Despite the new year school starting, I have managed to pull myself out of a reading slump, and have picked up some good books over the course of the last two weeks. Here is what I have read and recommend.
(Image Cred: Apple Books) Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor is a short story collection that follows young creatives in the Midwest, navigating interpersonal relationships and other battles in life.
Brandon Taylor has become my favorite writer this year, starting when I read his debut novel and Booker Prize finalist Real Life in February, so I was already excited when starting this collection. He writes about loneliness in a very profound way, and I liked how he explored how negative emotions are trapping these characters in each story. I also loved how Taylor writes the small, quiet, intimate moments between characters where not much is happening, but somehow a lot is still being said between them. Flesh and Anne of Cleves were my favorite, but this collection as a whole is something I would love to return to in the future. If you want to get into short stories, I think Filthy Animals is a perfect place to start.
(Image Cred: Apple Books) With Jane Austen’s 250th birthday being celebrated here at Goucher, I was inspired to pick up this remix from my TBR. Beware, spoilers for Pride & Prejudice are ahead. This novel takes place five years after Pride & Prejudice, following Charlotte Collins and Mary Bennet. Charlotte is grieving the death of her husband, Mr. Collins, and is now alone in her household. The Bennet’s decide to provide company for her by sending the middle daughter Mary Bennet her way. As the two spend more time together, a romance blooms and the story takes off from there.
I found this book to be very romantic, and I liked the approach the author had with these Austen characters. Charlotte and Mary had good chemistry, and the way the yearning was written I found to be very sweet. Charlotte’s discovery of first love was something I found cute, and I was genuinely in a rush to finish this book. However, and without giving away spoilers, I did find the ending to be longer than necessary, which disrupted the reading experience for me. Overall, I still enjoyed this book greatly, and would highly recommend it for fans of Jane Austen and fans of historical romances.
(Image Cred: Apple Books). I was very lucky to receive an early copy of Brandon Taylor’s next novel, Minor Black Figures, which comes out on October 2nd. This story follows Wyeth, a Black painter living in New York, who is suffering from artist’s block. He meets Keating, a white former seminarian who left the priesthood, and from there Wyeth begins to question how he observes the world. He also begins to question the conflicts between Black and white art, as well as how white people view Black people in art.
This was a thought provoking novel that did not disappoint me, for the most part. Wyeth was a main character that I loved getting to know, and I liked how Taylor delved into these discussions about race, religion, and the pandemic. Wyeth is discovering things about himself through his own art and the relationships he gets himself into throughout the novel. I thought the pacing of this journey was easy to follow. Unfortunately, other parts of the story were too slow paced for me, and that made it hard for me to stay engaged with the story. I loved the themes explored, but at times it felt dense.
I was not the target audience for this novel, but Brandon Taylor’s writing is just too good. If you like character driven stories about struggling creatives, then Minor Black Figures is the book for you. Request this at the public library or pre-order from your local bookstore!
By Merryn Overbeck ‘28
Header Image Source: Douron
