Friday Reads 📚 A great novel, magical realism short stories, and Gormenghast

[@Leoslittlebooklife]

I never knew that Gormenghast is a contemporary Lord of the Rings. For some reason I always thougt it was Victorian. Now I want to read it. And did I hear Dickensian?!? Leo groan! Did you hear it?

[@GinaStanyerBooks]

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Gormenghast. I bought it after I saw Steve D talk about it but still haven’t read it! Story of my life 😂

[@Paromita_M]

Very interesting. I keep trying to find the next author who will be my Donna Tartt fix - Eleanor Catton, Hanya Yanahigara and Sally Rooney were three contenders (funnily they have all published three novels each as of today). Sally Rooney right away no - her books are fine but the depth is not there for me nor the writing skill. Hanya Yanahigara - A Little Life hit hard but I didn't like The People In The Trees and felt To Paradise was kind of meh. This leaves Eleanor Catton. The Rehearsal is a very strange novel and ultimately I think it was too strange for me. The Luminaries was good but too long imo and I didn't "get" the astrology part. Her latest, Birnam Wood, was very good but again, it didn't wow me the way a certain writer of The Goldfinch has. And so, I am back to rereading Donna Tartt and searching for someone who has the similar wow factor! 😄 That is a beautiful edition of Gormenghast. I have the ebook version. Hope you like it. Titus Groan and Gormenghast form a complete arc and then Titus Alone is very very different (also a bit incoherent because the author was experiencing cognitive decline from a neurodegenerative condition). I have been reading lot of Russian classics and realised the translation really matters for Dostoevsky, less for Tolstoy. Donna Tartt mentions in an interview who her favourite authors are (YT won't let me link, it's the 2019 Rivista studio one) and I'm trying to sample them all. So far Dickens remains my favourite of the ones she mentions and I finally finished Bleak House! Dostoevsky - read C&P and Brothers K, preferred the former. Nabokov - tried Ada, it wasn't for me. In fantasy, I've been in a bit of a rut, lots of fine books, no standouts for a while. The Traitor Baru Cormorant was very good but very clinical and depressing. Tried 4 books from the Booker longlist and I truly am bamboozled why Demon Copperhead (the David Copperfield retelling although the original is heaps better imo) and Birnam Wood weren't on the list. The books I tried weren't bad except one but at least these two were better. Sorry for rambling. TL;DR: Searching and searching for the next wow book but all I keep getting is mehs. 🙈 Happy reading!

[@curioushmm9027]

see you next week then..