april's book club: three bags (of lost in translation) full!!
which of these covers is your fave? they all appeared at book club on wednesday night!
the theme for my april book club was a book in translation, or at least one that gives us travel vibes.
and the book that won the vote?
well, it was both.
translated from the german and into english, and that takes place in ireland!
together we read THREE BAGS FULL by leonie swann.
we all found it hilarious, but we also all found it mostly wildly confusing as we’re trying to parse out what the sheep are talking about— with their limited knowledge of the humans, and what the humans’ names actually are.
so we had a grand hour and a half discussion, but i can’t say that any of us were pleased with the solution or found the ending (i.e. the “solving” of the mystery) satisfactory or believable. (but, you know, sheep were narrating the thing, so i guess we had to suspend some disbelief along the way anyhow.)
so will the upcoming movie change the ending? will they BABE-it or AIR BUD-it for the talking animals?*
this book got all the points for making us see the world from a flock’s POV and there were a LOT of laughaloudinpublicaroundstrangers scenes and moments. so we didn’t necessarily hate it all together. it was a slow start. a faster second half. and bonus points for the flipbook animation in the corner.**
(also: those who listened to the audiobook found it less confusing because the human voices were distinguishable instead of trying to figure out which character the sheep were talking about.)
so maybe not worth allll the hype, but entertaining for the sake of it being so different from other things we’ve read. yay!
and speaking of hype….
after our great conversation about stories and sheep and satisfying (or not) endings to debut murder-mystery-small-town-Ireland-locks-and-shepherds-and-sheep--and-confessing-sheep-ghosts-mashed-up-genre-bender-lost-in-translation-reads and a snack/wiggle break, we voted on may’s book club pick.
A BOOK THAT CAN’T BE WORTH ALL THE HYPE. OR IS IT?
(i, an elder millenial, am wont to ignore something if it’s too popular. and there are a lot of “popular” books out there. so are they good— or not? i might never know.) ;)
after four rounds of voting, the popular vote finally came to:
THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by lisa see
i prefer the (european) cover on the right, alas, i had to buy the one on the left… which do you like better?
here were the other "HYPED" books that were brought as suggestions:
PROJECT HAIL MARY, by andy weir
T's pick forever; someday we'll read it, i'm sure. it's space. & apparently really good, but she can't tell us why without spoilers. :)
ORBITAL, by samantha harvey
this one has come up for vote more than once-- prize-winner, outer space, and short! also it's so pretty!! iI'm gonna read it anyway. (esp. ‘cuz it’s literally in the mail because i ordered it during bookshop.org’s independent bookstore day free shipping weekend!)
LITTLE HEATHENS, by mildred armstrong
a memoir of the great depression in iowa. (i'm sure it's more nuanced than that, but that's all i know.) ;)
THE HOUSEMAID, by freda mcfadden
oh, this one's been hyped, for sure! what's the fuss all about? i dunno, but i bet this mystery has a Lot of TwiSTS as the staff typically knows everything. unless they're the problem...?
THE PERFECT MARRIAGE, by geneva rose
secrets & murder. (uh, judging by the blood splatter on the cover, anyway.) maybe don't read in bed next to your partner...? ;)
A KILLING COLD, by kate alice marshall
we couldn't get an accurate SpiCE level on this one. but i think we're somewhere between two and six peppers? ;)
THE HEART'S INVISIBLE FURIES, by john boyne
we love ya, B. but this kinda sounds like another depressing book in ireland. so maybe instead, we vote for...
HAMNET, by maggie o'farrell
bring out yer dead! It's the black plague! and shakespeare! (or his wife and kids, maybe?) it's been on my TBR wishlist forever. we'll get there someday...!
TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, by gabrielle zevin
i remember looooving this book. that's it. also, the title is a shakespeare reference (from The Scottish Play), and it's long-ago separated besties and video games and disabilty rep and a hokusai painting on the cover, and i really just want an excuse to re-read it and collect the pretty paperback.
BUTTER, by asako yuzuki
an imprisoned woman (serial killer?) condemened of luring men with her delicious cooking befriends a journalist trying to learn her story. (japanese fiction with lots of yummy food descriptions, according to rumor and recommendations i've heard!)
for june, we’ll be reading a cozy mystery or cozy fantasy. (we have fewer weeks to read that pick before our meeting, so i’m hoping for some shorter suggestions!)
at my local indie today (i was there to get some writing done), i picked up A PALACE NEAR THE WIND by ai jiang.
isn’t that cover art StuNnING?!
after my disaster of bringing a book i hadn’t read yet as a suggestion to book club,*** i’m gonna need to read this one before i see if it’ll fit for a JUnE recommendation… but it’s only 182 pages.
and again: golly, it’s pretty! i hope it’s as great as it looks.
have you read a hyped book and been surprised by how great it actually was?
what would YOU bring as a cozy mystery or fantasy recommendation for june’s pick?
*dear LORD, please don’t let them animate the animals’ mouths to talk via cgi. that’s my biggest pet-peeve in the world. i haaaate it with the fire of a thousand and three blazing suns of mordor hells.
**random hallie fact: when i was on yearbook staff in high school (and thought i wanted to be a disney animator), i did 100+ ink drawings for them to use as a flipbook in the bottom corner of the elementary school yearbook. but the yearbook company only printed the SAME drawing on every page. sigh…
***it’d won the vote for the same reasons i picked it off the shelf at my local bookstore: ghosts and dystopian nyc. also a cool cover and deckled edges. but YIKES. you’ve been warned. and we had another long discussion about why it didn’t work, but i honestly… nope. not even gonna talk about it. but know i read a book before i bring it. ;)