Category: Fiction

(Translated by Eric Selland) If you had to erase one thing from the world to live an extra day, what would it be? This is the reality of the novel’s narrator as he’s faced with the opportunity to live just a little bit longer.  The narrator, who works as a postman and lives with his cat…

I struggle at times to identify the difference between the quality of a book and how I feel reading it, knowing that just because I might not like a topic does not discredit the content itself. The Four Winds epitomized this struggle for me as I try to decide whether or not I “like” a book that focuses…

“But that act (a son teaching his mother) reversed our hierarchies, and with it our identities, which, in this country, were already tenuous and tethered.” I love the moment where a certain line makes you catch your breath and pause, taking the time to soak in the sentence. Ocean Vuong provides that experience consistently throughout On Earth We’re…

I first came across this title as part of a class assignment and, upon reading the synopsis, thought, “this is a British version of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”. Now that I’ve read the book, I firmly stand behind my initial hypothesis.  Cat, Lissa and Hannah live together in East London, brought into each other’s lives…

My newly scratched itch for Greek mythology (coupled with a copy of the book being readily available) means that 2% Books will experience its first ever back-to-back review of the same author. Although the title bears Achilles’ name, the book revolves around the life of Patroclus, the story’s narrator and Achilles’ closest companion. Born a king in his…

For all you who also went through (are still in) a Greek mythology phase, it has been exciting to see Madeline Miller gain so much visibility and traction with her novels The Song of Achilles and Circe. While they’re not connected in plot, I apologize in advance that I’m giving you the review of her second title first….

“Analysis destroys wholes. Some things, magic things, are meant to stay whole. If you look at their pieces, they go away.” I, like many book lovers, try to read before I watch, but I saw this movie a few years ago, not realizing it was a book, and I’m almost thankful for that. I believe my overall impression and appreciation of the book…

Rather than attempt a comprehensive review of 867 pages in two minutes, my goal is to provide, what I would consider, an accurate and succinct representation of the novel. So for all of the people who think of Anna Karenina as a “Russian tragedy”- this is for you.  Given the page length, it’s not surprising that the novel isn’t commonly…

Focused on the inner-workings of a rich family in New England, We Were Liars illustrates how the implications of “favorites” and the suppression of emotion can have a shrapnel effect when tensions finally burst forth. Cousins Mirren, Johnny, and Cadence, along with their friend Gat, spend every summer on the Sinclair family island. The idyllic New Englander…

“Ten little soldier boys went out to dine; one choked his little self and then there were nine…” Thus starts the nursery rhyme that serves as the premise of the novel, which can I just say– a nursery rhyme? This was told to kids? Honestly. That aside, I relished every minute I listened to this…