Unwifeable by Mandy Stadtmiller
what a train wreck. it's the right title because this girl is a drugs, alcohol & sex addict. she goes to sex parties; she has at least 8 recorded threesomes in the book, she posts on craigslist looking for a F* buddy NOW (and gets a hundred replies), she has sex with strangers that turn into rape but could also have turned into murder. she documents every slut move in her on-line columns at the NY post and wonders why she is considered unwifeable.
half way thru, after a phone call with her father that upsets her, he send her an email where he sees her – really sees her – by apologizing for continually hurting her by NOT reading her column and acknowledging her pain of being told she's loved, but not getting the validation of that love (by keeping up with her column) and she can only react to the email like it was punch in the gut. instead of seeing how her dad has full empathy for her feelings (and really, can you FORCE someone keep reading their daughter's sexual exploits? if you want to live your own life, aren't the rest of the people in your life owed the same agency?)
she uses her relationships, romantic and family, as fodder for the public. she accepts the loving embrace of her family after almost self-destructing in the thirties and then rages at the same family when she returns to the toxic New York life, complete with the return of her personal-essays that push these innocence bystander / family into the new unwitting stars of her column. when her mother tries explain how hurtful it is by mentioning she might leave a negative comment on facebook to see what it feels like - Mandy blocks her own mother on FB! (and then her sister too. she's all kinds of self righteous)
of course, the final chapter has to be about how she DID get married and how all this crap and trauma led to this one great thing and how she's a changed woman. hmm I think, let's check back in another 5 years.
A Wall of Light by Edeet Ravel
what an opaque, useless novel.... so much philosophizing on the part of the characters (who all, tediously, had the same voice). I only noticed at the three-quarters point that this was the last of a trilogy, and there are characters that have obvious meaning to people who read the other books. I think that it may have helped if I had a more detailed understanding of the history of Israel and Palestine - there seemed to be real events referenced that meant nothing to me. lastly, I never really connected or cared about any of the characters. I never saw the point of novel.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
This is cheating: writing a book that mostly references other books that have been universally loved - of course folk will say it's great. oh, and make the protagonist a POC which is merely a fact and not in any way relevant to the plot. and adopt a black child. now the book is woke.... if anything, this book reminded me that there are plenty of great reads left, if I just exit modern times and choose from the previous generation of authors.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
wow. just wow. this slim volume of vignettes capture the voice and perspective of a child living on the edge of poverty. it's as close to poetry than a novella.
Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent
great start; great pacing. moving from narrator to narrator was a great hook. I finished this book in 2 days because I was so curious about it's outcome......now, about 150 pages in (of a 230 page book), I did see the Ta-Dum reveal and was afraid it was going to be an 'issues' book about racism. but that revelation took more of a backseat to two other Ta-Dums that were broadly hinted at from the start. as to the motivation for Oliver - it was never made clear why he suddenly snapped and brutalized his wife. hmmm, as I am writing this review i'm realizing that is was only a good book on the surface (and at the start). it peters out and doesn't really have a purpose
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
wow. what a departure for Toews. it's a philosophical treatise against the backdrop of both an ancient and modern Mennonite colony (time doesn't really pass in a colony, just new vocabulary get added). the crimes of this authoritarian and patriarchal society are shockingly close to crimes being perpetrated today. and the women's reactions are universal and timeless. Toews is an author so shaped by her early life in a religious sect, and this latest offering leads me to believe that her faith, her true faith, has never left her.
The French Exit by Patrick Dewitt
this book bored me so much it became my first DNF in years
The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt
This was such as amazing read that is deserves it's own post
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
a tour de force, or should I say a pre-tour de force? only after I finished the last page, did I turn to the cover and notice that this was Kate Atkinson's first novel. there were many echoes to A God in Ruins, more fleshed out in the latter. dancing back and forth in the timelines, living IN history and also realizing the weight of history before you? all themes in A god in Ruins and Life After Life. this author is so talented.
