Dark Summit, by Nick Heil: I’m always reaching for the high that was reading Into Thin Air for the first time (in Kathmandu), and falling short (OF THE SUMMIT haha?). This was definitely readable and good, but it seems like it’s Krakauer rather than Everest itself – or at least the alchemy between the two – that makes Into Thin Air so hard to compete with. Still, I enjoyed this because it focused on someone I’d already watched on the reality TV show Everest: Beyond the Limit and I had a hazy recollection of what transpired, but not a strong enough one to make the book predictable. I still have no desire to go even to Everest Base Camp.
Social Creature, by Tara Isabella Burton: Holy cow this went grim quickly. I grew a little weary of the characters.
Tell the Wolves I’m Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt: Really lovely and haunting, though I was slightly perplexed by the focus on the protagonist being “in love” with her uncle – it seemed too much was made of it.
Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett: Patchett’s The Wonder made a deep and lasting impression on me, yet I somehow never sought her other titles. (I have a similar lacuna with music in that if I love a song, I love a song, but it almost doesn’t occur to me to then listen to the rest of the artist’s catalog.) Commonwealth is both grand and personal, starting off as a family saga and turning into a discussion of who controls the narratives they’re a part of.
The World Cannot Give, by Tara Isabella Burton: I preferred this to Social Creature – I think Burton so expertly portrays a half-formed adolescent who’s easily convinced by those with stronger opinions (and torn when those stronger forces combat one another).
