This month I have been absolutely blessed with a selection of thought provoking, heart breaking, surrealist, Nazi food tasting, stabbing my husband but did I actually- reads. Usually what I read in a month there is always a dud book but I was rather surprised by the fact I enjoyed all four of them. Instead of the old ‘Book Club’ method of reading them together in the hope of starting a conversation, unfortunately after finishing the books suggested over the last months, a lot of them were not entertaining, and if I had read them previous to suggestion I would never have mentioned them. So this is the new format, I hope you enjoy!
I Love My Love by Reyna Biddy
‘The girl who writes poems about loving to hard- and not being loved hard enough’
Thoughts-
This is a wonderful book if you are new to poetry. There is a line in ‘A message to women’ that reads ‘Ready to show you- who you are. Paint a picture of you through his eyes and, convince you that you are indeed art’ which struck too hard a chord. Filled with raw emotion and extremely relatable prose, I would definitely recommend.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
‘I love him so totally, completely, sometimes it threatens to overwhelm me. Sometimes I think… No. I wont write about that.’
Alicia- Alicia Berenson writes in her diary as a release, an outlet- and to prove to her beloved husband that everything is fine. She can’t bear the thought of worrying Gabriel, or causing him pain. Until late one evening, Alicia shoots Gabriel five times and then never speaks another word.
Theo- Forensic psychotherapist Theo Faber is convinced he can successfully treat Alicia, where all others have failed. Obsessed with investigating her crime, his discoveries suggest Alicia’s silence goes far deeper than he first thought. And if she speaks, would he want to hear the truth?
Thoughts-
This was one of those books I could not put down for the life of me. Michaelides writes such intense and well constructed characters, leaving you playing this guessing game throughout. I also really enjoyed the structure of the book as its written from the point of view of both Alicia (through her diary), and Theo. Warning- I would not start reading this if you have anything to do that day.
At the Wolf’s Table by Rosella Postorino
They called it the Wolfsschanze, the Wolf’s Lair. ‘Wolf’ was his nickname. As hapless as Little Red Riding Hood, I had ended up in his belly…
Germany, 1943: Twenty-six-year-old Rosa Sauer’s parents are gone and her husband Gregor is far away, fighting on the front lines. Impoverished and alone in a war-torn Berlin, she makes the fateful decision to seek refuge with her in-laws in the countryside. But one morning the SS arrive to inform her she has been conscripted as one of Hitler’s food tasters. Twice a day, Rosa and nine other women must go to his secret headquarters, the Wolf’s Lair, to eat his meals before he does. After each meal, the women must wait an hour to see if they will die.
Forced into this deadly game of roulette, the tasters divide into The Fanatics, loyal to Hitler, and the women like Rosa who insist they aren’t Nazis, even as they risk their lives every day for his. As secrets and resentments grow, one of Rosa’s SS guards becomes dangerously familiar. And as the war escalates, it becomes increasingly clear that Rosa and everyone she knows are on the wrong side of history.
Thoughts-
This book was fascinating in the sense that it was inspired by true events. Postorino hoped to meet with one of the last living ‘Food Tasters’ conscripted for Hitler, Frau Wolk, but unfortunately she passed before they ever made contact. This book is extremely well written, feeling like you have been taken back to 1943 with the way she sets the scenes, and filled with a lot of unexpected twists.
South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
Growing up in the suburbs of post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters. His sole companion was Shimamoto, also an only child. Together they spent long afternoons listening to her father’s record collection. But when his family moved away, the two lost touch.
Now Hajime is in his thirties. After a decade of drifting he has found happiness with his loving wife and two daughters, and success running a jazz bar. Then Shimamoto reappears. She is beautiful, intense, enveloped in mystery. Hajime is catapulted into the past, putting at risk all he has in the present.
Thoughts-
Murakami can do no wrong in my eyes. This book honestly needs no review, it’s just another one of his surrealist masterpieces on the same par as his other works. If you enjoy reading in general, you will enjoy this.
Enjoy xx