

02.18.2014 by Nicola Balkind //

Breakfast at Tiffany's Audiobook narrated by Michael C. Hall

As you may have guessed from my last blog post, I’m a recent and devout convert to the world of audio.

It started with the bookish podcasts: Book Talk made way for Book Riot, which led me on to riches. Pretty soon I was listening to up to 10 podcasts per week. Non-fiction audiobooks were next on my hit-list, but save for a Sedaris story or two, I hadn’t quite gotten around to them yet.

So last week when Audible emailed offering me the new audio version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s for review, I figured I’d give it a go.

I read Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote about 5 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a slim novella, 100 pages at most, and the recording comes in at a modest 2hrs 50 minutes (and only £4.54 to buy it outright). This latest recording is narrated by Michael C. Hall (aka Dexter from Dexter). Having worked the audio muscle, I really enjoyed the audiobook experience this time around.

Hall’s narration is smooth and engaging, and having read the book before I could tune in to the subtext and more subtler aspects of his performance. However he does get negative points for female voices – Holly Golightly is supposed to be pretty irritating, but listening to a man do a high-pitched voice is pretty cringeworthy.

Despite this pretty large drawback, overall it was great to have this story follow me around the house of a weekend and to revisit the world of 1930s New York, mean reds and all.

Consider me converted: I signed up for a trial membership and the next book on my TBR is One Summer: America 1927, written and narrated by Bill Bryson.

You can sign up for a free trial (1 month, 1 free credit) on the Audible website at http://www.audible.co.uk/

What is the best audiobook you’ve listened to? Leave your recommendations in comments!

Categories // Books Tags // 52 books 2014, audiobook review, Book Review

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