Accelerated Reader: Volume 5
As I mentioned in last week’s Feminist Nonfiction Lit List, I’m still reading a bunch of books that have already been reviewed here. (I’m currently enjoying Ronan Farrow’s “Catch and Kill.”) When we started this blog, it was as a fun side project and none of us wanted it to cause reading burnout, or to “force” ourselves to read books we didn’t want to just to review them here. Turns out, our literary tastes overlap more often than we may have thought, because four of my most recent reads have already been read and reviewed by Moira and Elizabeth. So, I thought I’d share some reads from late 2018/early 2019. These span a wide range of genres but I enjoyed all of them and hope you do, too! And, bonus—they’re all by women!
“No One Tells You This” by Glynnis MacNicol: 3.75 out of 5. This is a memoir by a woman who, as she turns 40, explores what it means if she doesn’t get married or have kids. Glynnis writes of the journey she takes during her 40th year—traveling, romancing, caring for her family—and ultimately realizes that it takes courage to live the life you want to live.
“My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh: 4 of out 5. This was a weird one, that I enjoyed. It’s 2000 in New York City and we meet the narrator, who seemingly has everything: a great job at a gallery, an Upper East Side apartment, a cushy inheritance. But, she feels alienated from the world and her one “friend” (I use that word loosely), so she spends the year 2000 in a haze of (mostly) prescription drugs. It’s darkly funny and very moving.
“Pride” by Ibi Zoboi: 4 out of 5. I don’t read a ton of YA but I usually enjoy it when I do. This is a modern-day “Pride and Prejudice” set in Bushwick, Brooklyn, with all characters of color. The author touches on gentrification, class conflict, and the relationship between the Benitez sisters as they get to know the rich Darcy brothers who move in across the street. (You can see where this one is going, but the journey is so fun.)
“Tell Me Lies” by Carola Lovering: 4.5 out of 5. This one got to me on a deep level. It follows Lucy and Stephen through college and a few post-college years, and is told from both of their POVs. But, Stephen is deeply emotionally abusive and reading his POV was very disturbing. He’s humanized a bit as we learn about a terrifying incident from his past, but this twisted look at a codependent and abusive relationship was a tough read. (Although yes, I did ultimately like it, in a masochistic kind of way.)
“The Banker’s Wife” by Cristina Alger: 3.75 out of 5. This was one of the first thrillers I had read in a long time, and it helped get me back into the genre earlier this year. It starts with the crash of a private plane over the Alps, and the widow of the (you guessed it) banker on board deals with her grief and her realization that her husband had some powerful enemies. I’m not doing a great job summarizing this, but it’s got intrigue, it’s got shady financiers, it’s fast-paced, and I couldn’t put this book down.
“The Immortalists” by Chloe Benjamin: 3.5 out of 5. I read this on vacation earlier this year and it was a good beach read. It opens in New York in the late ‘60s, and four siblings go to see a traveling woman who has arrived in the city and claims to have mystical powers. She tells each of them, privately, the day they are going to die, and her predictions inform the next several decades for this family. The novel is told through each of the siblings’ POV in turn, and we’re taken through ‘80s San Francisco, ‘90s Las Vegas, and post-9/11 New York State. This one wasn’t my favorite but I did enjoy it; would recommend if you’re into some family drama with a touch of fantasy.
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