A Place for Us by Fatima Mirza - Book Review

Time for another - way longer than intended - I should probably change the name of this thing I do, but I am also committed to the project. help. #60secondbookreview of "A Place for Us" by Fatima Farheen Mirza - a book that felt like being wrapped up in a warm blanket - so cozy.

"A Place for Us" by Fatima Mirza is a *debut novel* ( holy moly how is this her first novel, it's so good!?) it follows an Indian American Muslim family. The book begins at the wedding of the eldest daughter, Hadia. Hadia has decided to invite her brother, Amar,  to her wedding even though he has been estranged from their family for the last three years.

Through the next 400 plus pages, you get a very close look at the interpersonal relationships of this family. The novel moves forward and back in time and shows the reader how the parents met, how the siblings have interacted with each other, and also each of the characters individual lives, and possibly most important, how the parents interact with their children. And after all of that depth, the reader gets a very good sense of why Amar is estranged from his family and just how complicated his return will be for all of the characters.

I really enjoyed reading "A Place for Us", and I think one of the reasons it works so well is the author's ability to make you feel like you are a part of this family - by the end of the novel you know all of their in's and out's - and because of that it is also does an excellent job of exploring identity. How family and religion can aide but also complicate that process. One you think you've found that, once you feel like you know yourself, your families fight against that image can be a misguided attempt at showing their love, but it can also be one of the most harmful things you experience. 

I did struggle a bit to get into this book, it's a common criticism of the book, so it's nice not to feel alone in that - the hurdle for me was that the book jumps around quite a bit in the timeline of this family, and also between different characters. But, once I was all in, I was all in, and also really want this book to be adapted to film, really rooting for this to happen!

Have you read "A Place for Us"? What were your experiences while reading the novel, which characters did you connect with most? Comment down below and let's chat about it!

Tin Man by Sarah Winman - Book Review

#60secondbookreview time, and this is a good one, readers! "Tin Man" by Sarah Winman is the story of two boys, Michael and Ellis, who become the best of friends, fall in love - and then everything that happens after that. Sometimes a book hits you in one or two emotional soft spots - this book hit me in at least six. It's impossible for me to tell you what those are without just epic, novel ruining spoilers, but just know, lots of tissues, so many tissues. A huge part of that is Sarah Winman's writing, it is breath taking and haunting, and this entire book review could just be me listing off quotes from this book I loved, like -  

"there's something about first love, it's untouchable to those that played no part in it, but it is the measure of all that follows."

"he clung to every word as if they were hand holds up a cliff face."

This little book, it is under 200 pages, but it packs a disproportionately large emotional gut punch. If like me, you enjoyed "The Hearts Invisible Furies", you will likely love this book. My only struggle reading "Tin Man" was that there is no punctuation for dialogue. It made sense as an author choice considering the events in the book, but it definitely made the book harder for me to read and pulled me out of the story at times, which is pretty remarkable because this is definitely a story I did not want to be pulled out of. 

Have you read "Tin Man" by Sarah Winman? Comment down below and let me know what you thought of it!

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker - Book Review

"The Dreamers" by Karen Thompson Walker 

Book Review and Discussion

#60secondbookreview of "The Dreamers" by Karen Thompson Walker - a book it  felt like everyone read last month. A bit of an exaggeration, but it has super popular, for sure! This book follows an isolated college town in California, where one day a girl falls asleep in the dorms and she can not be woken up. This "sleeping sickness" ( try saying that five times fast) spreads and soon the town is caught up in a paranoia, and also legitimate fear, of an illness that no one understands, and also grappling with the realities of treating hundreds of sick patients. The things that scare us the most are also at times the most compelling to read about. If this scenario were playing out in real life, I'd be hiding in the fetal position somewhere. I gave "The Dreamers" three stars - I enjoyed big chunks of this book - but - the parts that I enjoyed were for the author's beautiful writing, not for plotting. And the further I got into the book, the less those poignant quotes were holding my attention. The book's depiction of what an illness like this would look like, what the experience would be, as well as the characters and feelings evoked by the book - now that I am two weeks out from finishing it, just haven't stuck with me.

Have you read "The Dreamers"? Comment down below and let me know what you thought of it!

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Book Review

#60secondbookreview of "Daisy Jones and The Six" by Youtube, Instagram, just general Internet and life winner - Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

This book is about a fictional band from the 1970's called "Daisy Jones and the Six", who broke up at the height of their fame. It is structured as a novelization of a rock documentary and looks like a script. The band members are being interviewed individually, but their answers bounce off of each other, and as you go through you get a sense of where things might've gone wrong. Even though it hasn't released yet ( many thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read it before publication, as well ; ) this book already has rave reviews on Goodreads - and I can completely see why! SUPER strong pacing, it sidestepped a lot of the tropes I expected going into the book. And the themes it focuses on instead are excellent - individuality, the struggle and joy of creating art, and what you have ( or are seen as ) sacrificing, particularly if you are a woman, in order to participate. And also how substance abuse, addiction, and depression, play a role, as well. This novel was important and more powerful than expected. I wouldn't recommend "Daisy Jones and the Six" to all adult fiction readers, but if you are looking for something lighter that also manages to have a lot of depth at the same time, I think this is a great one to pick up! 

Comment down below and let me know your thoughts about "Daisy Jones and the Six" or let me know your favorite Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, it's 'Evelyn Hugo", isn't it?!

The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich - Book Review

Happy Monday, everybody! 

It's time for a new #60secondbookreview and this week we'll be discussing "The Fact of a Body" by Alexandria Mazano - Lesnevich. This book is *amazing*, part true crime, and part memoir. 

The true crime parts of the book explore the murder of Jeremy Guillory by Ricky Langley. In 1992, Ricky, a convicted pedophile who had been released from prison, he lived near Jeremy, and one day Jeremy went to Ricky's house looking for a friend. Ricky invited him inside, where he murdered and assaulted him. The perspective the author takes in exploring the day of the murder and everything leading up to it was so insightful and well-researched. 

What really sets this book apart for me was the way the author weaves her own life into that story - you find out that Alexandria's family has a lot in common with both the murderer's family and the victim's family. "The Fact of A Body" is hard to discuss without spoilers, and in fact, this book is just hard for me to discuss, generally. It is a must in my mind as a true crime book, but it is also one I don't think I could ever personally recommend to someone. 

Alexandria's writing is terrifying, gritty, and raw and does not shy away from any of the facts of the discussed cases - while also bearing witness to an immense amount of human suffering, to the point that you can't imagine asking someone else to experience what you did, even though I gave this book 5 stars. 

Have you read "The Fact of A Body"? Comment down below and let me know your thoughts on this one! I'd also love to hear about your favorite true crime novel!

"Five Feet Apart" by Rachel Lippincott - Book Review

 

 

 

Interested in reading "Five Feet Apart" by Rachel Lippincott? Keep reading to check out my thoughts or click below to watch my video synopsis and review!

 

 

Five Feet Apart

by Rachel Lippincott

goodreads / amazon / library 

Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella, she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment. What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too? ( from amazon.com)

"Five Feet Apart" by Rachel Lippincott Book Review and Discussion

Today we are going to be discussing "Five Feet Apart" by Rachel Lippincott, also known as, the last book to make me cry despite my very best efforts not to. 

 

This YA book is a novelization of a screenplay for a film that is coming out in March 2019 and I am *so* excited to watch it.

 

"Five Feet Apart" follows Will and Stella - two teenagers with cystic fibrosis who have very different approaches to dealing with their disease, both emotionally and practically. Stella is very regimented, she likes to-do lists - I feel her in my soul. Will is more of a rebel, his condition in some ways is worse than Stella's and so he just doesn't see the point in fighting a death that feels so imminently inevitable. 

 

I gave "Five Feet Apart" 4/5 stars - it got me (emotionally) which was shocking to me ( I'm not usually a fan of YA contemporary) - - BUT - - I will vouch for it with a pretty big caveat -- you're going to have to turn your brain off just a little bit for this one. In the book, teenagers had access to the NICU (no way) and prepared a meal for themselves in the hospital cafeteria ( what would surely be a highly sanitized and controlled kitchen space, again, no way). These moments worked really well emotionally, but I had to suspend disbelief knowing that they would not be possible in reality.

 

The emotional impact of this novel is worth any suspension of disbelief that I struggled with. I knew about some aspects of cystic fibrosis, but reading this story and falling in love with these characters, and really internalizing the fact that Stella or anyone with cystic fibrosis - in order to protect their health- shouldn't hug, or hold hands, or be closer than six feet from the only people who truly understand what they are going through. Although this is just one aspect of CF, and an easily romanticized one at that, the book drove the complexities of that home so well, among other aspects of the disease. This book is worth reading for it, and the hope that it might convey even a tiny bit of the anxiety, isolation, fear, and pain of cystic fibrosis. 

 

I'm on the look out for #ownvoice reviews of this book, so please link them down below if you happen to find some. I have several linked to this video on YouTube! And also, if you read "Five Feet Apart", #ownvoices or not, please comment down below and let me know what you think of it! Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

 

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield - Book Review

Happy Monday, readers! Today we're chatting about the highly anticipated new release from Diane Setterfield, " Once Upon A River". Discussing this book in sixty seconds (ish) was tough because I loved this book, but the plot is complex and meandering, and just doesn't lend itself to quick explanations. Where to begin! The story is set along a river, one day a man wanders into a bar holding a young girl - the man collapses and the young girl is believed to be dead - she isn't breathing and has no pulse. As it turns out, she comes back to life, *but* she is mute. The plot really picks up when three different families come forward, believing this young girl to be their missing child. There is so much more to the plot, but that's a good start! "Once Upon A River" has these beautiful small doses of magical realism, they're pretty subtle, and they're used to explore how these families are grappling with the grief of losing their child. It's one of the few times where magical realism really worked for me in a book - and I love that. This novel is longer and it is a slower burn, but it is so well written, and so thought provoking, and so creative - if you're in the mood for a longer, whimsical novel this is definitely one I would recommend. 

Have you read "Once Upon A River"? Comment down below let me know what you thought of it! 

Many thanks to the publisher and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton - Book Review

"Words on Bathroom Walls" by Julia Walton is a YA fiction novel that follows main character Adam who was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. The book is a collection of letters that Adam is writing to his therapist in the counseling sessions that he attends but refuses to speak in. This book is hard for me to review, because I think that there are readers out there that would really connect with Adam, because they have personal experiences that line up with the novel. That aside, as far as writing style and reading experience, this was a two star read for me. The book is written in letter form, so it is very casual but it also felt incredibly unnatural and a very unlikely premise. The main character while experiencing a complex illness, is not portrayed as being particularly complex, and after reading the author's end note I'm not entirely sure how accurate this portrayal of schizophrenia actually is. Have you read "Words on Bathroom Walls"? Comment down below and let me know what you thought of it!

Running with Scissors
by Augusten Burroughs

amazon // goodreads // library


Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead-ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain. Suddenly, at age twelve, Augusten Burroughs found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian in perfect squalor. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients, and a pedophile living in the backyard shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules, there was no school. The Christmas tree stayed up until summer, and Valium was eaten like Pez. And when things got dull, there was always the vintage electroshock therapy machine under the stairs....

"Running With Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs Book Review

"Running with Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs is a memoir about Augusten's life. The memoir begins with Augusten starting middle school and continues through high school. To put it lightly, those years for Augusten were *chaotic*. In middle school, Augusten's parents began seeing a therapist and what follows is one of the most bizarre Addam's family type situations I've ever read about. Augusten has processed everything in the book with wit and humor, and I loved it, and flew through this book. But the effect of that humor, is also this vacuum where you really get a sense of the hurt and confusion that Augusten must have felt because the situations described in the book are also terrible. For example, one of my favorite quotes from "Running with Scissors" is Augusten describing his mother's most recent mental breakdown as "not crazy in a 'let's paint the kitchen bright red' sort of way but crazy in a 'gas oven, tooth paste sandwich, I am God', sort of way." Funny? Yes, I laughed out loud more times than I can count reading these stories. But also obviously terrifying to experience mental health crises from a parent, especially for a child. That juxtaposition of humor and sadness weaves the book together and made it an unforgettable read!

Have you read "Running With Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs? Let me know what you thought of it below! Or, let me know your favorite nonfiction memoir that addresses mental health.

Everything is Horrible and Wonderful by Stephanie Wittels - Book Review

"Everything is Horrible and Wonderful" is a memoir that Stephanie wrote after her brother, Harris, died of a heroin overdose in 2015. Harris was an actor and writer, and if you are a fan of Parks and Recreation, you might know him as Harris the Animal Control employee, but he was also a writer for the show and a producer. Stephanie shares so much material that he wrote, emails he wrote her, instant messages that they shared - it's impossible to deny how hilarious he was. But she is also brutally honest about the anger and frustration that she felt towards and still feels. I listened to this book on audio, and it brought me to tears several times listening to her rage against her brother's choices and the long term consequences that will have on her life and everyone who loved Harris. As hard as it was at times to get through, I think this book has a lot to say about drug addiction and I am so glad that I read it. Have you read "Everything is Horrible and Wonderful"? Comment down below and let me know what you thought of this book!

Book Review of Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Book Review and Discussion of 

"Moxie" by Jennifer Mathieu

"Moxie" by Jennifer Mathieu is a YA book with a lot of hype, and for me, it totally met it. "moxie" follows a junior in high school named Viv. Viv is fed up with the sexist tones in her high school - the catcalls from the high school football team, the dress code the seemingly only applies to the girls, and the terrible game played in the hallway, "bump and grab" - yeah, welcome to hell. One day, Viv creates a zin calling out all of this, called "Moxie" and the movement takes off at her high school and becomes something so much bigger. As an adult reading YA, I tend to pay a lot of attention to how the "grown ups" are acting. I was really struck in this book by the adults and their complicity, it made me so frustrated. This book does such an amazing job showing all of the layers of complication and control that lead to these toxic environments- those that Moxie girls and women everywhere fight.