2. The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue - I read this because I am such a big, big fan of Room, not really knowing what this was about. AND OF COURSE it's about a fucking pandemic - something I absolutely did not want to read about. Even worse it's about a nurse in a maternity ward - and it's one heartbreak after the next (miscarriages, women dying giving birth, etc.) and it is very graphic in the descriptions of these events. I actually had to skip over some paragraphs because it's just so hard to read stuff like that. It's relentless, really. I was so focused on how much I didn't like what I was reading, I didn't even notice the love story unfolding. And the love story is wonderful. I just wish it wasn't such a brutal read.
3. Music is History, Questlove - Ugh I love Questlove so much you guys. This is a really interesting read, especially if you have a passion for music. I like the way Quest writes about different political happenings and world events that happen the same year that important songs or albums were released because it provides a rich context to the history behind this music. And it's also interesting to see how people connect certain songs with certain events. It was eerie when I started reading the chapter on 2001, which was focused on 9/11 (obvi) and he talks about his plan to go to the Michael Jackson concert on September 10th. I was actually at that concert and it was one of the best nights of my life - the fact that the next morning was one of the worst just exemplifies how quickly life can change. I will forever connect Michael Jackson with 9/11 even though they are unrelated (and I think the thousands of people at MSG that night do the same). I also connect JLo to 9/11 because Z100 was playing "Play" when they stopped the song and announced that a plane hit the World Trade Center. Anyway, I also learned that Questlove was the drummer for FIONNA APPLE at one point!! She is my all-time favorite. This is a really fun read and I added a lot of songs mentioned to my Spotify "liked" list.
4. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith- This is an interesting read if you are a fan of the movie (it's one of my all-time favorites). It gives some more insight into Tom Ripley's state of mind, as it's told through his perspective. I also had no idea that it's only a *part* of a whole series of books based on this character, and I'm definitely interested in reading more. I'm surprised how interested I was in reading this, while knowing exactly how it all plays out. It's written really well, though, very detailed and with a purposefully increasing pace. Just a perfect psychological thriller. Wonderful.
5. Firestarter, Stephen King - This is one of those movies that fucked me up as a child. I definitely watched it way too young, and it terrified me (I think I was like 6 or 7. I remember my grandmother told me that I couldn't watch it, so she waited to watch it until after I went to sleep. But I pretended to sleep and instead opened my door a crack because I could see the tv from my bedroom. And boy did I regret it). It's not really a typical "horror", but the main theme of being hunted and taken away from her parents really resonated with me (there's a lot that I can get into with my father, but it was actually more from my mom because she would always tell me that I had to be good because if I was "bad" then people would think she was a bad mother and "they" would take me away from her. And people were trying to take me away, my paternal grandparents actually, because they didn't think my mom could raise me on her own. They eventually settled on a non-official agreement that had me spending my summers in California with them, under the guise of "helping her", but it was really to assess how she was doing. When I got older, I realized how fucked that was of my mom to put that pressure on me - I mean, I was so scared that I was going to be "taken away" that I didn't even tell anyone when I got hurt. I broke my finger when I was 12 and didn't say anything until it was already healed and now I have a crooked finger!). Anyway, I decided to revisit this story to see if my memory of it is in tact, so I read the book and then re-watched the movie. The book is actually very good - it's an easy read, and is obviously quite suspenseful. And the implications of pedophilia were completely lost on my as a child, but really disturbing.
6. The Lost Daughter, Elena Ferrante - I like this book, but I'm a little shocked that I liked the movie a lot more. First, the pivotal line "children are a crushing responsibility" is not in the book. Second, the last line of dialogue is changed as well (I won't spoil it), but I prefer the movie version. There is just something in the novel that made me disconnect with this terrible woman, while the film did the opposite. It's a quick read, though, and the story is still very interesting with a lot of discussion on motherhood and womanhood in general.
7. The Anamoly, Herve Le Tellier - What a fantastic sci-fi premise! It kind of reminds me of that terrible tv show Manifest but with an even crazier premise. This could totally be made into a tv series with multiple seasons (each season could focus on a different character?). The character introductions are really quick, but brilliantly done. It's probably my favorite book that I've read in 2021 (aside from The Talented Mr. Ripley, but I feel like it doesn't count as much because I already knew the story?? Does that make sense?). I could not put this book down, quite literally. I don't really want to say too much, because I don't want to spoil anything, but I think if you like shows like Lost and Fringe, then you'll love this story as much as I did.
8. Inventing the Abbotts and Other Stories, Sue Miller - I love Inventing the Abbotts (very underrated 90s movie starring Billy Crudup, Liv Tyler and Joaquin Phoenix). The book is exactly how I remember the movie - a little rebellious love story with differences in class and social status as a backdrop. It's lovely. The other stories range from also lovely to downright bizarre. I think my favorite one was "Appropriate Affect", which is about a woman who has a stroke and it changes her personality, and "Slides" which was about a divorced couple who fight over some risque pictures taken during their marriage. A lot of the stories have themes of lonliness, "other"-ness, and identity. But some stories seem pointless and felt very empty.
9. Crossings, Alex Landragin - The structure of the book is wild - you can read it in different orders (one way is front to back creating a few short stories or you can read it by following the page numbers at the bottom and it's a complete story.). The gimmick got me though, as it's why I bought it. But unfortunately, it's not a fun read. Like, I think I actually hated most of it. And I definitely hated every character, so after reading it the "normal" way (front to back), I would never ever want to read it...again??? No fucking way.
10. Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke - I liked this. It's an easy read, with some interesting look at racism not only in small-town America, but among the police force (the Texas Rangers to be specific). I like the way the mystery unfolds, in many expected and unexpected ways. The characters are fully thought out, and it feels very grounded in a heartbreaking reality.
11. Live By Night, Dennis Lehane - The book is far better than the movie (the only Ben Affleck directed movie that is just plain awful). I decided that I wanted to read a few Lehane books because some of the movies based on his books are excellent (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, The Drop), but I'm not sure why I chose this as my introduction since I hated the movie? I did really like the book though, and definitely plan on reading more of his work. There's definitely a lot of stuff in it that I don't remember being in the movie. Also, there is a weird publishing defect in my book in which the page goes from 182 back to 151 for about 30 pages (repeating itself for 30 pages). How did nobody catch that? I looked it up and couldn't find anything about it. I thought the main character was having a flashback for a second and then I was like...no that doesn't make sense.
12. An Artist in a Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro - Beautifully written, but probably my least favorite of the Ishiguro books that I've read so far. It's similar to The Remains of the Day, in that it's about someone who is kind of a cog in a wheel, so to speak, with politics and war surrounding him - he just continues to do his duties. There are a lot of interesting little moments in it - I particularly like his interactions with his grandson and wanting to take him to a movie that might not be appropriate, just to have that memory. I think a lot of the background stuff went over my head a little bit - I'm not as well-versed in Asian history as I would like to be.
13. American Pastoral, Phillip Roth - There are parts of this book that I love - as I felt the same with the film. But a LOT of it is very...long-winded. It just goes on and on and it's hard to find the point sometimes. It really messed up my entire reading schedule for the year because I was on such a roll with reading - and then it took me, like, 3 months to get through this. And I don't like to read more than one book at once. It just didn't hold my interest. I like the history of NJ (Newark, in particular - which used to be one of the most productive industrial areas in the country), the intricacies of being a Jewish family during this time, and the love/hate relationship with what it means to be an American. I also find the father/daughter relationship that is at the heart of the book really interesting and layered. However, there is just so much of it that I find unnecessary and dull even.
14. Daisy Jones and the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid - Honestly, this is one of the worst books I've ever read. It felt like like YA (which isn't necessarily bad, but in this case, it is), but it's about sex, drugs & rock & roll, so not the subject matter for YA. It's one of those cases where it just tries so fucking hard to be edgy and cool and it fails in every sense of the word. I will admit that I didn't ever imagine the twist (because why would there be a twist?), and the reveal of said twist is done very, very well. I'm not surprised that there is a miniseries version being released this year, and unfortunately, I'm going to watch it (because "starring Riley Keough" is an automatic yes for me). It's just all so cliched and it's been done many, many times (it's basically Almost Famous but bad).
15. The Sandman, Neil Gaiman (Audiobook) - Not sure I should include this in a "read" list, since it's an audiobook, but I'm going to do it anyway. This is actually *my first* audiobook! I'm not really a fan, just as I'm not a fan of podcasts or any kind of talk radio. It usually causes an instant headache for me (something about listening to people talk without seeing them just doesn't work well for my brain). But, I wanted to listen to this for one simple, very predictable reason: Taron Egerton is the voice of Constantine AND James McAvoy is Morpheus. My two loves, together, in one project. They both have the most lovely voices, too, so it seemed like perfect casting. I'm sad that Egerton is barely in it, but his part is definitely the highlight (and I think he should get cast as Constantine in a live project - I'm not an expert on the intricacies of British accents, but I read several reviews that say that he nails the Scouse accent. He's far better suited for Constantine than for Wolverine in my opinion). Anyway, as for the rest of it - it's very long. But I did enjoy it, for the most part. It feels very epic and grand, the characters are all given time to shine, and it successfully creates this world of dreams and gods with a mix of grounded realism and fantastical imagination. Some of the voice casting is a little odd - Kat Dennings as Death is a choice (and I love her usually!) and some of the chapters feel unnecessary, but overall I liked it. Looking forward to the next part of the series.
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