Making up for 10 Lost Years

ClydeTallyBump · 16-05-2021 8:31pm

20. The Darkest Flower by Kristin Wright.

Fairly predictable.

ClydeTallyBump · 23-05-2021 2:23pm

21. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman.

It was a hard slog to get through the first 2 parts.

ClydeTallyBump · 25-05-2021 10:28pm

22. Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami.

ClydeTallyBump · 01-06-2021 9:36am

23. Circe by Madeline Miller.

ClydeTallyBump · 07-06-2021 5:56pm

24. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker.

An interesting look at the Galvin family where there were 10 boys, 6 of which developed schizophrenia.

PMBC · 07-06-2021 6:08pm

ClydeTallyBump wrote: »

24. Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker.

An interesting look at the Galvin family where there were 10 boys, 6 of which developed schizophrenia.

That seems interesting although strange
Ive just finished a re-read from 40 odd years ago Valley of the Squinting and on a more modern topic Saving Capitalism- for the many not the few by Clinton's Labour Secretary Robert Reich.
When Im in full swing I read one a day or at least one per two days - never bored

ClydeTallyBump · 08-06-2021 9:53am

PMBC wrote: »

That seems interesting although strange
Ive just finished a re-read from 40 odd years ago Valley of the Squinting and on a more modern topic Saving Capitalism- for the many not the few by Clinton's Labour Secretary Robert Reich.
When Im in full swing I read one a day or at least one per two days - never bored

One a day is very impressive!

I have never heard of Valley of the Squinting. I must look it up.

ClydeTallyBump · 08-06-2021 9:54am

25. Nowhere to be Found by Bae Suah.

A Korean novella depicting poverty, suffering, existentialism.

PMBC · 08-06-2021 1:35pm

Apologies - The valley of the squinting windows. Its based around Delvin in Westmeath and that caused a lot of issues at the time.
From the Irish canon also but a totally different style is anything by Flann O'Brien - At Swim Two Birds, The Dalkey Archive and perhaps the funniest The Third Policeman.
From USA 'A confederacy of Dunces' will keep you laughing. Sorry for going on ..

ClydeTallyBump · 10-06-2021 10:11pm

PMBC wrote: »

Apologies - The valley of the squinting windows. Its based around Delvin in Westmeath and that caused a lot of issues at the time.
From the Irish canon also but a totally different style is anything by Flann O'Brien - At Swim Two Birds, The Dalkey Archive and perhaps the funniest The Third Policeman.
From USA 'A confederacy of Dunces' will keep you laughing. Sorry for going on ..

Some great recommendations there. Thank you! I'm intrigued by 'Valley of the Squinting Windows'. Going to try get a copy in Chapters.

ClydeTallyBump · 10-06-2021 10:13pm

26. A Man by Keiichiro Hirano.

I'm enjoying East Asian literature at the moment. Culturally, it is quite different from books written by Irish, American authors etc.

ClydeTallyBump · 12-06-2021 9:00pm

27. The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard.

This did not live up to all the great reviews I had read about it. Found it predictable. So many reviews talked about the twist but I thought it all very foreseeable.

I attempted to listen to some of it on Audible to try something different. Absolutely not for me.

ClydeTallyBump · 13-06-2021 9:08pm

28. The Dinner by Herman Koch.

I was fully immersed in this book and read it over a day.

I enjoyed it but found most of the characters despicable.

ClydeTallyBump · 16-06-2021 3:59pm

29. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover.

Esho · 16-06-2021 4:11pm

ClydeTallyBump wrote: »

14. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman.

.

That was excellent.

Great thread OP!

Esho · 16-06-2021 4:18pm

32 words for field by manchan magan
It is not fiction, but I found his linking Irish words and the landscape facinating.

ClydeTallyBump · 27-06-2021 1:54pm

Esho wrote: »

32 words for field by manchan magan
It is not fiction, but I found his linking Irish words and the landscape facinating.

I will try have a look for it. I enjoyed Manchan's show on TG4 years ago.

ClydeTallyBump · 27-06-2021 1:56pm

30. Highway with Green Apples by Bae Suah.

31. Go: A Coming of Age Novel by Kazuki Kaneshiro.

32. Recovering by Richie Sadlier.

33. If you are lonely and you know it by Yiyun Li.

34. Girl A by Abigail Dean.

I enjoyed all these books especially Go.

ClydeTallyBump · 30-06-2021 8:15pm

35. Snowflake by Louise Nealon.

ClydeTallyBump · 20-07-2021 12:01pm

36 Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. A fascinating read. Highly recommend.

37 Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. Very disappointing end. Gripping up until that point.

38 The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Great read.

39 Cilka's Diary by Heather Morris.

40 The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Needed more development.

41 Becoming by Michelle Obama.

42 The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta. Great YA/LGBTQI+ read.

43 They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. This book really was heartbreaking. It's not often a book makes me cry but this one did.

ClydeTallyBump · 26-07-2021 11:46am

44 Idaho by Emily Ruskovich.

Absolutely hated this. A hard slog. The blurb at the back of the book is misleading as to what the book will be about.

ClydeTallyBump · 01-08-2021 4:34pm

45 If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha.

Really enjoyed this. Looks at the lives of 4 South Korean women in Seoul.

ClydeTallyBump · 07-08-2021 10:24pm

46 Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters.

ClydeTallyBump · 08-08-2021 11:04pm

47 Almond by Sohn Won-pyung.

ClydeTallyBump · 10-08-2021 3:58pm

48 The White Book by Han Kang.

ClydeTallyBump · 15-08-2021 4:34pm

49 Disappear Doppelganger Disappear by Matthew Salesses.

A strange book.

ClydeTallyBump · 20-08-2021 4:39pm

50 Bunny by Mona Awad.

Interestingly disturbing.

ClydeTallyBump · 23-08-2021 6:16pm

51 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

ClydeTallyBump · 13-09-2021 11:03pm

52 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

ClydeTallyBump · 03-10-2021 4:40pm

53 Please Look After Mother by Kyung Sook Shin.

ClydeTallyBump · 23-10-2021 7:49pm

54 Cult Following: My escape and return to the Children of God by Bexy Cameron.

ClydeTallyBump · 24-10-2021 5:35pm

55 The Great Passage by Shion Miura.

An enjoyable read about a publishing group in Tokyo creating a dictionary called 'The Great Passage.

ClydeTallyBump · 27-10-2021 5:11pm

56 The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa.

An excellent read if you are interested in dystopian literature.

ClydeTallyBump · 29-10-2021 6:01pm

57 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.

Very enjoyable. Perfect for Halloween!

eire4 · 31-10-2021 5:08am

Finished Ken Bruen's Priest. Another brilliant entry in the Galway authors Jack Taylor crime series. At times witty, at times funny and at times noir but always a real page turner. Loved it.

ClydeTallyBump · 31-10-2021 3:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096607#Comment_118096607

Must add it to my ever lengthening list!

ClydeTallyBump · 31-10-2021 3:41pm

58 The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima.

Disturbing in parts.

eire4 · 01-11-2021 3:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118098136#Comment_118098136

I would for sure highly recommend him. I first read one of his books a couple of years ago and have now read the first 5 of his Jack Taylor series and absolutely love them. Highly recommend Ken Bruen. I liked the first few so much I already have bought all the other books in his Jack Taylor series and have them sitting on my to read shelves.

ClydeTallyBump · 04-11-2021 1:27am

59 When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O'Neal.

ClydeTallyBump · 13-11-2021 10:10pm

60 Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto.

Fantastic book and I also loved the additional novella called 'Moonlight Shadow'.

I have officially met my goal of 60 books for 2021!

ClydeTallyBump · 14-11-2021 8:13pm

61 The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura.

A great read. Engrossing.

eire4 · 16-11-2021 9:06pm

Finished Tana French's crime drama The Secret Place. Really enjoyed this one and a bit different as while it is a who done it murder mystery with all the action taking place over the course of one day it is also a coming of age story too in many ways.

ClydeTallyBump · 19-12-2021 12:32am

62 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.

Fantastic read.

ClydeTallyBump · 22-12-2021 8:26pm

63 Foster by Claire Keegan.

ClydeTallyBump · 23-12-2021 11:27pm

64 The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante.

ClydeTallyBump · 31-12-2021 11:48pm

65 Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami.

A wonderful book to finish off the year.

ClydeTallyBump · 01-01-2022 1:31pm

So here's to another year of reading.

I'm not going to set a particular goal number for this year but I am going to try read at least 22 books from 22 countries. A lot of books I read are UK/US/Korea and Japan based so I would like to read more from other countries especially African countries.

I'm starting off the challenge by visiting an old haunt- Korea (South).

1. The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun.

ClydeTallyBump · 02-01-2022 1:13am

2. Noone is talking about this by Patricia Lockwood.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 was at times insufferable and I struggled to read it. Disjointed and conceited.

Part 2 was more coherent and was structured in terms of a plot. I found it interesting to read.

I would actually recommend skipping Part 1 and just reading Part 2 as a good short story.

ClydeTallyBump · 07-01-2022 8:36pm

3. Harvesting by Lisa Harding.

Great book. Harrowing and disturbing.

ClydeTallyBump · 14-01-2022 9:32pm

4. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld.

This book started off well. It was beautifully written and captivating then it descended into graphic accounts of animal abuse and masturbation by minors. It became uncomfortable to read and was quite disturbing.

Country 5: 🇳🇱 Netherlands

Making up for 10 Lost Years

Comments