A book for book lovers, library lovers, and Japanese fiction - a perfect read. 🥰 So sweet and heartwarming. I loved the descriptions of the characters‘ interactions with the books, and the subtle connections between the lives of the characters. Centered around the lovely library and librarian in the story.

A lovely work of Japanese fiction - just what I needed! A beautiful story about music and a piano competition. It was enthralling to read about the rounds of the competition as they unfolded and to be inside the characters‘ minds as they thought about music.

@BarbaraBB

Ventura did a good job of taking recognizable anxieties in relationships to the extreme, distorting them to an almost horrifying degree. I enjoyed the narrative style that slowly let me in on the extent of the narrator‘s neurosis. I don‘t think the epilogue added much and could‘ve done without it, but I enjoyed this one otherwise.

This one from the Booker list just came in at the library - I didn‘t know it was so long! 😮‍💨

This is a phenomenal collection of stories. Each with a female main character, they cut to the bone in various ways and there really wasn‘t a single story I didn‘t love. I haven‘t read any of the author‘s novels, but may need to check them out now because this collection is stunning.

I can‘t find the time to make a collage of my favorite summer reads @Cinfhen but here is a list! My favorite is tagged along with one of my favorite photos of the summer. 😊

The Birthday Party - Mauvignier
Cassandra at the Wedding - Baker
Malice - Higashino
Mrs. S - Patrick
Yellowface - Kuang
August Blue - Levy

At times this book was hilarious and at times heartbreaking. I loved the method of using the transcripts throughout the book to tell parts of the story. I thought the story ended just as it should. I will say the insect situation in the house terrified me. But I really liked this!

I really enjoyed this epic novel. Despite its length, it was very readable, and is equal parts hilarious and heartwarming. The last part of the book was so compelling and turned everything in the story on its head for me. A story about borders and rules and prejudice, and one woman who refuses all of it in the end. I won‘t forget Ma for a long time.

I love Levy‘s writing and storytelling style and this was no exception. Her dry humor and stripped down prose always resonate with me. And her stories and characters pack a punch. I loved this story of a woman coming to terms with her past and learning to define herself rather than live by the terms others set for her.

Agree with many others here that this is a heavy, but beautifully written book. The content was heart wrenching, but the writing so exquisite. The story has a quiet beauty to it despite the very painful subject. A solid Booker list book. #Booker23

Another great book from this author! I loved these three books about the genius of Detective Kaga. Despite my best attempts, he was always a step ahead of me and I was always surprised by the ending. I‘m definitely going to read more by Higashino!

@BarbaraBB

This book has been a great companion on my vacation this week! Long enough that I only had to bring one book with me, but very entertaining and readable. I‘ve wanted to read it since it won the Booker last year and I‘m so glad I finally am. It‘s wonderful.

I‘m so glad I finally got to visit this amazing bookstore. Built into an outdoor bookstore in a beautiful residential neighborhood in Ojai, CA. With an outstanding selection of used books. I limited myself to these three. The Nicola Barker is a signed copy. 😍

Somewhere between a pick and a so-so for me. At times I couldn‘t put it down, and at times it felt too plotty and the events a bit too orchestrated. But thumbs up for creativity and a very surprising reading experience! So, overall a soft pick. #campTOB

This book was a slow burn in more ways than one. Both the build up between the MC and Mrs. S and the somewhat inevitable ending. I also loved how Patrick wrote the nuance in the relationships the MC has in book with other characters as they navigate queerness, and they also captured the subtle discrimination the MC experienced in a perfect way, putting you inside the MC‘s body and mind. A great debut novel - excited to see what they write next.

So cool that the t-shirt for sale at the Indigo Girls show has a graphic of banned books on the back. Including the tagged - one of my favorites. ♥️♥️♥️

Looking forward to the #camplitsy discussion of this one! I really liked this scathing take on publishing and social media and loved how well Kuang wrote such an unlikeable character.

This book was poignant for me, transporting me back to a time in my life when I still had so much to figure out. Fischer really spoke to me in this story - I identified so much with Natalie‘s experience. The storyline is a little predictable, but the writing is beautiful. I‘m excited to read what Fischer writes next.

Many thanks to @BarbaraBB for putting a new Japanese fiction writer on my list! This quiet, intelligent murder mystery was so much fun to read. Not my usual genre, but it‘s done in the quiet, detailed style that makes me love Japanese fiction and I‘m here for it. I already got the two others in this series from the library.

I really enjoyed this story collection from someone who has become one of my favorite writers. A collection of sometimes quirky, sometimes slightly creepy, sometimes connected stories and snippets was really fun to read. Lennon is very good at observing human behavior and captures it well here. I‘ll be eternally grateful to the TOB for putting this writer on my radar.

I finally read this book during my long weekend away after seeing rave reviews from #nyrbbookclub. I loved it so much and can count Cassandra as one of my favorite characters in literature. ♥️ Exquisitely written and a fabulous story.

Maybe it‘s my book hangover from The Birthday Party, but I thought both of these books were just okay. I liked the premise of both of them, but each fell a bit short for me and I didn‘t fully connect with the characters or stories in either. #campTOB

@Cinfhen I think you felt similarly about Western Lane.

This book is SO GOOD. I was on the edge of my seat until the last sentence. Mauvignier does a phenomenal job of slowly revealing the background details of the characters to build the tension of the story and the events unfold with excruciating slowness. The psychological terror builds to a pressure cooker ending. One of the best books I‘ve read this year.

This very engaging book that reads like a folktale is not what I expected going in, and I really enjoyed it. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, I was pulled into this meandering story of Chunhui‘s life. I‘m very glad the Booker put this one on my radar.

Pictured here with the oregano and tarragon that are very happy about how much it‘s been raining here. 🌱

Pretty jazzed about this stack from the library. One more I want to read from the Booker shortlist and two from the TOB camp list. Plus a new Lennon recommended by @vivastory . The Adult was in the weekly Bookshop.org email, which never fails to add to my TBR.

I really enjoyed this one. The writing is beautiful and the style fits perfectly to the story of remembering a past love affair. Melancholy and bittersweet. I think you may have put this one on my radar @squirrelbrain 💙💙

This book was just so, so good. Its perspectives on motherhood and mothering resonated with me so deeply I was blown away. The book doesn't romanticize or minimize the choice and the weight of being and not being a mother. Thank you again @cinfhen for sending this book my way - I agree with you that I hope it wins the Booker based on the ones I've read!

A low pick. I had high hopes for this one and it started out strong, but some of the threads didn‘t carry through for me. I liked pieces of the story and I think Tate did a good job of capturing the agony of being a teenage girl in many ways.

Thank you so much Cindy for sending me your copy of Still Born, along with this really cool card and bookmark! What a fun package to get in the mail today!! 💙😃📖 I can‘t wait to read this one.

@Cinfhen

A great read! I went in expecting an entertaining romp, and it was that, but it‘s also a page turner with social commentary on the caste system and gender. Looking forward to discussing this one at #camplitsy! Pictured here with the dog that lives in our house and who has a lot in common with Bandit in the book. 😁

An inventive and deeply unsettling book. It delves into the impact of time on us as individuals and our desire to slow it down, as well as ways we have nostalgia for the past. In the second half it takes a dark turn that feels very close to home these days, looking at how dangerous a collective desire for the past can be. A very interesting read. #booker2023

I seem to be on a kick of reading books about mothers (am I working through something? 😂) and this was another great read. The MC‘s mother is one of the most bizarre characters I‘ve encountered in awhile. The awkwardness and discomfort in their relationship was so palpable that I often felt like I wished I could intervene in these scenes.

The story is so compelling and the narrator so horrifying, I couldn‘t put this book down. I‘m still processing my thoughts about this one - it would make for great discussion. I thought I knew all the ways I was being misled by the narrator and still he didn‘t fail to shock me.

This book brilliantly documents the painful journey of a woman coming to terms with her relationship to her mother, as a child and now as an adult. Along the way, more and more of her mother is illuminated. It all comes to a boiling point at the end. It is infuriating and heartbreaking and also a story of peace and redemption. I wish it had made the Booker shortlist.

This slim book really packs a punch. Dark in a way I enjoy, it tackles different perspectives on motherhood in a way I found very compelling. Plus an ending that has Nightwood vibes. I‘m glad to see it on the Booker shortlist.

One of my favorite breweries has the perfect combination of a bookish vibe and great beer. I came here to do some work but I brought this book so….

Excited for #CampLitsy23! Thanks so much @BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain for hosting again! It‘s hard to choose, but here are six books from my current TBR. 📚

Such a bizarre story, but I liked it! A unique take on the nature of relationships, loosely defined to include people we‘ve just met, people we‘ve known but who no longer know us, or people we‘ve never *actually* met. Combined with the element of how humans gravitate toward celebrity or curated versions of people, this made for an interesting read.

A beautiful gem of a novella, really a short story. Exquisitely written - I found myself whispering lines to myself while I was reading it. And a truly heartbreaking story captured perfectly in this slim book. I will now officially read anything Keegan writes.

Wow wow wow. The brilliance of Lacey‘s new novel really cannot be overstated. After finishing it I still feel immersed in the story, walking around in a fog. The bending of fact and fiction, both in the story and as a trait of X, the physical and psychological journey of her widow as she writes her book, the spine-tingling feeling of X being slowly revealed, to her and to us. Just wow. Could not recommend more highly.

A good day for library holds. I‘ve been waiting for some of these to come in for awhile. 📚

The first book to come up at the library for me off the Booker longlist. What a quirky read. It definitely got slow in the middle, but I was hooked at the beginning and by the time things started to come together in the second half, I was in it until the end. It‘s a long book and certainly felt that way in parts. But, in the end, I liked it. It‘s just a bit of a commitment.

This exciting news in my bookshop.org email today! Newly translated work out from Magda Szabo! 💃🏽

Fantastic! I loved The Luminaries and was so impressed with this book. A page-turning literary thriller written in Catton‘s impeccable prose. I think I remember @squirrelbrain feeling torn about the ending and I have to agree with that sentiment. I‘m going to be thinking about it for awhile. Highly recommend.

After a couple of meh reads, I am loving this one so far! 🍷📖

A few friends recommended this to me and I know it gets good reviews, but I wasn‘t feeling it. Parts of the book were engaging but it felt too plotty and obvious in many parts and I found myself rolling my eyes more than once. 😬 Maybe it just wasn‘t for me.

This sounded like the kind of book I would love. A fictional account of part of the book publishing world, a book about books and people who love them. But the execution was a bit of a miss for me. There was enough here to keep me reading until the end, but it often felt disjointed and two dimensional.

I‘d been waiting for this book to make it to my library since hearing it might be on the list for the Booker last year, and it was worth the wait. A truly beautiful telling of a story of a father coming to terms with his past while building a relationship with his daughter. I love that the book is written as though he is speaking to his daughter. ♥️

Just returned to the library the last ToB book I will likely get to before the tournament (and our tournament!) starts. I liked aspects of this one a lot, especially Olga‘s character and story. Some of the events in the second half of the book felt a little too heavy handed for me. But overall this was a pick and I‘m glad I read it. #ToB2023

I loved this book so much. Heartbreaking, enraging, heartwarming and hopeful all at once, and full of characters that will be with me for a long time to come. These women stood in their truth and with each other and built a life that is a thing of beauty and power. ♥️