The Absolutist by John Boyne

Historical homophobic gay romance. Egads. Another on the list of Irish authors I hope to never read again.

Kraken

I sometimes love China Mieville and occasionally imagine we are a couple. Kraken is middle ground. While I love the concept--and the story was interesting as it unfolded--and I love the characters and crazy knacks, the writing seems too dense to support the genre. Or something like that. And please don't use "lacunaed" in place of the word "vague," it really threw me off. Thanks.

Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son

What a great read. I loved this book. Loved how he tried to represent the full range of personalities of North Korea in one person. How the protagonist continued changing throughout the book and the style followed him. I also loved the humor (satire?) of the Dear Leader and how the author didn't shy away from the horrors of the government but didn't use those actions for shock value but rather as a tool to help understand the character development. Lovely writing and an all-around good read.