Reading Through the Stress and 5 Unputdownable Books
Plus May releases and irreverent self-help books
Hey, readers!
This week has been…stressful. April is always the time in the school year where we make big decisions about who will be teaching what classes, summer reading options, books lists, etc. These can always be fairly contentious conversations but the level of uncertainty about what next year will hold has upped the anxiety around these important decisions. I’ve been trying to let go of my expectations a bit (which is hard) and unwind with unputdownable books and exciting new Novel Pairings content.
This week, Chelsey and I are trying something a little different on the Novel Pairings podcast. We’ve loved seeing people get excited about reading along with our selected classics, but we know not everyone has the time to pick up each book or the focus to read a classic novel right now (for the record, you can absolutely listen to and enjoy NP episodes without having read the classic!). But this week, we’re discussing something anyone who wants to can easily pick up and devour: a short story. We chose Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever” because we’re both feeling a touch of wanderlust and because Wharton’s glitzy, gossipy style is incredibly engaging. This story is particularly fun, surprising, and scandalous—we think you’ll love it. Use this link to read “Roman Fever” and then make sure you’re subscribed to Novel Pairings to listen along with our discussion on Tuesday.
My Week in Books
In terms of this week’s reading, I had a break through and am finally able to articulate my quarantine reading needs: great writing and compelling stories. This sounds basic, I mean, it’s what I always hope from a book. But I’ve found it interesting that I can do dark or light reads, heavy nonfiction or fun romances, as long as the writing is solid and the author makes me want to keep turning the pages. But if the writing is so-so, I just can’t go on. You’ll see some of that reflected in my books below.
This week I read…
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha. I was really excited about this book, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I picked it up at a different time. This novel follows five women living in the same Seoul apartment building. Seoul is the plastic surgery capitol of the world and much of these women’s lives revolve around creating the perfect aesthetically pleasing appearance as that is practically a necessity for living and working in their city. I found it fascinating to glimpse inside a world I knew nothing about, and I loved the depiction of female friendship. This is Cha’s debut and the writing was fine—nothing distracting, but I couldn’t lose myself in the language the way I wanted to. ⭐⭐⭐
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. This is a book that abounds with trigger warnings. It’s a fictional story about Vanessa and the sexual relationship she had with her high school English teacher when she was 15—a relationship that she’s hesitant to describe as abuse, much to the frustration of the #MeToo movement, her therapist, and the reader. As a teacher myself, I typically stay away from these types of stories. Much of this book deeply unsettled me (intentionally of course) and left me wondering what Russell was going for thematically. But I ultimately ended up thinking this book was pretty brilliant. Russell uses frequent, almost heavy-handed, references to Lolita to suggest that her book is a reworking of Lolita from the perspective of the abuse survivor and that Vanessa, like Humbert, is an unreliable narrator. I love how she blatantly rejects and fights against the trope of the perfect victim in a way that forces readers to question our own complicity around rape culture. I don’t think this book is for everyone, and that’s okay. You don’t need to read this book to understand that child abuse is horrific and traumatizing. But if you’re interested in the way we continue to tell these stories and whose voices get heard, you may be interested in reading this one when you’re up for it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera. This week I received the most exciting book mail: a stack of books hand chosen for me by Joelle of The Bookshop in Nashville. I was shocked and thrilled that I hadn’t read a single book from her picks, and I’m excited to read them all. Signs Preceding the End of the World is the first one I read from my stack, and it was so so good. The book tells the story of Makina as she traverses the US-Mexico boarder with an illicit package and a message for her brother. The story and the writing/translation are both gorgeous, and I’m amazed by how Herrera manages to tell both a literal and figurative story of hope and desperation in fewer than 100 pages. If you do read this one, you have to read the translator’s note. It helped me get so much more out of the language. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Now I’m reading…
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin. This is my book club’s current pick. It is so fun and dramatic, and I cannot put it down. The writing is smart and witty too!
The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg. This true crime story is my current audiobook. It’s really compelling and I love the way Copley Eisenberg includes some of her own story in the book to make it part memoir, part history.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. This is a reread for me and while I loved it and viscerally remember the way it felt to read it, I cannot for the life of me remember how it ends. I need to finish it this week because several of my students’ book club groups are reading it and I want to be able to participate in the conversation without them “spoiling” it for me.
Five Unputdownable Books
Maybe you’re like me and while you don’t need a particular tone or genre to fulfill your quarantine reading needs, you do need something utterly captivating. Here are five books I found impossible to stop reading.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. For a compelling romance that strikes the perfect balance between steamy and cute.
Long Bright River by Liz Moore. For a literary mystery with a few surprises and a lot of soul.
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheem Mirza. For a sob fest and a family you won’t want to part with even for minute.
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. For a return to Gilead that’s much more propulsive and action-packed than its predecessor.
Verity by Colleen Hoover. For a twisted and twisty thriller that’s deliciously weird. (This one does NOT fit my above requirement of great writing, but it’s one of the most addictive books I’ve ever read.)
Bookish Reading
Already wondering what to read next month? Try perusing Lit Hub’s most anticipated new releases to get you started.
I haven’t mustered the courage to read it yet, but I’ve been fanatically following the ways Lawrence Wright’s recently released The End of October is mirroring our current reality.
I very much enjoyed Frances Hardinge’s weird and eerie YA fantasy A Face Like Glass. This review suggests it’s the perfect book to pick up right now.
These 10 books are getting the Read It Forward editorial team through this quarantine.
I love this list of funny and irreverent self-help books. If there’s one thing I need more than a life improvement right now, it’s a good laugh.
Looking forward to the Hulu premier of Normal People? The series based on Sally Rooney’s hit novel drops April 29th and the reviews look pretty positive so far.
The charming Alli Hoff Kosik of The SSR Podcast shares why it really is okay to put down books you aren’t enjoying.
Publisher’s Weekly wrote about the way the Covid-19 virus has changed book buying patterns.
The Hard Sell: Good Talk by Mira Jacob
A graphic memoir isn’t my usual idea of a page-turner, but I could not put this one down. In Good Talk, Jacob answers the questions her son has about race, sexuality, politics, and family in an increasingly divided America. The art in this book is stunning and the way Jacob weaves back and forth between her son’s questions in the present day, her parents’ immigrant story, and her own experiences growing up in the American southwest is structurally brilliant. Not only does she provide lovely and timely parallels, but she makes it impossible to stop reading, because you’ll need to know what happens next for this family. This is one of those books that will make you hope for a better world and yearn to be a better human. It’s truly lovely.
Alright, readers, here’s to hoping for a restful weekend and a stress-free week for all of us. If you pick up any of the books mentioned here, feel free to tag me on Instagram or reply to this email directly. I love to know what you’re reading!
And if you’re able to, please consider supporting me and (more importantly) independent bookstores by making any book purchases through my Bookshop.org affiliate store. It makes me so happy to see what books you’re picking up and it really does make a difference!
All the best and happy reading,
Sara