The Library of Unrequited Love

The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry


Clever little book with stream of consciousness thoughts from a librarian who's stationed in the history section of a basement library in a small town in France.
"As for men, I've given upon them. It's just impossible in a place like this, impossible. It's not exactly the sticks, but if you're a sensitive, cultivated soul like me, it's...well, it's very provincial. I need wider horizon. So, men, no, that's all over. Love, for me, is something I find in books. I read a lot, it's comforting. You've never alone if you live surrounded by books. They lift my spirit. The main thing is to be uplifted."
Who can argue with her? "When I'm reading, I'm never alone, I have a conversation with the book. It can be very intimate. Perhaps you know this feeling yourself? The sense that you're having an intellectual exchange with the author, following his or her train of thought, and you can accompany each other for weeks on end. When I'm reading, I can forget everything, sometimes I don't even hear the phone."

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The Guest

The Guest by Emma Cline
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Guest by Emma Cline was a disappointing book with an unresolved ending after following the disaffected main character through the seductive Long Island landscape and many pages. Mesmerizing enough to keep me plodding on to see how she finagles yet another man and maintains her optimism that her lover will take her back, but not satisfying, in the end, despite the effort of the author. What happened? Cline's other book, The Girls, was much more appealing to me in plot and writing.

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I Am Homeless if This is Not My Home

I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lorrie Moore's new novel, I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home, was a wistful tale of two brothers, one in hospice, and the other's peculiar road trip with the ghost of a lover interspersed with epistemological entries from a nineteenth century murderess. The writing is excellent and witty. The pacing is fine. But what did it all mean and why the letters? If that sort of structural ambiguity troubles you, I can't recommend this book. I read mainly for good writing yet I was confused. Check out Ron Charles: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/...

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The Rabbit Hutch

The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Rabbit Hutch is a brilliant piece of writing, almost too rich. Various stories and characters residing in a decrepit low-rent housing complex in the Rust Belt compete for the reader's attention and each is about quirky, self-involved, precariously sane individuals, all interesting, but none in which I became invested. The pacing chugged forward nicely until about two-thirds in when I was anxious for resolution for the young Blandine who has suffered so much damage. Animals are hurt, too. But what do I know? This book was on eligibility lists for the Booker Prize, the Women's Fiction Prize, the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022, and the National Book Awards Longlist. I also read this book at an emotionally fraught time over spousal illness so my impressions may be skewed. The author has an amazing imagination and the writing is excellent.

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Moon of the Crusted Snow

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A humdinger! Both my partner & I each read it in two sittings. Interesting to learn about the culture and to read a snowy tale on a hot summer eve. Made us plan canning ventures for the apocalypse!

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Stubborn Archivist

Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel took me to a Brazil I’ve never visited: from cold London winter to the yellow house on the Brazilian beach with family hugs & kisses, musical language, sandy bikinis, tropical food and icy beers. Appealing characters though the narrator’s voice, the stubborn archivist, might confuse as she shifts between you, she and the baby. Boldly for a debut author, she combines the confusion of being of dual heritage (“But where are you really from?”) with stories of coming of age as a woman. Some of the writing is poetry, fragmentary and artful in use of blank space and two languages.
Child of a Brazilian mother and British father, this suggests auto fiction and the author knows what it is to straddle two cultures. The section on Mr. Darcy at the end is hilarious. Highly recommended.

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August Blue

August Blue by Deborah Levy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a lilting pace to Levy's books that is familiar and appealing. Favorite tropes surface: green gemstones, wooden horses, shoes, flowers, insects, weather, birds, cocktails and unique characters like her friends Marie and Rajesh. As always, she writes of swimming, often in exotic locales. And as always, she has me wrapped around her elegant finger, happy to explore the mystery of doppelgangers and her origins.

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