Let's take a moment for me to orient you to what's here
On the pages linked to this one there are dozens of book reviews.
To make finding what will interest you easier, I've given you two browsing pages (the Book Shelves) -- one for fiction, the other for non-fiction. If you hover your cursor over the title, my rating of the book appears. Then there are two pages of reviews (right .... one for fiction, one for non-fiction). I've arranged all the books in each category in alphabetical order by author.
I approach my book reviews from the perspective of my subjective experience of reading the book. There is a bit of a synopsis of the book there too, but you will figure out how I feel about it.
Here are the links:
Fiction Bookshelf
Non-Fiction Bookshelf
Fiction Reviews
Non-Fiction Reviews
But that's not all that's here on these pages. Immediately below is a review of my most recent read. Below that is the title of the book I am currently reading.
And then we get to my faves. There is a memoir I really recommend (and a couple of other memoirs too). Then there are my top picks for each of the fiction and non-fiction categories. Finally, there's an interesting grouping of four books that have helped me come to terms with a perplexing social/ political issue.
To make finding what will interest you easier, I've given you two browsing pages (the Book Shelves) -- one for fiction, the other for non-fiction. If you hover your cursor over the title, my rating of the book appears. Then there are two pages of reviews (right .... one for fiction, one for non-fiction). I've arranged all the books in each category in alphabetical order by author.
I approach my book reviews from the perspective of my subjective experience of reading the book. There is a bit of a synopsis of the book there too, but you will figure out how I feel about it.
Here are the links:
Fiction Bookshelf
Non-Fiction Bookshelf
Fiction Reviews
Non-Fiction Reviews
But that's not all that's here on these pages. Immediately below is a review of my most recent read. Below that is the title of the book I am currently reading.
And then we get to my faves. There is a memoir I really recommend (and a couple of other memoirs too). Then there are my top picks for each of the fiction and non-fiction categories. Finally, there's an interesting grouping of four books that have helped me come to terms with a perplexing social/ political issue.
My most recent read
BERNSTEIN, Sarah
Notes on Complexity
★★★★☆
(note: winner of the 2023 Sociabank Giller Prize)
(note: winner of the 2023 Sociabank Giller Prize)
★★★★☆
As I work of literary fiction, told through stream of consciousness narration, Study for Obedience embeds the reader into another person’s mind.
As one such reader, I’m not at all sure it is where I would’ve chosen to be. And, upon completion of the read, I’m not at all sure where I’ve ending up having been there.
Let me hazard a synopsis of the storyline.
The person of the mind whom we inhabit is called by her brother to come and live with him, basically to be his housemaid and personal caretaker. He had taken up residence in the northern land of their ancestors. The locals speak a language which she doesn’t understand and thus our character is unable to communicate with them. These local folk are a rather superstitious lot and suspect this incomer as being the cause of a sequence of adverse happenings. They want nothing to do with her.
In an attempt to offer a gift to the townsfolk, our character fashions a craft and leaves her creations at the homes and businesses. She eventually finds those objects of attempted connection have been collected and buried as if they had been a hex she had placed upon the members of the community.
Her brother is no help. He makes his living elsewhere so he is either gone, leaving her to maintain his home, or expects her to serve his needs and sustain him when he’s back. He is dominant in their relationship and she is engaged in her lot of serving him, her study for obedience. Eventually the brother succumbs to a mysterious illness more intensely requiring our character’s care and attention.
The character whose mind we inhabit is a dutiful soul, consistently endeavouring to do the right thing, diligently. She is that sort. Before she moved from the city, she had worked as a legal dicta-typist but as she is caught up in this impossible living arrangement she is unable to continue her job as a distance worker. As she completes her mundane tasks, she is left to walk the moors, seeking solace there. Where her mind takes her on that walk suggests psychosis has set in.
By the end of the book we are left wondering if we too have, with her, completely succumbed to the madness of it all, or if by some flash of possibility, she, and we, might be able to break free.
As one such reader, I’m not at all sure it is where I would’ve chosen to be. And, upon completion of the read, I’m not at all sure where I’ve ending up having been there.
Let me hazard a synopsis of the storyline.
The person of the mind whom we inhabit is called by her brother to come and live with him, basically to be his housemaid and personal caretaker. He had taken up residence in the northern land of their ancestors. The locals speak a language which she doesn’t understand and thus our character is unable to communicate with them. These local folk are a rather superstitious lot and suspect this incomer as being the cause of a sequence of adverse happenings. They want nothing to do with her.
In an attempt to offer a gift to the townsfolk, our character fashions a craft and leaves her creations at the homes and businesses. She eventually finds those objects of attempted connection have been collected and buried as if they had been a hex she had placed upon the members of the community.
Her brother is no help. He makes his living elsewhere so he is either gone, leaving her to maintain his home, or expects her to serve his needs and sustain him when he’s back. He is dominant in their relationship and she is engaged in her lot of serving him, her study for obedience. Eventually the brother succumbs to a mysterious illness more intensely requiring our character’s care and attention.
The character whose mind we inhabit is a dutiful soul, consistently endeavouring to do the right thing, diligently. She is that sort. Before she moved from the city, she had worked as a legal dicta-typist but as she is caught up in this impossible living arrangement she is unable to continue her job as a distance worker. As she completes her mundane tasks, she is left to walk the moors, seeking solace there. Where her mind takes her on that walk suggests psychosis has set in.
By the end of the book we are left wondering if we too have, with her, completely succumbed to the madness of it all, or if by some flash of possibility, she, and we, might be able to break free.
What I'm currently reading
A highly recommended memoir.
The Dark Threads (★★★★★) is a memoir of an unnecessary and traumatic journey of a young woman through the mental health treatment system. I have the privilege of getting to know this author (we met on Twitter no less!). We are beta-readers for each other and email pals with daily correspondence. Her memoir depicts psychiatric diagnosis and treatment at it's worse. It is horrifying to read. But she has survived.
I have also pictured below a couple of other memoirs which I really enjoyed.
I have also pictured below a couple of other memoirs which I really enjoyed.
My Fiction Faves
You can find the reviews for these books with the other fiction reviews through this link
My Non-Fiction Faves
You can find the reviews for these books with the other non- fiction reviews through this link.
A Political Grouping
I have been fascinated by the unholy marriage of the American Evangelical church to Donald Trump. There are several books that have helped me to understand this cultural and historical debacle. You might want to check them out.
You can find the reviews for these books with the other non- fiction reviews through this link.
You can find the reviews for these books with the other non- fiction reviews through this link.
A final thought ...
While I worked as a psychologist I didn't have the time or mental energy to read. The books reviewed on the following pages have come into my life over the last five years. I've found myself expanded by them in understanding the human condition and the context in which we explore our subjective experience of living the life we have. I hope you will find here the books that will do that for you too.