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The Glass Hotel

Title: The Glass Hotel

Author: Emily St. John Mandel

Genre: Financial thriller

I was introduced to Mandel back when I was a member of The Rumpus Book Club. You pay $35 a month and every month you get a book in the mail that hasn’t been released yet. They pick the books, of course, and you get to interact with the author at the end of the month (or at least that’s how it used to be). Through the club, I was introduced to some amazing authors: Tayari Jones, Cheryl Strayed, George Saunders, Emma Straub, and Mandel. What a group that is! I’ve since followed their careers and read more from most of them. And although I had mixed feelings about this one, I realize what a fantastic book this really is.

From Goodreads:

Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby’s glass wall: Why don’t you swallow broken glass. High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis is running an international Ponzi scheme, moving imaginary sums of money through clients’ accounts. When the financial empire collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing as Jonathan’s wife, walks away into the night. Years later, a victim of the fraud is hired to investigate a strange occurrence: a woman has seemingly vanished from the deck of a container ship between ports of call.

In this captivating story of crisis and survival, Emily St. John Mandel takes readers through often hidden landscapes: campgrounds for the near-homeless, underground electronica clubs, the business of international shipping, service in luxury hotels, and life in a federal prison. Rife with unexpected beauty, The Glass Hotel is a captivating portrait of greed and guilt, love and delusion, ghosts and unintended consequences, and the infinite ways we search for meaning in our lives

I am struggling to pinpoint what didn’t work for me in this book. Because the story and characters were interesting. I guess the back and forth timeline was frustrating. And the choppiness of how the story unfolded didn’t grab me. But I definitely wanted to see what happened and the writing was beautiful. I loved Station Eleven. I think about it a lot, honestly. As jumpy as the plot is, I was really interested in the “financial thriller” aspect. I think I’m in the minority of not loving this book. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, and I liked it. I was just hoping for something more.

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Let’s Talk About Hard Things

Title: Let’s Talk About Hard Things

Author: Anna Sale

Genre: conversation etiquette guide, social skills, interpersonal relations

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: a book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality

I don’t follow any blogs of people who have published books, and instead of just picking one at random, this book was one I knew I wanted to read. So, I’m considering Anna Sale an “online personality” because she hosts a podcast. I don’t think that’s a far reach at all. She is the host of Death, Sex, and Money, which is one of my favorite podcasts. Sale has just a lovely speaking voice (critical when you’re a radio/podcast person) and asks such great questions. Clearly, some are prepared because you can tell she has done her research and put a lot of thought into them, but also she responds so well to her guests’ answers. I love that she covers difficult topics with grace. The “sex” aspect might be a turn-off (pun intended!) to some people, but it’s not graphic, and Sale doesn’t really dig into personal details. It’s not salacious in any way. A lot of the sex part is about relationships, intimacy, and connection. I highly recommend you check it out.

From Goodreads: Anna Sale wants you to have that conversation. You know the one. The one that you’ve been avoiding or putting off, maybe for years. The one that you’ve thought “they’ll never understand” or “do I really want to bring that up?” or “it’s not going to go well, so why even try?”

Sale is the founder and host of WNYC’s popular, award-winning podcast Death, Sex, & Money, or as the New York Times dubbed her, “a therapist at happy hour.” She and her guests have direct and thought-provoking conversations, discussing topics that most of us are too squeamish, polite, or nervous to bring up. But Sale argues that we all experience these hard things, and by not talking to one another, we cut ourselves off, leading us to feel isolated and disconnected from the people who can help us most.

In Let’s Talk About Hard Things, Sale uses the best of what she’s learned from her podcast to reveal that when we have the courage to talk about hard things, we learn about ourselves, others, and the world that we make together. Diving into five of the most fraught conversation topics—death, sex, money, family, and identity—she moves between memoir, fascinating snapshots of a variety of Americans opening up about their lives, and expert opinions to show why having tough conversations is important and how to do them in a thoughtful and generous way. She uncovers that listening may be the most important part of a tough conversation, that the end goal should be understanding without the pressure of reconciliation, and that there are some things that words can’t fix (and why that’s actually okay).

Touching, personal, and inspiring, Let’s Talk About Hard Things is a profound meditation on why communication can connect us instead of divide us and how we can all do it better.

It’s funny because Sale writes exactly how she talks. The same phrasing, the same word choice, which was so comforting. I read the entire book hearing her voice in my mind. What I loved best about this book is that it didn’t feel at all like a self-help book, but even though it was, of sorts. It wasn’t preachy at all. I’m sure people read this to learn how to be a better person or to understand other people who are different from them, which is why I mostly read it. It’s the same reason I listen to the podcast. To hear other stories, see how I relate to them, see how I can learn from them. I cannot recommend the podcast and this book enough.

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The Other People

Title: The Other People

Author: CJ Tudor

Genre: thriller

I cannot stop reading CJ Tudor’s books. She might be my new favorite author, and I will definitely be reading all her books. Looks like I only have one book left- The Hiding Place. And…. just put it on hold at my library. Hooray! What I love about her books is that they are so tightly written. This one was so full of so many threads that seemed to have nothing to do with each other, but of course they did, and when it all came together, it was just fantastic. Tudor did a great job putting the hints of plot points without revealing exactly what’s going on until later. She digs those hooks in and strings you along, digging the mystery deeper until the reveal. And she’s so good at it.

From Goodreads: Driving home one night, stuck behind a rusty old car, Gabe sees a little girl’s face appear in the rear window. She mouths one word: ‘Daddy.’ It’s his five-year-old daughter, Izzy. He never sees her again.

Three years later, Gabe spends his days and nights traveling up and down the motorway, searching for the car that took his daughter, refusing to give up hope, even though most people believe that Izzy is dead.

Fran and her daughter, Alice, also put in a lot of miles on the motorway. Not searching. But running. Trying to keep one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them. Because Fran knows the truth. She knows what really happened to Gabe’s daughter.

Then, the car that Gabe saw driving away that night is found, in a lake, with a body inside and Gabe is forced to confront events, not just from the night his daughter disappeared, but from far deeper in his past. His search leads him to a group called The Other People. If you have lost a loved one, The Other People want to help. Because they know what loss is like. They know what pain is like. They know what death is like. There’s just one problem . . . they want other people to know it too. 

Gabe’s story is just so heartbreaking. Losing his wife and daughter. No one believing him. Wallowing in his grief and frustration. The Other People plot line is really terrifying. The “far deeper in his past” storyline is really creative, and I loved how it ultimately tied to the present. There are some really great side characters, as well. I thought this book was so great. I’d get sucked in and look down and realize I had read 50+ pages in one sitting and it felt like only a few minutes had gone by. That’s a sure sign of a well-written book for me.

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Goblin

Title: Goblin

Author: Josh Malerman

Genre: horror

Thank you Netgalley for this book!

I love Josh Malerman. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on: Bird Box, Malorie, Inspection, Unbury Carol, A House at the Bottom of the Lake, and Black Mad Wheel. So when I was approved for this one, I was so excited. He’s an author who I read, no matter what. I had no idea what this book was about, didn’t care, didn’t matter. Just was going to read it anyway because it was his. This book is a really fun, twisty one. Six stories are set in the town of Goblin, and all intertwine a bit in plot, characters, etc.

From Goodreads: A MAN IN SLICES: A young man wants to prove to his long-distance girlfriend that they have “legendary love,” better than Vincent van Gogh, so he sends her more body parts than just his ear in the mail.

KAMP: A man so horrified of encountering a ghost that he sets up a series of “ghost traps” all over his apartment, desperate to catch one before it can sneak up on him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUNTER! Big game hunter Neal Nash leaves his own meat-themed birthday bash to go hunting for Goblin’s hallowed (and protected) Great Owl. But the North Woods are unkind at night.

PRESTO: In the pages of Presto magazine, a young boy reads that his favorite magician, Roman Emperor, is coming to town. Problem is, Pete doesn’t know that Emperor’s magic is real, and his latest trick involves audience participation… a little boy volunteer.

A MIX-UP AT THE ZOO: Dirk Rogers works at both the Goblin Slaughterhouse and the Goblin Zoo, but the workload is really getting to him. Will he be able to separate the two jobs on the night he finally breaks down, or will the slaughterhouse and the zoo overlap in his cracked, dark mind?

THE HEDGES: A young girl finally reaches the end of Goblin’s biggest tourist attraction, The Hedges. But what she finds there sparks a mad chase between the owner of the Hedges and the Goblin Police, through the streets of the rainy city and into the terrible North Woods.

Wow! These stories are just so creepy. All are interesting, full of rich characters, and will leave you with chills. I’m usually not a novella/short story reader, but these were great, and I enjoyed them all. Malerman has knocked another one out of the park for me.

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People Like Her

Title: People Like Her

Author: Ellery Lloyd

Genre: parenting, social media thriller

I’m so far behind on my Book of the Month club readings. I just finished this one, which was sent to me in December. I just have so many library books and PopSugar Reading Challenge books to get through, so these keep getting pushed aside. However, I’m making them a priority and putting them on the top of my TBR pile, so I’m doing my best to read them. I’m trying, at least…. So many books!! I usually get the thriller/mystery book, if there isn’t anything else I recognize to pick from, such as previous authors I’ve read, or ones that just sound outstanding. And sometimes I read really great ones like, A Good Marriage, Winter Counts, or The Night Swim. But then you have bummer ones like These Violent Delights, which was so boring, and The Girl in the Mirror, which I hated so much that I didn’t review it. I’m putting this one right in the middle. It was just okay.

From Goodreads: To her adoring fans, Emmy Jackson, aka @the_mamabare, is the honest “Instamum” who always tells it like it is. To her skeptical husband, Dan, a washed-up novelist who knows just how creative Emmy can be with the truth, she is a breadwinning powerhouse chillingly brilliant at monetizing the intimate details of their family life.To one of Emmy’s dangerously obsessive followers, she’s the woman that has everything—but deserves none of it.  

As Emmy’s marriage begins to crack under the strain of her growing success and her moral compass veers wildly off course, the more vulnerable she becomes to a very real danger circling ever closer to her family.

In this deeply addictive tale of psychological suspense, Ellery Lloyd raises important questions about technology, social media celebrity, and the way we live today. Probing the dark side of influencer culture and the perils of parenting online, People Like Her explores our desperate need to be seen and the lengths we’ll go to be liked by strangers. It asks what—and who—we sacrifice when make our private lives public, and ultimately lose control of who we let in. . . .

Both Emmy and Dan are obnoxious. I just hated them. I felt bad for their kids, being put through the Instagram nonsense. Sorry if you are an influencer, but I don’t get it. And as this book illustrates, it’s entirely fake. Emmy preys upon her followers’ weaknesses to make money. It’s truly disgusting. What kept me reading was the one follower business. But it needed to be a much bigger part of the story. Too much vapidity from Emmy and too little actual mystery. I gave this one three stars because I did want to see what happened, but I just had no sympathy for the adults in the book.

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Shadow and Bone

Title: Shadow and Bone

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA fantasy

Obviously, I’m way behind on the Grishaverse. But with the new Netflix show, I’m making a point to get through a few of the books. I’ve been told the show covers this and some of Six of Crows, so that one will be up next. I have a love hate relationship with YA fantasy. Some are just great and I end up loving them. Some just bore me to tears. So, I’m usually reluctant to try the genre, even if it gets good reviews. Because most people like it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I will. I loved The Broken Earth trilogy (The Fifth Season review), and the Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Winter, Fairest, Cress sorry Scarlet for no review on your book), although this is a bit more sci-fi. But I’m happy to say so far so good on this one. I flew through it.

From Goodreads: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend, Mal, is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Alina was a lot of fun as a character. Smart, snappy, sarcastic, but still vulnerable. And although the book is mainly about Alina, Mal plays an important role as well. He’s also pretty great, loyal, and kind. As Alina is pulled from one person to another, she realizes how strong she really is deep down.

I was a bit shocked when the book ended at 58% complete on my kindle, but it had a couple excerpts from other books after that. I think this is brilliant marketing, by the way. I couldn’t believe I had finished the book in just a couple days. I couldn’t put it down and really got sucked into the world. I can’t wait to visit the Grishaverse again.

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Mirrorland

Title: Mirrorland

Author: Carole Johnstone

Genre: thriller

I started reading this on my Kindle and about 20% through, I gave up. I wasn’t into the book, and it kept flipping between past and present with no warning, and I was so confused. However, I kept thinking about it, so I tried a different format. I got the physical book from the library, which was perfect. I ended up reading the book in two days. And wow. It was worth it.

From Goodreads: Cat lives in Los Angeles, far away from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh where she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?—has left Cat clues in almost every room: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland, where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting…

A twisty, dark, and brilliantly crafted thriller about love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive, page-turning debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom.

The aforementioned shift between past and present is confusing at first, but once you get used to it, you see how critical that viewpoint is. Cat is an unreliable narrator, and her memories clearly illustrate that. The twists and turns of this book are clever, and Cat’s revelations about both the past and present are well-crafted. I’m so glad I gave this book another chance. It was definitely worth the read.

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In the Dream House

Title: In the Dream House

Author: Carmen Maria Machado

Genre: memoir

Domestic abuse in lesbian relationships isn’t something most people realize exists. It isn’t studied or written about. Many just assume that because women are usually on the receiving end of abuse, that two women together would be more peaceful. However, as this book illustrates, that isn’t the case. Machado tells us her story of being in an abusive relationship with a woman. Not only is this book important, but it’s beautifully written and told in a unique way.

From Goodreads: For years Carmen Maria Machado has struggled to articulate her experiences in an abusive same-sex relationship. In this extraordinarily candid and radically inventive memoir, Machado tackles a dark and difficult subject with wit, inventiveness and an inquiring spirit, as she uses a series of narrative tropes—including classic horror themes—to create an entirely unique piece of work which is destined to become an instant classic.

Machado’s story is told in mini-essays throughout the book. In each, she discusses events that occurred in their relationship, her viewpoints, her dreams, anything and everything. So much of it is philosophical and had I owned my own copy (thanks, library), it would have been one that I underlined a lot in because of the thoughts and phrases spoke to me. However, this book is about abuse and might be a difficult read for some, whether you are a lesbian or not doesn’t really matter, but the abuse will be familiar to many. But I really loved this book and definitely recommend it.

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Long Way Down

Title: Long Way Down

Author: Jason Reynolds

Genre: YA lit

I had a dream about this book. I used to teach high school English, and I’ve been rewatching The Wire and am on season 4, which is all about 8th graders. So, when I woke up, I knew exactly where this dream originated. In the dream, I was forced to teach A Separate Peace, which is just a terrible book with no value. Rich white kids at a prep school? Snoozefest. In the middle of the unit, I picked up this book and decided that I was going to stop teaching A Separate Peace immediately, no matter how much trouble I got into by my fellow teachers, and I went rogue. I brought this book in instead. As it should be in the real world. This powerful book will resonate with me for awhile.

From Goodreads:

An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is New York Times bestseller Jason Reynolds’s fiercely stunning novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds—the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother.

A cannon. A strap.
A piece. A biscuit.
A burner. A heater.
A chopper. A gat.
A hammer
A tool
for RULE

Or, you can call it a gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That’s where Will’s now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother’s gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he’s after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that’s when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn’s gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn’t know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck’s in the elevator? Just as Will’s trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck’s cigarette. Will doesn’t know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES.

And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END…if WILL gets off that elevator.

Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.

I could not believe this book. It was absolutely stunning. The language is masterful. The story is powerful. The message is meaningful. This book is a must read for teens these days. Many of them will see themselves in this story. The hard decisions they face. The struggle with loss. The memories they cherish. I could have read this book in one sitting. It’s short and captivating, but best of all, the language just blew me away. The plays on words are fantastic. I can’t rave about this book enough. Just read it.

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Between the World and Me

Title: Between the World and Me

Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Genre: Black and African-American biographies

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: a book on a Black Lives Matter reading list

Of course, I know who Mr. Coates is. I’ve read several of his essays, I’ve heard him speak on videos, and I’ve followed his career via the news. However, I’ve yet to read one of his books. He’s an author that I always meant to get to but just never did. But when I saw the BLM prompt, I knew just what to read. I already owned this book, and without even knowing what it was about, I dove in.

From Goodreads: In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
 
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward. 

This book is only 150 or so pages, which makes it really easy to digest. The message is clear: Black people do not own their own bodies. They are constantly fighting for their bodies and their places in the world. Coates discusses his own youth, illuminating his path of realization and discovery. The book is a letter to his son, which makes it even more powerful. He isn’t just speaking to the masses, but to one person he loves. This book really should be required reading. Having young Black people see themselves, their history, their struggles in print is critical. Enough with the dead white people books. Give kids the chance to read about themselves and their peers. The more educating we do, the more this generation will empathize.