Hi friends,

Today in Blogmas 2019 is all about powerful writing!

There are many authors that I discovered this year who amazed my with the quality of their prose, Ruta Sepetys being one of the bests as well as Bryn Greenwood. But today I have two winners. Two authors I have read late in the year who totally swept me off my feet and more, astonished and amazed me with their ability to convey powerful feelings and ideas with a true economy of words.

One is traditionally published the other is indie and should really be better known.

My first winner today is the extremely talented Suanne Laqueur.

I have read all her books so far and this year, her Scarcity of Condors impressed me once more with what I described in my review as her “sens du phrasé”. Meaning that Suanne uses few words and still punch you right in the face with the exact idea she wanted to convey.

In my review I wrote: Once again, I am amazed at Suanne’s writing skill! In French we would say that “Elle a le sens du phrasé” what I can tentatively translate in English with a lengthy explanation meaning that she is a powerful writer.

Not a writer using many flourishes but a word magician who only needs few words to convey a deep meaning. I don’t know how many times I stopped my reading to think: “Wow! OK! Pause now because there is a thing here.”. I couldn’t resist reading some of these sentences to my son who probably politely listened to his mom when she said “See? See how deep this is? See the mastery? Do you see?”.

I highlighted non stop and here are some of my favorites here with you:

“Sensing he was different in a potentially hazardous way, he kept to the fringes of school society, achieving a delicate balance of popular invisibility.”

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“Maybe I’m ready to let my house be a home.”

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“My everyday life is rich but my love life is a third-world country.”

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“This angel wasn’t a cherub with a halo but a seraphim with a sword. An avenger. Fighting for people’s lives, then coming home broken and bruised, singed feathers dripping behind. Too tired and used-up to even fold his wings back down.”

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And my favorite:

“I don’t just want to be your lover. I want to be your home. Your nine-one-one. I’m your call now. You make it and I will answer.”

I want to add that this is far from the first book Suanne truly impressed me with The quality of her writing, its power is phenomenal!

My second winner is Jojo Moyes

Jojo Moyes is huge! Everyone has heard about her books, especially Me Before You.

Her 2019’s novel The Giver of Stars is a pure wonder. Her writing is so beautiful and poetic that I really was immersed into rural Kentucky visiting people to deliver them books.

I wrote: “I was immersed in that story, so in love with it that I read from dawn to dusk, throat closing and eyes filled with tears many times, in sadness and in joy. This book is magic. This book is powerful. This book is inspiring. “

And to give you a taste of her prose, here is one of my favorite quotes:

“Two women sat in a tiny cabin on the side of a vast mountain as the sky slowly darkened, and inside the lamps sent out slivers of gold light through the gaps in the wide oak planks. One read, her voice quiet and precise, and the other sat, her stockinged feet tucked up under her on the chair, her head resting against her open palm, lost in her thoughts.”

I don’t care about the controversy around this book, it just is IT for me!

Now do tell me, who is or are your most powerful writers that you have read in 2109?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie