Tag: literary fiction

Currently Reading [20/09]

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I’m going to have so little time to read very soon, so of course I decided to start three awesome books in tandem.

I’m absolutely loving A Discovery of Witches. It follows a historian witch who discovers a magical book in Oxford and is suddenly a target for magical creatures. Matthew, the vampire she ends up dating, is fascinating. The backstories are really interesting and I’m excited to see where it goes. There’s a television show based on the trilogy, but I haven’t seen it yet and I kind of want to read all three books before I watch it.

Lie With Me is one that came to my notice because it’s a French book by Philippe Besson that Molly Ringwald translated into English. I really like Molly Ringwald and was interested to check it out. It’s a short novella set in France and tells the love story of Philippe and Thomas in the 1980s. I’m really liking it so far and the writing is absolutely lovely.

I also just got Wicked Fox, which is a Korean fantasy novel that I’ve been excited to read for months now. It’s about a gumiho, which is a nine-tailed fox in Korean mythology. I’m listening to this one on audible and the narrator’s really good!

Anyone read any of these? ♡

Short Story Review: An Indelible Day (2020)

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An Indelible Day by Cairo Marques (2020)

“We just weren’t compatible. Still, we’re going to exist within one another eternally. We’ve created indelible memories together.”

An Indelible Day is quite an interesting short story that makes for a quick, thought provoking read. The story is divided into three sections and each one is framed around conversations the main character, John C., has with three other people. The main characters are not given last names, only initials, which was an interesting stylistic choice. I think the last time I saw that was in classics, which is cool. The monologues of the characters and the way the story is framed reminded me of older stories, too, like Salinger’s style in Franny and Zooey, just having two characters engaged in a long conversation. It definitely flowed well.

I will say that I would’ve liked a bit more characterisation to really get to know each character and perhaps some backstory, and I do wish it had been expanded a little bit, with perhaps a bit more detail, but overall it made for a very interesting and engaging read.

I received a free ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. Cross-posted to Goodreads.

Currently Listening: an audiobook post

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I found a bunch of great audiobooks and audibles this week. A lot of them are free, too, which makes me happy! If you have an Audible account, definitely take advantage of the free offers because I somehow overlooked them until recently and there’s actually some pretty good stuff on offer.

I’m currently listening to The Folding Star (literary fiction, lgbt+), which has been on my list for a bit, and The Rise of the Iron Men With Misha Glenny (politics, free!). The narrator of The Folding Star is so good (Samuel West!), I definitely recommend this one for easy listening and beautiful prose. The Rise of the Iron Men is a series by Misha Glenny, looking at the rise of populist leaders around the world. Also looks at how Covid-19 affected their power. Very interesting stuff and it provides a detailed overview of six current leaders. I’ve listened to 2/6 so far.

I’m also really looking forward to these ones (all free!): In Search of Black History with Bonnie Greer, Romeo and Jude, Six Degrees of Assassination, Nicholas Nickleby: The Dickens Collection, We Need to Talk About the British Empire, A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs, A Grown-Up Guide to Oceans, and Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets.

Anyone else listening to good audiobooks? Do share!