Autobiography of a Bibliophile: March 2019

Blaming podcasts for my short-ish reading lists lately. Cold (detailing the disappearance of Susan Powell in Utah) created a monster and now I can’t stop listening to true crime. HELP ME. Crime Junkie is my current audio of choice and I'm surprised I'm sleeping at night tbh.

self-portrait anytime Chris Harrison isn't on my TV screen

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

3 stars

A little more YA than I anticipated, but cute dialogue and relatable sentiments. It was infinitely more fun reading this after a trip to NYC because I definitely understood “there are a million and a half people in Manhattan, but none of them make eye contact unless you already know them.” But even several references to Levain bakery didn’t make up for a relatively shallow storyline and the theory that “the universe” works for us and against us.

The Never List by Koethi Zan

3 stars

Even though I’ve been listening to true crime podcasts like villains are going out of style, this dark and twisted novel was almost too much for me. It follows the abduction and subsequent torture of girls by a college professor, their eventual escape and release, and the man’s attempt to continue to reach them from behind bars. You know that feeling in a scary movie when you close your eyes because you can only handle what’s happening on the screen with your sense of hearing? I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut several times in the course of this read, but couldn’t for obvious reasons. #earscantread

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

4 stars

I loved the voice of this book the most, which accounts for that 4th star. The subject matter is heavy -- a family sits shiva for their recently deceased father, but all of the family bonding lends a necessary lightness and humor that kept me turning the pages. Relationships are key in this novel, with family, with significant others, and even with those nosy neighbors.

I Take You by Eliza Kennedy

2 stars

As a wife who believes wholeheartedly in fidelity in marriage -- this book realllllly rubbed me the wrong way. Lily views monogamy as more of a guideline, even though she is just one week away from her wedding to Will. Her family, built of several step-mothers of the past and her womanizing father, beg her to reconsider her decision to marry. I don’t fault Lily’s desire to have multiple partners, only her choice to keep her betrothed in the dark about her preference.

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

4 stars

Higgins can always be counted on for quality chick-lit, and IYOK is no exception. I would even argue it explored some deeper themes with quality plot points regarding family secrets and how the past begets the future. Perfection is not what it seems and the pursuit of such is pointless.

Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry

3 stars

Dark and twisted is the best way to describe this read. A woman with a hit list blackmails a rising female comic into hurting the men that wrong them. I was a little put off by the violence and was set to rate this a 2, until Gentry threw in an ending that I didn't see coming one bit. A good plot twist always deserves an extra star from me.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4 stars

Fair warning: the format of this story threw me for a large loop at first. It’s structured as an interview with the band (Daisy Jones & The Six), with very little back and forth between characters. Instead, each character seems to tell their own version of the one story. It took me several chapters to connect with a character and the story, but I eventually did and started to turn pages with trepidation -- waiting for the blow to the heart a la Evelyn Hugo style. I didn’t form the same emotional attachment with DJ&TS, but I did do a google search for the songs that are described -- only to come up empty-handed, of course. Reid does have a knack for creating an illusion of fact within her fiction.