Literary Fiction
Sure, like other readers, the fast pace of chick lit and the occasional mystery lures me in. I stay up into the wee hours of the night, breathless, frantic, turning page after page to find out what happens next. Is our frazzled heroine maladjusted or are there supernatural agencies at work? Is her husband going through emotional turmoil or is he cheating on her? Can she recover the memories of a night 15 years ago when she survived a near murder?
OK…those are good reads. Yes.
A few books that wrung me dry, turned me inside out, and forever changed the way I look at the craft of writing, the brilliance of life and relationships, the tenuous links of heart to heart and soul to soul, are Fiona Maazel’s Woke Up Lonely, Sarah Gardner Borden’s Games To Play After Dark, and Heidi Julavits’s The Vanishers.
Woke Up Lonely is an incredible novel of breathtaking literary precision and scope. The group, Helix, originated as a result of the soul sapping state of loneliness, despair, and isolation and an effort to bring these lost souls together. Games to Play After Dark is the stunning anatomy of a marriage, its inception, its inner workings, and ultimately, its destruction. The Vanishers is a dissection of the staggering importance and nuances of a mother-daughter bond.
So yeah, Literary Fiction, is my go to for the heavy read. For the “Consider Life” moods I fall into. For inspiration. For an example of what fantastic writing looks like and sounds like.
-Jennifer Orozco
2 comments
I’m actually kind of the same way. I have a TBR stack, but that’s manily because I can never buy just one book and I get a bunch sent to me. I’ll just look at it and whatever catches my eye is generally the next one to get read (unless there is a review deadline for a certain book).The only reason I have a spreadsheet is because of all the books I come across. When I first started reading UF/PNR, I didn’t know that many authors, so when I went asking for suggestions, I received a TON. My TBR list at the time was around 90 novels; now its over 700 and there’s no way I would remember them all. I’ve joined challenges, but purely for fun. I never take them serious and I rarely finish all of them. I know this year I’ll be lucky to finish one and I’m even hosting one.
Most of the books I read are mysteries, I just enjoy reading anything with a good “who done it”.
Keeps the mind thinking like a good math question.
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