lafate's reviews
138 reviews

Friends by Kōbō Abe

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

This reminds me of French Theatre of the Absurd. A man is alone in his apartment planning for his fiancee to move in. But a family of eight shows up uninvited instead. He doesn't know how to get them to leave. I won't give spoilers. 

This book was suggested to me about 3 years ago; the only option was to buy a used copy. I had started it, but misplaced it. After I found it, I put it aside until now. I'm thrilled to have finally gotten to it. 

Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is a wonderfully adventurous book. It was the perfect way to start the year. Dervla Murphy was in her early 20s when she took off from Ireland with her bicycle, in 1963, the worst European winter in 60 years. Whenever possible she rode her bike. This is her story and the beginning of a career traveling and writing about it. She did all this without the internet or cell phones! 

Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K. Dick

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I wish Goodreads would allow us to go beyond half stars. This interesting book with drug induced time travel deserves 4.5 stars. There are relationship issues between the main character, Dr. Eric Sweetscent and his wife Kathy. Eric leaves her to go work for 
UN Secretary Gino Molinari, a seeming hypochondriac. But there is this drug at the center of the story to complicate things.

Then there is a war and some beings from other planets. The plot is fairly complex, so you'll want to pay attention. It took me a while to read because I have dry eyes, and paper books are the hardest for me. But I do recommend this book if you enjoy science fiction and moral dilemmas. So, it's 4.5 stars, but I'm giving it 4 here. It's my first finished book of 2025. 

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book feels like two separate entities. There are four very short tales that feel torn from a collection. Then there is the novella with the title of the book. I want to pull the short tales away, and if I rated each individually they would be all over the place. So I'm giving this 3.75 stars. I'm glad to finally get to this author. I'm interested in trying more of her work, which is very inventive and like classic fairy tales with sometimes a modern take. The audiobook narration is very good.

This is the last book I'll be finishing in 2024.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This is a wonderful little satirical book. That this was published in 1925 is astounding. Anita Loos gives us a young woman who might seem simple, but is really quite astute in many ways. This book is a little gem.

I would start at the first chapter of the book. My version had two introductions. They had spoilers. I listened to the book, and I listened to the introductions afterwards. 

Alien: Into Charybdis by Alex White

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is 4 stars. There were a lot of groups of characters, giving it a complexity that the other Alien Novelizations I've listened to don't have. But there didn't need to be quite so many characters. I'll keep listening to these because Aliens are fun. I've not been going in any kind of order - there are a lot of these books! 

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

5.0

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen, Seth Grahame-Smith

4.5

The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World by Lincoln Paine

4.5

Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielsen

5.0