I very much enjoyed Mr. Walter’s Beautiful Ruins, (link HERE) so I was pleased to get his newest novel on my library holds. So Far Gone is a very different type of book, but it shares his wonderful writing.

Rhys Kinnick is a laid-off journalist and divorced father who retreated to live in an inherited cinder block cabin on a vast isolated property. Alone, like his beloved Thoreau, he attempted to process and make sense of the messy state of the world — accompanied by only some cheeky raccoons and stacks of great books. All this, after abandoning his daughter and her two children during a Thanksgiving fist fight with her husband — (get this character) a religious extremist, conspiracy kook, who argued that the NFL was yet an arm of the capitalistic wealthy who are controlling the world.

A friend recommended this novel, which I put on hold at the library. Then, when I learned that Remarkably Bright Creatures was being adapted into a film on Netflix, my impatience grew. Accidentally, I dropped into my local book store (you know where this is going) and sighed when I picked it up. True confession, I have a weakness for books with sprayed edges. Purchased in a blink of the eye, cancelled my library hold, and started it that evening.

I have to say this is a debut novel that actually deserves all the hype. I just finished reading The Names and found it unputadownable (and yes, I am going to stick with that word, thank you very much).

The story opens with Cora who’s torn about which name to give her newborn son on his birth certificate. When she gets to the registry office, the story splits into three parts, following what their lives could’ve looked like had she named her son one of three names: Gordon (after her abusive husband), Bear (yes, like the animal), or Julian (classy, artistic).

Each name leads to an entirely different life, not just for the newborn, but also for Cora, her daughter Maia, and a constellation of relationships which change and morph with every choice.

I read this beautiful novel when it first came out in 2015 (a gift from my sister) and somehow never kept any notes about it. I remember inhaling it in two or three evenings and putting it on my shelf as a definite keeper book. I also recall it was beautiful, romantic, and full of mystical symbolism – ahh the Irish.

Then, the other night I watched the fairly recent film adaptation starring Pierce Brosnan, Helen Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne (great cast right?)

I chose this short Christmas novella with the perfect cover during a cold and windy night over the holidays.

Brief but breathtaking, Small Things Like These was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and is set in the days leading up to Christmas.

Bill Furlong is living a quiet, simple life in Ireland. He’s a happy man and dotes on his wife and five daughters. They have enough to eat and aren’t living on credit. The town has known hard times, factories are closing, and people are being laid off. Mr. Furlong is making ends meet by delivering coal and firewood to the townspeople.