What I’m Reading (7.11.22)

Hi, friends. Happy Monday. Things feel really hard right now. A little over a week ago, my mom tested positive for Covid and we had to postpone all of her birthday celebrations (her birthday was on Friday). She’s doing ok, but dealing with intense fatigue and I can’t help but worry about her constantly. Add to that, we’re pretty sure my stepdad also has Covid now and I am very, very worried about him. I’ve spent a lot of time mired in “what-if” scenarios and downward spiraling. Case in point: Yesterday, I went to put gas in my car and my card didn’t work correctly and kept telling me to “please see cashier,” and I promptly burst into tears and cried all the way to the next gas station. (Where my card did work correctly.) Needless to say, I scheduled an emergency therapy appointment for this afternoon because I need to get my shit together.

Let’s talk about something much more fun, though: books! I finished three books last week, all of which I really liked:

Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare (★★★★☆)

I enjoyed this historical romance. It’s the second in a series and I read the first book so long ago (or so it seems) that I totally forgot how these stories were connected for a good 30% of the book. Obviously, with nearly any romance series, reading the books in order is not required. There is a very light sub-plot that carried from the first to the second, but it’s not crucial to the plot. In this story, Rhys has returned to the place he lived as a child after 14 years away and comes face-to-face with Meredith, the girl who used to follow him around constantly. Only Meredith is not a little girl anymore. She’s now the proprietor of the local inn, a widow, and single-handedly keeping their small town alive. I loved the banter between Meredith and Rhys, and while Rhys could get a little caveman-y at times, I liked that Meredith didn’t stand for it and made sure he knew that. Meredith was an outstanding character who was so easy to root for, and I’m so glad she got her happy ending.

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas (★★★★☆)

In The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano, readers are taken on a journey through nine different ways Rose Napolitano’s life could go based on a conversation she has with her husband one morning. When they got married, they both were in agreement: They weren’t going to have children. Rose has never had that maternal instinct and knows becoming a mother would affect her career. But sometime along the way, her husband changed his mind so what is Rose going to do? Have a baby to save her marriage? Or insist that she’s not going to have a baby and lose her husband in the process? There are myriad ways Rose’s life can play out, and this book delves deep into all of them. The structure of the book could be chaotic at times as it wasn’t told in a linear fashion. Instead, each chapter brings in a new “life,” so you might read Rose Life 1 and then the next chapter is Rose Life 4 and the following is Rose Life 2. Sometimes, Rose’s lives are mixed in together in one chapter. At a certain point, I stopped worrying about which Rose I was reading and just enjoyed each chapter as a story. While I really enjoyed this book—it was well-written, propulsive, and a really fun take on the idea of different lives without bringing in a magical element—I had real issues with the ending and felt that the book sort of started falling apart near the end. But still, a wonderful story about something that needs to be talked about more: a woman’s decision not to have children.

You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn (★★★★☆)

I didn’t know much about Kal Penn before reading this book. I knew of him, but I’ve never watched any of his movies and it was only recently that I learned he left acting for a time to work in the Obama White House. But I always enjoy a celebrity memoir on audio, even better if they’re going to talk about working for Obama, so I picked up this book. It was really good! He discusses racism in Hollywood, starting with the 90s when an Indian actor getting cast on a show or movie usually meant adopting a really silly Indian accent. He talks about getting cast in his breakout role, how he came to help the Obama campaign in 2008 and later join his staff, and how his relationship with his now-fiance Josh bloomed. It was a really great memoir and it was made all the better by listening to the audio. Kal Penn reads it himself and he does a wonderful job.

What I’m Reading This Week

• It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey – I’ve been burned by Tessa Bailey before, but I decided to give this contemporary romance a try since a lot of people have raved about it. I’m halfway through and really loving it. Hopefully, the ending isn’t terrible!
• Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo – I am really enjoying my time with this book, which takes on all the different ways white male America has stolen progress from us. It’s so very good.
• Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer (audio) – I’ll be starting this audiobook soon, but we’ll see if I can handle the subject matter.

What are you reading?