I'm Still Here (Je Suis La)

By Clelie Avit

A love story between a man feeling lost after his brother accidentally kills 2 14-year old girls, having driven drunk, and a woman mountain climber who got into a coma after an avalanche-related fall. This absurd situation is made very nicely believable at the hands of the author. But I did have a bit of beef with the translator and editor. First, there's the very literal translation of chez toi/chez vous and chez moi. Basically, they translated it as at yours and at mine, respectively. This sounds very awkward. Why didn't they use your/my place? And I checked. This edition was published by a US-based publisher. They should know better. Secondly, there's the use of lay vs. lie. To their credit, they did not use lay when they meant lie. BUT, they also used lie when they should have used lay, and not just once. Again, editors, where were you??? I know this kind of thing doesn't bother most people. What can I say? This is why it was my dream to learn as many languages as possible, so I could read a book in its author's language.
Anyway, it's a very readable book otherwise. And very touching, too. [247 pp.]

Link to book

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb

By Melanie Benjamin

Despite the title, this book is a novel. Based on the life of an actual person (who actually started writing her own biography), but fiction. It's easy to forget this while reading the book. It's very immersive and based on a lot of research, so when you read it, you want to believe every single word of it, though for some, as the author admits, there's no actual evidence. It is the fascinating life story of Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump Stratton, made famous as Miss Lavinia Warren, and then as Mrs. General Tom Thumb. She was 'a perfect lady in miniature', a proportionate dwarf, but her dreams, and the life her dreams led her to, were very big. But through her story, you get to see what America (and also, a little bit, the world) was like during her life, in the mid- and late 19th century. Also you learn about the people closest to her, like her sister Minnie Warren, and P.T. Barnum. [440 pp.]

Link to book.

Awayland, Stories

By Ramona Ausubel

Some stories were weirder than others, but that's expected with short stories. I admit that I didn't quite understand what was going on in the last one. Some were quite endearing. Most of them were inviting. [240 pp.]

Link to book

The Wanderers (#2 in the West Country Trilogy)

By Tim Pears

The story follows Leo and Lottie on their now separate ways. They both have problems and they are deeply attached to each other, but it's hard to ignore the vast difference between their problems, with their belonging to such different casts. Reading Leo's parts (and of course, he is the main hero of the story) was a lot more interesting to me. Anyway, looking forward to their reunion, but afraid there will be a war in between. [384 pp.]

Link to book