The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

4/5 stars

What's it about? In a post-Arthurian England, Axl and Beatrice set out to find their son, relying on traces of memories erased by a mysterious mist that hangs over the land and placates its people. The journey soon becomes a quest illuminated by ogres, a warrior, a strange boy, a knight, and, of course, a dragon. A book-length daydream that lingers.

How’d I find it? I don’t know how this book came to me. A book sale? A yard sale? A box on the street? I do remember reading Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go on the porch of a beach hut in Zanzibar, the ocean roiling, the wind tearing the pages from my fingers, and stars absolutely everywhere.

Who will enjoy this book? Did you appreciate The Northman or Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds? Try this one out.

What stood out? Many questions remain unanswered in The Buried Giant, creating possibilities that sparkle in the imagination. Possibly the point of a book full of tales told and tales lived by. It’s a tool that Ishiguro wields to anchor the reader firmly in this strange and violent time in human history, when death was its own character and uncertainty an expected frame of mind. We get to see the mud on the proverbial skirts, lending depth to an elusive, tone-heavy novel.

Which line made me feel something? “He had felt as one standing in a boat on a wintry river, looking out into dense fog, knowing it would at any moment part to reveal vivid glimpses of the land ahead. And he had been caught in a kind of terror, yet at the same time had felt a curiosity—or something stronger and darker—and he had told himself firmly, ‘Whatever it may be, let me see it, let me see it.’”

The Frog in the Throat by Markus Werner, translated by Michael Hofmann

3/5 stars

What's it about? Dairy farmer Klement shunned his son Franz after an affair cost Franz his family and position as a clergyman, and they remained estranged until Klement’s death. Now Franz is being haunted by his father, who manifests as a literal frog stuck in his throat for three days every month, never letting Franz forget his shame.

How’d I find it? As ever, the inimitable NYRB Classics Book Club.

Who will enjoy this book? During my reading session, I was reminded of the humor and absurdity of Milan Kundera and the themes of Neil Gaiman’s work.

What stood out? Werner inhabits the two voices of this book so completely. Chapters vacillate between the self-flagellating Franz reliving his sins and Klement milking his cows while airing his disappointment with the changing world around him. The Frog in the Throat has more to say about time and being human than most books twice its length, and does so in a uniquely dark way.

Which line made me feel something? “So or so or any old how, we live for moments and everything withers at a dismaying pace, and the fact that my clothes will outlive me only underlines the misery of it all, while the bells chime brightly and the organ is as dignified as the obituary, the worms bestir themselves, I ventilate.”

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? I had the pleasure of hearing Min Jin Lee speak at an AWP panel back in 2018 and was inspired to pick up a copy of her work.

Why not 3 or more stars? In Free Food for Millionaires, Lee’s debut novel, Casey Han, a new Princeton graduate with a penchant for luxury goods and no idea what to do with her life, is forced into momentum when she becomes estranged from her parents and her boyfriend on the same night. This coming-of-age novel examines the pressure of becoming and the dynamic between expectation and desire, but doesn’t deliver beyond a well-written story, despite touching on religion, diasporas, late nineties’ culture, life in New York, and consumerism. Oh, and there’s something about millinery.

The Moustache by Emmanuel Carrère

4/5 stars

What's it about? The Parisian of this smart novel shaves off his mustache, the catalyst for a delirious descent into madness when no one seems to notice or, in fact, recall his ever having facial hair in the first place. Absurd, funny, and with an ending you won’t soon forget.

How’d I find it? My favorite Bookstagrammer, of course. I do enjoy a Carrère novel.

Who will enjoy this book? I’d liken this book to the experience of reading Machines in the Head by Anna Kavan or the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

What stood out? The narrator’s slippery grip on reality and his shifts between trust and suspicion make for an entertaining read, a feat considering the relative lack of plot. Carrére is deft at keeping the narrator and the reader guessing, with sprinkles of psychological thriller and horror that maintain momentum. I didn’t love how women were written in this book; Agnès, the narrator’s wife, gets a superficial treatment despite her importance. Though perhaps the narrator is just a scoundrel…

Which line made me feel something? I positively adored the brilliant back cover copy, which included (translation my own): “The story, in any case, inevitably ends terribly and, from impossible explanations to irrational escapes, leaves you no way out. Save one, which is revealed in the last pages and not advised when beginning a book. Consider yourself warned.”

The Body in Question by Jill Ciment

5/5 stars

What's it about? C-2 gets involved with F-17, a fellow juror on a high-profile murder trial in which an adopted teen is accused of killing her baby brother. Even this brief escape from caregiving doesn’t relieve C-2 of her life at home with her aging husband. A sharp little novel with heart.

How’d I find it? I found this at Powell’s, and the bookseller who checked me out fussed over this writer. I now understand why.

Who will enjoy this book? This had the tone of the fantastic 2002 film Unfaithful.

What stood out? Ciment takes us into the sexuality and morality of adult womanhood. It’s raw, genuine, and a thrill to read. The wrench thrown into the works by the health of C-2’s husband, a much older man who depends on her, provides a compelling contrast to the isolation of jury duty and C-2’s affair.

Which line made me feel something? “Grief doesn’t feel as if a rug has been pulled out from under her. There is no rug. There is no floor on which to lay a rug. There is no ground on which to build a floor to lay a rug.”

Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet

4/5 stars

What's it about? Animals finally take their revenge against people, until billionaire Roderick Maeve develops a sound that kills every non-human beast on the planet. Jenlena and Daphne are roommates navigating a post-fauna reality wracked by social and environmental upheaval, influenced by the Moon Bethlehems, a cult rallying against the natural degradation caused by humans. Jenlena starts a fling with Maeve just as he’s developing a time machine to possibly save the world. A smart, funny, and relevant first novel.

How’d I find it? This wild cover caught my eye as I strolled the shelves at Powell’s on a Sunday, coffee in hand.

Who will enjoy this book? Mood Swings echoes many of the themes and plot devices of Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis, another talented Canadian writer.

What stood out? The odd thoughts during sex, the ennui, the self-conscious paranoia—Barnet gets young womanhood and knows how to write it without judging her characters. She also evokes a future all too probable; I can absolutely envision a future in which houseplants replace the lost experience of pets. Reading this book in 2025 hits a special nerve, so I recommend picking up Mood Swings as soon as you can.

Which line made me feel something? How I loved the writing in this novel: “It was dark and Jenlena made out only shapes: the shape of branches, the shape of underbrush, the shape of wanting to do anything he asked her to, the shape of being afraid to do it.”

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

3/5 stars

What's it about? Gifty, an ambitious and talented doctoral candidate in neuroscience at Stanford, takes in her mother as she grapples with a depressive episode that rivals the one she survived when Gifty’s brother died of an overdose. A tender sophomore novel about family, faith, and grief.

How’d I find it? How I miss Politics and Prose and the way they have every title I could possibly imagine.

Who will enjoy this book? The book reminded me heavily of the excellent 2019 film Waves. If you like the work of Celeste Ng, pick this one up.

What stood out? Transcendent Kingdom covers relevant themes about immigration, race, mental health, and modern religion, so it will appeal to any reader who seeks a solid pick from the bestsellers table. Despite Gyasi’s sure command, the novel lacks an edge, and this well-written approachability fails to cloak its formulaic narrative.

Which line made me feel something? “God was gone in an instant, but my mother became a mirage, an image formed by refracted light. I moved toward her and toward her, but she never moved toward me. She was never there.”

Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? This Electric Lit list of books curated by Camille Bordas, who wrote The Material, drew me to Maylis de Kerangal.

Why not 3 or more stars? Bordas was right to put Painting Time on a list about obsession. De Kerangal clearly did her research for this novel about the art of trompe-l’œil painting and couldn’t help sharing what she learned. The world she crafts is immersive but claustrophobically small. I kept wanting to peek behind the details—someone’s eyeshadow color, the way they looked while sleeping—to understand who the characters were as people. I settled on interpreting the deluge of minutiae as the development of Paula’s vision as a painter. Regardless, it’s tedious.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

5/5 stars

What's it about? Six astronauts in low orbit move through a day on the space station as they witness sixteen sunrises and sunsets on Earth. A dreamy little novel about progress, ambition, and the place of humanity in the cosmos.

How’d I find it? Trolling the fiction shelves at Powell’s on a weekday. This cover caught my eye, and I took it home. Six months later, Orbital won the 2024 Booker Prize.

Who will enjoy this book? If you liked When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, this might speak to you.

What stood out? Orbital creates the delicious feeling of one’s own smallness, the dizzying scale of the universe that exists beyond the self. I enjoyed every word. Harvey’s winding descriptions and breathy proclamations add to the mystic qualities of this book, whose action takes place mostly in the minds of astro/cosmonauts Chie, Shaun, Nell, Anton, Roman, and Pietro. The references to space programs can feel elementary for those like yours truly who read a lot (like, a lot) about astronomy, but these will be launch points for further research for inductees. Savor a standout passage in which Shaun reflects on Velázquez’s painting Las Meninas.

Which line made me feel something? “The mundaneness of their earth-stuck orbit, bound for nowhere; their looping round and never out. Their loyal, monogamous circling which struck them last night as humbly beautiful. A sense of attraction and servitude, a sort of worship.”

The Pornographer by John McGahern

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? The illustrious NYRB Classics Book Club strikes again!

Why not 3 or more stars? I recognize that one shouldn’t expect much pep in a book about an unwanted pregnancy and the loss of a beloved aunt, but sheesh. The Pornographer does boast some solid writing, especially when our deplorable narrator reflects macroscopically on the nature of humanity, love, and death. Those moments would add up to five pages I would happily devour; the full effect of 250 pages of misery and cringeworthy characters, however, proves too much to overcome.