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Archive for the ‘Jennifer Croft’ Category

Jennifer Croft–“Anaheim” [The 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar #23] (2022)

Posted in Canadian Content, Cats, Christmas, Hingston & Olsen, Jennifer Croft, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Walt Disney World on December 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 23, 2024] “Anaheim”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Jennifer Croft.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  Although today doesn’t have an interview just this blurb:

It’s December 23. Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Ray, has not prepared an acceptance speech.

I was concerned that I wouldn’t like this story.  It was longer than others and it started kind of slow, with a main character who was unsatisfied with things.  Ho hum. (more…)

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Olga Tokarczuk–The Books of Jacob, or: A Fantastic Journey Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects. Told by the Dead, Supplemented by the Author, drawing from a Range of Books, and Aided by Imagination, the Which Being the Greatest Natural Gift of Any Person. That the Wise Might Have It for a Record, That My Compatriots Reflect, Laypersons Gain Some Understanding, and Melancholy Souls Obtain Some Slight Enjoyment (2014) [translated 2021]

Posted in Jennifer Croft, Language, Nostalgia, Olga Tokarczuk, Religion, Translation on December 28, 2023| 1 Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: December 28, 2023] The Books of Jacob

I don’t recall when I checked this book out.  I think it was in September, which makes me feel less bad about finishing it in December.  Still three month?  Well, it was 965 pages and I didn’t really read it at home, so I guess that kind of works out.

And now in December I don’t exactly remember why I checked it out.  I think I had an audiobook ad for Tokarczuk’s other book Flights and it was raved about.  I checked out this and Flights at he same time, but Flights was recalled by another patron, so  didn’t get to finish it (I barely started it).

But so I didn’t know what this was about at all. But I love a large book, and this was a large book.  It also had the fun detail that the pages ran backwards (in the acknowledgments, she notes that it is because the book is inspired by Hebrew and is (kind of) right to left for numbering.

I can honestly say that I didn’t realize that this book was kind of non fiction until about half way through the book.  It’s not exactly non-fiction, it’s a fictionalized account of something that happened centuries ago based on research and primary documents.

It’s interesting but not especially compelling.  A whole lot happens but really not much happens.  I could have put it down at just about any point and felt “done.”  And yet I kept coming back to it.  I felt like it was a slog to read, but almost every time I read it, I enjoyed what I read and was surprised at how many pages I read in a sitting. (more…)

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