I’m playing catch up but… I still wanted to document the books I read this year and my thoughts on each.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
★★★★
This book was a selection for MMD’s 2020 Reading Challenge prompt “Book in
translation” (translated from French). It is about Renee, a hotel concierge that is
what “society” would expect a concierge to be: short, middle-aged, and reserved
(almost a hermit in my opinion). Her only real attachment is her cat. Even though
she is what everyone expects from a concierge, she is actually very knowledgable,
and loves, art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. Almost as if it is meant to
be, she becomes friends with twelve year old Paloma who lives in the hotel.
Paloma appears to be an average student and doesn’t seem to get along with her
family. What we soon find out is that Paloma is extraordinarily smart and she and
Renee soon form a close friendship. I honestly had a hard time getting into this
book at first (I really have no idea why) but it is definitely a good book.
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