Friday Book Debrief vol 46
Every week we’re sharing what our some of our writers are currently reading.
For all of our US readers, we now have our own Bookshop! You can find the full list of the below books here and with every purchase you will be helping local independent bookstores! If you do not live in the US please support your local independent stores, lots are now doing local deliveries and they need your help more then ever in these uncertain times. - ❤️
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Alice-Rae
I’m only a few chapters in, having started it last night, but you’ve got to read at least one scary book in October! I love spooky, ghost stories (but am far too scared to watch it on Netflix!). I love that it was written in 50s, so it feels like an authentic ghost story, written before two sentence horror stories on Reddit!
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam - Jessica
Perhaps due to the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, blackouts were everywhere in my life last week. So when a friend mentioned this book, I downloaded it immediately, and it's so addictive that I found myself hoping for a night of insomnia so I could read more of it.
The Roommate by Rosie Danan - Lauren
A fresh take on forced proximity, this steamy book has main characters Clara and Josh living as strangers-turned-roommates. When prudish Clara finds out her roommate is the biggest name in porn, let’s just say things get spicy!
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda - Melissa
I love a good mystery. I just started this one and I'm already obsessed!
Kink: Stories Edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell - Maggie
My most anticipated read of the year. I’m over halfway through and I am OBSESSED. The full spectrum of sexuality presented on these pages is tantalizing and purely riveting.
Aura by Carlos Fuentes - Karen
I finally have a chance to delve into the genius that is Carlos Fuentes in the masterpiece Aura. This novella is only 65 pages but it is thrilling. We are navigating the second person in the form of our narrator, Felipe, who answers an advertisement that seems crafted to him. He is a historian who is given a chance to get money in exchange for putting together the memoir of a long dead colonel at the request of his widow. The only requisite is that he must live in the home while he does his work and gets his money. The home is an old relic that refuses to leave as more modern Mexico comes to life. The creepiness and eerie factor in this book will give you chills and will be unable to quench the thirst that begins with the first page. You'll want to know more and more about what Fuentes meant in the economy of words he used. Absolutely genius.
Saltwater by Jessica Andrews - Nikki
I nicked this off the bookshelf at work after seeing it all over #bookstagram, and I'm LOVING it so far. Andrews' writing is transporting and evocative, and I can't wait to see where the rest of this story goes.
The Smash-Up by Ali Benjamin - Mel
Taking place in the week of Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate hearing in 2018, the main character, Ethan, has become starkly aware of how he and his social justice warrior wife, Zo, are growing apart in their small-town life. She’s so focused on activism that he is no longer a priority for her, and it seems like their daughter is less and less so as well, as he takes over most parenting duties and she shirks her work and is rarely home—unless she’s invited over the local resistance group of women, All Them Witches. The result is an introspective journey volleying back and forth from Ethan’s early career in NYC to their shared present in the Berkshires, investigating all that comes with living in present-day America.
Missing from the Village by Justin Ling - Aleesha
For years, members of Toronto's Gay Village suspected a serial killer was working among them. In 2018, Bruce McArthur was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison for the murders of eight men. Incredibly well written and researched, Justin Ling's debut novel delves into the players and systems that resulted in the murders and prolonged investigations. This book is a standalone book but is also a great companion piece to the CBC's podcast "Uncover: The Village" also hosted by Ling.
Cockfight by María Fernanda Ampuero translated by Frances Riddle - Akilah
If I wore a wig I'd need to take it off. Read Marian's review and then find out for yourself.
Alright, Alright, Alright by Melissa Maerz - Jessica Maria
This oral history of director Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is proving more fascinating than I anticipated. I'm about to start my own Linklater retrospective in my home and chronologically watch all his films.