I Did Not Expect to Read This Many Books in February
Should I worry that my birthday month was this prolific with a solitary activity?
Books and books and books this month. Let’s get to it.
BOOKS I LOVED
Come & Get It (fiction, Kiley Reid): As my friend Rosamond put it, as if a reality TV show was a book that also made you think about real issues. Yes, C &GI considers some big-I issues like class and consumerism, but mostly, it is just a messy, mess mess of a good time. With very little in common with her previous work Such a Fun Age, this novel is full of college girls and the people who surround them creating drama. The characterizations are so spot-on but never turn into caricatures. You can almost see Reid behind-the-scenes taking great pleasure in throwing in extra details, just for the laughs. A terrific read for a book club or just your book bestie (you’re gonna want to share the best lines). This book didn’t change my life, but it sure was a freaking blast, and that’s not nothing in the world today.
Dayswork (fiction, Chris Bachelder & Jennifer Habel): I read two novels that featured Herman Melville this month, kind of bizarre since the only copy of Moby Dick I’ve read is one of those lil’ “illustrated classics” kid’s abridged version they give you in, like, 5th grade. (It’s basically Moby, no dick.) Dayswork, set during pandemic quarantine, follows a nerdy literary couple’s interchanges around the Dead White Author and the People Who Love Him. It’s a little wacky! It’s a little poetic! It’s totally endearing! By the end, nobody’s sold on Melville, but he provides an adequate distraction from the throes of COVID.
Monstrilio (fiction, Gerado Samano Códova): Speaking of wacky, this book is a RIDE. A couple loses their son, the wife cuts out a piece of his lung and…grows a monster?? Told alternately from the POVs of mother, best friend, husband, son/monster, we get a novel that challenges definitions of family, disability, queerness and happiness. I laughed, I cried, I applauded for a near perfect ending. One of my first reads in February, and I still think about Monstrilio.
Oscar Wars (nonfiction, Michael Schulman): I don’t write about celebrity stuff here as often as I could (you’re welcome), but I’m sure 90% of my readers know that my #1 distraction is Hollywood chaos. My lovely friend Jessica gave me this book for my birthday last year, and I finally started it (it’s 500+ pages, felt daunting) and oh! my! goodness! This tome is fantastic!! Schulman sets every chapter around a particular era of Hollywood and uses 2-3 interpersonal or cinematic “conflicts” to frame an aspect of the Oscar races. It’s so juicy and informative. I’m gonna be extra obnoxious at a watch party on the 10th.
When Trying To Return Home (short stories, Jennifer Maritza McCauley): This collection on the Long List for the Aspen Prize is full of bangers. Each story, set anywhere from Pittsburgh to Florida to Puerto Rico, explores what makes a home and who gets to inhabit it. Some of the stories take a generational leap (and feature the same characters at different ages), a fun discovery. This reads fast, so if you’re looking for a slump breaker but don’t want junk food, jump on this.
We the Animals (novella, Justin Torres): I am now a Justin Torres completist. This slender book was his debut novel (prior to Blackouts) and follows three brothers growing up in a tumultuous household. I found it very compelling and moving, though some may feel they don’t get enough explanation and backstory. I am never gonna complain about a book that packs a punch in a short space!
BOOKS I REALLY, REALLY LIKED
Nonfiction (fiction, Julie Myerson): An unreliable narrator situation as a writer/mother of an addict daughter jumps through memories of her life. I don’t love an addiction book, so the first 30-40 pages were hard for me to get into, but once our narrator gets into other aspects of her own life (and motherhood, prior to the habit), I got more intrigued. Good for discussion - be forewarned, there are no real likable characters and an ambiguous ending, if those things bother you.
The Dream of Common Language (poetry, Adrienne Rich): Adrienne is a GOAT and this collection on lust/love and living as a woman in the world is fire. It is timeless.
What You Are Looking For Is In The Library (fiction-in-translation, Michiko Aoyama): Absolutely nothing really happens in this book and that is the gift. Various characters at inflection points in their lives (nothing traumatic!) go to a sweet, little community center library and meet a very wise librarian who suggests a book that helps them move forward. This book is not exciting, but it is VERY SOOTHING. I highly recommend for picking up and reading one of the sections when you need to lower your blood pressure (which is…all the time these days??).
American Mermaid (fiction, Julia Langbein): A book within a book about an author who comes to LA to turn her novel (about a mermaid-forcibly turned human-who may or may not save the planet) into a screenplay. I found so many parts of this book laugh out loud funny and thought the author nailed aspects of LA, even if the mermaid novel within was a bit clunky. A fast read and a good time, particularly for Hollywood/film industry followers.
Boys Weekend (graphic novel, Mattie Lubchansky): A trans artist is invited to the Bachelor weekend of their college bro crew on a fantasy world island that is Vegas on steroids (and sci-fi). I loved this adventure which doubles as a tender look at evolving relationships (with ourselves and others) as we experience personal change and growth.
BOOKS THAT WEREN’T MY FAVE, BUT HAD NOTEWORTHY ELEMENTS
The Auburn Conference (fiction, Tom Piazza): Setting a book around a fictional literary conference in the 1880s is a big swing, and I appreciated the attention to detail (and some whimsy) of imagining Whitman, Melville, Twain, Douglass and Beecher-Stowe (among others) in the same room. This is a book for nerds (I am one), and it has its pleasures, but I wasn’t blown away.
Enter Ghost (fiction, Isabella Hammad): I know of lot of folks loved this story of a production of Hamlet in occupied Palestine, and I loved *the idea* of it, but had trouble ever getting into the rhythm of the narrative. It was one of those books I felt like I was never going to finish.
Brainwyrms (fiction, Alison Rumfitt): I’ve dabbled in filthcore and liked it. However, this was not the book for me. I wanted there to be more balance between the gore and the sex and the actual character development which felt rushed and shallow while at the same time asking the reader to find deeper meaning. I felt unconnected to the story through most of it.
Viral Justice (nonfiction, Ruha Benjamin): I have no doubt Ruha Benjamin is brilliant, but this seemed like a 2020 racial justice rush job that darted around so much, it was hard to focus anywhere. The issues are important, but I think the format could have been better.
On to March! What are reading this month (maybe even outdoors!)?
Immediately added Monstrilio to my TBR
I was so privileged to be on the receiving end of your immediate thoughts about COME AND GET IT.
Also "Moby, no dick." I'm dead.