What I Read | February 2022

Hey guys! What are you reading? I'll tell you preemptively that I'm in a little bit of a reading slump. I finished my last book a week go and haven't gotten into anything since. 


This month was accidentally dedicated to one of my favorite writers, Curtis Sittenfeld. I highly, deeply, and unequivocally recommend American Wife to anyone looking for a brilliant read. I happily ran into another one of her books at a thrift bookshop, made a spontaneous airport decision to grab the kindle version of another, and finally after enjoying both of those, Amazoned her very first published novel. All of this happened within 3ish weeks so I spent this, our nation's month of love, with an author whose writing I am madly in love with. Seems apropos. 


What I Read in February | www.biblio-style.com


You Think It, I'll Say It

Fiction // 4 out of 5


This book is a collection of short stories, which I don't normally love. They generally end before I can get invested in a character or their story. This was not the case in this collection. Most of the stories were immediately engaging and wrapped up at the appropriate time. I especially enjoyed Bad Latch (mom guilt and the weird need we have to compare ourselves to everyone/anyone) and A Regular Couple (again with human comparisons and a financially uneven couple). 


The titular story is interesting. I won't give it away, but it's not what you think it is. 


Rodham

Fiction // 5 out of 5


The first and most important thing I'll say about this is while it's modeled after the real Hilary Clinton, you have to think about the Hilary in the book as what she is: a fictional character. If you can do that, it's highly enjoyable. This is not about Hilary the politician, the lawyer, and least of all wife, it's about a fake person who doesn't exist. Onward. 


In this story, Sittenfeld explores what might have happened if Hilary had never married Bill. What would she have become? What about him? How much of their actual reality is based on their partnership? We'll never know, but this is a fun imaginary alternative. 


I read this on my kindle and immediately ordered a hard copy. I want this in my library forever. It's a good one!


Prep

Fiction // 2 out of 5


Lee Fiora is a midwest transplant in a somewhat pretentious East Coast boarding school. The novel follows her 4 years of high school and I'll note that this isn't like Gossip Girl or other trendy YA novels that follow salacious, sexy boarding schools where kids act like adults. I'd say this is actually more relatable. I went to a boarding school so maybe it's especially true for me, but I found the setting and the cast of characters to be very much a normal, typical high school. 


Lee tends to shit in her own bed (metaphorically) and then act like a victim. I think it's the outward presentation of anxiety or at least insecurity, but she treats people like shit and then cries about how they isolate her. It's a topic in the book, so I think it was intentional character development, but I don't like that kind of person in real life, and I can't get behind their story in fiction.  


__________________________________________________________________________________________________


PS. I mentioned at the end of last month's book report-out that I was reading The Wolf of Wall Street. This is one instance in which the movie is wayyy better than the book. Jordan Belfort sure know show to make money, but he can't write. 


PPS // Some of these links are affiliate links. You guys are smart, you know what this means. If you click the link, I might earn a couple pennies at no cost to you. 

No comments:

Powered by Blogger.