Yes, it's time for one of my favourite hops of all time! For those new to this hop, here's what the Literary Blog Hop is all about:
Most giveaway blog hops seem to be directed towards young adult and
romance audiences. Those hops are not so ideal if you want to give away
more literary books.
This is the ninth Literary Giveway Blog Hop! There are three per year.
They’re always very popular with lots of books for grabs and lots of
people visiting the participating blogs.
The book you’re offering has to have some literary merit. It does not
have to be the most difficult classic ever, but please no romance, urban
fiction or YA. Quality thrillers, poetry and non-fiction are fine, as
are contemporary fiction, literary fiction and any other genres not in
the categories above.
The Literary Blog Hop is hosted by Judith at Leeswammes blog.
For the last hop in June, I offered up a copy of any book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I ended up with a magical list of book recommendations!
This time around, I have some wonderful short story collections for you to choose from. I have read, reviewed and loved each of them, so I encourage you to check out my reviews to see which one you think you'd enjoy!
GIVEAWAY!
I am giving away one paper copy of one of the following books below. There is one mandatory entry, please use the Promo Simple form to enter.This giveaway is open to anyone who has a shipping address to which the Book Depository ships to. Please check the list here.
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
My Review | Book Depository
Why I love it: While graphic and disturbing, these stories told by children in a conflict-ridden Africa, is a brave
voice that speaks of the inequities and the horrors that exist in the
world. A short story collection that will challenge and provoke you, I
recommend this highly for those who dare to be conscienticized.
Why I love it: I found this collection of short stories told by Hawaiian author Kahakauwila a compelling and non-romanticized probe of Hawaiian life. Shattering the stereotype of the tropical,
commercial "paradise," these stories are an insider view into the
darker, grittier, the real Hawaii. It is also an exploration of the
Hawaiian identity and of the many relationships that make up all our
lives.
Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
My Review | Book Depository
My Review | Book Depository
Why I love it: This is one of my all time favourites by Marquez. If you aren't quite ready to plunge into his full length
books, this one will give you a feel for how he writes. Each story explores alienation and dislocation, of existing yet being unrooted from your realities. They are beautifully un-verbose and showcase Marquez's gift for
storytelling in magical, mystical prose.
After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
Book Depository
Incendiary Girls: Stories by Kodi Scheer
My Review | Book Depository
Why I love this: Murakami's collection looks into the impacts of the Kobe earthquake on a people. After the Quake captures emptiness, alone-ness and isolation. (My Review doesn't do this book any justice).
My Review | Book Depository
Why I love it: Of the body and mind, of the healthy and diseased, of the real and the
imagined: the confluence of which makes up these eleven unusual short
stories that only Scheer can concoct. This is one of the most innovative
and imaginative books I've read in a long time! This short story
collection is bizarre, surreal, odd, sometimes absurd, sometimes oddly
disturbing ... but always unique and memorable.
Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto
My Review | Book Depository
My Review | Book Depository
Why I love it: Yoshimoto captures three women's stories in the
entanglement of the simple act of sleeping, love, and of death. Written in sparse yet beautiful prose, each story is a gem with Banana's trademark otherworldliness.
A mandatory entry is:
Recommend at least one of your favourite literary fiction reads which you think I should read. Of course, tell me what you loved about it.
Leave your answer in the comments. If you have a review, please link it up!Remember: Don't EVER leave your email address in the comments (unless you like SPAM), please use the Promosimple entry form.
Good luck and happy hopping!
It's hard to recommend just one, there are so many good books and when it comes to literary fiction tastes can vary wildly...that said, early this year, I read We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. I love it. Here's my review: http://nishitak.com/2014/01/24/we-need-new-names-a-book-review/
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway. You have some great books there.
I know what you mean -- the definition of "literary fiction" varies so much as does taste. Thank for the reco, Nishita! I'm off to check out your review ...
DeleteIf you have not read it yet, go for American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. It is so amazing that I intend to reread it in the beginning of 2015 =]
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the giveaway and the chance to win.
Also check Coraline and other works by NG, they are awesome too :3
I think I've had American Gods on my TBR for a few years now. Agh. I adore NG :) Have you read his Ocean at the End of the Lane yet?
DeleteI recommend What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies, a wonderful exploration of the art world, among other things.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! I like art-themed books, plus this is by a Canadian writer which makes it more a reason to read. Thanks for the reco, Lory!
DeleteI recommend The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld, especially in audio. Denfeld is able to enchant the reader, even while writing about a seemingly dark-only subject, capital punishment.
ReplyDeleteI could kick myself for passing this up on a book tour. I have heard only wonderful things about it. Thanks and happy Sunday, Michele!
DeleteSince you like short stories I'll recommend to you Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor. I didn't love it though. But tons of people do and it's been a while since I read it and my literary tastes have grown in the last few years so I may would like it better now.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to my review:
http://lostinliterature108.com/2013/08/02/everything-that-rises-must-converge/
I guess I do like short stories hahaha. Thanks for linking your review ... I'm off to check it out. Already love the sound of it!
DeleteThe Luminous Heart of Jonah S. by Gina B. Nahai
ReplyDeleteThis stunning saga of Iranian Jewish refugees in Los Angeles is one of the best books I've read this year. A story of rejection, revenge, and a kind of redemption, told with passion, compassion and a lot of wit, wisdom and a touch of magical realism. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1019546720
I (happily!) won Strange Pilgrims in the last blog hop! I've started it, but haven't yet finished it, but I agree with you: I think it may be his best work.
ReplyDeleteThe most recent literary read that I loved is A Month in the Country. Lots of lovely ambiguity and characters you just can't forget including the main character who is trying to get over his experiences in WWI. Excellent story.
www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com
Thanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteI recomend you Eleanor and Park because is a book about first love and It´s absolutely beautiful and lovely :) Tha characters are so nice and you fall in love with them inmediatly :)
The best book I’ve read recently is “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn, it’s full of surprises and well written.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance!
I love Jodi Picoult's books. I've read 3 so far and own many others. Nineteen Minutes was the first one I read by her and I was hooked. She writes about social issues and I love her signature style of alternating POV's.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
I'd recommend Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyoung Sook. It's told from a different POV every chapter and there's a slightly surreal feel to it.
ReplyDeleteMe Before You by Jojo Moyes!
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion is Shovel Ready by Adam Sternberg. It's post-apocalyptic. but different from most in that genre. I loved it. http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/book-review-shovel-ready-by-adam-sternbergh/
ReplyDeleteThanks for being part of the blog hop!
The Great Lenore by J.M. Tohline.....this book haunted me for weeks....an amazing read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
For this year, my favourite literary read is Lamb by Christopher Moore. It was very humorous and odd and its interesting seeing the creative liberties the author has taken but it's also very touching and I very much enjoyed the relationships in the book, seeing the sacrifices that people make and the conflicts that arise in different belief systems. Thank you for the giveaway, enjoy your day. :)
ReplyDeleteI recommend Jennifer Clement's Prayers For the Stolen, a novel that really moved me, especially learning that it was partly based on the authors own experience of interviewing women who had either been stolen or who had tried to disguise their girls as boys to protect them. It is narrated from a young girls point of view and is a book everyone should read. The author is not only a terrific writer, she is an amazing woman, putting her own life at risk to expose the vulnerable. A favourite for 2014.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in the giveaway, a wonderful set of recommendations here too!
I just loved "The Buddha in the Attic", by Julie Otsuka. This novella centers around Japanese women brought over to San Francisco as picture brides, in the early 1900s. There's no protagonist, plot or dialogue: the novel in the first person plural, in a chorus of voices of many girls and women. Deeply moving and poetic. Check out my review here: http://www.mycarvedwords.com/book-reviews/2014/10/22/review-the-buddha-in-the-attic-julie-otsuka
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this giveaway! :)
Hm, many of the books I would recommend you're already familiar with! ;) I recently finished Burial Rites by Hannah Kent and I really liked that one for the atmosphere of Iceland in the 1800s. I don't usually like books set in a historical time period but this one has some beautiful writing. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Disturbing the Peace by Richard Yates; very unsettling, but so good!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chance to win!
I would recommend The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon if you haven't read it. Carlos is a wonderful writer and this book is perfection. I don't want too give out too much, If you like suspense and intrigue this book is for you :)
ReplyDeleteMy two fave literary fiction reads of the year have been RUBY, by Cynthia Bond and THE ENCHANTED, by Rene Denfeld. Both brutal in their own ways, but so so gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican. It was very thought provoking and original.
ReplyDeleteDoes Vonnegut count as literary fiction? I love everything he wrote, but Cat's Cradle was the first book I read that really challenged my way of viewing the world in my youth. Galapagos is also amazing. Or Hocus Pocus....all of his are so great.
ReplyDeleteI recently read and loved Prairie Ostrich by Tamai Kobayashi, which is set in Alberta in the 70s and is about a Japanese-Canadian family in a very white, prejudiced rural environment. The main character is 8 year old Egg, and her perspective of the world is a child's who is missing the guidance of her parents. They're handling, badly, the death of their son Albert. The thing that made it especially beautiful was the prose, which was poetic and artful. I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've read anything by the late Shusaku Endo or not. I was introduced to him by having to read The Samurai for a course I was doing. I was captivated by his writing and the subject was one I knew very little about. A great introduction to him, especially as your post was about short stories, is Five By Endo. It's a fairly short selection (five short stories), but thoroughly enjoyable.
ReplyDelete