March has been a busy reading month! There’s no better feeling than when you’re just tearing through books, enjoying every page. Here’s what I’ve gotten into this month. Thank you Random House for gifting me the books noted with a star. *
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
Therese Anne Fowler
This is a great fictionalized account of Zelda Fitzgerald’s life. I didn’t know much about her, aside from the rumors that F. Scott stole some of her work, and this based in fact novel was illuminating. It’s sad, but extremely well done.
The Woman in the Library
Sulari Gentil
This mystery/thriller is a book within a book. It’s about an author in Australia writing a mystery novel set in Boston. She sends pages to a colleague in Boston who gives advice about what’s accurate and what isn’t. This book was a page turner (not for the reasons you might expect) and I love reading books set in my city. In this case, there’s a murder in The Boston Public Library, my preferred work place.
Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto
This was a fun, silly read about a young woman who accidentally kills a man she’s on a blind date with when he gets aggressive with her. She and her gaggles of Chinese aunties must cover up the murder while trying to assist a major client in their wedding planning business. A delightful refresher in between denser books.
Familia
Lauren Rico
In this book a young magazine employee takes a DNA test for an article and gets surprising results. Thinking she had no family left, she head to Puerto Rico to investigate whether the findings are accurate. I really enjoyed this novel, it was thoughtful and beautiful and had a bit of a page turning mystery element to it.
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
Baek Sehee
I was really excited about this book because the description spoke to a low grade, functional depression that I think a lot of people can relate to. Unfortunately, that wasn’t explored much in the text itself. The book was structured as transcriptions between Sehee and her therapist with little analysis or exploration between them. I didn’t find it very illuminating.
Promises of Gold
José Olivarez
This is a BEAUTIFUL collection of poetry in English and Spanish by a Mexican-American poet. It touches on love of all kinds, romantic, familial, and between friends. Written in part during the pandemic, the poems also address COVID-19, capitalism, and immigration. I can’t recommend this collection enough.
Ripe
Sarah Rose Etter
In “Ripe,” the protagonist works a soul-sucking corporate job in silicon valley and feels completely disengaged from her work, her friends, and her life. This was an excellent, chilling, and honestly relatable look at the effects of capitalism, corporate life, and rampant inflation that makes grueling six figure jobs barely enough to cover rent in popular cities.
Arab and Jew
David K. Shipler
I’ve been trying to learn more about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict to understand what’s going on in the Middle East. I chose this book by the NY Times journalist who covered Jerusalem and the surrounding regions for almost a decade, because it’s very objective, showing the good and bad on both sides. The author also delves into the attitudes both parties have about each other and how those developed, which I think is just as important as the historical timeline. I won’t lie to you, it’s extremely dense, but helpful.
The Unclaimed
Pamela Prickett & Stefan Timmermans
This nonfiction book showcases what happens to deceased individuals if no one claims their body or makes funeral arrangements for them. This is extremely common, even for people that have living family members. I’ve read books about the mortuary process before, but never knew what the governmental side looks like. The book focuses on several cases in L.A. and, unsurprisingly, the system is flawed. But the book is interesting and empathetic.
The Underground Library*
Jennifer Ryan
I loved this novel! Set in London during WWII, three young women’s lives intersect at the local library which has become a balm for beleaguered citizens. The novel is based on a true story about how the library gets taken underground to the subway tunnels where people shelter nightly from Nazi bombings. A beautifully told and engaging story.
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A note about the affiliate links: below each book I included a link to buy it via Bookshop.org. I receive a small portion of this sale. I intentionally chose Bookshop.org versus Amazon because that website allows you to purchase from independent bookstores. I chose one of my favorite Boston indie bookstores for the links so you’ll be supporting them with the purchase. Small bookstores are important community spaces and we need to support them!