Apologies in advance for any lack of coherence. I’m a little groggy from painkillers because I bruised a bone the other day. My doctor said my joints were jammed three different times and it made me laugh every time so it was semi worth it. Not worth it at all, tbh, but I got some good reading in this week.
The Heavenly Table started out great and kept it up throughout. I was blown away by this one. This had heart and was really grisly and hilarious and just totally engrossing. Has kind of a Reservoir Dogs feel to it, in that it contains a grisly scene of someone cutting off someone’s ear yet you still remember it as being pretty funny. That’s a very specific feel now that I think of it. I’m definitely reading everything else he’s written pronto.
I’d heard a lot of hype about It Ends With Us, but my expectations were still fairly low because it didn’t really seem like my kind of thing. I was ready to chuck it about halfway through but I’m glad I stuck with it. There was a lot I didn’t like about this one but I do feel she did a good job covering a very serious topic in what’s still pretty light chick lit. It was okay but I doubt I’ll read this author again.
Ian McEwan is an author I had kind of sworn off a while ago. I’ve never felt very strongly about any of his books, and I felt like I’d read enough of him. But the hype around Nutshell finally wore me down. (Hype plus the fact that it’s a very short 200 pages.) A modern day update of Hamlet narrated by a fetus is going to be a love it or hate it kind of thing, and I’m happy to say I loved this. This was funny and suspenseful and clever and fast, you can practically read it in one sitting. Very glad I decided to get this.
Speaking of hype, next up is The Most Dangerous Place on Earth. I’d been looking forward to this for a long time and I feel like it’s been built up like crazy. I’m pretty much guaranteed to read anything that’s being compared to Prep, for better or for worse. This is lightning fast, I started it last night and I’m sure I’ll finish it later today. I’m not sure how I feel about it though. The writing is decent but it’s filled with stock characters and a pretty basic story. I’m hoping it all comes together in a more interesting way at the end. I will let you know!
