Five Books I Never Told You About

I'm sorry

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

My favorite book of last year? I think? It was such a devastating and Sally Rooney-esque love story that you really need a sad tooth to enjoy it. But I do love to be devastated. I do have an insatiable sad tooth. 

Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley

I highlighted 29 quotes from Sloane’s musings on grief after her beloved mentor died by suicide. Here’s the quote that shapes the book:

There are no bereavement groups for stuff. They don’t exist. I’m sorry your house below up but it was only a house. Grief is for people, not things.

Here’s another quote I highlighted:

It’s impossible to predict how much you’ll miss something when it’s gone, to game grief in advance. We fend off the worry that we’re taking our lives for granted by feeding ourselves the lie that we understand the value of their components.

And finally:

The miracle of life is not that we have it, it’s that most of us wake up every day and agree to fight for it, to hold it in our arms even when it squirms to get away.

What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Aoyama

A sweet story told through the eyes of several ordinary people in Japan whose lives are changed by the perfect book recommendation, the ultimate librarian. Of course I loved it. Of course I’ve gifted it to several people (including my mother).

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

Honestly, a bit like Hilary Clinton fan fiction, but written by the incomparable Curtis Sittenfeld! I am the target audience for it! Give me a Hillary who didn’t marry Bill, and runs for president in 2016. Give me the insights into her mind and demeanor. Give me all of it and then give me the sequel.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

A thrilling, timely literary satire? horror novel? that dives into the deep end of cultural appropriation and diversity in the publishing world. And then dives deeper. It is utterly enthralling and shocking and I couldn’t put it down.