Its been a long time. I can’t even feel bad about it since I had the best summer ever – with a lot of fantastic summer reading! I have covered three months in this post so its covers my summer reading as well as all the autumn reading I did so its a long list.
Fiction
1. Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Surprisingly I haven’t read Brick Lane but grabbed this one when I saw it in the library. Its a lovely book and a total pleasure to read. I love the family dynamics discussed and the descriptions of London and different perspectives the book manages to show. I really enjoyed the character of the heroine’s mother – such an unexpected and unpredictable character while still being so realistic.
2. The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam 3/5
I hadn’t heard of this writer and hadn’t read anything by her but definitely promising. I enjoyed this one (also following up the read by watching We Crashed is an interesting experience. I think the premise of the book was amazing but I did feel it lost its track after a while. I didn’t really understand the main character. I felt her action and character did not match at all. For someone so interested in her work, her complete disinterest in how it actually all worked was odd to read. But yes, a thoughtful story about start up culture, feminism and how much of popularity and success if actual hard work and how much of it is charisma.
3. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers 4/5
This was not at all the kind of book I thought I would enjoy but I surprised myself by staying up crazy hours of the night reading this. The writing is excellent and even the crazy premise of the book (a woman claims her daughter was a result of a virgin birth) is almost forgotten since you get so interested in the other characters who are so true to life. The book is set in 1950’s London and I felt the vibe created by the writer for that setting was totally spot on.
4. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai 2/5
I am not sure why but this book has been on my TBR list for a really long time. I like this writer a lot and have read a lot by her. This book was a bit of a spoof or parody of a certain part of Indian society and our obsession with gurus and so on. Its a very fun and silly read but in all honesty, I found it a little tedious after a point of time. The novelty of the situation does wear off a little so I found it hard to concentrate on it but its a mood lifting read.
5. None of This is Serious by Catherine Prasifka 3/5
This is billed as the 2022 Sally Rooney. Its basically the life of a 20 something year old who has just finished university and is trying to figure what to do with her life. It covers aspects of social media and friendship and so on. All fine. Then randomly the book introduces an element of science fiction which has little to no bearing on the plot. It felt like the writer figured out the trends in fiction publishing for the time and wrote up a book reflecting this. Now, I am not saying its bad, its an interesting enough read but yes, billing this as the next Sally Rooney does both writers a disservice.
6. Real Life by Brandon Taylor 3/5
This was a tough read. It is based in a university and academic setting which is one of my favourite settings for books (also loved On Beauty, My Dark Venessa and The Class). Its based on a black research student in a very white setting and the racism he faces within his friends group as well as the university from his supervisor to his colleagues. Its not a book that made a deep impression on me but I have to give it its dues – it make me so passionate and angry on behalf of the protagonist. It made me want to shake him to react appropriately and then made me question my reaction – who am I to make the call for him and take away his agency? But he fictional? It really made me question so many things.
7. Vladimir by Julia May Jones 3/5
This was another one based on academic life. There was quite a lot of hype about this book. I enjoyed it but the ending was quite random and felt not in the same tone as the book so slightly confusing. I did feel the blurb of the book doesn’t do a good job of describing what the book is about. Its not really that the protagonist is obsessed with the younger professor as such but has a healthy interest and tries to pursue some kind of friendship.
The part of the book I actually enjoyed the most is reading about the writer’s attitude about her husband’s infidelity or rather inappropriate affairs. Its such a confusing attitude to me as a feminist which is what I always love to have during any reading experience – discomfort and confusion and anger is a good reaction to a book in my mind!
8. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi 3/5
This is probably the most talked about book this year. I know the writer is quite famous by now after their previous books but they are also one of the subjects Chimamanda obliquely mentions in the controversial essay on her blog.
This book has been quite a divisive one. I liked the story and found it to be an enjoyable read. But some things really felt overdone. I did not like the best friend character. I just did not find her convincing or realistic at all. It felt like a very stereotyped manic pixie-girl type trope and I just didn’t care for it at all. The other thing about this book that really annoyed me if the food description. I have to say the food description was something everyone raved about and said how good it sounded but I also felt this was a very white person reaction to the food description just because it sounded exotic! I am sure every black and brown person is rolling their eyes when there is a detailed description about stuffed guava – what the hell is a stuffed guava, I am sorry! This is minor one but God know why it irritated me so much.
9. Idol by Louise O’Neill 3/5
This one was very similar to People Like Her. Actually that is unfair. Its not similar as a story essentially but based on influencer life and lifestyle. Its a good fun read but the exact amount of moral conundrum to make it a little more interesting than a fluffy light read by discussing the concept of consent, although of course, this could have been I finished it on a plane ride and it was the perfect book for that.
10. A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 4/5
I enjoyed the first book from Paula Hawkins which was the famous The Girl on the Train. I didn’t like her second book, Into the Water but liked this one. I loved the setting of this one – its based in London in the houseboats community which live on the canals. I thought its quite a niche and interesting one since I always pass people in the boats and wonder what their life is like.
11. Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan 2/5
I was not impressed. The book mainly set in 1950’s onwards New York and I enjoyed the portrayal of the city but noir-thriller or any thriller for that matter is not how I would bill this. I didn’t really understand where the story was going and the extremely detailed descriptions of underwater diving felt like a lecture instead of fun facts. I cannot state what the exact plot line was. I am usually fine with books without a proper plot line but it has to make up the lack of a plot with interesting descriptions and realistic conversations which this book could not. I know she has won the Pulitzer Prize for a previous book and I will still try to give that a read but her writing is probably not for me.
12. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I waited so long to read this. Really enjoyed it, its just as great a read as every hype about the book said it would be. I think I have said before, TJR is a fantastic storyteller. But all in all, Daisy Jones is still my favourite book by her!
13. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson 5/5
Definitely one of my favourite books this year. Its so well written with the most interesting plot with a great mix of romance, friendship, history and adventure with the best detailed characters. Each character was so well detailed with specific quirks and so realistic. Its a family saga at the end of it and I love these. I cannot recommend this one enough. I hear its being made into a Hulu show and hoping it will find it way to the UK soon enough.
14. Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy Magan 4/5
In all honesty, I went into this book with no expectations. It was about a woman with kids dealing with domestic life so I did go in with a little bit of prejudice how fun it would actually be. And how wrong I was – it was so good. So funny, unpredictable and said so much life and friendship. A meaningful but fun read.
15. French Braid by Anne Taylor 4/5
I enjoyed this one but in all honesty, its not one of my favourite books from Anne Taylor whose writing I usually love. I liked the descriptions of the family vacation – she creates a great picture with undertones of the slight dysfunction. Anne Taylors setting of retro USA is one I love reading about.
16. Reputation by Sarah Vaughan 4/5
I love books about British politics so this was a fun read for me. It brings up a really topical conversation about safety of politicians and especially women politicians. It also talks about what happens when your principles and values don’t match with how those around you are behaving. It brings up some really great questions. There were 2 current MPs I could think this book was based on which I enjoyed imagining.
17. Honor by Thrity Umrigar 5/5
As soon as I read the blurb of this book, I knew I needed to read it. Its based in rural Maharashtra and is from the perspective of a Indian-American woman (a term I absolutely hate, I don’t remember anyone ever referred to as German-American). Its not a fun book, its not a light read but a really important one. Its about the journalist researching her story which is about a Muslim husband of a Hindu woman killed as a part of a honour (sorry, I am using the standard English spelling here) killing. If you are Indian you will absolutely understand the implications of this. I did find the descriptions of Mumbai quite Americanised but I couldn’t tell if that was me being annoyed about the derogatory way she talks about Mumbai because I love the city so much or whether objectively it was a stereotype she fell to. Read the book and tell me where you stand on this.
18. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel 5/5
Easily one of the best books I read these two months or even this year. I do like Mandel but the book isn’t exactly my comfort read so I had no expectations going in but what a revelation. Its not a big book but the world she creates along with the questions the book manages to answer about writing, environment, family and what is important in the face of a catastrophe for the human race as a whole are huge.
19. Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan
I feel bad since the issues with the book are not all all its fault. The main problem with this book is that it is very very dated. I can see it was revolutionary in the Indian publishing industry when it came out but reading it years later made it quite tedious. It is decently enjoyable although the plot meanders a little too much including characters that felt quite unnecessary or plain annoying. The issue is that it needed to be a lot shorter since it actually started getting on my nerves. And last, there are only so many reiterations of Pride and Prejudice that you can get yourself to be interested in.
20. The No-Show by Beth O’Leary
I loved The Switch and liked The Flatshare but have to say I haven’t loved the next few books – The Road Trip or The No Show. But I have to admire how she still manages to write a fantastic book which is funny but serious and fresh but still a romance all at the same time. I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading this. I am not a romance reader and read her books more for the comedic writing than the romance but if you do enjoy a slightly edgy romance this is the book for you.
21. Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena 5/5
I really enjoyed this one. Its a breeze of a read and at no point of time was I ever really sure who the culprit was and at no point of time was I bored. Its a good twisty domestic thriller, curl up with it on a cold afternoon and its finished before dinner.
22. The Club by Ellery Lloyd 4/5
This is basically an intrigue set in a made up Soho House kind of club. I say intrigue because even before the event that centres the book happens there are lots of parallel storylines going on. Another mystery thriller that I really enjoyed. I also liked the behind the scenes information you get about the work and drama that goes into organising a club like this or even organising a fancy chic event. I
Non-fiction
23. Skincare: The Ultimate No-Nonsense Guide by Caroline Hirons
I am a big fan of Caroline Hirons so couldn’t wait to read through this one. I have to say though, after all the skincare posts and blogs, books and reddit threads, is there anything new to be said about skincare? I liked and enjoyed the read but I do think its meant for someone with a more basic understanding of skincare. Its a good read if you want to start taking skincare seriously. I think the other point I would make is that
24. A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003 – 2020 by David Sedaris
You may know I absolutely love David Sedaris. His comedy and humour is exactly to my taste – not laugh out loud, not sarcastic but like a wry chuckle. I enjoyed this book but it was long. I did think I read it wrong – in the sense that I should have picked up off and on over a longer period of time instead of finishing it off like other fiction. Since it was a library book I couldn’t keep it for too long so ready it in one go. I would recommend this book but if you can read it over a longer period of time, take your time with it. It would definitely make these kind of diaries more enjoyable.
Short stories
25. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn
Picked this up in the library since this had been on my TBR for quite sometime – everything written by Gillian Flynn is either on my TBR or read list. Its a longish short story but with all the typical Gillian Flynn vibes of creepy, disturbing without being able to put your finger on quite whats wrong. Perfect.
26. The Dinner Party and Other Stories by Joshua Ferris
I feel bad about not enjoying this read since it was no fault of the book. I picked up with book my mistake. I wanted the Party and got confused and borrowed this one instead. It a set of short stories mostly based in New York involving couples, double dates, friends, random strangers, colleagues and so on. I honestly think its a good book but it just wasn’t the kind of short stories I wanted to read. Its about ordinary life, no twist or major spoiler
27. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
This was such a lovely read. Which is a weird way to describe a book about love and sex and relationships of women in the south of the USA. It was a totally unexpected and now a group of people or place I had anything to relate to which was a wonderful surprise. It was the best of reading – to be immersed in a world completely different from your own.
Phew. I think I was working on this post for weeks and I am happy its finally out there. The aim is to have shorter posts more often rather than longer ones so wish me luck I can get this sorted. Would love to know anything good you have read recently – I can add it to my ever growing TBR.
– Anisha
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