Could not agree more about Ministry of Time! It started as one of my most anticipated books of the year and ended as my most overhyped. I especially agree on the language. Some of the egregious similes I noted:
"The summer rays bounce up from the ice like a tossed knife." Does a tossed knife bounce?
"He looked at me, as if debating how much I would weigh if I were hundreds of beans poured in a bottle." No one in the history of the world has ever debated - even in their own head - how much a person would weigh if they were transmogrified into a bunch of beans. That makes absolutely zero sense.
EXACTLY. These are hilarious examples. It reminds me of a quirky character in an indie movie trying to let you know she is quirky but it just doesn't work without Natalie Portman
I’m currently reading James! And I’m so glad I’m not the only one who felt that way about Ministry of Time 😩 I rarely ever DNF a book but at the 90 page mark I just couldn’t do it anymore.
I am SO excited for your Bee Sting review!!! I am on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what you thought - and also so proud of your big book summer! Bee Sting and East of Eden were chucked around by us both as summer goals and we’ve both (almost lol bc bee sting to come) done it!
So unbelievably excited for you to read Will and Testament also. I am available for all comments and reflections if/when they come to you while reading xox
Yes look at us having big book summers!! I think you will enjoy it, especially being a Brit since its Irish you may recognize some cultural similarities - I had to look up a few of the slang terms like digs lol
VERY excited for W & T will be DMing you I am sure
The Age of Innocence adaptation is very interesting; Martin Scorsese famously described it as his most violent movie, which is something considering his filmography. When you watch the movie, keep an eye out for quite a few homages to/quotations of classic cinema (and at least one quotation from Scorsese's earlier work.)
Amazing wrap-up! I was so close to starting The Bee Sting yesterday, but the chunky size of it put me off. Need to start it asap! Seeing so much love for The God of the Woods too!
I hope you love Hjorth’s Will and Testament and the Jon Fosse! Can’t wait to hear what you think—both are big favorites of mine. Also loved The Age of Innocence, and I have East of Eden waiting for me on my bookshelf.
I’ve been thinking I might listen to The God of the Woods as my next audiobook, and your glowing rec sealed the deal —have to finish listening through Alina Grabowski’s Women and Children First, then I’m on it!
Ahhh!! Buying The Bee Sting and The God Of The Woods right meow. Also adding Banal Nightmare to my TBR.
I watch Scorsese's adaptation of The Age Of Innocence EVERY year. It is one of my favorite films ever. The gowns! The ferns! The romance! The longing! The elegantly thrown shade!!! Ahhh!! Can't wait to hear your thoughts when you watch.
Chuckled so loud at "I love a classic 20th-century read, but I also love a dank crime thriller - I am a woman of complex desires."
I've had Presumed Innocent on my watch list for weeks! Thank you for reminding me.
My current unhinged fun summer read is Zsa Zsa Gabor's memoir, "One Lifetime Is Not Enough"...it is juicy and wild. WOW. Mouth drops galore and I'm only 65 pages in.
Kitty is gorgeous, Princess is accurate! I can't believe how big they've grown.
Ugh your newsletter is very quickly becoming a favorite of mine!!! I loved this list of all your recent reads and cannot wait to talk to you about Scorsese's film. I have got to read Paul Murray. I feel it in my bones and your review solidified it for me. I may have to venture to the bookstore to get it today cuz I'm not sure I can wait.
My favorite recent read has been Kaveh Akbar's Martyr. It's, like, obnoxious how good of a writer he is. I just believe every single word he writes.
well thank you so very much :) I am glad you are here!!
And do it!! everyone MAY not love it as much as me, but if any of my reasons convinced you then it might just do the trick. And I got about 20% into Martyr and took a break because I wasnt in the right mood so I am definitely coming back to that one
I’ve been meaning to pick up god of the woods! And yeah I’ve heard mixed things about the ministry of time - the simile is kind of funny honestly. Like what does that actually mean?
Ministry of Time I knew you were reading and have been curious to see what you made of it after your earlier ambivalence. I really wanted to like it, like I do with all novels I begin, and like you, sailed along the first few chapters. I loved the way she said, in effect, don’t worry about understanding time travel—I’m here now and I’ll be here at the end of the story, so don’t sweat the details. I’m afraid that turned out to be the high point for me. I have to admit in the last few pages I was like, I don’t get this, couldn’t really tell you what happened. I did like at times the voice of the narrator but I felt tricked by the literary hype machine. “Highly anticipated” means the writer got an agent and a publisher. This is the first novel I’ve read since I self-published one in 2019 of which I can say, without hesitation, mine is better. I know that’s not what reading and writing is about, but I did feel that in this case.
I really wanted to like it too! I felt disoriented much of the time, who we were with or what was happening, even the descriptions left me feeling disjointed. Its interesting to wonder if she was trying to do it on purpose? But you still need to have a readable story right. And you are so right about highly anticipated - I bet yours IS WAY BETTER I need to know what its called and if its still available
It got two good reviews on Amazon and only one of them was a friend of mine! The author is Anonymous because that is part of the premise of the novel. I should have called it Saving Walt Whitman.
Reading these comments I just had a collective laugh at everyone's reactions to Ministry of Time you really are my people lol
Could not agree more about Ministry of Time! It started as one of my most anticipated books of the year and ended as my most overhyped. I especially agree on the language. Some of the egregious similes I noted:
"The summer rays bounce up from the ice like a tossed knife." Does a tossed knife bounce?
"He looked at me, as if debating how much I would weigh if I were hundreds of beans poured in a bottle." No one in the history of the world has ever debated - even in their own head - how much a person would weigh if they were transmogrified into a bunch of beans. That makes absolutely zero sense.
EXACTLY. These are hilarious examples. It reminds me of a quirky character in an indie movie trying to let you know she is quirky but it just doesn't work without Natalie Portman
This made me lol 😭😂
I’m currently reading James! And I’m so glad I’m not the only one who felt that way about Ministry of Time 😩 I rarely ever DNF a book but at the 90 page mark I just couldn’t do it anymore.
I wanted to like it SO BAD but... woof!
James is on my list!
I am SO excited for your Bee Sting review!!! I am on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what you thought - and also so proud of your big book summer! Bee Sting and East of Eden were chucked around by us both as summer goals and we’ve both (almost lol bc bee sting to come) done it!
So unbelievably excited for you to read Will and Testament also. I am available for all comments and reflections if/when they come to you while reading xox
Yes look at us having big book summers!! I think you will enjoy it, especially being a Brit since its Irish you may recognize some cultural similarities - I had to look up a few of the slang terms like digs lol
VERY excited for W & T will be DMing you I am sure
you’ve completely sold me on the bee sting! Also age of innocence and east of Eden are two forever favs 😮💨
I've also read James recently - thoroughly enjoyed it, although I wish I had better remembered Huck Finn. Still, it stood alone just fine.
Thanks for these others recs!
We had to do Tom Sawyer as a play in 5th grade so I will never forget the plot of that one! It is seared into my brain 😂
The Age of Innocence adaptation is very interesting; Martin Scorsese famously described it as his most violent movie, which is something considering his filmography. When you watch the movie, keep an eye out for quite a few homages to/quotations of classic cinema (and at least one quotation from Scorsese's earlier work.)
these are great tips that will heighten the watching experience! most violent that is saying something...
Films to keep in mind: Scorsese's own The Last Waltz, Vertigo, Barry Lyndon, The Red Shoes, The Leopard (and/or perhaps Senso).
Amazing wrap-up! I was so close to starting The Bee Sting yesterday, but the chunky size of it put me off. Need to start it asap! Seeing so much love for The God of the Woods too!
It feels like a herculean task to start a chonky book but its worth it!!
Thank you so much for including me 🤩❤️❤️❤️
thanks for sharing your writing!! 👻
I hope you love Hjorth’s Will and Testament and the Jon Fosse! Can’t wait to hear what you think—both are big favorites of mine. Also loved The Age of Innocence, and I have East of Eden waiting for me on my bookshelf.
I’ve been thinking I might listen to The God of the Woods as my next audiobook, and your glowing rec sealed the deal —have to finish listening through Alina Grabowski’s Women and Children First, then I’m on it!
That is great news!! I hope you love God of the Woods, but regardless I want to know your thoughts when you finish.
I just finished The Bright Side Animal Sanctuary (it was published about 5? years ago) and it was so, so good. Such a love story to Kansas
Haven't heard of that one but it I googled and it sounds LOVELY
Ahhh!! Buying The Bee Sting and The God Of The Woods right meow. Also adding Banal Nightmare to my TBR.
I watch Scorsese's adaptation of The Age Of Innocence EVERY year. It is one of my favorite films ever. The gowns! The ferns! The romance! The longing! The elegantly thrown shade!!! Ahhh!! Can't wait to hear your thoughts when you watch.
Chuckled so loud at "I love a classic 20th-century read, but I also love a dank crime thriller - I am a woman of complex desires."
I've had Presumed Innocent on my watch list for weeks! Thank you for reminding me.
My current unhinged fun summer read is Zsa Zsa Gabor's memoir, "One Lifetime Is Not Enough"...it is juicy and wild. WOW. Mouth drops galore and I'm only 65 pages in.
Kitty is gorgeous, Princess is accurate! I can't believe how big they've grown.
This was SPECTACULAR as always!!! 😍💥
you are too kind!!!!!!
If you watch it every year it must be amazing - i cant wait to force Mark to watch it with me lol
There have been so many good juicy memoirs lately - I really want to read Julia Fox's aftre books on gifs recommendation
They are too big dont remind me 😩
Ugh your newsletter is very quickly becoming a favorite of mine!!! I loved this list of all your recent reads and cannot wait to talk to you about Scorsese's film. I have got to read Paul Murray. I feel it in my bones and your review solidified it for me. I may have to venture to the bookstore to get it today cuz I'm not sure I can wait.
My favorite recent read has been Kaveh Akbar's Martyr. It's, like, obnoxious how good of a writer he is. I just believe every single word he writes.
well thank you so very much :) I am glad you are here!!
And do it!! everyone MAY not love it as much as me, but if any of my reasons convinced you then it might just do the trick. And I got about 20% into Martyr and took a break because I wasnt in the right mood so I am definitely coming back to that one
I’ve been meaning to pick up god of the woods! And yeah I’ve heard mixed things about the ministry of time - the simile is kind of funny honestly. Like what does that actually mean?
Its so funny at first I couldn't figure it out if it was charming or deranged. I'm going with deranged 😂
Ministry of Time I knew you were reading and have been curious to see what you made of it after your earlier ambivalence. I really wanted to like it, like I do with all novels I begin, and like you, sailed along the first few chapters. I loved the way she said, in effect, don’t worry about understanding time travel—I’m here now and I’ll be here at the end of the story, so don’t sweat the details. I’m afraid that turned out to be the high point for me. I have to admit in the last few pages I was like, I don’t get this, couldn’t really tell you what happened. I did like at times the voice of the narrator but I felt tricked by the literary hype machine. “Highly anticipated” means the writer got an agent and a publisher. This is the first novel I’ve read since I self-published one in 2019 of which I can say, without hesitation, mine is better. I know that’s not what reading and writing is about, but I did feel that in this case.
I really wanted to like it too! I felt disoriented much of the time, who we were with or what was happening, even the descriptions left me feeling disjointed. Its interesting to wonder if she was trying to do it on purpose? But you still need to have a readable story right. And you are so right about highly anticipated - I bet yours IS WAY BETTER I need to know what its called and if its still available
It is called Wild Walt and the Rock Creek Gang and here is the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Wild+Walt+and+the+Rock+Creek+Gang&i=stripbooks&crid=201SOW24BPQ8D&sprefix=wild+walt+and+the+rock+creek+gang%2Cstripbooks%2C80&ref=nb_sb_noss
It got two good reviews on Amazon and only one of them was a friend of mine! The author is Anonymous because that is part of the premise of the novel. I should have called it Saving Walt Whitman.
I need to read God of the Woods! Literally everyone I know who's read it has loved it.
its just so so enjoyable!!