Book Haul August 2021 - part 1

I've already got quite a large reading list but this group of new books sound so good and interesting I'm going to try to read some of these as well. Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.

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Books discussed & purchase links:

Stories We Tell Our Children – Marc Nash

The Island of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak

With Teeth – Kristen Arnett

You Will Never Be Forgotten – Mary South

Granta: Interiors, Summer 2021

Borges and Me – Jay Parini

Writing in the Dark – Will Loxley

All the Frequent Trouble of Your Days – Rebecca Donner

Tunnel 29 – Helena Merriman

Crying in the H Mart – Michelle Zauner

Waiting for the Waters to Rise – Maryse Conde

The Country of Others – Leila Slimani

Of Fangs and Talons – Nicolas Mathieu

Damnation Spring – Ash Davidson

Paul – Daisy Lafarge

Sugar – Bernice L McFadden

The Plot – Jean Hanff Korelitz

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Get in touch

[qinlkpah]

Very curious about the new Leila Slimani and the Kimchi Fried Rice :) I just finished The Island of Missing Trees and it's beautiful, you'll learn a lot about Cyprus and the love story makes it a real pageturner.

[BookwormAdventureGirl]

Thanks for introducing me to new books. As always, I love your list and have added several to my TBR. 💙😊

[curtjarrell]

I have the Borges and Me volume in my TBR pile. On my old blog I wrote a post about my discovery of Borges works.

[suzannahdarcy]

I'm focusing on women in translation August and currently reading The Garden of Monsters by Lorenza Pieri, and In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri. Happy reading, my friend!

[josmith]

Writing in the Dark sounds fascinating Eric. Like you, the Bloomsbury set and this period in London are so interesting to me, looking forward to your thoughts when you get to this one.

[AthynVixen]

Crying in H Mart was so good. Can't wait to hear your thoughts

[johnnamurraycamp]

I enjoyed both Crying in the H Mart [+ woo hoo there's now an H Mart on the UWS in Manhattan :~) ] and The Plot. Hope you will, too. On top of my bibliopile (sic) this week: Galgut's The Promise, Maxwell's Demon by Steven Hall, Imamura's The Woman in the Purple Skirt, Paper Palace by Cowley, and Dana Spiotta's Wayward. The library has offered me more work hours; I'm not sure I have time! ;^) Happy reading ~

[Ihearbooks]

Just read The Plot and really liked it. It was a good mystery but had a lot to say about writing which I enjoyed. Easy to swallow new insights with an interesting story.

[tammynovo]

Looking forward to your thoughts on Of Fangs and Talons. Sounds interesting and there is not much in the way of reviews for it.

[norap]

Currently reading Moshi Moshi and love it! Might be a good one for women in translation month. Just finished Just Us which I think you had previously recommended. Definitely interested in reading Plot! Thanks always for your videos 🧡

[JudeLayne]

Would love love love to see a video comparing the different book awards and prizes... what are their visions and missions? How and when were they created? and by whom? Which books have won... and are there any scandals behind any of those winners.... and books that should or should not have won, in your opinion....? Just some wondering from Portland, OR, USA. Love the channel! See you soon.

[shrklotte]

can't wait to hear your thought on the island of missing trees - i bought it this week and it's my first shafak! v excited to get to it bc ive heard great things about her writing 😊

[beatingaroundthebooks]

There are so many interesting titles here! I still have an arc of the new Shafak to read, and think Tunnel 29, Borges and Me and Writing in the Dark sound really fascinating.

I've read and loved Marc's book last month and reviewed it in my July wrap-up - can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!

[Thebadactress]

Lots of goodness. The Plot does seem very exciting, especially to us bookish people :) I bought The Paper Palace today in the cutest book shop on your recommendation ! And I'm reading A Town Called Solace, just for a bit of Booker culture.

[karskel]

The journey of Natty Gann!! Oh my, what a blast from the past. I loved that film, even bought the book :)

[elisabeth_montgomery]

I got my copy of Damnation Spring. Excited for this one.

[cherylynlarking]

thanks for the introduction to Crying in H Mart and the Korean culture. It sounds like an interesting book. Also the Cypriot book by Eli S is one I will chase up.

[basketca]

Slimani seems to be popular enough in the English speaking world that her novels are getting translated and published immediately. In France too, she's still only published the first novel in her trilogy 😉

[susanm]

I recently got All the Troubles of Our Days and am looking forward to reading it. A while back I saw a documentary about her life which was fascinating.

[zubooks]

Thanks for your video, Eric! It's very interesting for me to see what kind of French literature gets translated into English. As a French-speaker, I have been wondering how the choices of which books to translate are made. As you said, I think it's to a large extent based on who wins the Goncourt Prize, but also sometimes some seemingly random authors when you look at it from the French literary landscape perspective. Anyways, it's very interesting. Looking forward to hear your thoughts on Maryse Condé, she's been on my list for years but I never got to picking up one of her books!