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Are You Happy Now by Hanna Jameson
βThat this was the trade-off. The price of happiness. In order to feel happy he had to feel everything.β A quietly crushing yet devastatingly tender work scintillating with insight and emotional intelligence. With acuity and empathy Hanna Jameson presents her readers with a captivating narrative chronicling four peopleβs attempts at happiness despite a looming health… READ MORE
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Marieβs Proof of Love by Mieko Kawakami
βLove doesnβt belong to any of usβit exists elsewhere, complete, from beginning to end. We simply have the privilege of coming into contact with it every once in a while.β The dreamlike mood permeating this short story by Mieko Kawakami is reminiscent of Elisabeth Thomasβs Catherine House, Sylvia Plath, and Fleur Jaeggyβs Sweet Days of… READ MORE
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Nothing Can Hurt You Now by Simone Campos
A banger of a premise is let-down by sensationalistic storytelling, a banal plot, and a writing style that for all its attempts to be gritty & edgy comes across as laughable. Worst still, the narrative seems under the impression that it is doing a lot, in terms of unconventional female characters and challenging simplistic representations… READ MORE
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Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto
Over the last couple of years, I have made slow but steady progress reading my way through Banana Yoshimoto’s oeuvre. Amrita marks the thirteenth work that I have read by her and, as in many ways, it exhibits many textbook Yoshimoto traits: an atypical family unity, an irreverently optimistic tone (regardless of the subject matter),… READ MORE
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The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett
Quietly meditative yet incredibly evocative. I find it difficult to pick favorites when it comes to Patchett’s work but The Magician’s Assistant has my heart. Published in 1997 Ann Patchettβs third novel, The Magician’s Assistant is her most underrated work to date. Like with any other novel that I hold dear to my heart, I… READ MORE
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Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell
Between Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm and The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino I have now come to the conclusion that books about sleazy womanizers and the women who at some point or other loved them are not for me. Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm appealed to me because I find that ensemble-cast books usually make for… READ MORE
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