The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People by Rachel Wilkerson Miller
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey — A solid start to a fun and fast-paced space opera. I enjoyed reading it about the same amount as watching S1 of “The Expanse” but for different reasons.
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor — The central premise of the book is that success stems from happiness, not the other way around, and I appreciated reading some familiar concepts with this lens.
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman — This memoir of a close friendship took me a while to get through, despite being an engaging and enthralling read. I sat with some of the moments for a long time. Recommended, especially for those of us in interracial big friendships!
13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl: Fiction by Mona Awad — After reading Bunny, I had to have more of Mona Awad’s writing.
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters — I picked this up on a whim after my mom mentioned the slow pace, because I wanted a calm and quiet read. The setting is extremely well-researched and well-written, especially the fate of grand estates in post-war Britain, but I wasn’t much interested in the plot or characters.
Pew by Catherine Lacey — I’m still confused about this book, months later. I think I enjoyed it?
Luster by Raven Leilani — When my hold on “Luster” appeared yesterday morning, I almost put it off, but I’m glad that I didn’t because I devoured it in just two sittings! I enjoyed falling into the twentysomething malaise of Edie, the protagonist, although I hated everyone around her as they consistently wallpapered over her personality with their own needs and desires. But that was intentional, of course, because the author is a magnificent writer. The prose was surprising and beautiful and so, so funny, although not in the ways I expected. I could say more about how deft a treatment of racism and classism this was, but I want you to read it already.
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
Laguardia by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford
So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan
The Fortress by S.A. Jones — DNF at 11%. The premise was intriguing, but the execution was poor. I think the author wanted to make a statement about how women are treated in a misogynist world, but simply flipping the gender roles left out any nuance about gendered socialization and power.
Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms by John Hodgman
Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
Watch this space! I’m still transferring things over.