Reading and Bloggiesta-ing at the same time today, adding one more day to the weekend, thanks to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday!
This week I’m reading Bone Clocks by David Mitchell for a readalong (#BoneClocks2017) hosted by Care at Care’s Books and Pie and Melissa of Avid Reader’s Musing. I also just downloaded Slade House by David Mitchell for audiobook listening this week, because I heard through the readalong crowd that there is some connection between the two. I hope I won’t get the two confused!
What is Bone Clocks all about? I have no idea, really…It appears so far to be a quest story with elements of fantasy and literary fiction, tucked inside a coming of age story. (Or the other way round.) Set in England. In other words, one of my favorite kinds of book! I knew nothing about Bone Clocks going into the readalong (and I wasn’t planning to sign up for challenges, etc. this year) but the other books by David Mitchell that I’ve read (Black Swan Green and Cloud Atlas) were so good that I couldn’t resist this chance to read Bone Clocks and talk about it at the same time.
The first part of Bone Clocks is narrated by a fifteen-year-old girl who is starting to assert her independence from her parents, especially her mother. Holly Sykes is a handful, but loves her younger brother, Jacko. (Holly reminded me a little of Meg from A Wrinkle in Time, who also had an unusual younger brother, but I don’t know if there were any deliberate references, as I haven’t read A Wrinkle in Time in ages.)
The narration in Bone Clocks has just switched to Hugo Lamb, a horny undergraduate at Cambridge, who seems callow and obnoxious at first, but if he turns out to be on the side of good (vs. evil) I expect he will redeem himself. He’s older than Holly – who is callow and obnoxious at age 15 – but boys mature later than girls?
If you want to jump in for the rest of the #BoneClocks17 Readalong, it’s not too late! It’s scheduled to go through February.
The Bone Clocks Readalong Kickoff (Melissa)
The Bone Clocks Readalong Kickoff (Care)
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (#IMWAYR) is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome in, everyone. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at Book Date.
First time I am hearing about this book. Intrigued!
Readalongs can be so much fun. Enjoy.
I’m reading The Bone Clocks, too!
and also Sweet Lamb of Heaven which I hope to finish before I run off to go see Hidden Figures movie this afternoon…
I haven’t been to the movies since the Star Wars before the new one! So many that I would like to see, though, but don’t make the time for.
Bone Clocks sounds tempting…enjoy your week, and thanks for sharing. Here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Enjoy the read along. I quite enjoy a book that has various characters viewpoints and it all comes together in the end.
That book and author are both new to me. I’ll be eager to hear what you think of it when the readalong is finished. You can see my week here. Happy reading!
I’ve heard so many good things about this book. I should probably read it someday. It sounds interesting.
The UK cover suggests some sort of magical realism; I’ve been interested without knowing much more (and forgot it was by the author who wrote Cloud Atlas… on my shelf yet to read). I have heard mixed opinions but if you end up liking it I may well consider it a done deal.
Cloud Atlas was amazing! So complex that I should read it again sometime…