The mods are still MIA, so I will post the thread this week.
What books did you start reading this week? What books did you finish? Did you enjoy them?
I strongly encourage putting the author's name as well as the book title.
This book could be described as "Corporate Gothic" and I think it also fits into the "Weird Girl Literature" genre.
The main character is Edith, who works at an advertising agency and is a workaholic and a people-pleaser. She and her colleagues go to a work retreat at an old convent where the vibes are strange. Their phones are taken away and they are locked in. Then they are told it is mandatory for everyone to have a work best friend. There is already tension due to an upcoming restructure/downsizing, so office politics become heightened. As events become unhinged Edith has to figure out what kind of person she really is, and who she actually wants to be.
I enjoyed this novel as a satire of corporate culture. Anyone who has worked in an office could find some parts relatable. A main theme is around conformity, which appealed to me as someone who doesn't fit in. I also enjoyed the feminist themes, as the book points out all the hypocritical ways that men and women are treated differently in the workplace, especially in regards to parenthood. I particularly liked the way this book was centered around female friendship. I thought that the female characters were very well written.
*Krik? Krak!* by Edwidge Danticat: 4 stars
*Bel Canto* by Ann Patchett: 4 stars
*Truth* by Peter Temple: 4 stars
*Less* by Andrew Sean Greer: 4 stars
*Zoo City* by Lauren Beukes: 3 stars
I have a small child and often take them to various playgrounds around town. The playgrounds typically have signs put up by the Town Council that say "Smoking Prohibited" and "Dogs On Leads Only" with the matching pictograph symbols. Funnily enough, I never notice anyone smoking in the playgrounds. Smokers will either abstain or will go well outside the playground area. But almost every time, some selfish, entitled dog owner will bring an off-leash dog into the playground. They must think that the signs don't apply to them. And I've never had a smoker come and blow smoke into my child's face, but lots of times, dog owners have let their dog run right up to my child. Then, when my kid acts scared, the dog owners are more likely to look annoyed than ashamed. I wish that they had more empathy, so that we could enjoy the playgrounds without being terrorised by dogs, just like we can enjoy them without secondhand smoke.
*The Line of Beauty* by Alan Hollinghurst: 4 stars
*I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban* by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb: 4 stars
*My Year of Rest and Relaxation* by Ottessa Moshfegh: 4 stars
*The Sun Walks Down* by Fiona McFarlane: 4 stars
*Questions of Travel* by Michelle de Krester: 3 stars
*The Bees* by Laline Paull: 4 stars
*Havana Year Zero* by Karla Suárez: 4 stars
*Convenience Store Woman* by Sayaka Murata: 5 stars
*Rewilding the Sea* by Charles Clover: 4 stars
April
16.*Venomous Lumpsucker* by Ned Beauman: 4 stars
*On Not Climbing Mountains* by Claire Thomas: 3 stars
*Gathering Moss* by Robin Wall Kimmerer: 5 stars
*Arborescence* by Rhett Davis: 4 stars
*In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner: 4 stars