THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY: Kiran DesaiRandom House : 23 September 2025 (US)Hamish Hamilton (Penguin): 25 September 2025 (UK)Page Count: 670 First line: The sun was still submerged in the wintry murk of dawn when Ba, Dadaji, and their daughter, Mina Foi, wrapping shawls closely about themselves, emerged upon the veranda to sip theirContinue reading “THE LONELINESS OF SONIA AND SUNNY – Kiran Desai”
Tag Archives: reading
THE REST OF OUR LIVES – Ben Markovits
THE REST OF OUR LIVES: Ben MarkovitsSummit Books : 13 January 2026 (US)Faber & Faber : 27 March 2025 (UK) (I’m using the UK edition)Page Count: 239 First line: When our son was twelve years old, my wife had an affair with a guy called Zach Zirsky, whom she knew from synagogue. Blurbed by: Lucy CaldwellContinue reading “THE REST OF OUR LIVES – Ben Markovits”
SEASCRAPER – Benjamin Wood
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! SEASCRAPER : Benjamin WoodScribner: 4 November 2025 (US)Penguin Books Ltd.: 17 July 2025 (UK) (I’m using the UK version)Page Count: 163 First line: Thomas Flett relies upon the ebb tide for a living, but he knows the end is near. Blurbed by: Hilary Mantel – (Nominated for the BookerContinue reading “SEASCRAPER – Benjamin Wood”
UNIVERSALITY – Natasha Brown
UNIVERSALITY: Natasha BrownRandom House: 4 March 2025 (US) (unless otherwise noted, I’m reading the US edition)Faber & Faber: 13 March 2025 (UK)Page Count: 152 First line: A gold bar is deceptively heavy. Blurbed by: Tess Gunty – (Numerous awards. No Booker nominations.) Raven Leilani – (Numerous awards. No Booker nominations.) Andrew O’Hagan – (Nominated forContinue reading “UNIVERSALITY – Natasha Brown”
ENDLING – Maria Reva
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! ENDLING: Maria RevaKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group.: 3 June 2025 (US) (unless otherwise noted, I’m reading the US edition)Little, Brown Book Group / Virago Books: 3 July 2025 (UK)Page Count: 338 First line: In the cities, buildings still stood whole. Blurbed by: Ann Patchett – (Numerous awards. No Booker nominations.)Continue reading “ENDLING – Maria Reva”
WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH – Lisa Ridzén
“A window opens, and I hear the cranes gathering to fly south.” “At dinner one day, I snapped and asked what the hell the point of life was if I was too old for a dog.” If you’ve ever had to say goodbye when death is not a thief but a friend who comes inContinue reading “WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH – Lisa Ridzén”
THE SOUTH – Tash Aw
Booker 101 Quick & Dirty Monday! THE SOUTH: Tash AwFarrar, Straus and Giroux : 27 May 2025 (US) (unless otherwise noted, I’m reading the US edition)4th Estate (Harper Imprint): 13 February 2025 (UK)Page Count: 280 First line: Two boys walk through the scant shade of an orchard, far from the house where they are staying.Continue reading “THE SOUTH – Tash Aw”
LOVE FORMS – Claire Adam
“I’m recalling this as best I can, you understand. The truth is that I only remember impressions – images, sounds, feelings.” (9) Claire Adam’s Love Forms started out strong – a first-person narrative with a lyricism to the storytelling that I enjoyed. It didn’t last. On page 11, she writes: “In the darkness, the fallenContinue reading “LOVE FORMS – Claire Adam”
FLESH – David Szalay
“The first daffodils arrive in a hostile world.” (162) If Camus’s The Stranger had a baby with Melville’s Bartleby, you’d get Szalay’s Istvan. Unlike Bartleby, who prefers not to, Istvan’s response is “okay.” He goes through life letting things happen to him, around him, with him. The novel opens with a bang – a 42-year-oldContinue reading “FLESH – David Szalay”
THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG – Leila Mottley
“Momma raised me right till she refused to raise me at all.” “They wanted us to be anything but what we were.” “’Cause hundreds of years ago, some pirate ship sunk and spilled treasures all over the bottom of our sea and now the water shines emerald green for us and if that don’t makeContinue reading “THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG – Leila Mottley”
A Girl Named Tommi 