Well, these last two months weren’t as full of reading as I would have hoped. With the world opening back up, the past two months have been chock-full of wedding planning, celebrations and parties, barbecues and picnics, dog-sitting, and beautiful weather to enjoy outside! Don’t get me wrong - I love being able to finally celebrate friends and family after a weird year, but I’m an introvert and the amount of time spent self-caring at home these last few months has been pretty minimal compared to the last year of quarantine! July and August don’t look particularly less busy right now, but it is officially my birthday month and I’m ready to fill it with the things I love!
I also got a bit over-zealous with audiobooks in the spring. I really love the ambiance of listening, especially when the narrator does an amazing job, and it does help me to read faster (3.5 out of 4 of these were read in May). But at the same time, I feel like I rushed through them and didn’t catch all the details, which made me rate the books lower? Not sure, but I started reading (actually reading and not listening) This is How It Always Is towards the end of June and, while I’m not finished reading, I think I’ll appreciate it more!
While I didn’t love any of these books, I know we can’t love every book or have every month be fantastic in terms of reading, and that is perfectly okay!!
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Audiobook
Quick Synopsis: Jules responds to a vague Craigslist ad in search of an apartment sitter for $1,000 a week. The unit at the Bartholomew, one of the most secretive and elite apartment buildings on the edge of Central Park, and the only rule is to abide by the no-visitors rule. How can she resist? At what point is it too good to be true? What secrets are hiding within the Bartholomew’s walls?
Quick Review: In search of a palette cleansing page-turner? Look no further than Lock Every Door. The writing is atmospheric and I found myself wanting to pick it back up again and again. Yes, there were a few times when I wanted to shake Jules and yell "RUN" but overall I enjoyed this book and it filled my quarterly thriller quota nicely.
Who should read this: Anyone who loves The Twilight Zone. Anyone looking for a book that brings the setting to life. Anyone who likes Clue.
Genre: Contemporary Social Commentary
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Audiobook
Quick Synopsis: The Bad Muslim Discount follows the lives of Anvar, whose family leaves Karachi in search of the American Dream, and Azza, who is stuck between caring for her family and leaving war-torn Baghdad. When their lives intersect, the two connect based on the disconnect they feel towards the Muslim faith.
Quick Review: This is a well-done social commentary, with a careful balance between entertainment and tackling some bigger issues in a literary style. There were so many clever and humorous tid-bits and anecdotes, while still tackling big topics like immigration and struggling with faith. The audio narration was phenomenal - Anvar and Azza had two different narrators, and they really brought the characters to life.
Who should read this: Anyone who wants some laughs with their social commentary. Anyone who seeks companionship above all else. Anyone who likes a book that tackles a lot of issues.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️ (and a half)
Format: Audiobook
Quick Synopsis: Poppy: a blogger with insatiable wanderlust who gets paid to travel around the world. Alex: an English literature teacher with a stable lifestyle in the same hometown he grew up in. They have nothing in common, except for taking glorious one-week vacations together every year for the past decade, ever since fatefully meeting freshman year of college. They've been "just friends" for a decade thanks to bad timing and missed chances, but when they're given the chance of a decade, will they ruin it all?
Quick Review: This book just didn't do it for me. It's a time jump novel between the present (an awkward attempt at vacation after "ruining" their streak two years ago) and the past ten years of vacations. It took me a bit too long to get into the time jumps and it was all a bit too repetitive and anti-climactic. The worst thing about this book though, was how third wheel I felt as the reader. You know how when you're trying to tell someone a funny story about something your friend did, but it's funnier in your head, and you kind of just had to be there? This is how I felt the whole book - like a third wheel on all of Poppy and Alex's jokes. The writing was in first-person present-tense in each timeline, but it felt like Poppy needed to "explain" the jokes rather than just letting them happen in real-time and letting me as the reader experience it the way she and Alex would.
Who should read this: Anyone who liked One Day in December or This Time Next Year. Anyone who enjoys reminiscing on all of their vacation fails. Anyone who likes friends-to-lovers stories.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Satirical Social Commentary
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Audiobook
Quick Synopsis: Darren (aka Buck) is a young and charismatic Black man working at a Starbucks in NYC when he unexpectedly gets the shot of a lifetime to work in sales for a hot new tech startup. The catch? He's oddly the only Black person at the company and must endure some questionable and controversial training tactics that last way beyond a hell week of hazing.
Quick Review: Mateo Askaripour breaks the fourth wall so many times in Black Buck, which is so entertaining! I loved that he structured the book part pseudo-memoir, and part sales manual, with a heavy satirical spin. While this is most definitely full of dark humor and a work of satire, it still is pretty rough around the edges and I urge you to beware if that's something that may be triggering to you! I am not sure I exactly enjoyed this one, (I felt a bit anxious the entire time), but I definitely appreciated Askaripour's takes on racism and start-up culture.
Who should read this: Anyone who loves dark humor. Anyone who enjoys reading about startup culture. Anyone who loves the direct-look-into-the-camera sitcoms like The Office and Fleabag.
What's on deck for the next two months?
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel for my buddy read on Bookstagram (currently reading and liking it so far!)
Beach Read by Emily Henry for my IRL book club in July (and to see if I like her first book better than People We Meet on Vacation)
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo since my friend and I need to buddy read it still
Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras because it just screams summer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling because it's the last HP book I need to read and I've been putting it off for too long
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn because it just came out on Netflix!
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