A Vermont Thriller and a Camera Floating in the Ocean

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Welcome back bookworms. According to my research – and if any entomologist is reading it, please vocalize with correction in the comments – “worm” may be a less appropriate term for a paper-eating creature than a silverfish, biscuit beetle, or even cockroach. From now on, I will personally describe it as a book bug. Let’s eat.

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Winter is the perfect season to grind your teeth into snowy dust in a menacing thriller set in the Vermont countryside. Kay is a former war correspondent who retreats to a small town to relax with her children. The house he rented is surrounded by maples and sits in acres of woods; there is poor cell phone service (warning sign #1) and a hidden crawl space (warning sign #2) in one of the bathrooms.

It gradually turns out that an indescribable act of violence is taking place inside the house – and Kay, a journalist, continues to haunt everyone in the small town by trying to unravel the mystery. This causes him to intersect with Ben, the novel’s second protagonist, a recovering junkie trying to regain Ben’s moral core in a world that seems strictly designed to rob him of it. Other topics covered include drug trafficking, adultery and logging. The prose is so dark it’s almost burned!

Read if you want: Stephen King’s “Misery” booths, 7-11 hot dogs, Patricia Highsmith

Available from: Two Dollar Radio


Translated by Daniel Hahn. Fiction, 2020

When I got a copy of this book I bought off eBay, I noticed it smelled of stale cigarettes. If it smelled like fresh cigarettes, that wouldn’t be a problem, which is a scent I like, but old cigarettes are a separate category—they remind me of a hot Sprite, doors that don’t close almost but completely, and other annoying things. . I insisted because I liked a work of the author previous novels so much so that the idea of ​​skipping it, even though it was fragrant, was inconceivable.

Here is the story of a 55-year-old Angolan journalist who went swimming in the ocean and found a camera floating in the water. When he gets the film ready, he discovers that the camera belongs to a Mozambican artist who is staging and photographing his own dreams. She follows him. They discuss the orchid and death. The intrigue begins. Agualusa’s prose, as translated from Portuguese by Daniel Hahn, is sarcastic, straightforward, and bizarre. I can’t think of a clear analogue, but if you like Roberto Bolaño, I’m 75 percent sure you’ll like Agualusa.

The author was born in Angola and studied agricultural science and silviculture in Portugal; Last I checked, you live on Mozambique Island. At first I came to work – and this is no joke – by hitting it over and over again. “Random article” button It’s on Wikipedia and finally lands on its page. (“Random article” button, by the way, is a great way to pass the time.) “What could go wrong with a bio like this?” I thought to myself and the answer was: nothing.

Read if you want: Roberto Bolano, movies Yorgos Lanthimos, Phil Klay, traveling solo simulation hypothesis

Available from: Archipelago Books


  • To research Bookstore” If you like British humor, practically dry it REQUIRES LOTION?

  • Take a break from reading (only two hours) andSheila’s End” — A movie that Stephen Sondheim co-wrote with Anthony Perkins? This is a EVIL MYSTERY which took place in 1973 SLEEP and plays James Mason. Now these are some delicious movie stuff. It’s also a great way to celebrate the recently departed Sondheim – his memory can be a blessing!

  • shake real account a French anthropologist ATTACK OF A BEAR on ICY SLOTS From a Siberian volcano?

  • Immerse yourself on a sun lounger. suspense story put inside CATS?

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