#BookishThoughts #Top5 Underrated Books ALSO a #BirthdayBookPost Post!

Hello!

It’s Book Lover’s Day, Tove Jansson’s birthday and guess what?

It’s mine too!

So today, I am pleased to be sharing and subsequently this week catching up on, the #Top5 series started by Amanda at Devouring Books, who has passed the baton to lots of fabulous bookbloggers, and is going to be shamelessly plundered by myself, right here and right now.

I am taking this to mean underrated in the way that books I love and adore are overlooked in the mainstream book-a-sphere, and I hope that 1 or more might pique your interest and you might check some out!

This list is based no more or less than on books which I have rated 4 stars and above, which was not reflected in Goodreads ratings. I am not a part of a fandom, I am not a critic, just a reader and a lover of books.

‘Geek Love’ by Katherine Dunn-this is up there with my all time favourite books. In this story, Lillian and Al Binewski decide that the best gift that they can give their children, is to give them bodies that will earn them a living. For each pregnancy, Lil takes a different combinations of iatrogenic substances with varying results.

And so, the Binewski Fabulon is created , featuring Arturo, the Aquaboy(born with flippers) Iphigenia and Electra (Siamese piano playing twins), Olympia the albino dwarf and Chick (who looks ‘normal’ but who is anything but).

Narrated by an older Olympia of now, and interspersed with reflections of their life on the road, this is a dark and twisted fairy tale, a meditation on the American Dream and a tragedy all in one.

Still ruminating on this over 30 years since I first read it as a teen, this is a book I would urge those with a darker sensibility to explore. It’s not for the faint of heart…

‘The City Of Lost Fortunes’ by Bryan Camp–published in 2018, this is the first in the Crescent City novels, a brilliant exploration of magic and mythology juxtaposed with post Katrina New Orleans reality.

I would consider this a novel of magic realism, the main character is Jude Dubuisson, street magician and not quite human. Owing a debt to the God of Fortune is not considered a wise thing to have weighing on your shoulders.

So when the God of Fortune is murdered, Jude is roped in to solve the crime and take his place. Steeped in culture, tradition and underlined by such a seering sense of loss, I could not get enough of this and was so happy to find that there was a sequel!!

‘Endless Night’ by Agatha Christie–a Christie which features none of her best known detectives, this is a dark and sad tale of thwarted love, vengeance and ill met lovers. A rich young woman and a penniless man, determined to make his childhood fantasy of building his dream house come true seem destined to fail.

Indeed, many who lived near Gipsy’s Acre were convinced Mike was marrying Fenella Guteman in order to manifest the home he never had, the financial security he always wanted and greater public recognition.

But the curse placed on the meadow lurks in the background-can true love defeat superstition?

Told from a first person narrative viewpoint, that of Mike,it’s a distrubing novel that lingers long after finishing.

‘Rose Madder’ by Stephen King–this is one of those books that many King fans would decline to admit is a favourite, I, however, have no such qualms. Rose Daniels is on the run from the life she has found herself trapped in, married to an abusive husband who has made her life hell.

As her recovery slowly begins, as distance between her and husband Norman is created, she feels a sense of peace beginning to settle on her but  Norman is not about to give up on someone he sees as a possession.

His pursuit changes him , his evil nature alters his physical form -tying Greek mythology and a found picture in a charity shop to domestic violence and escape, Rose finds she has a stength and a will which she did not know she had, friends who will stand with her. I found King’s depiction of the relentless nature of an abuser alternated with the recovery of an abuse victim very realistic, very nuanced and the ending is one of his best (imho).

‘Your Guilty Secret’ by Rebecca Thornton a book which seemed to pass so many people by, this took me completely by surprise by how much I enjoyed it, how dark it was and also entirely unpredictable in nature. I finished it struggling to breathe and processing the over arching plot with difficulty.

For a woman whose entire life exists in the public eye, Lara King, her world is about to come collapsing down but who is to blame?

The social media platforms who demand every detail of her life is analysed to the nth degree? The entertainment industry which sweeps people up and spits them out when they are done?

Or the intrinsic need for humans to be seen, be known and have their place on this earth marked by our actions, remembered and vaunted? When Lara’s daughter goes missing, a dual narrative of Lara’s internal voice and that of an online blog following the search, shows both sides of a missing child story with incredible attention to detail.

These authors can be found on Twitter-

@StephenKing @bryancamp @agathachristie @RThorntonwriter

And at-

https://www.bryancamp.com/

https://www.agathachristie.com/

https://stephenking.com/

https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-week-in-fiction/katherine-dunn-05-11-20

Here are my fellow bloggers offering their choices-

Jill @https://jilljemmett.com/2020/08/08/top-5-saturday-hidden-gems/

Becky @https://crooksbooks.blog/2020/08/08/underrated-books-top-5-saturday/

Anjedah @https://anjedah.wordpress.com/2020/08/08/top-five-saturdays/

Dini @https://dinipandareads.home.blog/2020/08/08/top-5-saturday-underrated-books-hidden-gems/

What are the books you rate, and that you want to read or have people to talk to about them?

Sometimes blogging and reading can be a lonely business, especially when you have books you would love to talk about but no one is there. Thank goodness for blogs where you can splurge your thoughts and no one laughs at you or takes you task on it. It’s definitely my happy place!