Kick the Latch was such a pleasant surprise for me! I had heard such positive things about it, but was truly taken aback by how brilliant it was. Ok interesting thank you for sharing - I will read Dominant Animals next!!
Came here to say the same thing as @Natalie G. The Aug 9-Fog book is very lovely production-wise, but Dominant Animal is more fun to read. Kick the Latch is definitely the masterpiece though - genuinely one of my all-time favourite books.
Oo thank you for the insight Katie! I definitely want fun so I will reach for Dominant Animal next. Honestly I think it might end up on my best books of the year list, I could not believe while I was reading how well crafted, written and conceptualised it all is! I think I will want to re read it again very soon - I read it too fast!
You must! I think you'd really really love it and it is just so pleasantly easy to read. I'd be so fascinated if you decided to read the new Lacey - I am sat waiting for the potential literary discourse to emerge about it and whether anyone else will feel like it was as intrusive as I did!
Also, did you see that you can apparently read the new Lacey starting from either direction…. I’m curious about how you would recommend reading it now that you have
not you asking if I saw that when I own a copy of the book... anyway yes you can literally flip it upside down and start either side!! I flipped it a fair few times waiting for a 'true' beginning to scream out to me and one didn't so I just choose randomly! I think there could have been the potential to love the fiction more if I read the nonfic first - it would have set up the themes in a really different way that I think COULD have been more poignant. But alas I'll never know.
(Yes, I read your review of Evenings and Weekends through hands covering my eyes. I think you made some really great points! I think on a reread I would likely be more critical of it.)
After my 5 min voicenote ripping apart the book to you I am impressed you wanted more 😉 very brave of you to agree with some of my criticisms and still love it! Who knows if the month was different maybe I would have liked it more but honestly I was in a hater mindset and here we are.
I cannot believe you didn't read it last month even though you said you would!! Maybe once you'll read it you'll be able to see why I didn't like it. I have hope for you though - I think you'll enjoy it.
Have you read Lacey’s short story collection? Certain American States. That was my first intro to her and remember loving them. Definitely curious about Mobius!
tbh i agree with all of your evenings & weekends criticism, but i have a place in my heart (read: my dwindling attention span) for beach reads that set up a bunch of knots and then kind of cheerfully undoes them all. sally rooney tho? the publishing industry needs to have regulations on using her name at this point .
on the other hand, “an air of agatha christie” is actually premium beach read potential
I can appreciate why evenings and weekends was loved so much (the ease, the lightheartedness despite it all) by you and everyone else! I just couldn't quell the rage I felt at the fact that nothing ! happened ! I was expecting at least one fight..? Out of all of those dynamics, surely there would be ONE?! The publishing industry absolutely needs regulations on using her name at this point - willing to sign a petition to encourage them to keep it in check.
YES The Little I Knew does have premium beach read potential!! Very easy to read but in a much more complex/with depth way than McKenna.
> When the time comes to read my next Lacey fiction, how will what I read in Möbius influence how I read?
This is how I felt reading Elif Batuman's memoirs — some of the stuff that I loved so deeply in The Idiot and Either/Or were revealed to have been so deeply influenced by her own life, that while I kinda knew that when reading them, the memoirs made me know-know that in a way that slightly tarnished my love for them (emphasis on slightly! the idiot still remains one of my faves, but kinda wish I hadn't read the memoir, in retrospect)
It is so interesting to hear you say that kara! Tarnished is definitely a word I'd use - it just takes away the magic of fiction a little bit I think? I just want to enjoy the end product, not intimately know where the idea came from in the first place yk? Aka I don't want to see the sausage get made, I just want to enjoy the sausage as a final product haha! Have you read any Batuman fiction since the memoir, or was all the fiction of hers you read prior?
I read all of her fiction prior, but follow her substack and will read whatever else she puts out in the future! With the hope that she'll pull from other life experiences that she didn't include in the memoir, or I forget the anecdotes in the intervening period 😅
You calling Evenings and Weekends flaccid is the highlight of my day 😂 haven’t read it but I’ve been so turned off by much of this kind of contemporary fiction largely. However I certainly will be checking out The Little I Knew sounds perfect for me. SOMEDAY we will finish Solenoid. I read Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin this month, have you read it???
I'm honoured to have made your day... hehe. I wondered if flaccid was too mean but honestly I DID find the story flaccid and that is just my truth. Yeah I am always drawn into this kind of contemporary fiction bc everyone is talking about it and I am intrigued, want to see what the crack is and be part of the conversation! But I will be more wary now this is the second time I've been fooled into reading something that isn't to my taste. I think you'd like The Little I Knew - very easy, thought provoking and a gentle amount of mysterious vibes!
When we finish Solenoid we should have a zoom party to celebrate.
I've never read any Schweblin?!??!?! (I know) I feel like I need to? Would you recommend - what did you think?!
I have just finished (and loved) the Biography of X last week and I am officially obsessed with Lacey now 🙌🏻 your recommendation of Möbius could not have come at a better timing. very curious! Although I might need a short break before picking up another heavier conceptual book, currently going through and deeply feeling On the calculation of volume, also recommended by you earlier. A lighter summer read should cleanse the palette 😁
I am so pleased to hear you loved Biography of X!!! It is such a good book. It sounds like my review of Möbius is kismet for your new Lacey love! Haha a light summer read definitely needed after that - let me know what you think of On the Calculation of Volume I once you've finished, I'd love to hear! Off the top of my head for a lighter read you might enjoy Cautery by Lucía Lijtmaer which I read in March - v easy and enjoyable! Or The Little I Knew was reasonably light too (even though it starts with someone dead in a bath) 😂
I was very curious to read your review of the Mobius book. I’m very intrigued. Even though I haven’t read any of her work before I’m just going to dive in and see where it takes me.
I am very excited to read The Little I Knew. I love a good Italian lit fic and this one sounds perfect for the summer.
Have you read White Nights by Urszula Honek? I just finished it. I saw you will be reading Tokarczuk. Certain elements of Honek’s writing are reminiscent of Tokarczuk’s.
Good luck with Solenoid! I’m looking forward to reading your review when you finish the book. I tried reading it a few months back and did not have the brain space for it although I recognize the payoff potential is very high.
Thank you Magda! If you're curious about Mobius just go for it! Let me know what you think when you're reading it! I love a good Italian lit fic too - my next ones on my shelf are Strangers I Know, The Dry Heat and Forbidden Notebook! The Little I Knew if perfect for summer.
I have never read White Nights but I have always wanted too! I will keep it in mind the next time I am book shopping! Did you enjoy it?
And thank you for the Solenoid luck - I think I will need it haha! I recognise not having the brain space - I think that was me early May. I really enjoy all the social commentary about school/wider Romanian society so I think that might be what is managing to keep me going! I want to have read it before the summer end so fingers crossed I can manage it.
Ooh I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Forbidden Notebook. I read Alba’s There’s No Turning Back in April and I keep thinking about it. I really enjoyed it. I’ve been trying to decide whether to read the Forbidden Notebook. Your review might be what pushes me to either read it or skip it.
I really enjoyed Honek’s writing. Poets make some of the best prose writers. It’s very atmospheric, somewhat dark. It felt like you were there with the different characters of the small town. I would definitely read whatever next book she puts out.
It is nice to hear how her writing has stayed with you even after finishing the book - thats what I like to hear! I promise to deliver on a review of Forbidden Notebook sometime this summer.
I agree that poets do make some of the best prose writers I have encountered that before too. An encouraging endorsement from you - I will definitely try and read it at some point.
Totally agree with you re: Evenings and Weekends. Felt like the novel was going for emotional restraint but ended up emotionally suppressed. I will say, I thought it had a strong sense of place. The specific feeling of London in the heat was done well. And also I like that the novel tried to get into the difficulty (impossibility?) of having a child in London if you’re not wealthy.
Your review has bumped Kick the Latch from the TBR bookshelf to the bedside pile TBR. Also so excited by what Foundry Editions is publishing atm but yet to read one myself - glad to see a positive review!
Yes I completely agree - emotionally suppressed is the correct phrase to describe it! Yes it did have a strong sense of place - maybe I just felt less touched by it because London is familiar to me? Now I've read this comment I slightly regret not acknowledging in the review the interrogation the novel does of the challenges of modern/contemporary life for young people - especially financial. I did think the exploration around how expensive it is to have a child/afford to live in London was well done, it had a really brilliant air of melancholy about it that was depressingly relatable. I'd say the impossibility of having a child in London lol - my peers can barely afford to feed themselves!
And yes to Kick the Latch being bumped up to bedside TBR (what a significant move!!!) such a good summer read tbh that you can pick up/put down with such ease. What Foundry are doing rn is so exciting - I am definitely loving it! I have Far, The Palace on the Higher Hill and Just A Little Dinner on my shelf so you can expect reviews of those throughout the summer!
I hope June is a better reading month for me too - thank you for manifesting it for me. And let me know what you think when when you've read Kick The Latch! x
It was so fascinating in so many ways - Mobius & Biography of X massively demonstrate her brilliant ingenuity, she is a trial blazer! Would love to hear what you think when you read - I think the reading experience is definitely enhanced by having someone to talk about it with! xx
May was also a supremely disappointing reading month for me. I started the month in a huge reading slump that didn’t end until I picked up American Bulk by Emily Mester (collection of essays on consumption that lean heavy into memoir). I really really like themes of consumption and consumerism as I’ve been meditating on how this plays out in my own life for several years. As someone who grew up in the East Bay (near San Francisco) and Seattle, the Midwest suburban upbringing of Mester was fascinating to me. My husband grew up in small town Arizona (later moving to Tucson), and we talk about our respective upbringings frequently. I am currently thinking a lot about class, income, and taste and how we understand our own social positioning. If you have any recommendations with these themes, I am all ears!
The only other book I managed to finish in May was The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis since I’m working through the Chronicles of Narnia. I found this book to be less interesting than the first 2 in the series and took 3 weeks to read a 240-page children’s book which is strange for me.
Here’s to hoping for better reading in June! I’m currently working through Scatterlings by Rešoketšwe Menenzhe, a historical fiction set in 1927 South Africa after the passing of the Immorality Act. It has been a slow start for me but I’m enjoying the opportunity to learn more about South Africa, especially since the US government recently accepted a group of white South Africans as refugees and we are living under the unfortunate influence of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, etc.
I'm so sorry we both had such bad reading months Portia - there must have been something in the air! I was previously really interested in the American Bulk collection but read a review from a friend that they thought it would be more of an interrogation on it, rather than musings from the author about her own life! Would you agree with that statement? What makes the upbringings in East Bay and a small town in Arizona so different?? (I don't really know the socioeconomic landscapes as a UK citizen but I am going to hazard a guess that East Bay was a wealthier place to grow up?)
Class, income and taste and our upbringings have so much influence on each other! I'll have a think about recommendations on those themes and get back to you x
Haha I would feel strange about taking 3 weeks to read a 240-page childrens book too! I guess just because it is marketed as a childrens book doesn't mean it's necessarily quicker or easier to read!
Here's to a better reading in June (praying for us both!) Super intrigued by Scatterings - let me know what your final consensus is when you're finished!? I did a South African module in my history degree but rarely come across the country in the fiction I choose to read - and I am interested in changing that! The unfortunate influence of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel indeed - although unfortunately for the rest of the world, their influence is hardly American contained and we all suffer their idiocy in one way or another.
I agree that American Bulk was not what I expected! It definitely leans more in a memoir direction than a cultural analysis or deep-research effort. I did enjoy hearing about the author’s personal experiences and family life so I still liked it but the scope felt more narrow than I anticipated going in.
The East Bay is definitely a higher cost of living place compared to my husband’s hometown. It also has more resources. His mom had to drive >1 hour to a hospital to give birth. There are limited educational and occupational opportunities and limited cultural activities in his hometown as well (thinking sports, movies, arts, etc). In other ways our upbringings were similar because our families were part of the same religion.
Just finished Scatterlings today so I’m following up! I have mixed feelings. The writing is very lyrical but I became more critical after reading a description of tree branches “clawing like clawy claws.” The main story is set aside for 75 pages while we read a character’s journal which threw off the pacing for me. I also had trouble deciphering the author’s intended audience. Was this book written for a South African audience or a global audience? It is originally written in English so not a translated book for me. That being said, I did enjoy the discussions of what it means to belong to a place or feel at home. The author bio states she is a “South African villager and story-teller” and I thought the stories within the book and how they were incorporated were interesting.
The blurb on my edition says “A lyrical, moving novel in the spirit of Transcendent Kingdom and A Burning” which are two books I’ve read and really liked. This was part of the reason I bought it! But now I’m wondering if trying to sell books by tying them to other books/coasting off of name recognition is a great idea. For me, they were not similar and it feels like a marketing gimmick. I will be more skeptical of these comparisons moving forward, I think… although I don’t mind if an individual reviewer makes these types of comparisons. Have you seen this with books before and does it ever influence you to read them?
Thank you so much for the detailed Mobius review my queen, I've been so curious! As a fellow super fan ... also I didn't realize the structure was so experimental and the two-in-one thing reminded me of Long Division by Kiese Laymon — have you read it?!
Thank YOU for reading my queen! It is such a fascinating concept & execution from Lacey. Despite my few feelings of uncertainty in feeling like I know too much about where her ideas come from now (partially) I can't help but just think she's brilliant for shitting on her SHIT ex in this way like slay?
It seems quite a few people didn't realise it was so experimental - marketing departments need to do better showcasing that bc honestly it is THE magic of this book that it is just eternal. I have never read Long Division - should I?!?!
I absolutely adored Kick the Latch. I read Aug 9-Fog, it was ok (like a found journal). But I loved her stories Dominant Animals.
Kick the Latch was such a pleasant surprise for me! I had heard such positive things about it, but was truly taken aback by how brilliant it was. Ok interesting thank you for sharing - I will read Dominant Animals next!!
Came here to say the same thing as @Natalie G. The Aug 9-Fog book is very lovely production-wise, but Dominant Animal is more fun to read. Kick the Latch is definitely the masterpiece though - genuinely one of my all-time favourite books.
Oo thank you for the insight Katie! I definitely want fun so I will reach for Dominant Animal next. Honestly I think it might end up on my best books of the year list, I could not believe while I was reading how well crafted, written and conceptualised it all is! I think I will want to re read it again very soon - I read it too fast!
Oh I have wanted to read Kick the Latch for so long!!! I must get to it.
I'm also interest in Trout, Belly Up and the new Lacey from this list.
Here's hoping your June reading is better!!
You must! I think you'd really really love it and it is just so pleasantly easy to read. I'd be so fascinated if you decided to read the new Lacey - I am sat waiting for the potential literary discourse to emerge about it and whether anyone else will feel like it was as intrusive as I did!
Here's to a better June! (I'm begging)
Also, did you see that you can apparently read the new Lacey starting from either direction…. I’m curious about how you would recommend reading it now that you have
not you asking if I saw that when I own a copy of the book... anyway yes you can literally flip it upside down and start either side!! I flipped it a fair few times waiting for a 'true' beginning to scream out to me and one didn't so I just choose randomly! I think there could have been the potential to love the fiction more if I read the nonfic first - it would have set up the themes in a really different way that I think COULD have been more poignant. But alas I'll never know.
(Yes, I read your review of Evenings and Weekends through hands covering my eyes. I think you made some really great points! I think on a reread I would likely be more critical of it.)
After my 5 min voicenote ripping apart the book to you I am impressed you wanted more 😉 very brave of you to agree with some of my criticisms and still love it! Who knows if the month was different maybe I would have liked it more but honestly I was in a hater mindset and here we are.
I LOVE THESE POSTS AHHHH
SHUT UP I LOVE YOU !!! Thank you this comment made my DAY 🩷🩷🩷
I cannot believe you did not like evenings & weekends! I haven’t read it yet and am still holding out hope !
I cannot believe you didn't read it last month even though you said you would!! Maybe once you'll read it you'll be able to see why I didn't like it. I have hope for you though - I think you'll enjoy it.
Have you read Lacey’s short story collection? Certain American States. That was my first intro to her and remember loving them. Definitely curious about Mobius!
I have not - would you recommend? I definitely want more of her!
Yes! It’s been a few years but I loved it at the time
(I also have fallen for a comparison to Sally Rooney and been disappointed…it’s a clever marketing ploy 😬)
Honestly we are fools and we fell for it :( I'm going to exercise much more caution in the future when I see an author compared to her now!!
tbh i agree with all of your evenings & weekends criticism, but i have a place in my heart (read: my dwindling attention span) for beach reads that set up a bunch of knots and then kind of cheerfully undoes them all. sally rooney tho? the publishing industry needs to have regulations on using her name at this point .
on the other hand, “an air of agatha christie” is actually premium beach read potential
I can appreciate why evenings and weekends was loved so much (the ease, the lightheartedness despite it all) by you and everyone else! I just couldn't quell the rage I felt at the fact that nothing ! happened ! I was expecting at least one fight..? Out of all of those dynamics, surely there would be ONE?! The publishing industry absolutely needs regulations on using her name at this point - willing to sign a petition to encourage them to keep it in check.
YES The Little I Knew does have premium beach read potential!! Very easy to read but in a much more complex/with depth way than McKenna.
Rooney regulations 😭 (I agree)
lmao Rooney regulations I co-sign that slogan!!!!
> When the time comes to read my next Lacey fiction, how will what I read in Möbius influence how I read?
This is how I felt reading Elif Batuman's memoirs — some of the stuff that I loved so deeply in The Idiot and Either/Or were revealed to have been so deeply influenced by her own life, that while I kinda knew that when reading them, the memoirs made me know-know that in a way that slightly tarnished my love for them (emphasis on slightly! the idiot still remains one of my faves, but kinda wish I hadn't read the memoir, in retrospect)
It is so interesting to hear you say that kara! Tarnished is definitely a word I'd use - it just takes away the magic of fiction a little bit I think? I just want to enjoy the end product, not intimately know where the idea came from in the first place yk? Aka I don't want to see the sausage get made, I just want to enjoy the sausage as a final product haha! Have you read any Batuman fiction since the memoir, or was all the fiction of hers you read prior?
I read all of her fiction prior, but follow her substack and will read whatever else she puts out in the future! With the hope that she'll pull from other life experiences that she didn't include in the memoir, or I forget the anecdotes in the intervening period 😅
You calling Evenings and Weekends flaccid is the highlight of my day 😂 haven’t read it but I’ve been so turned off by much of this kind of contemporary fiction largely. However I certainly will be checking out The Little I Knew sounds perfect for me. SOMEDAY we will finish Solenoid. I read Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin this month, have you read it???
I'm honoured to have made your day... hehe. I wondered if flaccid was too mean but honestly I DID find the story flaccid and that is just my truth. Yeah I am always drawn into this kind of contemporary fiction bc everyone is talking about it and I am intrigued, want to see what the crack is and be part of the conversation! But I will be more wary now this is the second time I've been fooled into reading something that isn't to my taste. I think you'd like The Little I Knew - very easy, thought provoking and a gentle amount of mysterious vibes!
When we finish Solenoid we should have a zoom party to celebrate.
I've never read any Schweblin?!??!?! (I know) I feel like I need to? Would you recommend - what did you think?!
I think Shweblin would be the perfect amount of spooky for you - she will be making the horror for snobs list FOR SURE.
And yes I have the cake (and wine?) ready for our zoom celebration 😂
Horror for snobs is music to my ears - I will make that my one spooky book in October perhaps after last years fail lol
I have just finished (and loved) the Biography of X last week and I am officially obsessed with Lacey now 🙌🏻 your recommendation of Möbius could not have come at a better timing. very curious! Although I might need a short break before picking up another heavier conceptual book, currently going through and deeply feeling On the calculation of volume, also recommended by you earlier. A lighter summer read should cleanse the palette 😁
I am so pleased to hear you loved Biography of X!!! It is such a good book. It sounds like my review of Möbius is kismet for your new Lacey love! Haha a light summer read definitely needed after that - let me know what you think of On the Calculation of Volume I once you've finished, I'd love to hear! Off the top of my head for a lighter read you might enjoy Cautery by Lucía Lijtmaer which I read in March - v easy and enjoyable! Or The Little I Knew was reasonably light too (even though it starts with someone dead in a bath) 😂
I was very curious to read your review of the Mobius book. I’m very intrigued. Even though I haven’t read any of her work before I’m just going to dive in and see where it takes me.
I am very excited to read The Little I Knew. I love a good Italian lit fic and this one sounds perfect for the summer.
Have you read White Nights by Urszula Honek? I just finished it. I saw you will be reading Tokarczuk. Certain elements of Honek’s writing are reminiscent of Tokarczuk’s.
Good luck with Solenoid! I’m looking forward to reading your review when you finish the book. I tried reading it a few months back and did not have the brain space for it although I recognize the payoff potential is very high.
Thank you Magda! If you're curious about Mobius just go for it! Let me know what you think when you're reading it! I love a good Italian lit fic too - my next ones on my shelf are Strangers I Know, The Dry Heat and Forbidden Notebook! The Little I Knew if perfect for summer.
I have never read White Nights but I have always wanted too! I will keep it in mind the next time I am book shopping! Did you enjoy it?
And thank you for the Solenoid luck - I think I will need it haha! I recognise not having the brain space - I think that was me early May. I really enjoy all the social commentary about school/wider Romanian society so I think that might be what is managing to keep me going! I want to have read it before the summer end so fingers crossed I can manage it.
Ooh I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Forbidden Notebook. I read Alba’s There’s No Turning Back in April and I keep thinking about it. I really enjoyed it. I’ve been trying to decide whether to read the Forbidden Notebook. Your review might be what pushes me to either read it or skip it.
I really enjoyed Honek’s writing. Poets make some of the best prose writers. It’s very atmospheric, somewhat dark. It felt like you were there with the different characters of the small town. I would definitely read whatever next book she puts out.
It is nice to hear how her writing has stayed with you even after finishing the book - thats what I like to hear! I promise to deliver on a review of Forbidden Notebook sometime this summer.
I agree that poets do make some of the best prose writers I have encountered that before too. An encouraging endorsement from you - I will definitely try and read it at some point.
Totally agree with you re: Evenings and Weekends. Felt like the novel was going for emotional restraint but ended up emotionally suppressed. I will say, I thought it had a strong sense of place. The specific feeling of London in the heat was done well. And also I like that the novel tried to get into the difficulty (impossibility?) of having a child in London if you’re not wealthy.
Your review has bumped Kick the Latch from the TBR bookshelf to the bedside pile TBR. Also so excited by what Foundry Editions is publishing atm but yet to read one myself - glad to see a positive review!
Hope June is a better reading month for you!
Yes I completely agree - emotionally suppressed is the correct phrase to describe it! Yes it did have a strong sense of place - maybe I just felt less touched by it because London is familiar to me? Now I've read this comment I slightly regret not acknowledging in the review the interrogation the novel does of the challenges of modern/contemporary life for young people - especially financial. I did think the exploration around how expensive it is to have a child/afford to live in London was well done, it had a really brilliant air of melancholy about it that was depressingly relatable. I'd say the impossibility of having a child in London lol - my peers can barely afford to feed themselves!
And yes to Kick the Latch being bumped up to bedside TBR (what a significant move!!!) such a good summer read tbh that you can pick up/put down with such ease. What Foundry are doing rn is so exciting - I am definitely loving it! I have Far, The Palace on the Higher Hill and Just A Little Dinner on my shelf so you can expect reviews of those throughout the summer!
I hope June is a better reading month for me too - thank you for manifesting it for me. And let me know what you think when when you've read Kick The Latch! x
Thrilled to hear a mobius book rave..I’ve been anticipating it for so long
It was so fascinating in so many ways - Mobius & Biography of X massively demonstrate her brilliant ingenuity, she is a trial blazer! Would love to hear what you think when you read - I think the reading experience is definitely enhanced by having someone to talk about it with! xx
May was also a supremely disappointing reading month for me. I started the month in a huge reading slump that didn’t end until I picked up American Bulk by Emily Mester (collection of essays on consumption that lean heavy into memoir). I really really like themes of consumption and consumerism as I’ve been meditating on how this plays out in my own life for several years. As someone who grew up in the East Bay (near San Francisco) and Seattle, the Midwest suburban upbringing of Mester was fascinating to me. My husband grew up in small town Arizona (later moving to Tucson), and we talk about our respective upbringings frequently. I am currently thinking a lot about class, income, and taste and how we understand our own social positioning. If you have any recommendations with these themes, I am all ears!
The only other book I managed to finish in May was The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis since I’m working through the Chronicles of Narnia. I found this book to be less interesting than the first 2 in the series and took 3 weeks to read a 240-page children’s book which is strange for me.
Here’s to hoping for better reading in June! I’m currently working through Scatterlings by Rešoketšwe Menenzhe, a historical fiction set in 1927 South Africa after the passing of the Immorality Act. It has been a slow start for me but I’m enjoying the opportunity to learn more about South Africa, especially since the US government recently accepted a group of white South Africans as refugees and we are living under the unfortunate influence of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, etc.
I'm so sorry we both had such bad reading months Portia - there must have been something in the air! I was previously really interested in the American Bulk collection but read a review from a friend that they thought it would be more of an interrogation on it, rather than musings from the author about her own life! Would you agree with that statement? What makes the upbringings in East Bay and a small town in Arizona so different?? (I don't really know the socioeconomic landscapes as a UK citizen but I am going to hazard a guess that East Bay was a wealthier place to grow up?)
Class, income and taste and our upbringings have so much influence on each other! I'll have a think about recommendations on those themes and get back to you x
Haha I would feel strange about taking 3 weeks to read a 240-page childrens book too! I guess just because it is marketed as a childrens book doesn't mean it's necessarily quicker or easier to read!
Here's to a better reading in June (praying for us both!) Super intrigued by Scatterings - let me know what your final consensus is when you're finished!? I did a South African module in my history degree but rarely come across the country in the fiction I choose to read - and I am interested in changing that! The unfortunate influence of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel indeed - although unfortunately for the rest of the world, their influence is hardly American contained and we all suffer their idiocy in one way or another.
I agree that American Bulk was not what I expected! It definitely leans more in a memoir direction than a cultural analysis or deep-research effort. I did enjoy hearing about the author’s personal experiences and family life so I still liked it but the scope felt more narrow than I anticipated going in.
The East Bay is definitely a higher cost of living place compared to my husband’s hometown. It also has more resources. His mom had to drive >1 hour to a hospital to give birth. There are limited educational and occupational opportunities and limited cultural activities in his hometown as well (thinking sports, movies, arts, etc). In other ways our upbringings were similar because our families were part of the same religion.
Just finished Scatterlings today so I’m following up! I have mixed feelings. The writing is very lyrical but I became more critical after reading a description of tree branches “clawing like clawy claws.” The main story is set aside for 75 pages while we read a character’s journal which threw off the pacing for me. I also had trouble deciphering the author’s intended audience. Was this book written for a South African audience or a global audience? It is originally written in English so not a translated book for me. That being said, I did enjoy the discussions of what it means to belong to a place or feel at home. The author bio states she is a “South African villager and story-teller” and I thought the stories within the book and how they were incorporated were interesting.
The blurb on my edition says “A lyrical, moving novel in the spirit of Transcendent Kingdom and A Burning” which are two books I’ve read and really liked. This was part of the reason I bought it! But now I’m wondering if trying to sell books by tying them to other books/coasting off of name recognition is a great idea. For me, they were not similar and it feels like a marketing gimmick. I will be more skeptical of these comparisons moving forward, I think… although I don’t mind if an individual reviewer makes these types of comparisons. Have you seen this with books before and does it ever influence you to read them?
Thank you so much for the detailed Mobius review my queen, I've been so curious! As a fellow super fan ... also I didn't realize the structure was so experimental and the two-in-one thing reminded me of Long Division by Kiese Laymon — have you read it?!
Thank YOU for reading my queen! It is such a fascinating concept & execution from Lacey. Despite my few feelings of uncertainty in feeling like I know too much about where her ideas come from now (partially) I can't help but just think she's brilliant for shitting on her SHIT ex in this way like slay?
It seems quite a few people didn't realise it was so experimental - marketing departments need to do better showcasing that bc honestly it is THE magic of this book that it is just eternal. I have never read Long Division - should I?!?!