The Overbooked Bibliophile

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Clear  by  Carys Davies  takes us to 1843, Scotland in the final stages of the Scottish Clearances during which rural inhabitants from the Scottish Highlands were forcefully evicted to clear the lands for sheep pastoralism. 1843 also saw the Disruption of the Church of Scotland which saw a large number of evangelical misters walk away from their jobs and their income to form the Free Church of Scotland that would be free of patronage and interference from the British Government. As the story begins, we meet Reverend John Ferguson, an impoverished minister struggling to raise funds for his congregation, who has accepted a well-paying “temporary factoring” assignment. His task entails surveying the terrain of a remote island north of Scotland for its adequacy to meet the requirements landowners have planned and “clear” the island of its sole inhabitant, a man by the name of Ivar whose remaining family has long since left the island. Along with his papers and a ...

Rating:  4.25⭐️ “I am on a peninsula, or to be more precise, the southern half of a peninsula broken in two. But in my mind, I am the land itself. I watch the waves, and when the tides come near, I will them to retreat, retract into their uncontained bodies.” Daegu, South Korea, 2011: Forty-six-year-old Eunju is visited by Narae, a Korean American woman in her thirties, who has come to return an item of hers that was in the possession of her recently deceased father Sangchul. Narae also expresses her desire to know more about her father’s life in South Korea and how he came to be in possession of something that belonged to Eunju. The narrative follows Eunju as she shares her story with Narae detailing a traumatic history she shares with Sangchul from three decades ago when they were both teenagers and inmates at The Stone Home, a state-sanctioned reformatory center. Inspired by true events,  The Stone Home  by  Crystal Hana Kim  is an intense and incredibly movi...

Rating: 4.5⭐ “Memory has never come to her like this in the physical world. It has always been something weightless⁠—strong enough to blow the day off course, but not something she can reach for and hold on to.” Widowed and having lost her adult son to a tragic accident years ago, eighty-three-year-old Helen Cartwright, had moved back to Westminster Crescent, after sixty years in Australia, to quietly live out the rest of her life. Helen is content in her solitude, surrounded by her memories and her daily life built around a set routine with minimal social interaction. Despite having lived in Westminster Crescent before her marriage, she has no friends or acquaintances with whom she could spend time even if she were so inclined and isn’t motivated to forge new connections. “It wasn’t easy coming back after so long. Everything had been going on without her as if she’d never existed.” Helen’s life changes when she encounters a mouse in a discarded heap of trash – a mouse she begins to ca...

  Rating:  4.5⭐ Built in 1891, Shelley House in the village of Chalcot is one of the few historic buildings in the neighborhood that is still standing. The building houses several tenants, some of whom like seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling have called Shelley House their home for over three decades. Besides Dorothy, the other tenants, occupying a total of six flats are – Dorothy’s long-time neighbor Joseph (with whom she has not spoken to in decades) and his Jack Russell Terrier Reggie; recently widowed Omar and his teenage daughter Ayesha; Gloria whose tumultuous love life has led to more than one spectacle in front of her neighbors; Tomasz whose ill-mannered pit bull Princess terrorizes Reggie and Dorothy’s anti-social upstairs neighbor whose constant ruckus and loud music are a constant cause of annoyance. Dorothy is a loner who spends much time keeping an eye on the goings on in the building, diligently noting down her observations, forwarding complaints to the landl...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ " Your future contains dry bones. Your slow demise begins right when you hold the queen in the palm of one hand. Beware the bird, for it will betray you. And from that, there’s no coming back. But daughters are the key to justice, find the right one and keep her close. All signs point toward your murder.” Frances Adams has lived her life wary of the prophecy given by a fortune teller she met as a sixteen-year-old in 1965. Throughout her life she has tried to collect as much information as she could on friends, family, and almost everyone in her circle, all relevant information documented on private files and the puzzle depicted on her very own murder board, to identify those who could possibly be plotting her murder. Sixty years later, she is found dead in her lavish home in the English countryside and she has left specific instructions on how she wants her murder investigated. Aspiring mystery writer Annabelle “Annie” Adams is summoned by her estranged Great-Aunt Fran...

Rating:  4.5⭐️ Set in 412 BC, in Syracuse, Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War,  Glorious Exploits  by  Ferdia Lennon  follows the exploits of two unemployed potters Lampo and Gelon in the aftermath of the Athenian invasion of Syracuse. As the vanquished Athenians lay imprisoned in one of the old quarries in the city, starved and kept in horrific living conditions and easy targets for those seeking revenge against the invaders, Gelon and Lampo devise a plan to direct a production of Euripides’s Medea with those captives who remember the lines from the plays. Gelon is motivated by his love for Greek plays and his fear that the defeat of the Athenians would ultimately result in their famous literary works being lost to time. Lampo, the loyal friend that he is, goes along with his friend’s plans, though he does not share his friend’s fascination for Greek tragedies. The Athenians who know the lines of the play are offered extra rations as an incentive to participate....

Rating:  3.5⭐ Until August   by  Gabriel García Márquez   (translated by  Anne McLean ) revolves around forty-six-year-old Ana Magdalena Bach and her annual visits (on the 16th of August) to the island where her mother is buried. Ana’s itinerary includes a visit to the cemetery where she places a bouquet of her mother’s favorite flowers and indulges in a one-night stand with a different man every year before she returns to her family – her musician husband of over two decades and her two adult children. One of her trysts ends in a humiliating gesture and she carries both the emotional and physical reminder of the same through the years. Every visit to the island and her experiences with the men she meets inspires her to reflect on her actions, her marriage and her family. In sparse prose we are given insight into her motivations, her internal conflict and her desire in a journey of self- explorations with a thought-provoking ending. A departure (in terms of them...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “With my pencil I wrote myself into being. I wrote myself to here.” When James (“Jim”), an enslaved man, hears that he is to be sold to a man from New Orleans and separated from his family he runs away, intending to find a way to secure freedom for himself and his family. He is joined by young Huckleberry Finn, who is running from his abusive father. James is aware of Huck’s plight and is protective of him. The narrative is shared from James’s first-person PoV as he embarks on a life-altering journey. James   by   Percival Everett   has essentially been described as a reimagining of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In my humble opinion, Percival Everett’s masterpiece is much more than that. The first segment of this novel explores familiar territory from within the framework of the classic that inspired this novel, but presenting the story from James’s PoV adds much depth and perspective to the story many of us have enjoyed over the y...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ With its intriguing premise, Gothic vibes, the behind-the-scenes look at reality television and the paranormal mystery  The Invisible World  by  Nora Fussner  is an interesting read. As the novel begins, we follow the crew of a paranormal television show “Searching for . . . the Invisible World” to Ninebark, Pennsylvania, where they will be filming a part of their latest season. Aspiring artist Eve Hawthorne-Malone and her husband Ryan’s new home, which they suspect is haunted after a spate of eerie occurrences. Sandra, the producer of the show, has a predefined approach to filming and presenting the show- a fact that Eve is unaware of and thus is a tad disillusioned when her efforts to share her thoughts and past experiences, which she feels might be connected to present events aren’t met with the level of interest she had anticipated. Her husband Ryan also believes he can manipulate the creators of the show in his own way. What the producers, the crew a...

  Rating:  3.5⭐️ When twenty-two-year-old Theodosia “Theo” Benton drops out of law school in Australia, she ends up in Lawrence, Kansas, at the home of her older brother Gus, a practicing lawyer. Theo is an aspiring writer and Gus is supportive of her goals, encouraging her to pursue her dreams. At Gus’ insistence, she finds a place to sit and write - a bar named Benders where she meets Dan Murdoch, a best-selling author whom she quickly befriends. Dan encourages Theo and from him, she begins to understand how the publishing world works. But when Dan is brutally murdered, Theo, Gus, and their friend Mac are drawn into a complex web of conspiracy, lies, deception, and murder. As the narrative progresses, Theo realizes that all was not as it seemed right in Dan’s world and that sometimes the truth can be stranger than fiction. I was intrigued by the premise of  The Mystery Writer  by  Sulari Gentill . Cleverly crafted and well-paced, with a solid mystery at its co...

Rating:  3.75⭐️ "Here the idea persists that if you admit that you’ve done something wrong and then show remorse because you’ve had a difficult childhood, or a trauma, or are different from the rest, you will rehabilitate better. That’s a word I find really ridiculous, rehabilitate. As if there’s such a thing as a possibility that you could ‘return to a former condition.’ That’s what it says in the dictionary. Return to a former condition. As if time allows, as if time pauses and will wait for you while you get your shit in order. Time does what it wants and you fight against it.” Confrontations   by  Simone Atangana Bekono   (translated by  Suzanne Heukensfeldt Jansen ) revolves around sixteen-year-old Salomé Atabong, daughter of a Cameroonian father and a Dutch mother, living in the Netherlands sentenced to six months in juvenile detention for a violent act, the details of which are gradually revealed. The narrative follows Salome as she comes to terms with t...

Rating: 3.75⭐ “Libraries aren’t only about books; they’re about people. They’re about human life, how books can mend hearts, comfort wounds, and inspire us. But most of all, books can bring people together. Their ideas and thoughts make us realize that we are not alone, that we are all connected.” Set WWII London,  The Underground Library  by  Jennifer Ryan  revolves around three women whose lives intersect during the London Blitz. Elegant prose, well-thought-out characters and a consistently paced and fluid narrative make for an engaging read. After her fiancée goes missing in Dunkirk, twenty-six-year-old Juliet Lansdown moves to London, where she finds employment at Bethnal Green Library as Deputy Librarian. She approaches her new position with eagerness and undertakes several initiatives to engage the community. In London, she also meets an old acquaintance from her village who encourages her to volunteer for the war effort in London. Eighteen-year-old library ass...

Rating:  4.5⭐ The Madstone   by  Elizabeth Crook   begins in Comfort, Texas in November 1868 where we meet nineteen-year-old Benjamin Shreve as he recounts his sixteen-day adventure across Texas in a letter to a child he befriended along the way. When Benjamin agrees to help a stranded traveler catch up with the stagecoach caring for his belongings, little does he know that he will end up aiding pregnant Nell Banes and her young son Henry “Tot” to escape from the clutches of her cruel husband and his criminal family. With the help of Dickie, a treasure hunter in possession of a valuable item he hopes will change his fortunes and Horhay Elveraz a Black Seminole with a lifetime of experience and wisdom under his belt, both of whom he befriends in the course of his travels. The narrative follows the travelers as they brave hailstorms, coyotes, killers intent on exacting revenge, cursed treasures, and much more as they make their way through Texas, in an attempt to help ...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐ Set in the 1880s,  The Road from Belhaven  by  Margot Livesey  revolves around Lizzie Craig who we meet as a young orphan growing up in the care of her maternal grandparents Rab and Flora on Belhaven Farm, in rural Scotland. Lizzie is gifted with second sight – the “pictures” she envisions that are indicative of future events - visions that come to her infrequently but know to mostly keep to herself. Lizzie loves to read and is a curious child. Hers is mostly a happy childhood with her life with her loving grandparents, in the company of the farm animals, her books and school, and their farmhand Hugh who eventually moves to Glasgow in search of better opportunities. Lizzie is surprised to find out that she has an older sister Kate who has been raised by their paternal grandparents. When Kate comes to live with them. Lizzie’s life slowly begins to change. Lizzie begins to dream of a life with new opportunities – a life she is encouraged to embark on when a ...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ Set in the 1970s, the novel revolves around the members of an exclusive hunting club in upstate New York. Long-standing members gather to discuss and disagree on the club’s finances, the admission of a new member and much more. Joining them for the Bicentennial weekend is a detective who manipulates his old college friend whose family is among the members to invite him along. Unbeknownst to the friend or the others, the detective has been hired to gather information about the club and its members and report back on the goings-on to his client, whose identity is gradually revealed. The weekend festivities take a sinister turn when the club turns into the scene of crime for a series of deaths. With inclement weather cutting them off from outside assistance, it is up to the members to find the killer in their midst. As the narrative progresses, it becomes evident that more than one person has secrets they would kill to protect and nobody is above suspicion. West Heart Kill ...

Rating:  4.5⭐️ A Grandmother Begins the Story   by  Michelle Porter   is an evocative novel that will stay with you long after you have finished reading. A multigenerational family saga that follows five Métis women, whose distinct voices tell a poignant tale of generational trauma, neglect, abuse, loss, grief, broken relationships, resilience, identity and legacy. Interspersed throughout the narrative are the perspectives of canine friends and the story of a bison calf and her offspring both of which enrich the narrative, emphasizing the deep connection between all living beings, those we have lost and the world we inhabit. Carter, a recently separated mother of one, is struggling to pick up the pieces when she hears from her maternal grandmother Lucie, whom she never met. Lucie requests her assistance to pass on to the Afterlife. Given up for adoption by her biological mother, Allie, with whom she has recently reconnected, Carter has a strained relationship with he...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ Newly divorced, grieving the loss of her mother and unemployed after her husband tricks her out of their publishing firm, it hasn’t been a pleasant year for Josephine “Jo” Jones. But Jo, a New Yorker in her forties, does not hesitate to pack up and move to the English countryside to claim the family estate in North Yorkshire she has inherited from her mother’s side of the family. A crumbling mansion on an expansive property with a cottage she can move into – Jo is ready to accept the challenge of picking up and starting over deciding to attempt to repair the crumbling mansion on her own. This isn’t an easy transition for Jo. Her American accent, neurodiversity and the challenges of relocating to a new country make it difficult for her to fit in and make friends easily. Jo is curious about her family history and is intrigued by the framed portraits of the original owners who disappeared without a trace decades ago. She takes an immediate dislike to Sid Randles the shady care...

Rating:   4.25⭐ Under the Storm   by  Christoffer Carlsson   (translated by  Rachel Willson-Broyles ) is an exceptionally well-written, immersive novel that I could not put down. “There’s this word, used by old men and women around here. It comes across their lips like sinister smoke when someone is a little mean or nasty, when a place or thing has this unpleasant, uncanny feel to it: kymig.” The novel begins in Marbäck, Halland, Sweden with the discovery of the body of a young woman after a house fire in November 1994. The ensuing investigation implicates her boyfriend twenty- five-year-old Edvard Christensson whose troubled background and family history make it easy for the community and law enforcement to vilify him. Edvard was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 1995. The narrative follows Officer Vidar Jörgensson who was part of the investigation and Isak Nyqvist Edvard’s nephew, seven years old at the time, both of wh...