2026 #28 Small Things Like These (Keegan)

 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The writing here is beautiful. Keegan manages to do so much with just a few words. There's little in the way of hyberbole or superlatives, but there is a clean rhythm that is almost poetic and draws you in. It is a touching story, but also relatable in how most of us face moral quandaries at one point or another. Bill Furlong is just a coal merchant delivering fuel to a Magdalene convent laundry in Ireland during the 1980s. But over just a few pages (it is a novella), we start to walk with him. We feel what he feels, and we see what he sees. You can almost feel the knotted tension forming in the pit of his stomach as he grapples with what he's witnessed at the convent. This is a very good book about the "small things" that can be opportunities to test or own moral courage.

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Challenges 

2026 Reading Goals 28/60

2025 #56 Signs Preceding the End of the World (Herrera)

 

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A timely read, the book offers a "hero's journey" of Makina, a Mexican woman sent by her mother to find her brother on the 'other side', while also carrying a "package" for a certain Mr. Aitch. While something is always lost in translation, I think Lisa Dillman worked hard (at least according to the Translator's Note) to pick up on the craft of Herrera's writing. The style reminded me of both Italo Calvino and José Saramago, the former of whom I love, and the latter I'm still trying...

Pay attention to the beginning as it is what helps situate this Campbellian monomyth. There's a lot of subtlety in the book, and certain moments almost seem like meta-narrative: "Using in one tongue the word for a thing in the other makes the attributes of both resound: if you say Give me fire when they say Give me a light, what is not to be learned about fire, light and the act of giving? It's not another way of saying things: these are new things." (67-68).

Yes, it is a book about migration, but also more metaphorical border crossings.

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2022 #18 The Wrong One (McTiernan)

 

The Wrong One by Dervla McTiernan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm beginning to think I'm just not a fan of novellas. I find the rhythm, at least in the suspense genre, to be insufficient for building expectation, working in character development, and throwing in a plot twist. That said, The Wrong One did keep me guessing for a good while, although the culprit is obvious about halfway through the book. The motive doesn't really work, and the strange supernatural suggestion is like an itch that never gets scratched (the "explanation" made it seem like an unnecessary part of the story in the first place).

Simon is, not unlike McTiernan's Cormac Reilly, a rough-and-ready cop, but unlike the Cormac Reilly series, this one takes place in New Jersey (and Connecticut). The setup is fairly conventional -- Simon's best friend died, and he feels a sense of obligation to Clara Coleman and her teenage son (Sebastian), and rushes to help when Clara is wrongfully accused of murder. Aside from the fact that Simon doesn't care much for Seb, as soon as we hear Sebastian in his own voice, he's immediately likeable. A longer novel could have benefitted from more of the backstory and relationship between Simon and his friend (Clara's husband, Will).

A solid performance from Michael Crouch and Neil Hellegers that makes up for some of the plot weaknesses.

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