Hullo folks. Just discovered this blog whilst idly researching whether Europa has a subscription service (alas, no), and realized I'm right on track for Ami level this year! Could not resist the opportunity.
Brief bio: I'm a bookseller at Posman Books in Grand Central Terminal, cat lover, desultory knitter, complainer, half-elf ranger.My taste in fiction runs along the knife edge of "genre"; I'll take killer prose over great story, and voice over either; and I don't believe "serious" equals "depressing." I blog at Muse at Highway Speeds, and tweet @ragesinggoddess.
And here's what I thought of Alina Bronsky's The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine:
If you've ever described your sense of humor as "sick"? You must have a go at Hottest Dishes, whose first-person narrator Rosa is one of the most obliviously despicable black-comic protagonists ever. I mean, in the first chapter alone, she forces her pregnant 17-year-old daughter (whom she hates anyway, because she's sullen & ugly) to undergo several attempts at a home abortion...none of which are successful. But her granddaughter, Aminat, turns out to be the apple of her eye, and she determines to win her beloved little girl the best life imaginable, no matter who she has to crush to do it. Vain, nasty, abusive, and often deluded, Rosa is also hilarious--a true feat on Bronsky's part! Yes, this one I Liked. Because of the LOLs, and then the sudden shocks as I re-remembered that I was being entertained by a monster. Also, maybe I should track down some recipes.
The Europa Challenge ran from 2010-2015. Readers review Europa Editions books here.
