Audely Bensen Writes

My brother gave me a copy of Piranesi for christmas last year, and it took me until the summer to read it. When I originally opened the gift, I was surprised that it was such a slim book for how widely recommended it is. I had expected something with more heft. It seemed like the perfectly sized vacation book, so when my sister and I went on our annual hiking trip, I packed it along, and hiked with it in my backpack.  And I adored it. Despite the confusion of the introductory pages, this book hooked me from the beginning. The prose was beautiful enough to jolt me out of the writing rut I'd been in and inspire me to write (bad) poetry as we hiked; the structure made me feel free.  The hardest thing about Piranesi is now that I'm on the opposite side and ready to be the one recommending it to other people (instead of everyone recommending it to me) I'm finding that I have no idea how to explain what this is about without ruining the story for the next reader. 

I read Kat Dunn's Hungerstone because I had to. I'd exhausted all the other books in my library stack, and half of them were overdue, too. Those I read without joy, as a way to distract myself through a family health crisis. It barely worked. Everything I read for a month left me listless.  So when I picked up Hungerstone, I expected more of the same. I was mistaken! I loved this book. It was exactly what I needed to pull me firmly out of reality and into the mad world of Nethershaw. It was violent without being gory, emotional without tripping any of my sensitive wires. And the voice was excellent. By the middle of this book I was debating whether I should give first person a try too on my next novel.  While reading circumstances weren't great, I really enjoyed this book and will read more of this author.