booktrovert – Page 22 – Cannonball Read 17

If you could go back, who would you want to meet?

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

June 5, 2022 by booktrovert 2 Comments

Are you looking for a VERY quick, adorable novel that is perfect for a cozy cup of coffee on an afternoon with nothing much else to do? I know you must be, because we all have Covid (again) right now, so many of us are once again looking at 5-10 days with limited social obligations. I read this book in one afternoon in between loads of laundry and dishes, and it was the perfect afternoon novel. It is sweet tale of magical realism – in […]

This is just the way the world is

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

June 5, 2022 by booktrovert 18 Comments

NPR called this book a “gory feast” and that’s one way to describe this novel – it’s packed with fascinating character development, as well as horrors real and imagined. I highly recommend this book – despite being about 400 pages I flew through it (partly my post-school-year euphoria reading rate, but also highly correlated with a great book). The author is clearly expressing a point of view, without sacrificing the quality of the story itself. The story centers on the Quigley House. a full-contact escape […]

“… without a story, it’s all just information.”

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

June 4, 2022 by booktrovert 4 Comments

I have to start by saying I never did get around to reading A Visit From the Goon Squad, I can’t really say why – I think it came out at a time when I was not really able to prioritize reading, given little kids and jobs – there were some years when my children were quite little that I did read, but it was mostly Stephen King novels, or Shirley Jackson, or just re-reading whatever was on my bookshelf. So I missed the sibling novel, […]

Long days, short years

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

June 3, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

I read this book on recommendation from Modern Mrs. Darcy, whose book recs I usually enjoy quite a bit. I found this book to be both enjoyable, and it carried an important message. It was well written, and there were plenty of things about it that were thought provoking. You might sense a BUT here … this didn’t quite hit for me altogether. I’d say if you’re a fan of Jodi Picoult novels (which I generally am! they’re fine!) this fits within that wheelhouse. I […]

Behold, we too have a tale

Devil House by John Darnielle

June 2, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

I have, once or twice, been near enough to the inside of a newspaper story to get a sense of what happens when something that occurs with real humans is interpreted and reported on by other humans. It’s a game of telephone writ large – suddenly, certain elements get dropped, others become far more prominent than they might have been when the event happened in real time. This can be disorienting for the people inside of the event, who have so much context beyond […]

Let come what may

Abundance by Jacob Guanzon

May 31, 2022 by booktrovert Leave a Comment

This book is the heartbreaking tale of Henry, and ex-con living in his truck with his son, Henry junior (Junior). The novel opens on Junior’s 8th birthday, but it jumps back and forth in time to explain how Henry and his son came to be living in a truck, desperately counting change at a McDonald’s trying to get his son a celebratory Big Mac meal. In alternating chapters we learn more about Henry, whose Filipino father had wanted to be professor and loved literature, and […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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