I recently read and highly recommend the novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. This endearing novel is
for those who like their characters a little quirky. Nearly 30-year-old Eleanor
is friendless and lives a very predictable life, eating the same one-pot meal
every day, wearing the same black pants and white blouse to work (she has multiples
of the same outfit) and her only companion is vodka which she drinks only on
the weekends. Her routines keep her
safe, but slowly her carefully crafted world starts to crack. Simultaneously,
she develops a crush on a musician from afar and is drawn into a friendship
with Raymond, the new IT guy at work, and with Sammy, an older man whose life
she and Raymond save. Without self-pity
and deficient in nearly all social skills, Eleanor is unaware of her ability to
charm and inspire those who want to help her and those who grow to care for
her. Honeyman’s superb, heartbreaking,
comical and irresistible novel creates a character so original that it’s hard
to believe it’s a debut.
Here are a few more examples of other quirky, idiosyncratic
or odd characters. I hope you find these characters as endearing as I do. Happy
Reading!
A Man Called Ove by
Fredrik Backman
A curmudgeon hides an awful personal loss beneath a cranky
and short-tempered exterior while jarring with new neighbors, a lively family
whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship.
The Rosie Project by Graeme
C. Simsion
Don Tillman, a brilliant geneticist, thinks that having
women fill out a six-page, double-sided questionnaire before a date is rational
and reasonable. Rosie Jarman, an impulsive barmaid, thinks Don should loosen up
and learn to live a little. Follow the unlikely pair in this laugh-out-loud,
feel-good story of surprising joys, discovery and love.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A middle-aged bookseller grieving his lost wife,
an energetic publisher’s rep, and a charmingly intelligent abandoned child come
together on a small island off the New England coast in this delightful novel
of love and second chances.
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
Sara arrives in the small town of Broken Wheel to visit her
pen pal Amy, only to learn Amy has just died. A story of how she brings the
love of books and reading that she shared with Amy to the residents of Broken
Wheel is just a wonderful read. Any book lover will enjoy Sara’s story and that
of the friends she makes in Broken Wheel.
by JM
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment