If You Only Read One: April 2020
We know that we read — and review — a lot of books. It definitely helps that there are three of us, in that regard. So with this feature, we want to tell you our favorite read of the month - if we only recommend one book to pick up, what would it be?
Moira
Like my co-bloggers, I struggled a bit at the beginning of the month, but I ended up picking up some steam after a big order from Greenlight Bookstore came in. I slept a bit on Emily St. John Mandel’s release of “The Glass Hotel,” but ended up ordering it and am so glad I did. I’m unsurprised, as her “Station Eleven” was the only apocalyptic novel I’ve ever enjoyed. This book is hard to describe—its blurb is so complicated that I had trouble following—but the book itself is gorgeous and intricately designed. It is about many things—a Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme, an orphan and her brother, the shipping industry, New York in the midcentury. It has a creepy, mysterious air to it which lent itself to my love of crime novels. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Elizabeth
I really went back and forth over this for a few days — after a slow start, April ended up being a great reading month for me! — and I was torn between “Good Talk” by Mira Jacob (my review here) and “This is Big” by Marisa Meltzer (my review here). On the surface, they are similar in that they deal with some of the biggest issues in our lives: Donald Trump and diet culture, but I didn’t want to cop out, so I have to give the slight edge to Marisa’s memoir. I really saw a lot of myself in both Jean and in Marisa, and it forced me to really reflect on some of the terrible shitty things I think about myself and my body. I think it’s an essential read for anyone that has ever participated in diet culture — let’s be real, that’s all of us — and I loved the candid, frank, and funny tone about this weighty subject.
Shannon
Maybe you’ve heard that I can only read British rom-coms lately? I’ve also read a lot of “chick lit” that’s not of the British persuasion, and many books that have already been reviewed here at SFOL. (I particularly loved “Oona Out of Order,” see Elizabeth’s review here.) However, I was utterly charmed by “Our Stop” by Laura Jane Williams (Elizabeth’s review here)—so charmed, I’m using words like “utterly” non-ironically. It tells the story of a man and woman who sometimes take the same train to work. Man is charmed by woman, he places a missed connection ad, they almost meet several times, until eventually they do! (Relatable, right?) I breezed through it and might have even cried a few happy tears at the ending.
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