Latest news with #BookReviewBookClub
New York Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Book Club: Read ‘The Safekeep,' by Yael van der Wouden, With the Book Review
Whenever I mention that I work in books, the next question I invariably get is: 'Do you have a good book recommendation?' It's a surprisingly difficult question to answer effectively on the spot. Tastes vary. The genres, tones and moods that I love may not be what someone else finds compelling. The trick becomes suggesting something that is excellent, that the inquirer likely hasn't already read and that will appeal no matter what kind of reader I'm talking to. For the past few months, when faced with this query, I have had one go-to answer: 'The Safekeep,' by Yael van der Wouden. A debut novel that was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, 'The Safekeep' is many things at once — a historical tale (sure, it's set only 60 years ago, but it's grappling with the baggage of a discreet, postwar era), a psychological thriller, a forbidden romance. It opens in the Netherlands in 1961. Isabel is a joyless loner who spends most of her time hiding in her deceased mother's old country house. One night she goes out to dinner with her brothers, Hendrik and Louis. Surprisingly, Louis brings along a new girlfriend, Eva, and Isabel immediately senses something is amiss. On the surface Eva is silly and brash, but Isabel can detect that under Eva's ditsy facade lurks a sharper, more dangerous disposition. When Louis has leaves for a work trip, he sends Eva to stay at the country house, much to Isabel's chagrin. But Isabel doesn't have a say; technically, the house was promised to Louis and he can do with it as he pleases. Forced together, Isabel and Eva form a charged and ever-evolving relationship that threatens to upend everything that Isabel thought she knew. In May, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss 'The Safekeep,' by Yael van der Wouden. We'll be chatting about the book on the Book Review podcast that airs on May 30, and we'd love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of this article by May 22, and we may mention your observations in the episode. Here's some related reading to get you started: We can't wait to discuss the book with you. In the meantime, happy reading!
New York Times
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Book Club: Read ‘Playworld,' by Adam Ross, With the Book Review
The book opens with a bang: 'In the fall of 1980, when I was 14, a friend of my parents named Naomi Shah fell in love with me. She was 36, a mother of two, and married to a wealthy man. Like so many things that happened to me that year, it didn't seem strange at the time.' Set in New York in the 1980s, Adam Ross's new novel, 'Playworld,' tells the story of a young actor named Griffin as he navigates the chaos of the city, of his family and of being a teenager, and the dangers that swirl around each. His father is a struggling actor and his mother is a former dancer. The family is floundering financially, in part because of a devastating fire that Griffin accidentally started when he was 6 — a blaze that destroyed their home and all of their material possessions. To help make ends meet, Griffin works as a child-star on a hit TV show, but the job distracts from both his school work and his true passion: wrestling. The sport, too, comes with its own agonies; the team's coach sexually abuses several of the young wrestlers, including Griffin. It's all a lot to deal with, especially for a kid, and the only one who seems to listen to him is Naomi, the very person he should avoid. If this makes the book sound dour, it's not. Although 'Playworld' grapples with bleak material, it sparkles with Ross's vivid eye and sardonic sense of humor. Take, for instance, Griffin's mother's response to finding out, decades later, about his relationship with Naomi: 'But she was such an ugly woman.' The result is a dark, off-kilter bildungsroman about one overextended teenager trying to figure himself out while being failed, continually, by every adult around him. In April, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss 'Playworld,' by Adam Ross. We'll be chatting about the book on the Book Review podcast that airs on April 25, and we'd love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of this article by April 17, and we may mention your observations in the episode. Here's some related reading to get you started: We can't wait to discuss the book with you. In the meantime, happy reading!
New York Times
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Book Club Podcast: ‘Orbital,' by Samantha Harvey
Samantha Harvey's novel 'Orbital,' which won the Booker Prize last year, has a tight, poetic frame: We follow one day in the lives of six people working on a space station above Earth, orbiting the planet 16 times every 24 hours. But this is not a saga of adventure or exploration. It's a quiet meditation on what it means to be human, prompted by a series of personal reckonings each character faces while floating 250 miles above home. This week on the Book Review Book Club, MJ Franklin talks about 'Orbital' with his colleagues Joumana Khatib and Jennifer Harlan. You can join the discussion in the comments here. We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review's podcast in general. You can send them to books@
New York Times
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Book Club: Read ‘We Do Not Part,' by Han Kang, With the Book Review
Humanity has a funny relationship with history: We never quite know what to do with it. Let the past be the past, some say. If we don't learn from history, we're doomed to repeat it, others counter. But history doesn't care what we want; it will make its presence known, whether we like it or not. That's certainly the case in the Nobel laureate Han Kang's new book, 'We Do Not Part.' The novel, which was translated by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, is a pet-sitting quest gone surreal. The story follows Kyungha, a writer and documentarian who is summoned to a hospital in Seoul by her close friend and former collaborator, Inseon. Inseon, it turns out, has sliced off her fingertips while working in her carpentry workshop. She's now stuck in the hospital undergoing a painful treatment that will keep her bedridden for weeks. Worried about her pet parakeet, Ama, who was abandoned at home in the emergency and has most certainly run out of food, Inseon asks Kyungha to travel to her house and care for the bird. The only issue? Inseon's house is hundreds of miles away, on the island of Jeju, and there's a blizzard barreling toward it that will soon cut off access to the area. Despite the perilous trip, Kyungha makes it, but once there, she doesn't just find the bird. She also finds an apparition of Inseon, who has a devastating history to tell. Transforming real life into a haunting dreamscape, 'We Do Not Part' is about grief, tragedy, the weight of the past, and the painful but essential work of remembering, delivered by one of the most electrifying writers working today. (Han's 2016 novel, 'The Vegetarian,' won the International Booker Prize and was recently named one of The New York Times's Best Books of the 21st Century.) In March, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss 'We Do Not Part,' by Han Kang. We'll be chatting about the book on the Book Review podcast that airs on March 28, and we'd love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of this article by March 20, and we may mention your observations in the episode. Here's some related reading to get you started: We can't wait to discuss the book with you. In the meantime, happy reading!
New York Times
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Book Club: Read ‘Orbital,' by Samantha Harvey, With the Book Review
Welcome to the Book Review Book Club! Every month, we select a book to discuss with our readers. Sometimes that's a new book we're excited about and would love to introduce you to; other times, it's an older book that's back in the cultural spotlight. What do all of our selections have in common? They're great reads primed for robust, thoughtful conversations. Last month, we read 'Our Evenings,' by Alan Hollinghurst. (You can also go back and listen to our episodes on 'Small Things Like These,' 'James' and 'Intermezzo.') I have a confession: I've never been that excited about space. It's not that I dislike it; I've just never been able to fully grasp it, with all its vastness and mystery. Intellectually, I recognize that it is fearsome and awe-inspiring, but emotionally, I've never felt it. Until I read 'Orbital,' by Samantha Harvey. The novel, which won the Booker Prize last year, has a tight, poetic frame: We follow one day in the lives of six people working on a space station above Earth, orbiting the planet 16 times every 24 hours. But this is not a saga of adventure or exploration. It's a quiet meditation on what it means to be human, prompted by a series of personal reckonings each character faces while floating 250 miles above their home. Space unlocks something in these characters as they look back on the planet from orbit and reflect on life's difficulties — and witnessing that made me cherish Earth a little bit more and unlocked in me a deeper appreciation of the cosmos too. I hope it'll unlock something in you, too. In February, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss 'Orbital,' by Samantha Harvey. We'll be chatting about the book on the Book Review podcast that airs on Feb. 28, and we'd love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of this article by Feb. 17, and we may mention your observations in the episode. Here's some related reading to get you started: We can't wait to discuss the book with you. In the meantime, happy reading!
