This was a slow reading month for me but was a good one. Ended up reading quite a few from my original TBR which is always an achievement namely the Paper Palace and one of the funnest books I have read recently, The Appeal.
Fiction
- The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller 5/5
This made it to Reese Witherspoon’s bookclub and after reading the blurb I knew I wanted to read it. Now every trigger warning you can think of is in this book including rape, incest and adultery so its not exactly a breezy read. It is beautifully crafted, making perfect use of the back and forth storytelling technique. If its confusing in the beginning don’t lose heart, trust me, it makes a lot of sense. There is a large cast of characters but I felt the writer was able to bring almost all of them to life within the pages. The book has been flagged as about adultery but I personally thought it was more of a family drama than just adultery.
The landscape where the book is based is absolutely beautiful, although I have never visited that part of the world. Its definitely a book that can be included in my list of travel and literature. It was brought alive and I am willing to bet a lot of money its going to be picked up for a movie or a TV show. The setting reminded me of one of my favourite book, Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.
2. Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian 3/5
I have to say – a YA book about a group of psychopaths makes for pretty fun reading. This could have been a shorter book but I can’t say I was too bored too many times. I do think it helps understand psychopathy as a mental condition instead of the stereo-typed serial killer reference for psychopaths we have in most popular culture.
3. Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty 3/5
I have to say her books are good but the TV shows and movies are better! This was a decent enough read but 100 pages too long. I liked the portrayal of the awkward and uncomfortable friendship between the main characters which felt very real
4. The Appeal by Janet Hallett 4/5
Loved this book! Fun breezy read about a murder in a small community told through email exchanges between the characters against a amateur drama club conducting rehearsals. How fun does that sound? I raced through it within a day or two and was sad it was over. Cannot recommend enough.
Non-fiction
5. Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
This was a hard read. Hard in the sense of making me check my privilege as a non-black woman. The book brings up certain issues that black women face which white women and even other POC women do not. It was quite eye-opening.
6. How Do We Know We Are Doing This Right? by Pandora Sykes
I have been wanting to read this book for quite sometime. I loved the podcast the writer co-hosted, The High Low and wanted to read and hear more of her thoughts on our popular culture. I enjoyed the book and on some level, the fact it was written pre-pandemic is a relief but at the same time, it also feels dated. Unfortunately, the topics she discusses, our TV watching habits, social media consumptions and so on have been completely turned on its head post-pandemic and her thoughts on these issues feel like its from a different time with no relation o our current reality.
7. Resourceful Living by Lisa Dawson
I really enjoyed this practical book. I appreciated the interest in sustainability and using second hand and vintage items that runs through the course of the book – its not just a throwaway comment to jump on the sustainability bandwagon. The tips are achievable which is more than what can be said for most design books. I was not an existing reader of her blog and in fact, had no idea about her blog at all but enjoyed the book thoroughly. I will definitely be reading her blog as well.
So thats everything I read in February 2022! You can check more of what I am reading on my Instagram, Fashion and Frappes and even on my podcast’s Instagram account, Eat Watch Binge Read. I am always interested in talking books so please send your opinions and recommendations my way. If you want more books, check out my bumper book post. And as always, thanks for reading.
– Anisha
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