| | | Hello Readers! | This week, our First Impressions reviewers comment on the beguiling latest from Atonement author Ian McEwan. What We Can Know jumps nearly 100 years into the future to follow a professor searching for a poem lost to the passage of time. | In Editor's Choice, we feature Patricia Lockwood's strangely immersive Will There Ever Be Another You, an autofictional whirlwind that tackles the subjects of illness, perception, and creation with her characteristic humor and wit. | We also invite you to check out our "beyond the book" article accompanying coverage of Addie E. Citchens' acclaimed debut Dominion, about how religion informs daily life in the South for the novel's characters and others. | Plus, join us in the community forum to discuss the recently announced Booker shortlist, see this month's books for members to request, and enjoy a new Wordplay. | Thanks for reading, | The BookBrowse Team | P.S. Are you an author? Let us know in the poll at the bottom of this newsletter! | | Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on one recently released title. | | What We Can Know by Ian McEwan | "In 2119, in a world radically altered by nuclear exchanges and catastrophic climate change—they knew it was happening, why didn't they do anything to stop it—a professor of humanities struggles to convince his students that studying the past has value while he obsesses about a legendary poem…McEwan explores whether the life or the mind has any value in a devastated world, and how we justify the places the forces of desire and obsession take us. The first part interweaves an imagined far past with the present while the second part strips away the opacity of time, revealing a whole different story that is both shocking and justified. A truly marvelous read." —Eileen C. (Litchfield, CT) |
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| "The richness of the author's vocabulary in his descriptive passages left me with clear mental images of each setting and place that I encountered in this novel. I recommend this masterpiece to anyone who appreciates the value of the written word and its effect on those who read it." —Marie P. (Danbury, CT) | "Be sure to stay away from anyone wanting to discuss the book until you have read it….you deserve to experience the twists yourself! This will be a top read of the year for me, and I already suggested my book club read it." —Dee D. (Cleveland, OH) |
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| | | | Members! This month's First Impressions and Book Club books are now available to request. Offer closes end of Saturday, October 4. | Books are provided free of charge to BookBrowse members resident in the US with the understanding that they'll do their best to either write a short review or take part in an online discussion forum (depending on whether the book is assigned for First Impressions or the Book Club). Our basic membership guarantees you at least four books a year when you request each month. |
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| Free books are one of the many benefits of a BookBrowse membership. Join by this Saturday (for just $5.00 a month) to request and receive a book from this list. Don't wait! | | | Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood | Divided into three parts, Patricia Lockwood's second novel centers primarily around a writer who is experiencing neurological changes as a result of illness contracted during a global pandemic. Like her first novel, it is a work of autofiction. But unlike No One Is Talking About This, which focused on the death of Lockwood's niece, Will There Ever Be Another You is only loosely committed to its central narrative. Like its protagonist, the book is scattered, distracted, and telegraphing brilliance in every direction where it sets its sights (or as the narrator has come to think of her synesthesia-tinged symptoms, "sighghts"). |
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| Lockwood wrestles meaningfully with the experience of Long Covid on the page, in a way that will be especially impactful for those who have contracted the disease and come out changed—and this is a lot of people. … continued | Review by Lisa Butts | | | | The Prominence of Religion in Southern American Culture | In Dominion by Addie E. Citchens, religion strongly influences both a family and the entire town of Dominion, Mississippi. The focus is on the Winfreys, whose patriarch is the reverend of the Seven Seals Baptist Church. Because of how important and widespread Christianity is in the South, this position brings power and high status to him and his family. While faiths of various kinds are important to millions of people all around the world, religion in the American South significantly shapes daily life, actions, and social hierarchies more than in many other places. But why is religion so prevalent in the South? … continued | Article by Letitia Asare |
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| | | BookBrowse Community Forum |
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| Join us in the BookBrowse community forum for recommendations and book club advice, to keep up with the latest news in the book world, and for lively conversation! In addition to hosting our book club discussions and Ask the Author interviews, this is a space for our members to share their favorite reads and discuss all things books. |
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| What do you think of this year's Booker Prize shortlist? Check out the nominees, see what people are saying about them, and feel free to chime in on this topic and any others. | | | | Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win a one-year membership to BookBrowse! | "M H C to S T S B" | | | Click for the answer to the last Wordplay (A W P N B), and a detailed breakdown of its meaning and history. | | | Are you an author?Let us know! | |
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