When were you last carried away by a book?
Sometimes books and stories carry you away, so you're almost not reading about events and characters, just experiencing them alongside the people, part of the world and the story. The characters become completely real and, even if they're people you know you could never meet, you become completely invested in their trials. I guess these books aren't the fastest reads, but then, life usually isn't fast. But they're the deepest reads, the ones that stick in the mind when the last page is turned, and the ones, perhaps, that make you feel like you've learned something from an experience you've never had.
If that's the sort of book you want to read next, then find some coffee and check out these book reviews. I really loved these books.
First is the one I've just finished and will be hosting soon on my blog. Mad Dog by Kelly Watt lulls the reader with evocative prose and the wonderful scents and scenery of an orchard summer. But apples might be a very apt metaphor for this novel - truly a poisoned fruit as the author slowly reveals through the eyes of a lonely 14-year-old girl. It's a beautiful, terrifying, and awfully believable tale, so you'll need to keep the lights on and drink some five-star seriously dark coffee.
Less dark but equally evocative is The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan. This one's set in wartime Great Britain rather than 1960s Canada, and the reader is soon involved in the machinations and tribulations of a village's women-folk when the young men leave for war. Told in first-person from various points of view, it's oddly convincing even when its protagonists aren't always likeable. War brings out the best, the worst, and everything in between for these characters, and their tale might well be enjoyed over some richly elegant, complex four-star coffee.
Captives by Reiner Prochaska sees the second world war through very different eyes, following the life of a Cambridge-educated German held captive by life long before he lands in the prison camp. A prisoner of love, honor, duty and betrayal, his path leads to a smoothly perfect, tragic and merciful ending, with other tragedies playing alongside his. It's a haunting tale, best read with some more complex four-star coffee.
Satellite Street by Eleanor Lerman tells a story through the eyes of a sixty-something man who's body has begun to betray him. A friend has spent her whole life betrayed by a body that never felt like her own. And an older man, the protagonist's father, seems betrayed by body, mind, and an unfeeling world. Their stories come together on a street built once as a place to observe satellite launches. And a cool blend of magical realism, real-world trials and tribulations, and hope imbues this novel. A complex, elegant tale best enjoyed with complex, elegant four-star coffee.
Then there's the rather odd Written Out by Howard Mittelmark which mixes the meanings of words and lives as a would-be author becomes accidental murderer. Darkly laugh-out-loud scenes intersect with pathos and complexities, as the protagonist tries to write himself back into his life. Enjoy this dark tale with some dark five-star coffee.
And finally Adventures of Bang Bang Man by Philip Nork is a fictional memoir that invites the reader into the life of an overweight man awaiting bypass surgery. He's in hospital, in therapy, and almost out of friends. But life still holds a future for him, and this oddly inspiring novel tells how he finds it. Enjoy with some dark five-star coffee.
If that's the sort of book you want to read next, then find some coffee and check out these book reviews. I really loved these books.
First is the one I've just finished and will be hosting soon on my blog. Mad Dog by Kelly Watt lulls the reader with evocative prose and the wonderful scents and scenery of an orchard summer. But apples might be a very apt metaphor for this novel - truly a poisoned fruit as the author slowly reveals through the eyes of a lonely 14-year-old girl. It's a beautiful, terrifying, and awfully believable tale, so you'll need to keep the lights on and drink some five-star seriously dark coffee.
Less dark but equally evocative is The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan. This one's set in wartime Great Britain rather than 1960s Canada, and the reader is soon involved in the machinations and tribulations of a village's women-folk when the young men leave for war. Told in first-person from various points of view, it's oddly convincing even when its protagonists aren't always likeable. War brings out the best, the worst, and everything in between for these characters, and their tale might well be enjoyed over some richly elegant, complex four-star coffee.
Captives by Reiner Prochaska sees the second world war through very different eyes, following the life of a Cambridge-educated German held captive by life long before he lands in the prison camp. A prisoner of love, honor, duty and betrayal, his path leads to a smoothly perfect, tragic and merciful ending, with other tragedies playing alongside his. It's a haunting tale, best read with some more complex four-star coffee.
Satellite Street by Eleanor Lerman tells a story through the eyes of a sixty-something man who's body has begun to betray him. A friend has spent her whole life betrayed by a body that never felt like her own. And an older man, the protagonist's father, seems betrayed by body, mind, and an unfeeling world. Their stories come together on a street built once as a place to observe satellite launches. And a cool blend of magical realism, real-world trials and tribulations, and hope imbues this novel. A complex, elegant tale best enjoyed with complex, elegant four-star coffee.
Then there's the rather odd Written Out by Howard Mittelmark which mixes the meanings of words and lives as a would-be author becomes accidental murderer. Darkly laugh-out-loud scenes intersect with pathos and complexities, as the protagonist tries to write himself back into his life. Enjoy this dark tale with some dark five-star coffee.
And finally Adventures of Bang Bang Man by Philip Nork is a fictional memoir that invites the reader into the life of an overweight man awaiting bypass surgery. He's in hospital, in therapy, and almost out of friends. But life still holds a future for him, and this oddly inspiring novel tells how he finds it. Enjoy with some dark five-star coffee.
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