Fiction | Book Chatter

Red Dog Farm
By Nathanial Ian Miller
Little Brown & Company, 9780316575140, March 4, 2025, 272 pp.

The Short of It:

What is home to you?

The Rest of It:

Growing up on his family’s cattle farm in western Iceland, young Orri has gained an appreciation for the beauty found in everyday things: the cavorting of a newborn calf, the return of birdsong after a long winter, the steadfast love of a good (or tolerably good) farm dog. But the outer world still beckons, so Orri leaves his no-nonsense Lithuanian Jewish mother and his taciturn father, Pabbi, to attend university in Reykjavík. ~the publisher

Living on a cattle ranch in Iceland has its challenges. These are quiet people with hopes and dreams but also people desperately aware of the life they’ve been given. Orri leaves for university but returns when his parents begin to display signs of needing help.

There are beloved ranch animals lost to the elements. Early morning hay stacking on mornings so cold that their equipment won’t start. While working the land, Orri and Pabbi talk about life and reflect on choices they’ve made. His mother interjects with her observations on life. Clearly, this is a family that loves each other but there are revelations and they each choose a direction to go which eventually leads to a very dark moment.

I was mesmerized by this book. There’s not a lot of action. It’s contemplative and reflective but I enjoy these types of reads sometimes. The writing is just beautiful. I was on that ranch with these characters. This is definitely one of those armchair traveler reads. The harshness of the ranch was comforting to me. It was consistent and genuine.

Highly recommend.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

Evenings & Weekends
By Oisin McKenna
Mariner, 9780063319974, July 2924, 352 pp.

The Short of It:

Sharp. Poignant. Beautiful.

The Rest of It:

“Summer in London stops for no one. Not the half-naked drunks and stoners, the bachelorette parties glugging from bejewelled bottles, the drag queens puffing on hurried cigarettes. It’s June 2019, and everyone has converged on the city’s parks, beer gardens, and street corners to revel in the collective joys of being alive.” ~ the publisher

The above blurb might set the tone, but Evenings & Weekends is so much more than that raucous snippet. It’s about love, friendship, self-doubt and the longing we have for a happy life, but at what cost?

A group of friends meander their way through life. Living with each other, dating each other. This is a story of exploration. Men with men, women with men, women with women. But then, one of their inner circle finds herself pregnant at 30. Maggie is broke and faced with the prospect of moving back to a town she couldn’t wait to get away from. Her boyfriend Ed is there for her, but is he really? Ed is going through his own exploratory period, and their mutual friend Phil has everything to say about it.

These are complex characters faced with the fact that they aren’t young anymore. Their actions have consequences. The love they have for one another feels so genuine though. There is some darkness as they find their way but it’s so beautifully written that I didn’t mind the rough bits in between.

Evenings & Weekends has been described as “sexually charged.” I would agree with that statement but when it involves long time friends, it becomes more of a tender story of exploration. This is one of those ensemble cast reads. I can see it making its way to the big screen. Think, The Big Chill. I really liked this one. It will probably make my fave list at the end of the year.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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