Most of the books that I've read would fall in the entirely too broad "contemporary fiction" category. There are a few dystopian/sci-fi picks, a few young adult and middle grade reads, and a few non-fiction selections.
Without further ado, I am going to detail the books that I've read over the past 3 months below, in order of least favorite to favorite. Follow me on Goodreads if you'd like to see what I'm reading and what I am hoping to read in the future! This is going to be a looooooooooong post, so settle in. :)
Note: I am linking to Amazon for each of these books because of the convenience and the potential that someone would want to order it on Kindle. However, I highly encourage you to purchase from your local, independent bookstore or borrow from your local library. Pro tip: most libraries have a service that allows you to borrow physical copies as well as digital copies, which was a HUGE game changer for me when rediscovering my love for reading.
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
- Quick summary: Sweetbitter tells the story of a twenty something who recently moved to New York and lands a job in one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city. She encounters new experiences and people that push her out of her comfort zone and cause her to change her perspective.
- My thoughts: The writing, especially at the sentence level, was STUNNING. The potential for this book is outstanding, yet so wasted. Overall, the story wasn't fulfilling, and I didn't love the characters. I was pleased when the book ended, so I could move onto something new.
The Assistants by Camille Perri (listened on audiobook)
- Quick summary: The Assistants is about two unlikely friends who discover how to embezzle money, seemingly without notice, from their massive corporation employer (a Jeff Bezos type) to pay off their student loans.
- My thoughts: The writing was weak, but the story was fun. Listening on audiobook helped to nullify any irritations about the vapid writing. I cared about the characters, even if they were irritating at times, and I was genuinely interested in the outcome of the conflict.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
- Quick summary: Basically, Men Explain Things to Me is what you think it'll be. A series of essays that focus on the delegitimization of women in personal and professional settings.
- My thoughts: Nothing in this book changed my perspective or truthfully impressed me. I've read many variants of this type of book, and this wasn't the best of them. I still enjoyed it, but it doesn't hold a candle to my favorite feminist essayist, Roxane Gay.
Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Peterson
- Quick Summary: This book is a series of essays, each focusing on a woman in the public eye that is "too ______."
- My thoughts: I actually really enjoyed this. It was the perfect thing to pick up and read when I had a spare 15 to 20 minutes here and there. The reason this is a 3 star and not a 4 star is because some of the essays really outshone the others. My favorites were about Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj, and Melissa McCarthy.
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (listened on audiobook)
- Quick summary: Vinegar Girl is a retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. It tells the story of a serious, somewhat caustic woman named Kate, who is being asked to marry her father's lab assistant in order to keep him the country.
- My thoughts: Anne Tyler is an extraordinary author. She makes even the mundane seem charming, and she just generally has a way with words. I'm not sure I would have stuck with this book if I didn't "read" it on audiobook because the story is truthfully a little bit slow and one note. That being said, I still enjoyed the characters and the story.
Teach Like Finland: 33 simple strategies for joyful classrooms by Timothy D. Walker
- Quick summary: An author applies his experience teaching in Finland to his experience teaching in the US. He provides (what he says) are 33 simple strategies to create a more joyous classroom.
- My thoughts: I found the writing somewhat boring, the strategies a bit banal, and the tone a bit too idealistic. This just wasn't my cup of tea.
The Power by Noami Alderman
- Quick summary: In the modern era, teenage discover that they can electrocute with their hands. Eventually, some women are also able to discover this new power. The Power follows the stories of several different people during the genesis of this time, from a reporter to a politician to a religious leader to a teen rebel.
- My thoughts: I feel that many others liked this book a lot more than I did. I thought it was a bit contrived, and I liked some of the characters' stories significantly more than I liked the others. I think it definitely is worth a read, but it didn't affect me the way that I thought it would.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
- Quick summary: This is your standard build your confidence make you feel awesome read. The main philosophy touted here is building a life where the things you give a f*ck about are things you care about.
- My thoughts: It was a fun read. The book was... fine... It could have been summarized in a 3 page PDF.
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
- Quick summary: It's the story of a high school girl with a mental health disorder, her coming to terms with herself, the relationship with her best friend, and a budding relationship with a mysterious young man.
- My thoughts: I typically don't read John Green, but I was excited to see a book that discussed OCD. John Green did it in a realistic, approachable, and appropriate way. I liked the characters and I liked the read, but the book didn't necessarily stay with me once I was done reading it.
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
- Quick summary: Moxie is about a high school junior named Vivianne, living in a small town in Texas where football is king. Vivianne is a rule follower, but she becomes fed up with the behaviors of boys at her school, particularly the football team. Vivianne makes some moves to change this situation, and it turns into an all out movement.
- My thoughts: I will be posting an in-depth review of this soon, but I really, really enjoyed this book. The first third was challenging to parse through as I thought it was a bit heavy handed, but I thought that the second half was extraordinary. It handles so many issues in such a beautiful way. I'm very impressed with Jennifer Mathieu, and I'm totally a Moxie girl [Moxie girls fight back!!!]
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
- Quick summary: This is a difficult book to describe... The story is about an unnamed narrator, a bi-racial girl who is the daughter of social justice/feminist mother and a devoted father. The narrator's best friend is the total opposite of her, paraded around by her mother who could hardly be described as feminist. The story bounces between timelines - from her childhood at home to her college life and post college jobs. A main story line follows the narrators job as an assistant to a mega pop star named Aime, who builds a tone deaf school in a west African country.
- My thoughts: Zadie Smith is absolutely brilliant. Although the story dragged at parts, her writing made it worth it. This book explores SO many issues of race, class, gender, friendship, parenting, aging, and more. Some parts were much more compelling than others, but the parts that compelled me had me fully gripped. It's definitely worth your time if ANY of those themes mentioned interest you.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
- Quick summary: Wonder is about Auggie Pullman, a 10 year old boy who is going to school for the first time after being homeschooled due to his health concerning a facial deformation, which has caused him to enduring over 20 surgeries. The story is told through his perspective, as well as many other characters including his friends at school, family at home, and friends of the family.
- My thoughts: The big takeaway of Wonder is the importance of empathy and the impact Auggie's deformation, but also his light and love, has on everyone's life. I was hoping that I could use this book as a classroom text, but it is just slightly too "young" for my students. The story is lovely, though, and the writing is awesome. It's a sweet book that is worth your time.
Swamplandia by Karen Russel
- Quick summary: This story takes place on the Florida swamp of a family of "gator wrestlers" at an amusement park. It is told through the eyes of a young girl, an aspiring gator wrestler, after the death of their mother, Hilola Bigfoot, the famed gator performer. The entire family is quirky with an older brother who is borderline genius and an older sister who believes in the occult.
- My thoughts: Man, oh man, did I love this book. I may have to bump it up to 5 stars... Karen Russel's writing is BEAUTIFUL. Each sentence, each paragraph, each chapter is a work of art. You couldn't build a better setting for a book to me - I just love the quirk and kitsch of the setting. The reason this has 4 stars and not 5 is due to the pacing towards the middle and an event or two that didn't sit right with me in terms of the rest of the story. Overall, I LOVED this read, and I desperately want to read more from Karen Russel.
The Girls by Emma Cline
- Quick summary: The Girls is the coming of age story that takes place in seventies during the era of the Manson family cult. The story is less about the Manson cult, but the cult is more of the setting where this bizarre coming of age story takes place.
- My thoughts: You know, this book may have to be demoted to a 3 star... I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't have a lasting impact of me. If you love this time in history (which I do) and enjoy a good coming of age story (which I also do), you'll probably like this. However, I haven't thought about it much since finishing it, and I don't really have much to say about it other than, well... It was okay.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
- Quick summary: This book is the coming of age story of a girl who grows up in an evangelical household while coming to terms with the fact that she is gay.
- My thoughts: Jeanette is an ambitious writer who crafted an ambitious story. There is a dark humor to this that totally fascinated me. Although the summary and review is short, the impact this book left on me has not been/will not be short. I consider this an instant classic, and I think that everyone should read it.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- Quick summary: This is Gail Honeyman's inaugural book, which tells the story of a woman with a dark past. Eleanor is incredibly socially awkward, even socially unaware (while reading, I imagined her to be on the autism spectrum). We move with her as she navigates the world, and as the story progresses we learn more and more about her dark past.
- My thoughts: This book perfectly captures the element of tragic humor that I love so much in a book. As a reader, you'll grow to LOVE Eleanor, a very complicated and sometimes hard to love character. You'll be desperate to see her personal and professional growth and learn about her past. The story, and some specific paragraphs in Honeyman's writing, have stuck with me since I finished the book at the start of 2018.
The Unseen World by Liz Moore
- Quick summary: The Unseen World is about a girl named Ada who was raised by her father, David. David had Ada through a surrogate and raises her alone - home schooling her, or lab schooling her, as they call it, since he takes her to the lab where he works everyday as a computer scientist. David gives Ada codes and ciphers to solve, and right before he is diagnosed with Alzheimers and it progresses, he gives here a code that she can not seem to break. When David's Alzheimers becomes debilitating, Ada has to live with a family friend/neighbor, and we find out that the pieces of David's past are not matching up. David may not be who he says he is.
- My thoughts: I could not put this book down. I adored each and every character, even the minor ones. I had to know what happened next in the mystery of discovering who David truly was. I loved following Ada through her exploration into the normal adolescent world. Liz Moore is a masterful author who crafts even the most mundane experiences into beautiful prose.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Quick summary: The United States endures a pandemic, most of the population dies, and society needs to rebuild. The main character is part of a traveling Shakespeare troupe, performing for the various colonies. This book follows several characters' stories, and as the book progresses, we discover how they interconnect.
- My thoughts: Emily St. John Mandel has a beautiful writing style that captures the essence of this dark situation perfectly. I was just enamored by the idea of rebuilding society with the focus of the arts in this traveling theater troupe totally fascinated me. I loved this book so much that I already want to re-read it.
Have you read any of the books from my quarter 1 of reading? If so, what did you think? What is the best book you've read so far in 2018? Tell me in the comments!
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