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goldrushreads · 1 month

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Author Spotlight: Jhumpa Lahiri

Introduction

Follow my Author Spotlight on Jhumpa Lahiri, as I do a deep dive on her books over the next couple of weeks!

📚 Main themes: immigrant experience, identity, and belonging.

📚Lyrical prose, intricate character development

📚Awards:

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000: Interpreter of Maladies

Man Booker Prize Shortlist: The Lowland

📚 Translations: She has also translated works from Italian to English. Now she writes almost exclusively in Italian, which, according to me, is a testament to her language skills and versitality!

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Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar

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A Winter in New York, by Josie Silver

my review: the thing is... some people shouldn't be forgiven all that easily, no?

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goldrushreads · 1 month

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Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before, by Julie Smith

My review: For people who want easy-to-digest and fast mental health maintenance. But if you've taken a counselling class or go to therapy, people HAVE told us this before. It's a nice revision though. Love the workbook!

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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Learning about the Ides of March in middle school was so surreal for me because it’s my birthday, so when the teacher started talking about March 15th and Caesar’s murder, everyone who knew my birthday gave me the side eye like I was the one who stabbed him, so I was sitting there like

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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Happy Ides of March, everyone.

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needing a trip to a cozy bookstore

(via)

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t

hats what we have audiobooks for!!!

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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A Bookish Round Up, Part 4

Here's what I've been reading, in case you're looking for book recs!

A Bad Character, by Deepti Kapoor Summary: After her mother's death and her father's departure for Singapore, the protagonist, in her twenties, seeks escape from tradition and finds herself drawn to a slightly older man recently returned from New York. Their passionate love affair leads her into uncharted territory, exploring themes of desire and its repercussions against the backdrop of a vibrant yet hazardous city. Told in a gritty yet poetic voice, the novel captures the complexities of modern Indian life and the transformative power of love. My review: This was a fascinating POV to Delhi in/around 2000. I really liked it, but there was a certain choppiness where you could see the narrative technique (though pretty good techniques). I'd still recommend this book, but I was reading a Jhumpa Lahiri along with it, so it just seemed glaring (oops). Read if: You like messy women, Lana Del Rey, and books about women in their early twenties (confused, waiting for true love, pretending to know stuff, and waiting to be taken seriously).

Immortality: A Love Story, by Dana Schwartz (Book #2 of The Anatomy Duology) Summary: Hazel Sinnett finds herself alone and questioning the reality of the extraordinary events from the previous year, including encounters with immortality and a mysterious vial. Now, she focuses on her duties as a physician at Hawthornden Castle, which is falling into disrepair. However, when her life-saving actions lead to her arrest, Hazel's fate changes dramatically. She receives a surprising offer to become the personal physician to Princess Charlotte, granddaughter of King George III. Thrust into the intrigue of the British court, Hazel discovers hidden secrets, especially among the members of the Companions to the Death social club. As she navigates courtly glamour and danger, Hazel realizes that her own future and the stability of the monarchy are intertwined, and she may hold the key to uncovering and confronting malicious forces threatening the kingdom. My review: I had really liked the first book, but didn't really like the ending. The second kind of starts giving the closure, but could have been much shorter. There is circumventing the tropes, but there are also tropes for a reason, I guess? If this was from a different POV, it would have been so much better? But what do i know i am not an author lol Read if: You like historical fiction, historical romance, women's fiction, historical girlbosses.

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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A Book-ish Round Up: Part 3

Continuing my book-ish round up, in case you are looking for some recs! This time, I'm highlighting two books, both literary fiction!

Death Valley, by Melissa Broder

A woman seeks refuge in the California high desert amidst personal turmoil involving her father's critical condition and her husband's worsening illness. Seeking solace, she embarks on a recommended hike from a motel receptionist. Along the trail, she encounters an improbable, massive cactus with a peculiar opening. Curiosity leads her inside, where she discovers a mystical journey filled with a mix of desolation, richness, humor, and poignancy.

You can run but only so far, I guess. Read this book if you want to read about finding solace online, about a woman who has to be a caretaker, who feels helpless but still is trying her best, and older women!

2. Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll.

This book delves into the horrors of America's first celebrity serial killer's final murderous spree targeting a sorority. In January 1978, amidst the Pacific Northwest's terror, the vibrant women of a Florida State University sorority are oblivious until a fateful night of violence alters their lives. Pamela Schumacher's (protagonist #1) decision to stay home saves her from the killer's rampage, thrusting her into a terrifying mystery. Meanwhile, Tina Cannon (protagonist #2) in Seattle forms a bond with Ruth Wachowsky, who goes missing under suspicious circumstances. As Tina investigates, she uncovers connections to the Florida tragedy and sets on a collision course with Pamela, driven by a determination to hold the killer accountable. Bright Young Women presents a new perspective on the case, highlighting the exceptional lives of the victims and challenging the sensationalized narrative surrounding the killer.

I liked it just okay but I see why people might love it. You'll love it if you like true crime, alternating perspectives, and books set in college. It also highlights the victims of serial killers and their family, rather than the serial killer himself!

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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A Book-ish Round-Up, Part 2

Continuing my book-ish round up, in case you are looking for some recs!

1. The Book That No One Wanted to Read, by Richard Ayoade, illustrated by Tor Freeman. I didn't want to read it either, oops. (I was not the target audience!)

2. I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai

It's a book set in the boarding school that the protagonist went to when she was a student (and is now teaching podcasting at). When she was in school, her ex-roommate was murdered and now her students want to make a podcast about it. As someone who doesn’t care for true crime podcasts, I see the hype and it’s pretty good, but I find it difficult to review. If you like true crime, you might like it!

3. Skin Again, by bell hooks, illustrated by Chris Raschka

The illustrations are gorgeous and this is an important book!

4. Don't Want You Like a Best Friend, by Emma R. Alban For fans of Bridgerton and Parent Trap (and Taylor Swift!), this is a cute little Sapphic Victorian rom-com. So basically a book for me, I guess?

5. The Bandit Queens, by Parini Shroff

A book about a woman who is an outcast in India. She is thought to have murdered her husband and now some other wives want her help in murdering their husbands.

I love me a badass crime-doing woman (women!), sorry not sorry. It's sad and funny and it really picked up towards the end! Get ready with pitchforks guys.

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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all I keep seeing on social media is actual ads, influencer ads, Taylor swift (I like this), and genocide content. I genuinely cannot take it anymore. this is too much!

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For all my complaints about the rwrb film adaptation and its handling of characters and women and its pacing and its villain, I have to give it one thing: the lake scene? Fucking perfect. Poetic cinema. Nicholas' acting hit the nail on the goddamn head. Absolutely fantastic adaptation decision to let us see HENRY'S reaction in that scene as the truth of Alex's feelings hit him and he realized just how fucked he was because of the position he was in. You could see the moment that Henry saw Alex's possible love confession circling his neck like a fucking rope. 10/10. One of my favorite single adaptation changes of all time.

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goldrushreads · 2 months

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A book-ish round up, Part 1

Here's what I've been reading lately, part 1.

Persuasion, by Jane Austen. It's become a ritual for me to start the year by reading Jane Austen. This year it was Persuasion.

This Winter, by Alice Oseman. I'm obsessed with Heartstopper, so of course, I loved it.

Our Colors, by Gengoroh Tagame, t. by Anne Ishii (Translator) Apart from something that happens towards the end, I think this book is a love letter to young queer people everywhere, especially those who are now older.

Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie It's always interesting to me how we all (at a personal level and also at a country level in some ways) react to colonization differently!

Evil Eye, by Etaf Rum. Not to be too pedantic, but some of the resolutions seemed a bit too neat. Otherwise, this is a great book about a Palestinian American woman, that I think we (some of us more than others) should all read.

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Um… can you… *shuffles feet* Can you tell me the idea of March lore? All I know is that dude died because stabs hurt and… that’s it. I don’t know anything else about it, really, and I also have no idea why it’s such a big deal.

So (this is going off of the Shakespeare play because I am not a history buff),

There was this guy named Caesar and he was in charge of Rome but he wasn't the king and the people said "you should be king!" And he said "nah I'm good" and a bunch of his "buddies" were like "but what if he said yes?" so they plotted to kill him and as Caesar was walking home or something this soothsayer shouted "BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!" and Caesar went "haha wonder what that means" and then he went to work and all 23 of his friends stabbed him including Brutus who he really liked so Caesar said "et tu, brute? then fall caesar!" which means "oh for fucks sake, Brutus, you too? fuck me, then, i guess" and then he died and everything kind of went to shit.

Hope this helps!

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