Long overdue reading update

Hope everyone is healthy and finding some interesting/fun things to do in quarantine. It's been a little while since I've given a reading update blog post, mostly because it's a been a while since I've done a blog post (oops, but I also blame the quarantine), but also because I haven't been reading too much (my own fault). That all being said, I've just finished Hari Kunzu's book Gods Without Men. The book is an absolute journey. It follows different characters scattered around different time periods, (early 1900's, the 80's, 2008, 1800's), all roughly in the same geographical location: the pinnacles in California. Each chapter of the book follows characters in their respective time periods as they navigate their life in what turns out to be a strange desert environment.

I really enjoyed the book. I found Hari Kunzru to be a really compelling storyteller and was amazed by how well he shifted between characters in different time periods, showcasing each of their personalities, elaborating on their rich backgrounds and showing how the different time periods reflected on their characters. To give some more context on what actually happens in the book, I'll give an abridged version of the blurb on the back of the book. The main story line follows a couple, Jaz and Lisa, who live in New York with their toddler son, Raj. When Raj goes missing during a family vacation to the Pinnacles, Lisa and Jaz's life goes in to a turmoil, fueled by some previous events occurring in the same location. The book examines the events, happy and tragic, that shaped the reality/setting that Jaz and Lisa ultimately find themselves in.

The book is a bit all over the place which makes it sort of hard to give a concise summary. However, certainly not in a bad way. I loved jumping between Jaz and Lisa's modern life in 2008, and say, a hippie cult in the desert of California in the 60's. It was honestly a blast. While the book can be a bit heavy, since a lot of the characters either have a very hard life and are forced to make some difficult decisions, or have a very tragic event in their life, the latter third of the book can kind of tug at the heart.

I'd really like to read some more Hari Kunzru. It was a really fun read and I want to see what else he's written. I believe we talked about him in class once or twice, when we were caught up in the American Dirt drama. Hopefully in the next few days I'll start and finish my other book, Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. I'll of course write about when/if it happens. Hope everyone is chugging along through the end of the semester and doing ok!