Hillary
I absolutely loved Stoner and was expecting to be blown away by Augustus. The story is told through various accounts, which was a little bit hard for me to get into at first, but I ended up really enjoying it. I knew next to nothing about the Romans/Greeks/Egyptians, so this was a good venture outside of the usual modern literary fiction I read.
Even though there is something annoying about Sally Rooney's books (I think it reminds me of something someone who doesn't read would love / think is the epitome of art), I get sucked in and like her characters and think she does a good job developing plot lines. I preferred Normal People to this one, but this was a great quick quarantine read.
I read this because it beat A Tale for the Time Being for the Man Booker in 2013 and so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. This is a long (800+) but relatively quick-moving read about a gold-mining community in New Zealand in the 1800s. Like a mystery, characters are slowly introduced and exposed, and a blurry image of what's going on clarifies throughout. Overall, I liked this but would have shelved it early on if it wasn't a book club assignment. I felt there are better things to read and the opportunity cost of reading something so long wasn't worth it for me.
Although I don't remember it very well, I absolutely loved One Hundred Years of Solitude when I read it in either late high school or early college. This had been on my list for years and I figured Coronavirus pandemic was as good a time as any to read something set in the time of a cholera pandemic. The character development is beautiful and this felt honest in a way that only fiction can really pull off, but I just could not get my brain to gel with Marquez's writing style. I had to focus pretty consistently throughout instead of falling into the story. I liked it but was a little underwhelmed because of that.
I think Atwood might be one of the smartest writers out there. Each of her books that I have read have been so unique, with well-defined characters. This one is a bit of a mystery, which I liked, and the story was as elegantly told as her others. The “twist” wasn't as exciting as I expected, so the end fell a little flat for me but still a very good read.
I loved this. The weaving of storylines between a girl in Japan and a character who seems to be a factionalized version of the author totally worked for me. I was uncertain how Ozeki could build on the momentum she had to come up with a satisfying ending, but the introduction of quantum physics really worked for me. This book had everything I wanted and was a perfect quarantine read.
This was by no means the worst book I've ever read (and I don't know if the author deserves the backlash she's received), but I kept finding myself rolling my eyes at certain characters and just not fully bought into how reflective the narrative was of an actual migrant journey through Mexico. Obviously, an important story to tell, but this was just okay for me. Couldn't get behind it.
I really struggled with this one. The author won the Nobel prize in literature and the Man Booker and this came highly recommended, but at no point was I able to really fall into the story. I had to go back and reread what felt like most of the book. I really wanted to like this one, the premise and writing were both very unique but overall I couldn't get into it. Still finished it to see if anything redeeming happened toward the end but ultimately wouldn't recommend.
I went through phases while reading this where I didn't feel super engaged / into the story. The writing is very poetic and pretty and I think Ocean's story is historically underrepresented and unique and this book absolutely deserves the praise and attention it has been getting. Still, I didn't love it.
I bought this a little over a year ago in a bookshop where somehow every customer/employee had already read it. This led to a deep dive internet intro to Zola and the Rougon Macquart series. I ended up reading a couple other Zola books before getting to this one and really liked them. Overall, I liked Nana but not as much as I liked Germinale and L'assommoir. I think it also may have been overhyped in my head from the bookshop intro. Still good, still liked it, just didn't love it.
