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#INDIEBUDDYREADS
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ClairesReads
Black Wings Has My Angel | Elliott Chaze
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Pickpick

What I love about noir fiction, is that the morally bankrupt thrill of it all, is always undercut with social commentary on big issues. Chaze‘s masterpiece is no exception. I was thrilled and disturbed throughout this ‘angel of death‘ tale, and it also made me think. This is easily one of the best noir novels I have read in some time. I‘m eager to read more from this woefully underrated author. LOVED it. #indiebuddyreads

Leftcoastzen We read it for the #NYRBBookClub & I loved it too! 3y
ClairesReads @Leftcoastzen it is wonderful isn‘t it! Glad you enjoyed as well 3y
Leftcoastzen Highly recommend 3y
ClairesReads @Leftcoastzen my book club read that one last year too. I loved it as well 😊 3y
26 likes3 stack adds4 comments
review
ClairesReads
Homeland Elegies | Ayad Akhtar
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Pickpick

Is it a novel, a memoir, a series of essays, or fictional vignettes? It‘s actually quite hard to say. But whatever this is, I found it immensely incisive in its observations of post 9/11 America. These are stories of our times, as bleak as they are. Akhtar asks some big questions about identity and belonging, dispossession, politics, family, and what makes a home. The state of the union, and the world is dire. #indiebuddyreads

Freespirit This has had great reviews! 3y
Suet624 I absolutely adore this book. So interesting. 3y
ClairesReads @Freespirit I thought it was great 3y
33 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
ClairesReads
The New Wilderness | Diane Cook
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Mehso-so

There‘s scope here for great stories about survival at both a micro and macro level. Cook did have a lot of individually interesting things to say about what people are willing to do to survive and there are the bones of some interesting characters here. Unfortunately, the realisation of this was hampered by what ended up being an unwieldy narrative. Cook didn‘t seem to know where the story was going, or how long it was going to take to get there.

26 likes1 comment
blurb
ClairesReads
The New Wilderness | Diane Cook
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Next Booker longlist read... I‘ve seen some very mixed reviews so I‘m interested to see where this goes #indiebuddyreads

BarbaraBB You are doing good with the Booker longlist. I still need to start but don‘t feel like it yet. 4y
35 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
ClairesReads
A Mercy | Toni Morrison
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Pickpick

Ooooo mate‘s. I‘ve just revised this one up to a 5 because it has STUCK with me. This is a slight, tight novella which really demonstrates Morrison‘s exceptional skills. This is so much more than a story of a place and a time. It‘s a story about people, about who we are when we are alone, and how we survive when we have to against stacked odds. The frontier looms large over each of the characters‘ lives in this novel. As ever Morrison is Queen.

Nute Love love love this photo! 4y
ClairesReads @nute thank you! 4y
35 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
ClairesReads
The Yield | Tara June Winch
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Pickpick

There is a lot going on in this book, which I thought was a really thoughtful story about the depth of trauma wrought by colonisation. Where this novel lost a bit of its edge for me, was in the breadth of ideas it grapples with. I thought these stories were all interesting and meaningful, but at the end, many felt a bit underdeveloped. Well worth a read #indiebuddyreads

review
ClairesReads
Hurricane Season | Fernanda Melchor
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Pickpick

Hurricane Season isn‘t for the faint hearted (trigger warnings: basically everything). It‘s a relentless, graphic, violent narrative about life in a Mexican village. It‘s demanding of its reader. The nature of the prose and the magically real framing of the narrative won‘t be for everyone. Melchor tells a necessary story about the pervasive violence against Mexican women in such communities. #indiebuddyreads

Nute Excellent review! 4y
36 likes1 comment
review
ClairesReads
The Accidental | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

As good on a re-read as it was the first time. Although this is clearly earlier, less refined writing from Smith, I really think she can do no wrong. Each of Smith‘s novel is a perfect capture of a moment in time. Her examinations of human existence are pitch perfect. Her writing is sharp and original. I love it. #indiebuddyreads

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ClairesReads
The Accidental | Ali Smith
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Re-Reading and old fave for #indiebuddyreads

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ClairesReads
Fleishman Is in Trouble: A Novel | Taffy Brodesser-Akner
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This is the kind of writing I love #indiebuddyreads