You are right— I have not read these yet though Entitlement is coming up and your review make me think I will like it. I am still not sure about Orbital. I picked it up and read a couple of pages in the bookshop but didn’t take it home. Maybe I need to get high to try again?
Just finished what will likely be my last complete read of the year, The End of Drum-Time. It took forever. The writing was beautiful and overall it was… fine. Which is how I end up feeling about most historical fiction. Reading Biography of X though unlikely to finish today to count it among my 2024 reads. It is extraordinary.
I love this Orbital review Nat! I love an existential novel too… it is remarkable that some people don’t enjoy feeling like nothing (😉). I chuckled at your honesty w The Book of Love & Crime and Punishment. As I said a few weeks ago, I thought TBoL looked a bit shit but was interested to hear if this wasn’t the case - but I was right! Thank god it was a library borrow am I right! And with C&P - I get it. I had a real push to finish because I wanted it in my November Reads, but without that drive I think I would have procrastinated a lot. It really looses its way in the middle and honestly it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough there in those middle parts to keep you HOOKED. It looses all its thrust.
I love that you’re loving Say Nothing so much!!! Absolutely pushing it onto my list for next year - I’ve got to get a taste of this brilliance - and soon!! Have a lovely Christmas Natalie - you’ve had such a good newsletter year! Proud of you xxx
And merry Christmas to you my friend I’ve loved our side quests this year so very much. I thank the universe for Substack so we could meet - two people continents apart just trying to live our chic bookish lives 😂🫶🏻
The more I read and then write about books... the less and less I understand the culture of Best of lists. Like, according to who?! But what if it's not the right time?! The reading experience feels so completely and totally subjective to me... especially outside of academia... that I am really struggling with the very concept of good and bad books. I read some critical essays on All Fours a while ago and felt so defensive about the book.... but then I was like, calm down, it's just not the right book for that person at this point in their life... and it was very much the right book for me in this current point in my life.
I think that's why I have loved reading about books on Substack so much this year because we share bits and pieces about our personal lives.... I can find so much connection with other readers that way, even over books that I do not have any interest in.
P.S. I got sick over the weekend so I will either watch some movies from my watchlist for book people or maybe get a headstart on Anna Karenina.
I have gotten defense more times than I can count! It’s a bad wasteful feeling and makes me consider what I want out of sharing my opinions because everyone’s got one and they all aren’t the same. 100% timing is everything. I am not the same person as even my twenties. Gotta love growth!
"Just Friends" is my favorite Anna Faris movie ever, and it isn't close. Like many things from 2005, some of it hasn't aged great, but my spouse and I (...friends for 3 years before we started dating) also have a long-running love of this movie and watch it every year.
For 2024 novels, I * loved * Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep (though I don't get the reviews that suggest there's a super-shocking reveal...I'm the worst at predicting plot twists, and even I knew what was coming). And still going strong on WWII novels generally: I reread Anna Seghers's 1942 novel The Seventh Cross, which was a must after November 5, and will be doing some kind of post about it soon.
In less-recent and also non-WWII novels, finally read (and loved!) Janika Oza's A History of Burning, and read The Lady in the Lake mainly to see if I want to give that Natalie Portman series a try (I might!).
Finally, not a 2024 novel but in celebration of the fall of Assad's regime, highly recommend "The Book Collectors" by Delphine Minoui, which tells the story of a team of Syrian rebels who created their own underground library during the civil war.
THANK YOU for agreeing with me about Just Friends that makes me so happy 😂 I can quote the entire movie
I have heard this about The Safekeep and I think you had the right attitude about not needing to be surprised by "the twist". I had a similar experience reading Never Let Me Go, I knew what was happening from the beginning but instead of just letting it be, I got annoyed, and it ruined the experience for me.
Been meaning to read another Laura Lippman and that one got great reviews
Haha thanks for making me that much more excited to watch it. DINKELMAN!
Lady in the Lake was a great page-turner. I could've done with maybe 30 percent fewer '60s brand references (haven't we all seen Mad Men by now?) and the constant reminders that the white female protagonist is Sexy and Good at Manipulating Men, in favor of more fleshing out of the titular Lady in the Lake and some of the other Black characters in the novel. But I tore through it in a weekend---it's easy to see why it became a TV show.
I think perhaps the writing style was meant to be choppy but it ultimately felt.. rushed? I agree, would be curious to know what effect he was trying to create!
I have heard soooo much about Orbital and it took forever for me to get a copy from the library because there were so many holds on it. I just got it this week. It's been hyped up a lot so I have high expectations.
"You made me curious about the "complete lack of self-awareness of the protagonist." I should read Entitlement. This element is totally absent in the Russian Literature I write about. Thank you.
I agree with you. But in what way, you think? I can find so many kinds of our differences but writing my Russian Poets Before and After Revolution, I found one more difference which I didn't pay attention before. I will mention it later, in my writing.
I have a confession to make. I started Entitlement, but I started to cringe at the protagonist, and the cringe was so terrible that I had to stop mid-way. I couldn't see it through!
I honestly do not blame you! It was more than cringe, it was a complete lack of self-awareness perhaps that did it for me! But I finished so I could review it 😂
Two books I haven't read--you've got me there--but they have been on my tbr! I loved Leave the World Behind so much and so have been hesitant to pick up Entitlement thinking it might disappoint... but you've convinced me it'll be worthwhile to at least give it a shot
It is not the same vibes as Leave but Alam is smart and I have a feeling that we may talk about this book later... like it won't go away, the more things get uncomfortable around here...
umbrage away!!!! I looked at my own books this past year and wondered if my taste is just a heat seeking missile?? If I was just consuming all the books bigger publishing houses called a must read, and how do we wander off these paths to find the gems worth our time where we can (almost) enjoy our opinions in solitude? Anywho. Loved this, and I think Pachinko seems like the lightest (aka least disorienting in archaic prose) on your list vs Les Meis or Crime and Punishment, from what I remember she writes really clearly so you’re adopting the world as you go.
HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! I am a lazy cat on the hunt, but once I catch it I am bored... It can be so hard to define our own taste in the noise of new new new. I really could use modern fun easy to read (Les Mis sounds like WORK).
Though my family always watches the 2014 musical of les meis as an inadvertent Christmas tradition (werk) I’d also say not Hugo this time of year (work)
I despised Entitlement 😂 but I did like Rich&Pretty so I know he can write well (and that I need to read LTW. I appreciated how he dragged the Ford Foundation and philanthropy as a whole but ugh I wanted more. Every character was wooden too
Wooden is the perfect descriptor. But Alam is so good that I know it has to be intentional so its like what am I missing here... however just because its good doesn't mean its enjoyable!
Orbital sounds interesting! Loud and clear on The Book Of Love. It's wild how extreme the reactions are to that one.
Cheesy Christmas movies are so cozy especially when it's snowing outside (crossing my fingers that the 1 inch of snow forecasted for tomorrow comes through!) and you've got nowhere to be.
I want to rub my face in Minnie's belly!!! What a snuggly baby! 😍
You are right— I have not read these yet though Entitlement is coming up and your review make me think I will like it. I am still not sure about Orbital. I picked it up and read a couple of pages in the bookshop but didn’t take it home. Maybe I need to get high to try again?
Just finished what will likely be my last complete read of the year, The End of Drum-Time. It took forever. The writing was beautiful and overall it was… fine. Which is how I end up feeling about most historical fiction. Reading Biography of X though unlikely to finish today to count it among my 2024 reads. It is extraordinary.
Orbital is a weird one! But its just my kind of weird, and I fully understand if its not everyone's weird.
Interesting re: historical fiction! I get interested in very little of those. Biography of X looks extraordinary!
I love this Orbital review Nat! I love an existential novel too… it is remarkable that some people don’t enjoy feeling like nothing (😉). I chuckled at your honesty w The Book of Love & Crime and Punishment. As I said a few weeks ago, I thought TBoL looked a bit shit but was interested to hear if this wasn’t the case - but I was right! Thank god it was a library borrow am I right! And with C&P - I get it. I had a real push to finish because I wanted it in my November Reads, but without that drive I think I would have procrastinated a lot. It really looses its way in the middle and honestly it just doesn’t feel like there’s enough there in those middle parts to keep you HOOKED. It looses all its thrust.
I love that you’re loving Say Nothing so much!!! Absolutely pushing it onto my list for next year - I’ve got to get a taste of this brilliance - and soon!! Have a lovely Christmas Natalie - you’ve had such a good newsletter year! Proud of you xxx
And merry Christmas to you my friend I’ve loved our side quests this year so very much. I thank the universe for Substack so we could meet - two people continents apart just trying to live our chic bookish lives 😂🫶🏻
Thank you Orbital was an easy one to review because I just love anything existential or spacey or spec ep I’ve come to realize. It’s my home.
I think you will love Say Nothing because it’s a serious teaching moment but enjoyable. If all history was taught like that kids would be brilliant
The more I read and then write about books... the less and less I understand the culture of Best of lists. Like, according to who?! But what if it's not the right time?! The reading experience feels so completely and totally subjective to me... especially outside of academia... that I am really struggling with the very concept of good and bad books. I read some critical essays on All Fours a while ago and felt so defensive about the book.... but then I was like, calm down, it's just not the right book for that person at this point in their life... and it was very much the right book for me in this current point in my life.
I think that's why I have loved reading about books on Substack so much this year because we share bits and pieces about our personal lives.... I can find so much connection with other readers that way, even over books that I do not have any interest in.
P.S. I got sick over the weekend so I will either watch some movies from my watchlist for book people or maybe get a headstart on Anna Karenina.
I have gotten defense more times than I can count! It’s a bad wasteful feeling and makes me consider what I want out of sharing my opinions because everyone’s got one and they all aren’t the same. 100% timing is everything. I am not the same person as even my twenties. Gotta love growth!
Sick = movies all day! Get some rest 🖤
"Just Friends" is my favorite Anna Faris movie ever, and it isn't close. Like many things from 2005, some of it hasn't aged great, but my spouse and I (...friends for 3 years before we started dating) also have a long-running love of this movie and watch it every year.
For 2024 novels, I * loved * Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep (though I don't get the reviews that suggest there's a super-shocking reveal...I'm the worst at predicting plot twists, and even I knew what was coming). And still going strong on WWII novels generally: I reread Anna Seghers's 1942 novel The Seventh Cross, which was a must after November 5, and will be doing some kind of post about it soon.
In less-recent and also non-WWII novels, finally read (and loved!) Janika Oza's A History of Burning, and read The Lady in the Lake mainly to see if I want to give that Natalie Portman series a try (I might!).
Finally, not a 2024 novel but in celebration of the fall of Assad's regime, highly recommend "The Book Collectors" by Delphine Minoui, which tells the story of a team of Syrian rebels who created their own underground library during the civil war.
THANK YOU for agreeing with me about Just Friends that makes me so happy 😂 I can quote the entire movie
I have heard this about The Safekeep and I think you had the right attitude about not needing to be surprised by "the twist". I had a similar experience reading Never Let Me Go, I knew what was happening from the beginning but instead of just letting it be, I got annoyed, and it ruined the experience for me.
Been meaning to read another Laura Lippman and that one got great reviews
Haha thanks for making me that much more excited to watch it. DINKELMAN!
Lady in the Lake was a great page-turner. I could've done with maybe 30 percent fewer '60s brand references (haven't we all seen Mad Men by now?) and the constant reminders that the white female protagonist is Sexy and Good at Manipulating Men, in favor of more fleshing out of the titular Lady in the Lake and some of the other Black characters in the novel. But I tore through it in a weekend---it's easy to see why it became a TV show.
Oof I just DNF’d Entitlement. Could not deal with the writing style and odd characterization - neither felt like an intentional choice to me, either.
But Orbital is waiting for me on my bookshelf, and I appreciate reading your thoughts! I think it’ll help contextualize my reading when I pick it up
very interesting take on it not being intentional... now I really want to hear from Alam himself!!
I think perhaps the writing style was meant to be choppy but it ultimately felt.. rushed? I agree, would be curious to know what effect he was trying to create!
here for the cat photo ❤️
I have heard soooo much about Orbital and it took forever for me to get a copy from the library because there were so many holds on it. I just got it this week. It's been hyped up a lot so I have high expectations.
I am starting to believe I missed my calling as a cat photographer...
hopefully it lives up to those expectations, but I am not sure many things do. hopefully I have prepared you properly!
"You made me curious about the "complete lack of self-awareness of the protagonist." I should read Entitlement. This element is totally absent in the Russian Literature I write about. Thank you.
the Russians are a whole different breed!
I agree with you. But in what way, you think? I can find so many kinds of our differences but writing my Russian Poets Before and After Revolution, I found one more difference which I didn't pay attention before. I will mention it later, in my writing.
I have a confession to make. I started Entitlement, but I started to cringe at the protagonist, and the cringe was so terrible that I had to stop mid-way. I couldn't see it through!
I honestly do not blame you! It was more than cringe, it was a complete lack of self-awareness perhaps that did it for me! But I finished so I could review it 😂
Two books I haven't read--you've got me there--but they have been on my tbr! I loved Leave the World Behind so much and so have been hesitant to pick up Entitlement thinking it might disappoint... but you've convinced me it'll be worthwhile to at least give it a shot
It is not the same vibes as Leave but Alam is smart and I have a feeling that we may talk about this book later... like it won't go away, the more things get uncomfortable around here...
umbrage away!!!! I looked at my own books this past year and wondered if my taste is just a heat seeking missile?? If I was just consuming all the books bigger publishing houses called a must read, and how do we wander off these paths to find the gems worth our time where we can (almost) enjoy our opinions in solitude? Anywho. Loved this, and I think Pachinko seems like the lightest (aka least disorienting in archaic prose) on your list vs Les Meis or Crime and Punishment, from what I remember she writes really clearly so you’re adopting the world as you go.
HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! I am a lazy cat on the hunt, but once I catch it I am bored... It can be so hard to define our own taste in the noise of new new new. I really could use modern fun easy to read (Les Mis sounds like WORK).
Though my family always watches the 2014 musical of les meis as an inadvertent Christmas tradition (werk) I’d also say not Hugo this time of year (work)
I despised Entitlement 😂 but I did like Rich&Pretty so I know he can write well (and that I need to read LTW. I appreciated how he dragged the Ford Foundation and philanthropy as a whole but ugh I wanted more. Every character was wooden too
Wooden is the perfect descriptor. But Alam is so good that I know it has to be intentional so its like what am I missing here... however just because its good doesn't mean its enjoyable!
Orbital sounds interesting! Loud and clear on The Book Of Love. It's wild how extreme the reactions are to that one.
Cheesy Christmas movies are so cozy especially when it's snowing outside (crossing my fingers that the 1 inch of snow forecasted for tomorrow comes through!) and you've got nowhere to be.
I want to rub my face in Minnie's belly!!! What a snuggly baby! 😍
Book of Love - it really is. I just am OVER THE TEENAGERS - look at me being picky
We just had two days of heat 😐so i am jealous of your snow. hoping it cools down so i can sit on the couch and read allll day during my holiday break
Shes the best - she will let you pet her, hold her paws, kiss her head, she is unflappable lol
She’s goals 🥹😍😂