LOTE by Shola von Reinhold
it’s not short, it’s not sexy, it’s not sad… it’s also not shit!!!
Tag: contemporary fiction
Fiebre Tropical by Julián Delgado Lopera
was i too old for this one or just too depressed???
Trust by Hernan Diaz
solid if unoriginal “original literary fiction”
Sevastopol by Emilio Fraia
three excellent short stories about memorialising and regret
X by Davey Davis
it’s not hardcore super sex (or maybe it is?)
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
we cannot equate hope with idiocy and expect to ever be happy
The Employees – a workplace novel of the 22nd century by Olga Ravn
a terrifying future draws grim parallels to the present
Only Americans Burn In Hell by 🙏 Jarett Kobek 🙏
if you’re not reading Kobek you’re not reading
Mothers Don’t by Katixa Agirre
If you do not feel or even believe in love, then how and why would you bring others into the nightmare that is existence?
Under Country by Jonathan Trigell
contemporary fiction on the last quarter of the 20th century
The Passengers by Will Ashon
an excellent book
Thread Ripper by Amalie Smith
a gorgeous book
Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal
a pre-release post on a novella about Russian conscripts
I Is Another by Jon Fosse (Septology III – V)
an excellent novel (& a guest cat in the pic!!!)
micropost – Plastic Emotions by Shiromi Pinto
brief comments on a perfect novel
My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi
a failure of intent
The Other Name by Jon Fosse (Septology I-II)
slow fiction with relentless structure
Martha Quest by Doris Lessing (Children of Violence #1)
“the classic coming of age novel… for women”
Ambergris by Jeff VanderMeer
a big book about mushrooms that are magic (not magic mushrooms)
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
a hyper-cautious novel about archetypes avoids offence but also characterisation
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark (Influx Press, 2020)
a week off work begins with a great contemporary novel
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
an excellent novel; in footnotes my concluding thoughts on the TV series The Affair
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
digression-free thoughts on a dull novel
Four Short(ish) Novels from 2020
can’t stop reading / can’t start doing anything else
Sharks In The Time of Saviors [sic] by Kawai Strong Washburn
but sharks are evil, right?
the story of the lost child by elena ferrante
two and a half months ago i read an incredible novel
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
truly one of the greatest recent works of fiction
Cygnet by Season Butler
a solid contemporary novel
Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante
a truly phenomenal novel but Scotty still depressed
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
essentially a review of my new meds
I Am A Truck by Michelle Winters
very very very good novella from 2016
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
a solid, if unambitious, novel from a major contemporary voice
The Outlander by Gil Adamson
i’ve found my local indie press
The Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza
i read a book wrong / nothing compares 2 Proust
I Hate The Internet by Jarett Kobek
the best novel I’ve read about the internet
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
great playful (tho violent!) contemporary Nigerian novel
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
a stupid person’s idea of a clever novel; fun but flimsy
Normal People by Sally Rooney
rooney rooney
Farewell, Cowboy by Olja Savičević
some more great balkan writing
Tentacle by Rita Indiana
a fantastic contemporary novella
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
it’s the most wonderful book of the year
A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen
a very good contemporary novel
I Love Dick by Chris Kraus
a little bit of Vitamin D…
Every Fox Is A Rabid Fox by Harry Gallon
death, dying, dead
The First Day by Phil Harrison
mainstream literary fiction that I very nearly love
Old Filth by Jane Gardam
my thoughts on literature and class
My Brother’s Husband: Volume Two by Gengoroh Tagame
part two of a beautiful graphic novel
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead’s intriguing, if imperfect, debut
Triumph Of The Now 