Between Bookends

Thoughts & unfiltered opinions of a 20 something

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Miscellaneous Musings
  • Favourite Reads
  • Reading Lists
  • About Me
  • Contact
Search

women writers

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

March 31, 2017March 2, 2018 / varsharavi / Leave a comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACategory: Contemporary Fiction, Magical Realism
Rating: 3.5/5
Author: Aimee Bender

This is the first book by Aimee Bender that I have read. This focuses on Rose, a young girl who has a fairly ‘normal’ family at the beginning of this book but then she starts to taste emotions within the food which her mother is cooking for the family. Continue reading →

Browse Blog

Most recent on the blog

  • Beautiful Children’s Illustrated Books
  • The Idiot by Elif Batuman
  • A wonderfully odd coming of age story
  • Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield
  • Red Clocks by Leni Zumas (a rave than a review)

Find me on Goodreads

Follow me on Instagram

Happy Sunday! I thought I’d share a spread of some of my personal favourite book cover designs of books/editions published in 2019. I’ve read most of these with an exception of Optic Nerve and The Living Mountain. What have been some of your favourite book cover designs of 2019? - #bookdesign #flatlay #bookishrestorative #bookphotography #favouritebookcovers #bookphoto #bookish #readergram #readersofinsta #bookspread #thewinterofthewitch #roughmagic #thememorypolice #seamonsters #orangeworldandotherstories #inpraiseofshadows #somethinglikebreathing #girlwomanother #opticnerve #thelivingmountain #thedreamers #theneed
I’m really looking forward to cracking open and jotting down daily bits into my new 2020 diary with the coming year. This gorgeous new Murakami themed planner was produced by @harvillsecker and was very kindly sent to me from the lovely folks at @penguinrandomca . It’s a week-to-view diary that combines unique stunning artwork inspired by Murakami’s novels along with quotations and extracts from his different works. What’s also interesting is that it includes the evolution of the cover art for some of Murakami’s novels. It’s wonderfully produced and I think it would make an excellent Christmas gift for anyone who’s into planning or a fan of Murakami’s work. - #dailyplanner #2020diary #stationary #bookishgiftguide #murakami #planners #dailyjournal #journaling #beautifulstationary #planners #murakami2020diary #bookphotography #giftsforbookishpeople #giftsforbooklovers #booklovers #bookish
I, for one, have always been interested in Japanese architecture and their minimalist style of living. The entire reading experience of In Praise of Shadows was in some regard, very calming and soothing. The choice of words and the philosophical undertones of this essay lends an air of peaceful meditation, characteristic of the architecture it ascribes. Tanazaki elucidates, in clear and concise writing, the Japanese approach to design, the importance of the interplay of shadow and light, and the little corners of darkness that lend an air of mystery. The essay explores the differences between Japanese and Modern/Western beliefs of design and it’s fascinating to understand how vastly different they are. There’s almost a theological fervency to Tanazaki’s descriptions of Japanese design principles and beliefs, the materials they predominantly use and why they use those specific materials. This reissued edition also includes stunning illustrations that further evoke and elevate the mood and various layers and textures of this essay. I would recommend it to anyone interested in exploring the ethos of Japanese aesthetics. It made me appreciate the subtle elegance of natural materials in a world glaringly obsessed with bright electric lights, gleaming metal, glass and glossy tiles. - #junichirotanizaki #inpraiseofshadows #essays #design #architecture #japanese #japanesedesign #bookphotography #bookishrestorative #beautifulbooks #bookishgiftguide #betweenbookendsreviews #bookreview #bookishallure #readergram #vintageinthewild #vintagebooks #vintagebookdesign #readergram #booksofinstagram #fortheloveofreading
West is a beautiful, haunting and sublime fable encapsulating a miniature epic in its mere 150 pages. Davies has this rare magic with words, an undeniable pull, that aches with melancholy and fills your heart to its brim. I really liked this novella and because it’s so short I don’t want to reveal much of the plot. Very loosely, it follows a father who heads out on a quest in search of these large creatures whose bones have been unearthed in the far west. He leaves behind his young daughter, Bess under the care of her aunt. In alternating chapters, you follow his progress west in search of these mystical, magnificent creatures and Bess’s own struggles at home. Davies’s prose is economical and sparse and yet manages to convey so much depth. I would highly recommend it and suggest that you read it in no more than 2 sittings. - #westbycarysdavies #carysdavies #novella #bookreview #bookishrestorative #bookishallure #readergram #booksofinstagram #booksofig #instareads #grantabooks #bookphotography #bookphoto #booklover #fortheloveofreading
Better late than never for the #endoftheyearbooktag that I was very kindly tagged in by @but_i_thought_ and here are my responses! - 1. Are there any books you started this year that you still need to finish? Yes, I’ve got 2. An essay collection, Coventry by Rachel Cusk and short story collection, The Girl in The Flammable Skirt. - 2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition to the next season? It’s already winter here, and the book I just started, The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea seems perfectly wintery. It’s a dark, gothic historical fiction novel set in the 1600’s in Iceland. - 3. New release you’re still waiting for? The paperback edition of The Other Half of Augusta Hope comes out later this month on the 26th of Dec. It caught my attention since it first came out in hardback and it’s even getting great reviews since. - 4. What 3 books do you want to read before the end of the year? West by Carys Davies. Thematically, it sounds like a wonderful amalgamation of Lanny and Ghost Wall and I just can’t wait to read it. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. I just want to get to more Steinbeck after EoE. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. I loved The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. This is a standalone novella not part of the Wayfarer series, and I’d really like to get to it. - 5. Is there a book you think could still shock you and become a your favourite book of the year? I think it’s unlikely I’ll love a book more than EoE. But there are certainly chances a book might make it to my favourites of the year list in general. - 6. Which 2020 books are you looking forward to? Oh, so many. But from the top of my head, The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel (fascinating premise, just can’t wait to read it), Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh (dark, creepy, psychological literary thriller, count me in!), Long Bright River by Liz Moore (loved The Unseen World and I’m so curious to see how she tackles the crime fiction genre). - I’m quite late in the game already so not specifically tagging anyone, but if you’d like to share your responses to these questions, consider yourself tagged!
Olive Kitteridge has been praised sky high, it seems almost blasphemous to say anything short of excellent in describing this book. I sadly didn’t get along with it and for the most part found it painfully dull. If you could categorize authors into dietary requirements, Strout is the vitamin supplement. Good for you (maybe?) but of questionable nutritional value. Mostly it’s just people being petty, judging one another, poking their noses in everyone else’s business, throw into the mix all the pertinent issues you can think of (cue: mental health, depression, anorexia, suicide, abuse, loneliness, divorce and everything else under this dark, grey sky). Whoa, so deep. - Ok. Strout is not all that bad. There’s an inherent maturity to her understanding of the human condition. But, wait. She spectacularly fails in her execution. Every chapter tackles a new theme and it all starts to feel incredibly formulaic. As I started every chapter, I had fun guessing what drama was likely to unfold. It felt like a toned down version of a melodramatic TV soap. And yet, I was still bored. There’s a robbery scene in this book, and even that failed to excite. - There’s an undercurrent of misplaced desire that runs throughout the novel. I liked that. Kind of abstract, hinting at something but not quite hitting the spot. Every chapter follows a different character and a different issue. Whilst there are correlations and the ever looming presence of Olive, it felt largely fragmented and episodic. Another problem I had with this book was that whilst the issues Strout tackles are important, I fail to see how it could all circle around the lives of one small town where everyone knows Olive in some capacity. She’s a batty, old, bitter woman with streaks of unexpected kindness and humanity. I certainly don’t mind an unpleasant character, but with Olive I just felt complete indifference. - Strout’s writing is run-of-the-mill readable. Stylistically speaking, something about it felt quite repetitive. I also felt she goes overboard with her usage of metaphors. The kind of bloated similes aimed at creating an illusion of better writing instead of saying things just as they are. - Contd.>>>

Enter your email to subscribe.

Category Cloud

Book Reviews Contemporary Fiction Epic Fantasy Fabulist Fiction Favourite Reads Graphic Novels Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Miscellaneous Musings Non Fiction & Memoirs Picture Books Reading Lists Science Fiction Short Story Collections Translated Fiction Uncategorized

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Rating System

  • 5/5 : Mind blowing must-read!
  • 4/5 : Really loved it and would highly recommend
  • 3/5 : Liked it overall, but not without flaws
  • 2/5 : It was okay, had significant issues with it
  • 1/5 : Nope! Didn’t like it, would not recommend

Archives

Category Cloud

Book Reviews Contemporary Fiction Epic Fantasy Fabulist Fiction Favourite Reads Graphic Novels Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Miscellaneous Musings Non Fiction & Memoirs Picture Books Reading Lists Science Fiction Short Story Collections Translated Fiction Uncategorized
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Cancel