Books you've read in 2020

Suedey said:
I've really gone off the Goodreads 'lot' to be honest...
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I think it's useful for the good reviews when you're in a shop and don't know what to grab. And for keeping track of your own reading too.

But recently my thoughts haven't really reflected the consensus so maybe I need to be less reliant. Or maybe I have bad taste.
 
Chlammy said:
I think it's useful for the good reviews when you're in a shop and don't know what to grab. And for keeping track of your own reading too.

But recently my thoughts haven't really reflected the consensus so maybe I need to be less reliant. Or maybe I have bad taste.
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Oh likewise - I use it for reviews/suggestions etc. but I used to also place a fair bit of importance on the individual reviews/rates - I most certainly don't anymore and I know that @jivafox has similar thoughts.

Like any social media platform (e.g. FB, Twitter, insta, even Moopy) there's certainly a self-selection/curation process there...
 
isn't it run by Amazon? either way it's clear that a lot of favorable reviews are actually paid for/sent free copies for exposure. you have to dig some to get to the good folk

I use it mostly for catalogueing my own endeavours and finding old rarities. I don't bother with new publications, there's so much naff stuff
 
Yep - I also use it as a good 'app' for tracking my reads & catching up with nerd friends. But I don't place much emphasis on the reviews.
 
Chlammy said:
It did feel a lot more complete, even though it was essentially a collection of relationships and hook ups. I loved WBTY but could understand the criticism that it worked better as a novella about Mitko. That said, some of the writing from the latter parts are really beautiful.
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I finished WBTY last week and I have to say I loved it. It took me a while but I really enjoyed it and the Bulgarian setting (hi @ameraal ) was so lovely and evocative.
 
Suedey said:
Yep - I also use it as a good 'app' for tracking my reads & catching up with nerd friends. But I don't place much emphasis on the reviews.
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Agreed, though it's hard to not pay attention to the scores. I hate this ratings shit on the internet - if it's below a 3.8 I naturally go "ehhh, is it gonna suck?"
 
jyxz said:
So far this year I've read 'Swimming in the dark' by Tomasz Jedrowski - a gay 'coming out' tale set in Communist Poland in the later part of the 20th century - 4 out of 5

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On track to finishing this today and loving it so far.
 
I just there finished You Will Be Safe Here by Damian Barr, which @jyxz mentioned in the queer lit thread.

It begins with a journal recount of an Afrikaans woman and child in a British concentration camp during the Second Boer War and then segues into a family in contemporary South Africa who send their son to an AWB training camp. There was a point in the middle when it moved into the boy's narrative that I was a bit concerned by the writing but it is really well done, even more so considering that it's his first novel. Again, it's hard to finish books set in another country and filled with so much historical context without wondering about bias or subjectivity, but it makes me want to find out more than I already know and I don't think fiction is ever going to give an objective account of history.
 
Suedey said:
I finished WBTY last week and I have to say I loved it. It took me a while but I really enjoyed it and the Bulgarian setting (hi @ameraal ) was so lovely and evocative.
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The paragraph about the father playing with his son in the park and the question of at what point intimacy becomes embarrassing and taboo is BEAUTIFUL and one of the best things I've read in ages:

 
I loved that section. It was beautifully written but I also loved the cinematic feel of it. There were so many layers to it - for example, when he was walking through the sea garden in Varna to get to the beach just after the altercation with Mitko. The horrific flashback scene with K and the girlfriend.

So many moments. Loved it!

Also finished Swimming in the Dark yesterday and of course it was wonderful too. I'm not sure which of the two I prefer!
 
I've just finished An Honest Man by Ben Fergusson and am gutted because now I don't know what to do with myself. It's thrilling and beautiful and moving.
 
Just finished Giovanni's Room. It didn't disappoint. That ending. :(

I'm slowly getting through Alone in Berlin on Audible but need something to move onto in the daytime as well. Will probably bust the kindle out again.
 
Suedey said:
@Chlammy are you not joining us for The Sea, The Sea on Book club?

Also I've always fancied a bit of Alone in Berlin. Is it good ?
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I'll perhaps give it a go soon, or maybe will jump on board for next month. I'm deep into Swimming in the Dark; it's completely absorbing. Started today and suspect I'll finish by this evening or tomorrow.

Alone in Berlin is very good so far, although I'm only on Chapter 14 or so of about 60. My problem is that I keep trying to read it in bed and falling asleep mid chapter. My dad has the book somewhere in the house but I want to commit to the audiobook. Usually I use Audible for biographies so this is a change for me.
 
Chlammy said:
I'll perhaps give it a go soon, or maybe will jump on board for next month. I'm deep into Swimming in the Dark; it's completely absorbing. Started today and suspect I'll finish by this evening or tomorrow.
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I loved it so much! Between it and What Belongs to You I feel I was totally absorbed in an LGBTQIA+ vortex and I want more of the same...
Alone in Berlin is very good so far, although I'm only on Chapter 14 or so of about 60. My problem is that I keep trying to read it in bed and falling asleep mid chapter. My dad has the book somewhere in the house but I want to commit to the audiobook. Usually I use Audible for biographies so this is a change for me.
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You know - I'm a bit like that with The Sea, The Sea actually :D
 
Suedey said:
I loved it so much! Between it and What Belongs to You I feel I was totally absorbed in an LGBTQIA+ vortex and I want more of the same...
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Oh I think this was my favourite book in ages. Every line was so beautiful.

These are some of the parts that affected me most but I feel like I was bookmarking every other page.



Now I feel utterly miserable and lost without it. :D
 
If you enjoyed Swimming In The Dark I would really recommend Lie With Me by Phillippe Besson.
It’s a very similar story but ten times more heartbreaking. I cried so much when I finished it and my afternoon was completely ruined :D
 
jivafox said:
If you enjoyed Swimming In The Dark I would really recommend Lie With Me by Phillippe Besson.
It’s a very similar story but ten times more heartbreaking. I cried so much when I finished it and my afternoon was completely ruined :D
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Thank you!

I'll buy it tonight in that case. I'm going to be a shell when lockdown ends. :D
 
jivafox said:
If you enjoyed Swimming In The Dark I would really recommend Lie With Me by Phillippe Besson.
It’s a very similar story but ten times more heartbreaking. I cried so much when I finished it and my afternoon was completely ruined :D
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Yep I'm reading that next as well as Cleanness (hi @Beverley ) once I'm finished with The Sea, The Sea..
 
jivafox said:
If you enjoyed Swimming In The Dark I would really recommend Lie With Me by Phillippe Besson.
It’s a very similar story but ten times more heartbreaking. I cried so much when I finished it and my afternoon was completely ruined :D
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38 percent of the way through but feel like I've only read three pages.

I'm not as touched as I was with SitD yet but it's very good.
 
In other news I was listening to interviews about Andrea Corr's memoir Barefoot Pilgrimage which actually sounds quite lovely.

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Also on my list:

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From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a beautiful, aching novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos—and how their destinies are entwined across decades, anointed by Hernan Diaz as “one of those rare novels that stays with us to become a standard with which we measure other books.”

I mostly loved Snow Hunters - some of the writing was pretty spectacular in its starkness - so I'm quite excited.

Also getting really into Alone in Berlin.
 
I've run out of LGBTIQ+ stuff so I've finally let lose on Wuthering Heights. It started slow but I'm now appreciating the love for it. More so than I did Jane Eyre.

Alone in Berlin gets more gripping with each chapter, and the Audible version is fantastic if anyone is looking for a great audiobook. I was absorbed on my walk this morning.
 
Finished AIB today and it just gets better and better as it progresses. The ending is harrowing (but satisfying). I didn't know until after the fact that it's one of the first post-WW2 anti-Nazi novels.
 
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