Thought Train to Pusan

I listened to the novel as an audiobook, and while it started out promising I have to admit that as it went on and on and on, I became more and more weary with the whole ordeal. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish it by the end, but I had put so much time in that I had to see how things came together, and what exactly the point of it all would be in the end. And it certainly did come together and have some points to make, but I can’t say that what was presented felt worth it, or that I was inclined to buy it.  T he House of the Spirits spans across multiple generations of the Trueba family in post-colonial Chile (though the country is not specifically named) The main characters are the family patriarch, Esteban, whose family owns a run-down estate and farmland that he wants to return to its former glory, along with his own political ambitions, Clara, Esteban’s wife who is more spiritual in nature and has certain magical abilities of clairvoyance, their daughter, B...

Truth be told, I listened to this audiobook on a whim as it came up in the new book recommendations of my library app. Sounded interesting enough! And overall, it was an easy and engaging enough listen, though I can’t say that it grabbed me much beyond a passing enjoyment. The Lost Apothecary flits between two time periods (and 3 protagonists’ points of view therein). The first setting is 1791 London, where a woman named Nella works in a hidden apothecary for women, helping them with various ailments including those that require the elimination of the men in their lives. One night, a young girl named Eliza walks into the shop on behalf of her employer who seeks to poison her husband. Eliza is a curious young woman whose presence soon becomes entrenched in Nella’s world far more than she wishes, and which alters the course of both their lives within a short period of time.  Alongside this setting is present-day London, where a woman named Catherine is supposed to be on a 10-year an...