Book of the Week

‘Cursed Bunny’ by Bora Chung

Reviewed by our very own Catalina 📚

‘In this collection of short stories, Bora Chung ingeniously crafts narratives that entwine eerie fairytales with 'Black Mirror'-esque elements, delving into themes ranging from societal pressures on women and greed to the unsettling prospect of AI dominion.

In these tales, a figure emerges from waste and excrement to assume control over a woman's life, a menstruation triggers an unconventional pregnancy, and avarice leads a man to trap a fox for its golden blood.

Each story navigates unexpected twists that evoke tension, discomfort, and at times cringe, captivating readers with their horror-adjacent nature.

Chung's masterful storytelling skillfully dissects dark desires and resonates as an allegorical reflection of contemporary anxieties.’

Not sure if ‘Happy’ is the right word here, but we’ll go with it anyway 😉…. Happy Monday and happy reading, friends ☀️
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Book of the Week

‘Tom Lake’ by Ann Patchett reviewed by Isabella

‘Tom Lake is classic storytelling in its finest form and a reminder that we all have a past that defines us for better or for worse; a past that, for the most part, we forget, but one that can be coaxed back to shed light on who we have become and why.

‘Tom Lake’ is a true Patchett experience. A story of family, quiet love (for lovers, friends, parents, grandparents and children) and quiet heartbreak. The novel is full of relatable experiences, of friendship, disappointment and self discovery. Of life that just happens.

Lara, her husband Joe and their three adult daughters are spending lockdown on their cherry orchard in Michigan. Lara is (guiltily) enjoying the fact that everyone has to stay put and isolated. The girls for their part are taking advantage of the time to get their mother to talk about a time in her past when she (almost) became a movie star - and dated a man who did indeed become one.

This is a story of young love and aspiration during rehearsals one summer for that quintessentially American play, Our Town, and a later story of more mature love.

Tom Lake is a gloriously generous, at times thorny and always honest, story of family, of what matters in life, of the beauty and drama of the everyday.

The novel unfolds with expected (and unexpected) turns on a firm base of genuine appreciation for other human beings.

Tom Lake is not an edgy, uncomfortable, pull you out of your comfort zone kind of novel. Plenty other excellent books serve that vital purpose. Tom Lake has another, very different, and important role to play.

One Ann Patchett addressed in a recent interview with ‘The Guardian’:

"If the world is kicking me in the teeth, in terms of the news and all the things we have to worry about, that's not what I want in my novel. I don't need to be lifted up.

But I would like the kindness of humanity that surrounds me to have a moment" she says. "There I am. That's what I do.’

And boy does she do that wonderfully well!’

Happy reading!

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Book of the Week

‘I have Some Questions for You’ by Rebecca Makai

Reviewed by Lotte, prolific reader and friend of Books & Company ☺️

‘Rebecca Makkai is an amazing storyteller which is why you should pick up this book.

The story, nice and tense seems to be a regular old murder mystery, but it is so much more!

Bodie Kane, a successful film professor and podcaster, spent her high school years at Granby (a posh New Hampshire boarding school) where she like the misfit, the poor kid from Indiana. In the spring of her senior year Bodie’s former roommate Thalia, a popular it-girl was murdered. The athlectics coach was charged and sent to prison for life.

Now, Bodie is back at Granby 20 years later to teach a podcast class, and Thalia’s murder pops up as a theme. This is not a book about how and why Thalia was killed. It is more about Bodie realizing how she misinterpreted so many things back then, not just when it came to Thalia’s murder, but also about being a teen at a boarding school, the heart-wrenching cry for help and wish to fit in, the culture of ‘boys will be boys’. It is also about how Bodie is now confronting the metoo and cancel culture. Again - Makkai nails it!

Bodie is the narrative voice speaking directly to the former music teacher of Granby about what actually happened back then - and Bodie has some questions for him.

It is brilliant set-up of storytelling, and it makes the book sharp. The prose is detailed, there is a lot of characters (so be patient) and the story unfolds slowly, but surely.

Absolutely a Top10 for me!

PS: if you haven’t read Makkai’s previous book ‘The Great Believers’, you should definitely put that on your TBR list as well.’

Thanks Lotte for a great review and happy reading everyone!

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Book of the Week

Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reviewed by our very own Catalina

‘In this literary masterwork, Kazuo Ishiguro recounts the story of Kathy, Ruth and Tommy that grow up at an English boarding school. Through their lives and experiences, that at first sight seem completely ordinary, Ishiguro subtly hints that this is no ordinary school and, moreover, it is not an ordinary world.

The three friends are at Hailsham because their destiny has already been decided for them and they have no choice but to fulfil their ‘special purpose’. Following the characters as they approach the inevitable end without a fight and without a trace of understanding what is being taken away from them, feels at times heart-breaking and at times exasperating.

The author is a master at telling without telling. Through extremely subtle writing Ishiguro makes us reflect on what it is to be human. What lengths are we ready to go to in the name of progress and modernity?’

This book may not be new but it remains a staff favorite, and as author, and fellow bookstore owner, Ann Patchett, likes to say ‘If you haven’t read it, it’s new to you’

Happy reading!

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