I love the way Kawakami writes the raw, often painful experiences of her characters in such a quiet way. She is so matter of fact in her descriptions that it makes it a more emotional experience for me to read her work than I think it would be if her style were more dramatic. I loved this story and Fuyoko in her loneliness and struggle to connect with other people.

I really enjoyed this interior story of a woman‘s search for meaning and happiness. I have so many questions about Shirley, her experiences in the novel, and her account of events. Which means I‘m really looking forward to the discussion! #nyrbbookclub @vivastory

Having fun reading this book alone at a bar tonight, just like the main character. 🍷

Starting this month‘s #nyrbbookclub pick and was happy to see a quote from Ann Quin after reading so much about her in Checkout 19. Love these kinds of book coincidences. 😁 @vivastory

An eerie, mysterious and mildly disturbing story told through a series of interviews of the inhabitants of a space ship, this book had been on my list since last year‘s international Booker. Very clever and entertaining.

I really enjoy Sarah Moss‘ writing style, and this book was no exception. Similarly to Summerwater, she zooms into the details of her characters‘ inner lives to tell a larger story, in this case the experience of the pandemic.

This is a fabulous book!! There are stories within stories and such wonderful use of language. I loved it so much and am definitely going to need to read her collection of short stories now. Thanks for putting this one on my radar @Megabooks !

Here are six books I‘d love to see in #campToB this summer! All are ones I‘m looking forward to reading. Thanks for the tag @BarbaraBB !

A gut wrenching story with glimmers of hope. I really enjoyed the narrative style and loved the main character so much, and really wanted her to find the freedom and healing she so deserved. ❤️

How does censorship come into play in the novel?

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

#nyrbbookclub

Who is the narrator speaking to throughout the story? Who is the audience? @vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

#nyrbbookclub

What do you think of the fact that the place where the narrator spends part of the story is called a "school for fools”?

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

#nyrbbookclub

In the Spring '83 issue of The Slavic & East European Journal, future translator Alexander Boguslawski writes, "Sokolov's novel is essentially...showing the possibilities & capacities of artistic imagination at work; yet it may also be considered a passionate outcry against the norms & practices of socialist realism..." Do you agree with Boguslawski's statement?

Is a School for Fools a book narrated by an unreliable narrator or by multiple narrators? Once you became accustomed to the narrative switches, did you find it easier to navigate? @vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

Sokolov invented the word poetry for his particular writing style. Many reviewers have compared it to Ulysses. What do you think of Sokolov's style? #nyrbbookclub

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @GatheringBooks

Two books that were fun to read in succession, as stories of women finding their power and wielding it in unexpected, at times uncomfortable, ways. Both were picks for me. 💪🏼

This book broke my heart. 💔 Elena is such an incredible character, and the painstaking account of her physical and emotional journey over the course of a day is why I read books. Based on the books I‘ve read on the Booker shortlist, I‘d love for this one to win.

Very unsettling - I feel like I read most of the book on edge, waiting for something terrible to happen. Loosely connected stories that are bookended by two halves of the same story, exploring technology, human desires and how power dynamics impact interactions. I think he seems to want to keep the reader on her toes, and he definitely succeeded in doing that for me.

Such a beautiful book. As a daughter and a mother to a daughter, I think this story depicts so well the complexities and heartache of that relationship - which seem universal even though the details are unique.

This beautiful book was really difficult to read at times, although I‘m glad I did. Kawakami deftly captured the experiences of the young characters, and I think did justice to the complexity of thoughts and emotions of youth. She doesn‘t oversimplify. It is a heartbreaking story in many ways, and a solid pick.

This was a fabulous read. I love the paragraph-long sentences that capture the thought and speech patterns of the characters so well. Time runs in loops and sometimes you can‘t tell immediately when in the past/present something is happening. But it works so well to build the story of the MC‘s grappling with his identity and his family‘s place in Brazil.

Somewhere between a pick and a so-so. I was mildly annoyed by the first half of the story, but got much more interested in the second half. An interesting take on human relationships and what love is, exactly, or what it is motivated by.

I loved this book. ❤️ The weaving together of all the threads of identity, past, the uncertainty of the future, and how it might be best to just stay in it with each other and not give up on searching for humanity. I wasn‘t sure what it would be like to read a book set in part during the pandemic, but I actually found it strangely therapeutic. Now I‘m even more disappointed that this book didn‘t make it in the tournament.

These stories are wild. I liked some of them and others felt like a bridge too far for me. The title story was one of my favorites. For me it was a mixed bag, but it was worth the read for the ones I enjoyed.

I‘m pretty excited about my new Virginia Woolf phone case. 🤩

Oyeyemi writes my favorite kind of creepy fiction. I love the way the back of my neck tingled while I read this story of a haunted house and its doomed inhabitants. Can‘t wait to read more of her work.

I was happy this finally came in at the library so I could read it, and was glad it made the first #ToB cut. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It sucked me in and I liked the blurred lines between fact and story. The ending was pretty phenomenal.

An epic story. I was swept along by the interwoven story lines and loved the culmination of it all. I haven‘t read his other famed book, but I did love this one.

Moss drops us into the unexpected setting of an Iron Age re-enactment camp to tell a story of a young girl grappling with male chauvinism, disturbing family dynamics, and how to find her voice. Brilliant.

What can I say, I‘m a huge fan of Yanigahara and this book didn‘t disappoint. Despite the length I flew through it. I loved the clever threads woven through the three stories and the variations on themes of race, colonialism, sexuality. I think my favorite was book 3, set in a very believable future.

I had to miss the discussion yesterday, but I loved this beautiful book that shows how tragedy and devastating loss can change the trajectory of our lives forever. I‘m a fan of both books I‘ve read by this author now. Thanks for the great selection @GatheringBooks ❤️

A phenomenal book. I feel like the blurb about this one doesn‘t do it justice and I almost skipped it. It‘s a powerful, incredibly written labyrinth of a story complete with disturbing asterisks and very accurate commentary on the state of America. #ToB2022

It was close for a bit, but the pick for April #nyrbbookclub is A School for Fools.📚@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @sarahbarnes @GatheringBooks

An interesting book. I appreciated the style the text was written in and the creativity of the story. I didn‘t love it but I‘m glad I read it.

Just starting this one from #ToB2022 and really liking it so far. Thanks @BarbaraBB for the tip not to skip this one!

Hello #nyrbbookclub! Here are nominations for April!

@vivastory @BarbaraBB @catebutler @Liz_M @sprainedbrain @KVanRead @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @daena @arubabookwoman @emilyhaldi @quietjenn @mklong @youneverarrived @Reviewsbylola @batsy @Tanisha_A @Theaelizabet @Billypar @merelybookish @saresmoore @sarahbarnes @GatheringBooks @readordierachel

Just picked this up from the library since it finally came off my hold list (from the TOB long list). I‘ll admit I‘m definitely intrigued by that description! 😁

I enjoyed this slim work of fiction almost as much as her other book, The Hole. So weird, quite funny, and overall just a very entertaining read.

“The usefulness of Latin is debated, gout is suffered, colds are caught, large breasts are fetishized, fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice quaffed. At a key moment, a character might wander off and weed the oregano. It‘s that kind of book.” Quote from review in the NYT. I‘m excited to dive into this book! Thanks @vivastory for the tip!

“If Freud had continued his efforts in this direction, he would have become the inventor of a better condom, not the founder of psychoanalysis.” 😂

This book is quiet and beautiful and subtly intense. I loved the way the story illustrated the ways we seek connections and try to understand other people. It was a good time for me to read this book as I grapple with loss in my family. #ToB2022

Although I‘m not quite sure what happened at the end (🤷🏻‍♀️), I really liked this dark and sinister tale of the female experience with pain and the value placed on youthful beauty. I didn‘t read Bunny, but now I‘m going to have to check it out. #ToB2022

Somehow this is the first of Ishiguro‘s books I‘ve read. 😳 I‘ve seen many folks comment that it isn‘t his best, so I‘m now really wanting to read some of his other work, because I did like this one quite a bit. #ToB2022

I found this book amusing and original, and actually more interesting after I read the translator‘s note at the end about how complicated the wordplay was to get right in translation. Fascinating. #ToB2022

Sometimes a book really strikes a chord, and this book definitely did that for me. I was less taken in by the events of the story, but the main character resonated so much with me it was a little scary. But also beautiful - a gift of a good book is that it makes you feel less alone. ❤️📚 Tagging you @merelybookish - I loved it too!

Thanks for the tag @BarbaraBB ! Here is my #Top21of 21. It‘s been a good reading year - and two weeks still to go!

I loved this slow, beautiful, devastating story of Leo and his summer in Rome trying to find his way. I‘m so glad it was translated into English. I do wish it had made the #ToB2022 shortlist. It‘s definitely a book that is right up my alley.

Nice little evening with this book. I really love it. I think it should‘ve made the short list! #ToB2022

I still had this book from the library pre-TOB shortlist announcement. It was okay. It felt like there were several threads in the story that didn‘t quite come together.

This book will stay with me for a long time. Illness and death follow and haunt the unnamed main character of the story (ella), along with memories and indecision. The imprint of childhood experiences is long-lasting. Beautiful and unsettling. #ToB2022