I read less that I’d have liked this week but I still read a few I really liked. Here are my goodreads reviews. If you’re on goodreads, add me as a friend so I can see your books too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
The Other Americans (4 stars): I loved this book.
Even though her previous book won awards, I had never read Laila Lalami before and had no idea what to expect. On the surface, this book is a mystery about a hit and run that kills Driss Guerraoui. But it’s about so much more. The story is told from multiple points of view, one of the daughters, an undocumented witness, an Iraq veteran that’s a friend of the daughter, a detective trying to solve the murder, a neighbor, and the murdered man himself. There are also cameos by the other daughter, her husband, the dead man’s wife and more. For me, all the perspective shifts added wonderful layers to this story and made it richer.
There are so many issues in this book from racism to war and being a veteran to belonging to family dynamics to affairs and more. So much more. It’s told beautifully and while there’s a lot here, none of it felt didactic to me. It all meshed together in a naturally connected way that is so representative of the melting pot that is America. It felt quiet and yet poignant.
I loved this so much that I am looking forward to going back and reading her previous novel.
Juliet’s School of Possibilities (3.5 stars): This was a super-quick read. A parable about time management and making choices that are right for you. The idea of balancing priorities with time and choosing how to live your life as opposed to feeling like choices are being made for you by your inbox etc. Our priorities determine our choices which determine our actions which determines the life we live. So pick accordingly. Work vs friends vs family vs life. Make sure you’re balancing in a way that honors who you are. And find what makes you come alive, what feels resonant and true to you.
All of these are good reminders and important to keep in the forefront of your life, especially as the daily noise interferes.
Billion Dollar Whale (3.5 stars): Yet another story of how the world is not as orderly and “safe” as we might thing. How everything hangs in the balance of most people doing the right thing. How things are not what they seem and how it’s easier than I’d like to swindle people, companies, and banks.
How you can just steal money and get away with it. How people can be bought. How it’s not as hard to fool people as one would wish it were. It’s just despicable to read all this and made me cringe pretty much the whole way through.
I hadn’t heard of any part of this story but sadly after reading American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road maybe it just doesn’t surprise me anymore. The part that was most new-to-me here was how purchasable some celebrities are. Which I guess might not be that surprising either. If you liked Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup and American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road you will likely enjoy this, too.
The White Book (3.5 stars): Han has a way with words. She has a way of writing about people, emotions, connections that just stays with you. I have read both The Vegetarian and Human Acts and they have both affected me in ways hard to express. The books have stayed with me even as they traumatized me.
This one is softer, subtler but just as sad and just as touching and just as deep. Her words are beautiful, her imagery is vivid and her stories stay with you.
Senlin Ascends (3.5 stars): I read this book during a flight from California to Florida with a ten year old next to me. It’s possible that without all that distraction, I would have rated it higher as it was hard to keep track of all that’s going on in the book. This story of a man who loses his wife during their honeymoon trip to the Tower of Babel is crazy in all the great ways. The story becomes a thrilling, mind-bending adventure within moments of his entering the Tower to look for his new wife.
There are creatures, time travel aspects, and even pirates. The minor characters are just as much fun as the major ones and the whole story is just absurd in all the best ways. It was a hectic but enjoyable way to spend a plane ride.
Wolfpack (4 stars): I loved this little book. I knew it was going to be most of the graduation speech but I was pleasantly surprised to find a bit more and sometimes the right book comes at the right time, this book, for me, was just that. It came when I needed a good pep talk and Abby Wambach delivers just that. Good advice, good perspective and a really solid pep talk. It’s not a to-do list, it doesn’t have numerous examples from many different people. It’s a super quick read and a boost when you need one.
I Miss you When I Blink (4 stars): I read this little, wonderful book on the flight back from Florida to California. I had never heard of this author and within moments of starting the book, I was absolutely hooked. Her honest, straightforward prose and beautiful writing captured my interest immediately. Her vulnerability and authenticity kept me reading. I loved every page of this book. Reading nonfictional essays like this tends to be something I don’t enjoy as often because the writer tries too hard to be funny, cynical, or too clever in my opinion. This was none of those things. It was down to earth, honest, and open.
The Poet X (5 stars): I have no idea why I waited as long as I did to read this book! It’s absolutely fantastic. I listened to it on audio and it was just as magical as reading it in verse. This story covers heavy, important topics like immigration, religion, sexuality, and most importantly family. It’s raw, it’s beautiful and it’s poignant. It’s a super fast read but it will stay with me for a long time and I know I will be coming back to it again and again.
The Dream Peddler (4 stars): I had heard nothing about this book and just checked it out because it sounded interesting and I liked the cover 🙂 What a pleasant surprise. This beautifully written book is about a small town that’s visited by a man who sells dreams. The magical realism was just the right touch to a book about sorrow and loss and grief. It’s also about identity, religion and community. The characters in this book were well developed, real and they stay with you. It’s a quiet but touching story.
And there we go, an ok week of reading. Here’s to a great week next week.
Books I Read this Week 2019 is a year-long project for 2019. You can read more about my projects for 2019 here. I am also tracking my books in real time on Good Reads here. If you’re on Good Reads add me so I can follow you, too! I’ve also started an instagram account where I join my love of reading with my love of art.
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