#Brekan Blakeslee

[thehappyscavenger]

Books Read in July 2024

Probably It Will Not Be Okay by Brekan Blakeslee

The first half of this was an incredibly unique dystopic work I will be thinking about for a long time. I'm just going to pretend the whole thing is the first half.

Good Behaviour by Molly Keane

I actually love books like this about decaying aristocracy and highly mannered societies and unreliable narrators. Deilcious and unpredicatable.

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsey Gresham

I don't care for Noirs at all and this really didn't change my opinion on that. This book felt almost overly constructed and like Gresham had a wonderful idea for an ending and wrote towards that but in a way that doesn't feel earned. Kind of a let down.

Has the World Ended Yet? by Peter Darbyshire

I feel like this book should be bigger or well more known. Scifi/superhero based short story about a world where the apocalypse is not quite here. Enjoyed it a lot even though it's harder scifi than I typically read.

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

I heard mixed things about this and a lot about how it was based on a real mistaken identity case but what this book is actually about is legacy, identity and what it means to be remembered. I'm not sure I loved it exactly but Smith remains, to me, an utterly fascinating writer.

Stray Dogs by Rawi Hage

I've struggled with Hage's longer works. While not all these stories worked for me they were clearly well written and there is one that will haunt me forever. Enjoyable.

Godshot by Chelsea Bieker

I realized sometime after I finished that this reminded me a lot of White Oleander in a weird way. A young girl growing up in a cult finds her way out basically. Very well written and surprisingly hopeful given the subject matter. I will be reading more Bieker.