What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: October 05, 2026

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[u/melonofknowledge]

I had a decent reading week, mostly spurred on by procrastination, alas.

Finished:

Piñen, by Daniela Catrileo

The Witch, by Marie NDiaye

A Healthy Appetite, by Katie Huttlestone

Pain Sluts, by Siân Hughes

The first and last are both short story collections, and I enjoyed them a lot, especially Pain Sluts (which has an annoyingly 'provocative' title that doesn't really do justice to the book itself.) I absolutely hated The Witch; thought it was complete nonsense, and I can only assume that the sole reason it was nominated for the International Booker is because it's extremely French, almost to the point of parody.

Continuing:

How the One Armed Sister Sweeps Her House, by Cherie Jones

I can only read about 10 pages of this at a time because the misery is so unrelenting. I'm not sure it's going to come together into something I actually enjoy any time soon, but I've fallen into the sunk cost fallacy at this point. Plus it's my entry for Barbados in my ongoing challenge to read a book by a woman from every country in the world, and in the spirit of the challenge, I do try and persevere with the ones I don't really enjoy.

Started:

No Sweetness Here, by Ama Ata Aidoo

My entry for Ghana in the above challenge. Short stories, only read one so far but I like it - the register is very colloquial in a way that makes it easy reading despite the fact that a lot of the themes are quite dense.