Happy Monday, friends! I am on pins and needles, waiting to find out if I’m going to be called in to be a poll worker tomorrow. While it would be nice to have a “dry run” before the big election in November, I also wouldn’t be too upset to have another calm, relaxing day at home before jumping back into work tomorrow. Hehe. I’m definitely planning on writing about my experience, whether or not I actually work the polls, so stay tuned next week for that!
Today, I’ve got another reading recap for ya! I finished three books last week so it was a great reading week for me!
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (★★★★★)
One-sentence synopsis: At 16, the Vignes sisters (identical twins) ran away from their small, southern Black community to New Orleans, only to be divided when one sister discovers how easily she can pass as white and begins a life of secrecy and lies.
Oh, how I loved this book! It was so well-written and compelling and complex. The themes of race and identity and family were so beautifully interwoven throughout the plot, and the characters were so wonderfully developed. There were characters I hated and characters I loved, and following these two sisters and their daughters throughout their lives was so fascinating, especially considering how differently the sisters’ lives turned out. I’m really glad I buddy-read this one with Kim, as it is a book that is prime for discussion and we had lots of great chats about the themes of the novel and the decisions the characters made throughout the book. This book will most definitely make my top-10 at the end of the year!
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria (★★★★☆)
One-sentence synopsis: Jasmine and Ashton, two soap opera stars, are paired together to lead in a bilingual TV series for a leading streaming service.
This romance was fun from beginning to end! I loved everything about Jasmine and Ashton and their budding romance, and I especially loved the setting of a TV show. The TV show was fully produced, directed, and acted by Latinx people, and there was a lot of emphasis on doing this right for the Latinx community. If they produced a successful Latinx TV show, that would pave the way for more Latinx actors, producers, screenwriters, and directors to get their due. It was a beautiful ode to the Latinx community and Puerto Rico especially, and I truly loved everything about this book. Go read it!
The Chain by Adrian McKinty (★★★★☆)
One-sentence synopsis: After Rachel’s daughter is kidnapped, she learns there’s only one way to get her back: Kidnap another child and hold him or her for ransom.
This book is craaaaazy! What an insane idea for a kidnapping scheme: putting the parents whose child was kidnapped at the center of the scheme. After your child is kidnapped, the kidnapper calls you to tell you the details: You must pay a ransom and then find a child to kidnap, repeating the process with that child’s parents. And thus, a chain is born. This book was super creepy (I was listening to the audiobook and I definitely couldn’t listen to it at night!) and thoroughly compelling, even though the plot felt uneven at times. I think that listening to the book rather than reading it helped my reading experience because I think the writing could veer on the pretentious side at times. It worked for an audiobook, as it allowed the narrator to lean into the theatrics, but might come across as silly in print. For me, it was a solid thriller and one I would recommend!
I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman – abandoned
Oof. Abbi Waxman is one of my tried-and-true authors, but her latest novel did not work for me. I abandoned it on page 66 (22%) because I couldn’t handle the contentious relationship between the mother and daughter. I feel like Waxman was going for a comedic effect, but it left me more frustrated than amused. She also used the plot device of characters misunderstanding each other’s intent again and again and again, and that’s one of my least-liked plot devices, so meh. Not my cup of tea, sadly!
What I’m Reading This Week
I’m currently reading The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, a YA novel about a 16-year-old girl who is dealing with the aftereffects of her boyfriend’s death a year ago, as well as dipping in and out of Applied Electromagnetism by Susannah Nix, which is a romance novel (Nix writes romances about women in STEM, hence the titles that sound straight from a science class, ha).
And I’m still slowly reading A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris. I only read about 40 pages last week, but that’s okay! That’s what the slow-and-steady process is all about. 🙂
What are you reading?
I’m catching up on blogs so just read your post from last Monday, too. Colson Whitehead’s books are definitely unique. He has a detached, sparse style that can sometimes feel a little aloof and can make it hard to draw a reader in. I actually liked The Nickel Boys more than Underground Railround. The ending was so interesting/surprising to me!
I didn’t read as much on my vacation as I thought I would because we played cards every night so that cut into my reading time. And then I did not sleep well at night so I didn’t read during naptime and instead mostly rested. But early in the week, I finished “The Guest House” which starts off in the WWII era. I really liked it but the story slowly unfolded so it would take a certain reader to like that book. And then I finished “Tweet Cute” when we got back from the lake, which was a very sweet YA romance. And then I finished “The Wedding Party” by Jasmine Guillory over the weekend. I love her romance series and look forward to reading the other 2 in the series. I like how the characters of her books are all interwoven so you get to see people you met in previous books. And now I am reading a thriller called “Strike Me Down” which was in the MMD SRG. The main character is a forensic accountant so it’s an interesting plot line. And it’s set in Minneapolis so I am loving all the references to places I am familiar with!
You Had Me at Hola sounds kind of like a subplot from the Jane the Virgin TV show. Did you watch that? Super cute and now that it’s over, you can binge it and not be cliffhung for a week or a season, cause man they could cliffhang you!!
Oh my gosh The Chain sounds BONKERS!!!! I might have to check that out! I want to check out You Had Me at Hola, too 🙂 The TV show background sounds fun.
What a bummer about I Was Told It Would Get Easier. Sigh. I wonder how the relationship between the mother and daughter ends up in the end. I bet I will read the whole thing, and let you know, ha 😉 I hate that plot device too. And the plot device of revealing a big lie, lol.
Thanks for doing the buddy read with me! Our conversations enriched my reading experience.
I am reading Fast Girls 🙂
I picked up The Chain at a bookstore a million years ago because the premise sounds so interesting… But after reading a couple of pages I had to put it down because it sounds SO CREEPY. Maybe after your review I will have to try it again…
I’ve been waiting foreeeever to get my hands on The Vanishing Half—I first requested that my old library purchase it and then we moved before it came through. And now, at my new library, it’s still on order AND the holds list is already long! Grrr…glad to read that you loved it so much though—I hope it’s all worth the wait!