C G Belcher

Funniest book about death that I’ve ever read. Needless to say, a lot of dark humor runs throughout this novel. A quirky, memorable cast of motley characters. #Books #BookSky

‘‘People had done worse to nature, far worse. You of all people are aware of the perniciousness of humankind’s presence on Earth’
Someone was listening to her! Or at least overhearing her as she wedged her warnings about ecological collapse into the most benign of conversations
#BookSky #Books

‘Yeah, but they can’t take what happened, what we found out.’
‘Easy. They just let us forget. Give us too much to process…’

Perhaps Pynchon‘s most accessible novel, though the plot does tend to meander. A lot of fun and prophetic, too! Pynchon was looking both back and forward. #BookSky #Books

‘Language is a mechanism for expressing thought. But language is thought. Thought is information given form. The form is language.’
A unique S/F novel that, while including aliens & space battles, also posits that we underestimate the importance of language to our own peril.
#Books #BookSky

Congratulations to Curtis Schaefer for winning the Kirkus for fiction with his debut novel ‘The Slip’!
#Books #BookSky

Residents of a small seaside village struggle to survive off meager harvests from the sea. Sometimes, though, O-fune-sama - a shipwreck- occurs and supplies the villagers with ill gotten goods that eases their lives for a while. But their survival also depends on keeping secrets #Books #BookSky

‘I love the bleakness of this place. I’ve never seen a beach so uninviting.’
‘Well, it scrubs up better in the summer.’
‘Don’t get me wrong, it’s the bleakness that I’m looking for. It’s nothing but a positive.’
‘Perhaps for you, the rest of us have got to live here.’
#Books #BookSky

‘…the displaced Tutsis’ shadow, their true shadow that never left them, that ignored the sun’s course through the sky, that clung to them even deep in the night, was fear.’

Five stories about surviving ethnic purges in Rwanda. Devastating, poetic and at times, beautiful & hopeful.
#Books #BookSky

‘I guess I made the wrong decision. Or maybe, between the possibility of being happier & buying more things, I chose to buy more things.’
A young Spanish professional suffers through working with her insipid corporate overlords in a trivial, boring job.Very funny! #Books #BookSky

#NolaSky #Cats

‘I am simply reaping the punishment I am due as a woman incapable of enduring the pain of loving, who wanted herself the joy of being loved.’
A chance meeting and a poem expose a decades long love triangle. #BookSky

‘Each thing we love takes a little piece of us, whether we give it willingly or not. By the time we find the person we were meant to be with, we’re a honeycomb shell of what we once were.’
A stark, vivid collection of horror stories. Gripping & very well written. #BookSky #HalloweenSky

An academic couple from the 22nd century make it their mission to find a famous missing poem -written on vellum, never published & only heard by a few people - from the past. With a lot of hard work and some luck, they make a discovery that’s so much more than what they bargained for. #BookSky

‘There is no good and evil, only healed and broken.’
An excellent novel following the enduring and complicated friendships of 4 young women as they navigate adulthood and stare down becoming middle-aged. It’s also a love/hate letter to LA, past, present & future. #BookSky

Well, the Booker Panel is more forgiving than I. Not mad about it, most of it is very good. #BookSky

Presenting the #BookerPrize2025 shortlist.

Find out more about the books and authors: thebookerprizes.com/bp2025

Excellent until the author decided to implode the narrative about 2/3 of the way in: an exposition dump, one of the main characters not understanding the info from the dump, a chance meeting that gets the character to finally figure things out & an even bigger exposition dump. Sad.
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Did I know that I needed a feminist Gothic horror novel in my life? Not until I read ‘Hungerstone’ by Kat Dunn. Well paced. atmospheric and very, very creepy!
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‘The fluke of being born at a slightly different time, or in a slightly different place, all that might gift you or cost you.’ Helping her cancer stricken dad sort through a mass of old papers & photos, a daughter uncovers a painful secret from their past. Deftly written & heartfelt.
#BookSky

An aging actress has her world shook when she meets a young aspiring actor. She questions the durability of both her career & marriage. Are they as strong as she thought? What if she had made different choices. Down go the stage lights and a different reality plays out in front of her. #BookSky

A slug researcher, a mail order bride and her translator sister invite 12 aspiring US grooms to an after party in the back of their RV and in up on an insane roadtrip across war torn Ukraine. Very funny and a wild ride! #BookSky

Trigger warnings, though - there’s a multitude of violence of many stripes throughout. Not for the squeamish.
#BookSky

‘The world gives itself over to those in our favor. Do you believe in continuity? Do you prefer interruption and whimsy?’ A wild ride - kind of a cross of ‘Moby Dick’ & ‘Blood Meridian’. A stark criticism of capitalism wrapped in a sea saga. Definitely going to be in my top 10 for 2025 #BookSky

That’s a great question. Szalay is a great writer full stop, but it does seem to me that he excels when he has a wider canvas to work with. After reading ‘Flesh’ I did find myself wishing that he had tightened it up a bit. I still think about it. Should make the Short List easily. #BookSky

In Ishtvan’s life he’s used for his physicality - secret sexual partner, muscle for a drug dealer, soldier, bouncer, chauffeur…
It’s easy to judge him for not living with more purpose, but given what life has shown him - utility in his flesh, not his mind - who’s to say that he’s wrong? #BookSky

‘What do you call that sets something in motion? What do you call an eagerness that cannot be ignored?’
Still stuck in 11/18, Tara travels the breadth of Europe in a hope to experience all 4 seasons in a regular year. A lot of provocative thoughts throughout the narrative & a cliffhanger! #BookSky

In a small Irish fishing village an infant is found adrift in the harbor and is adopted into a good-natured, but down on his luck fisherman’s family. As the boy ages questions shroud him in mystery. Quirky, in the best of ways,heartfelt and very, very Irish. #BookSky #Ireland

Twins, brother and sister, on their own since the deaths of their criminal parents, try to survive in the 19th century Australian Highlands. Scorned by everyone, they confront hard choices. Is it worth the risk to track and hunt a man-killing puma for the bounty on the big cat’s head? #BookSky

‘You can’t go to your room,’ she said. ‘How can I not speak to you if you’re not here for me not to speak to?’
A funny, poignant look at a middle-aged son & his mother who try to navigate their own thorny history while surviving decades of turmoil in Beruit. Very funny, really enjoyed it! #BookSky

Pulitzer Prizes 2025: A Guide to the Winning Books and Finalists

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/b...
Congrats to Percival Everett! #BookSky #Books #Pulitzer