Belinda’s Comments (group member since Jan 01, 2017)

Belinda’s comments from the What's Next? group.

Hard to believe it's October indeed with temperature still hovering around 30c here in Asia!

My favourites (so far) this year

The Horse
The Rachel Incident
You are here
Audition

All contemporary reads with fun/interesting characters just going about their own 'ordinary' lives but intertwined with extraordinary/unusal incidents.

Happy Fall reading!

Short listed for this year's Booker prize

“Normal life turning strange—did that feel really real? Are there things in your own life that feel that way?”


Unfortunately this is a book I find it a chore to read. It is a book that tries too hard to tackle many issues and convey a lot of messages within the story of one family, which includes real and tragic historical events, social issues with races, and also various political controversies.

None of the main characters I find interesting or even likeable, which makes me not care about their progress throughout the book at all. It also doesn't help that I already figured out the 'mystery' right at the start because that backdrop is widely known here in Asia.

Maybe because it was originally a short story, it feels very 'padded' out and the experiences of the characters seem all over the place.

It is a book I find hard to recommend also because I personally do not like this type of storytelling and the writing I find mostly boring.

2.5 stars rounded up for the writer's effort in bringing this history of a nation to readers attention.

"There is nothing more certain than perspective, nothing more essential, nothing more eternal."

"Brunelleschi's discovery of the laws of perspective was like Prometheus stealing fire and giving it to mankind."

"...Michelangelo... You alone... understand absolutely what it's all about: surpassing nature by giving spirit to a figure, and making it appear alive by making it flat."

This book has the kind of premise that will satisfy readers who are fans of murder mystery as well as art history. Set in the (late) renaissance with characters such as Michelangelo, the Duke of Florence, Catherine de Medici, Giorgio Vasari etc., the fictional whodunnit story serves as an introduction to the period of Florence with characters connected to both the art and political world, and gives the readers a sense of the social taste and mood at that time.

Written in epistolary style, the book consists of correspondences between around 10 main characters, though at times I find it hard to differentiate the tones of the writers of the letters.

This book is filled with many improbable moments, but nonetheless a fun and fast paced read. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good historical fiction.

"Readers inflict their own expectations, not just on the story, but on your politics, your philosophy, your stance on all things ethical. You, not your writing, become the product—your looks, your wit, your quippy clapbacks and factional alignments with online beefs that no one in the real world gives a shit about."

"Whatever plays out now will happen in the realm of popular narrative."


An entertaining read cleverly incorporating many sides of the arguments on cultural representations and appropriations in the world of publishing in this day and age.

The author is so good as a first person narrator reasoning and justifying her thoughts and actions; so much so I found myself rooting for the protagonist who should be the villain in the story.

Her previous book Babel has been on my to-read list long before I decided (on a whim) to read this one. This is also a popular book because of social media and I think people love the controversy surrounding the topic.

A 4-star read for me, and I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick popular read with controversial modern social themes.

Finally finished reading this latest Murakami novel. It was an atmospheric read for me, but there were parts which I thought drag on a bit, and some parts felt unnecessarily repetitive. Overall I'm a bit disappointed with this book because his last novel Killing Commodore was such a fun read for me, and I was expecting more from this book and not less.

I'm still a Murakami fan, and I love the 'realms' he created. I will however not recommend this book to first timers looking to explore his work, 'Killing Commodore' will be a good start instead.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Another satisfying reading year for me! I'm very happy with my reading pace for 2024, although a few of them were definitely 'impulse reads'. Finishing all 6 of the Booker Prize shortlisted books before the winner was announced was a fun challenge, and I aim to do it again next year. (nb. The winner Orbital was the first one I read... haha)

My favourite books are the following

Fiction

1. All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker  - slow burn

Series

1. Tana French : The Hunter and The Searcher - Literary mystery page turner

2. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands - Fun fantasy series

Classic

1. The Old Man and the Sea - Short and sweet

Non fiction / Biography / Memoir

1. Airhead: The Imperfect Art of Making News by Emily Maitlis - my favourite journalist


Special mention

Shy Creatures by Claire Chambers - Historical fiction with a bit of mystery and a heart-warming ending

Hello! Good news for fans of Haruki Murakami, as his latest book The City and Its Uncertain Walls (English version) is finally out!

I would like to invite you all to join this Group Read, which will be the final group read for the year of 2024.

Happy Reading!

Thanks for explaining the significance of Huckleberry Finn in relation to James. I have some idea of what the book is about, but I'm sure it is different from actually reading it. Would love to read HF while James is still fresh on my mind

I've only just managed to read all 6 shortlisted books before they announce the Booker Prize winner on the 12th Nov. Below is a summarised review of each book in the order I read them

1. Orbital

Personally I'm not a fan of Space, and the overly descriptive illustrations sometimes really put me off in the way that I felt bullied into acknowledging them. I do appreciate the interesting perspectives of the astronauts' lives in the story.

2. James

I have not read Huckleberry Finn, reviewing it as a standalone work, I find the story fun to read, but there aren't any standout qualities that are worth mentioning.

3. Stoneyard Devotional

A surprise page turner for me. The daily monastic style life described in the form of diary entries is intriguing, and the writer has made it easier for readers to ponder life without being too depressive about it. There are a lot of mentions of rats.

4. The Safekeep

Very interesting historical background and story. I find the main protagonist quite unlikable making it hard for me to appreciate the relationships in the book.

5. Held

This is not a novel, more a collection of thoughts and snippets of people who have experienced war. It is not a coherent story (at least not one that I can figure out), and so difficult to follow making it almost unreadable for me.

6. Creation Lake

A fun and thought stimulating book. A 'spy' type story with clever inserts of a lot of philosophical and existential ideas and a bit of ancient history. There are also many LOL moments which I really appreciate. The writer rounded up the ending so well making it almost a perfect read for me.

This is definitely my favourite book out of all 6, my second favourite is Stoneyard Devotional.


This has been a fun exercise for me, especially valuable for exploring works otherwise I would never even consider putting on my to-read list.

Happy Reading My Friends.

I really like Beautiful World Where Are You but I found it less a satisfying read than Normal People. I think Rooney is very good at making the characters and their interactions in her books thought provoking but also fun to read.

I'm eager to read Intermezzo and will share my thoughts here with you all.

"Why would you do this? Trying to live where you can never thrive? Trying to go where the universe doesn’t want you when there’s a perfectly good earth just there that does."

This is a book about many things, but mainly about humanity through the daily lives of 6 astronauts on a mission aboard the International Space Station, their histories, and their interactions with each other. It is beautifully written, especially the detailed descriptions of the optical views of our planet Earth from space and its landscapes day through night. The sometimes excessive illustrations of a place or a point can be powerful but also exhausting.

It is shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize.

"Humankind is a band of sailors, ... a brotherhood of sailors out on the oceans. Humankind is not this nation or that, it is all together, always together come what may."

"...there was always a minority afraid of something, and a great majority afraid of the dark, afraid of the future, afraid of the past, afraid of the present, afraid of themselves and shadows of themselves.”

**************************************

Very clever stories of times when humans can migrate to Mars in the future (future being from the year 2030, while this book was first published in 1950); those who were the first explorers, those who managed to survived and stayed, those who were left behind, and the feelings and conflicts of those who were about to leave earth for good. The author made some brilliant "educated guesses" on how we humans behave in foreign and at times hostile situations, and also how the societies can become. Ironically funny writings but can put you in a somber mood too.

*************************************

“What are you looking at so hard, Dad?” “I was looking for Earthian logic, common sense, good government, peace, and responsibility.” “All that up there?” “No. I didn’t find it. It’s not there any more. Maybe it’ll never be there again. Maybe we fooled ourselves that it was ever there.”

Recently voted by New York Times' panel of 'literary luminaries' as Best Book of the 21st Century (so far...), this translated work of the Italian author Elena Ferrante has been on my to-read list for a long time. I've read one of her more recent books 'The Lying life of Adults' and really liked it.

Looking forward to finding out for myself why this particular book took the top spot of the list and also how other members of the group have to say about that.

There is also the HBO TV series and 3 other books to follow up on if we want more after reading this one!

Nb. Check out the Kindle version it is currently only $3.99

Interesting list, I've only read 8 out of the 100.

I own a few of the others on the list and some of them are also on my 'Want to read'.

I understand this is a book specific list but I think it will be even greater if it includes one best book instead of multiple books from a single author so more authors can be included for readers to explore their work.

A very satisfying sequel, which I'm sure will be just as satisfying when read as a standalone book.

Tana French is a master in recreating the atmospheric environment of a small Irish town, and characters who you find both 'everyday' but intriguing, which also tied in perfectly with the story.

Five Stars.

"Time was not something then we thought of as an item that possessed an ending, but something that would go on forever, all rested and stopped in that moment."

A poetic book by Sebastian Barry on the lives of two teenage boys in the 19th century who became friends and lovers, and eventually led them to fighting alongside each other for two wars, and living out their lives with an Indian girl they adopted by chance.

It is a relatively small book but not easy to read, especially with detailed descriptions of the killings during the wars, and the prose that is meant to replicate the English of an Irish immigrant of that time. It is a very good story with an interesting historical background. I would love to explore more of this author's books, especially his latest one Old God's Time.

This is a graphic novel that combines relatively simple artworks and dialogues to tell a story of how those close to a missing girlfriend/sister are affected by the event, and the impact of conspiracy theories have in their lives via traditional and social media when the missing girl's fate was publicised. Instead of focusing on the progression of the story and characters like most other graphic novels and comics I've read, the graphics of the book leave strong impressions of the atmospheric setting surrounding the characters, and also the anxieties they are feeling but with some room for interpretations by the readers.

No wonder it's Booker Prize long listed, first of its genre.

5 Stars.

Hi all,

We've almost reached the end of February, and also the beginning of Spring!

Which leads us to our 2nd group read of the year... The Hunter.

This is the latest mystery/police procedure by Tana French set in Ireland and will be released on 5 March.

Happy Reading!

"You can forever remember the wrongs done to you as long as you live, ... but if you forget'em and go on living, it's almost as good as forgiving"


Such a good book with lots to take away. It is not one story but many small ones with important cultural references and with different characters each fascinating in their own ways.

5 Stars.

"...information is necessary, to be sure, but it is never sufficient. Information must also be believed, especially when it comes to mortal threats."

"...only when information is combined with belief does it become knowledge. And only knowledge leads to action."

"The French-Jewish philosopher Raymond Aron would say, when asked about the Holocaust, ‘I knew, but I didn’t believe it. And because I didn’t believe it, I didn’t know.’"


This is a book on the life of a man who experienced the horror of Auschwitz, his eventual escape from the place, and his life afterwards. For someone who has only had glimpses of the 'workings' of concentration camps, mainly from the movies, the details from this book are shocking, so much so I had to take a break around 20% into it. I decided that for me to continue reading I needed 'company', and so I bought the audible version so that I didn't feel like I'm experiencing the 'journey' alone.

One significant point from the book is how 'political plays' during that period actually deterred the spread of the words of the Holocaust around the western world, and thus the delayed action against the Nazis. Lots to take away.

The above quotes on information and beliefs will need to take into account of disinformation and conspiracy theories in modern days, and the effects they have on societies.