I’ve been MIA for over a year, so suffice it to say there are a LOT of books being added to my wishlist! I was lucky enough to be given a couple of books recently, and there are a few I felt I just couldn’t live without because everyone and their hippogriff has read and raved about them! First the books I added to my shelves myself:
In Order to Live is the story of a girl who was a human rights activist in North Korea before fleeing to China (where, it seems, things didn’t get a whole lot better). She eventually made it to South Korea where she tried to start a new life, but eventually decided to share her story in the hopes that it would help others and possibly help her locate her sister who she hasn’t seen since before she left North Korea. It’s supposed to be brutal, emotional and very worthwhile.
Stay With Me was shortlisted for the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction this year, and I haven’t heard a single negative thing about it – and that’s saying something considering the volume of people who are reviewing and talking about it. It’s set in Nigeria and is the story of a couple who are unable to have a child. The husband is being pressured by his family to take a second wife (despite having promised his wife he wouldn’t). I’ve heard a lot of other bits and pieces about it, but I’m not sure if any of it constitutes spoilers, so that’s all I’m going to say! I’m highly anticipating this one, particularly since it’s supposed to have a lot of twists and turns.
I’m equal parts excited and nervous to read The Hate U Give. It’s a young adult novel about race in America – specifically the murder of a young black man by a white police officer. It ties in with the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and the racial tensions that have been made even more urgent by the current political climate in the US. It’s supposed to be excellent, realistic, and deeply upsetting. I think it will be a book that packs a hard punch, but will also be one of the most important I read this year.
And here are two my mom and lovely friend Martha (from I’d Rather Be Reading) gave me for my birthday:
Nutshell is the first Ian McEwan I will have read, though I have a couple of others on my shelves. It’s about a woman who is pregnant and plotting against the father of her unborn child. She and her lover are unaware that, while they’re putting dastardly plans in place, her baby is actually a witness to everything happening outside the womb. Which is a fascinating premise.
I don’t know much about Lola, except that it’s supposed to be the new Gone Girl and from the description could go any of a number of ways. It’s about a couple who live in South Central L.A. and don’t make a living in any of the usual ways – and it hints at some kind of threatening situation about to occur. Intriguing!
I’m very looking forward to diving into all of these! Have you read any of them? Which do you think I should read first? Which books did you recently add to your shelves?
Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga’s Reviews that’s all about the books we added to our shelves over the past week. Not necessarily books I bought – also includes books I borrowed, was given or otherwise ended up with. Weeks I don’t buy any books I’ll scramble around my shelves and find some I haven’t shared in an StS post yet!
