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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #349

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In My Reading Life

I finally read a Rose Tremain historical fiction book and now completely understand the hype. It was excellent! If I didn't already own a million unread books, I'd buy the author's whole backlist.

The book was The Gustav Sonata. It follows a family over three different timelines. One timeline is in the 1930s, another is in the 1950s, and the third is in the 1990s. The main character, Gustav, is growing up in Switzerland with WWII looming over his childhood. His father died when Gustav was young, and a large chunk of the book is Gustav attempting to uncover what happened to his dad. His father was a police officer during the war. He lost his job when he refused to deport Jewish refugees who crossed the border illegally to escape from the Nazis. Gustav's father's unemployment was the starting point in a series of bad events that happened to the family.

I couldn't put this book down because the characters are so complicated! There are no good guys or bad guys in here. Both of Gustav's parents are human garbage, but I still have (some) empathy for them because they're trying. They're trying to survive poverty and illness and the fear of their country being invaded by Nazis. They're terrible people in a terrible situation.

I love the 1930s timeline and the 1950s timeline, but I struggled with the 1990s timeline. It feels directionless. I think Gustav is too passive of a character for my tastes. I know he's supposed to represent Switzerland and neutrality. He observes everything that happens around him without passing judgment or getting overly involved. That's fine when there's a bunch of drama happening, but in the 1990s timeline, most of the dramatic characters are dead. We're left with bland, neutral Gustav. It's not very interesting to read.

I enjoyed the majority of this book and am looking forward to the author's other stuff.

From one war book to another:

I read Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. It's a science fiction graphic novel about a family that's trying to escape from a galactic war. The main characters were both soldiers in the war, but they fought on opposite sides. When one of their governments discovers that the characters have had a baby, it sends a few hitmen (hit aliens?) to track down the parents and kidnap the baby.

If books had movie-style ratings, this one would be rated R. It's gory! Blood everywhere. There are characters with their intestines hanging out. There are alien sex clubs. Even the spiders have boobs and clothing-optional lifestyles. It's a lot.

I understand the point of the sex and violence because it creates a hilarious juxtaposition with the young family. The parents grew up surrounded by death and exploitation. They're kind of numb to it. So they're having normal domestic squabbles while awful things happen around them. It's actually really funny. And slightly relatable. You have to feed and diaper your kid, even when the world is falling apart.

I love the characters because they're snarky and opinionated. Their world is bizarre in an intriguing way. There's a pedophilia / sex trafficking plotline that I disliked because it feels stereotypical, but I'm still interested enough in the story that I want to know what happens next.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. I finished my Secret Santa shopping and mailed my gifts. I'm excited for my person to get it. I hope she loves all the books I sent her.
2. My Christmas decorations are finally up. I don't think we've ever waited this long to decorate. But, decorating happened!
3. I walked around at night and looked at everyone else's decorations. Other people have way more motivation than me.
4. Sticking with the Christmas theme: movies! I watched The Naughty Nine, which is cute. It's a heist story about nine naughty kids who attempt to break into Santa's workshop and steal the gifts they didn't get. Life lessons are learned.
5. I didn't vote in the Goodreads Choice Awards because I've read exactly 0 books that came out in 2023, but a group of BookTubers made a playlist where they review every book in every category. I'm working my way through all these videos.

Click For More Books I Didn't Read

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!