Nat K > Recent Status Updates

It's time!!! To start reading some Xmas themed books 🎄🎄🎄
I promise myself each year I'll do it then before I know it December is over. So here I go! 💃🎄🥰

What a charming yet sad little book!

***FULL REVIEW TO COME***

“ ‘There’s always a bloody price tag,’ she said. ‘Nobody gets away with anything. Or perhaps it’s just the women who don’t.”

I’ve gotten just over the half way point of this beautifully written novel. It has a gentle strength to it.

I won’t manage to complete this before the Booker prize is announced tonight. But it’s a mighty fine book and another which I’d be more than happy to see win.

Book 9 in my Booker Prize shortlist odyssey. An absolute personal best for me (which well may never happen again!).

I was waiting in a very long queue for this at the library, and finally it's mine! Let's see if I can finish it before the Booker is announced on November 10. Wish me luck!

I have to get my skates on as this is due at the library next week 😬
I had it on reserve for ages, and of course, soon as I picked it up I was unwell soon after. Murphy's Law! No pressure 😬

Back to Ancient Rome with the wonderful, talented Mr.Neale-ski.

I've looked at these in bookshops more times than I care to remember. It's now time to hop in my Tardis and meet Falco.

"Gary had fallen asleep on the rug. Every few seconds his legs all moved in unison like he was running.
'He's dreaming about running,' Benjamin said.
Leonard turned to look at the dog. He laughed. 'Aren't we all,' he said."

Aye. Aren't we all.

I have to say that I'm more than a little surprised, perplexed and disappointed with the Booker shortlist. To be a fly on the wall when these decisions are made...No Seascraper??? Why??? How is that even possible? Not-happy-Jan 😒

The Booker Prize 2025 | The Booker Prizes
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booke...

"I checked my emails again. Billy had not replied. I sent him another email, asking if he was ok."

Why do we do this? Is it a female trait, checking in on someone who doesn't reciprocate?

Another book about the life of an interpreter. This seems to be a bit of a book theme du jour lately. Though having said that, it's unsurprising with people being on the move constantly with the state of the world. Another very interesting take on their inner lives.

"Life has a way of undermining all your principles as you get older."

Book No.4 of my Booker longlist odyssey, and another buddy read with the wonderful, talented Mr.Nealski.

I've really been looking forward to reading this one, so here goes!

Book 3 of this year's Booker Prize longlist Odyssey.

I started this last night as my mind has been adrift and unable to focus for various reasons. I was surprised at how completely captivated I was by the few chapters I read. The writing is utterly beguiling and encompassing.

"Swans swim over the rooftops, power lines."

“...being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the spin of the dice, can sever the connection between any of us to this world. I’m thinking of September 11, the tsunami of 2004, mega bushfires…and now this dark day. This awareness of the fragility of life can make me fearful, yet also fuels a desire to live as fully as possible in the present moment.”
- Sidra Kranz Moshinsky

"The gurgle of whiskey pouring into the glass was music to my ears. Like an old friend opening his heart to me."

Only a handful of chapters left and I cannot imagine where it will all end up.

"The gurgle of whiskey pouring into the glass was music to my ears. Like an old friend opening his heart to me."

"But why must a country be bombed before we care it? The world is a whore."

Touché.

I listened to old stuff over and over again. Books were the same.I reread books from my past, often more than once, but ignored books that had just come out. Somewhere along the way, time seemed to have come to a screeching halt."

Anyone else feel the same?

The Booker Prize longlist odyssey continues with wonderful, talented Mr.Neale-ski.

Book 2 for me. I think Book 3 for Neale?

You gotta love a book filled with gastropods 🐌

" I am not an expert on the Middle East. All I want to do is tell my mother’s story...The lumping of people into a category allows no room for nuance or understanding, but instead paves the way for hate, division and violence...One must never forget one’s humanity.”

- Rachelle Unreich, author of "A Brilliant Life"

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

"...I'm not sure how to interpret the silence, but it feels like abandonment from where I sit. So many dinners, so many years of sharing family and laughter. What did it add up to in the end?"

Sadly it's in tough times where you find out who your true friends are. And it's often a surprise who rallies behind you, and who leaves you behind.

" 'Who was it that said, 'The greatest surprise in life is old age?' he asked."

Ouch. So scarily true.

"It seems as if, year after year, the world becomes a more difficult place to live."

Can't say I disagree.

"But the visible is not the only reality. Wouldn't you agree?"

Yes, I agree.

"No matter how vivid a memory, the power of time was stronger. I knew this instinctively"

I love how Murakami always has such interesting existential questions in his novels. And how his main protagonists are always grappling with them.

"Our lives really do seem strange and mysterious when you look back on them. Filled with unbelievably bizarre coincidences and unpredictable, zigzagging developments."

So true. And let's not forget the good old speedbumps.

Diving back into my Murakami Odyssey ✨️

"But for the life of me I couldn’t recall what happened back in October or November. I mean, I could barely recall what happened yesterday."

I know the feeling. Sometimes life just becomes a blur.

"With joy your days be filled
White horses and red roses
await the beautiful one."