Everything I Read in September 2024.

This was not the best month of reading. It started so strong… Big Fan was fantastic! After that, I dove headfirst into The Bee Sting, which took me forever to read. The book itself is a masterpiece. The way that the author gets into character for each of the four family members? Amazing. The writing is incredible. I’m still thinking about the ending and wondering if what I think happened actually happened. But was it enjoyable to read? Absolutely not. I found myself feeling a huge wave of relief when I finished it. After that I read the new Liane Moriarty–a massive letdown!

On Substack, someone asked me what makes me not DNF a book that I’m not enjoying, as I am generally a big believer of DNFing. (After all, there are too many good books to read something you’re not loving!). This month was a perfect example with both The Bee Sting and Here One Moment… for different reasons! With Here One Moment, I am (was?) a Liane Moriarty superfan. I will continue to read if the book is by an author I love. I think, sadly, that Moriarty is off of my “favorite authors” list after this one. As for The Bee Sting, the author is coming to the Charleston Literary Festival next month and I’d signed up to go to his talk with a few friends. So, I was sort of locked into finishing it. I just wish I had taken (many) peoples’ advice and listened to it instead.

All of this to say, I am a little ashamed of how little I read, but oh well. I do highly recommend reading (listening to!) Stolen Focus! I mean it when I say.. that book is life-changing. And of course, Big Fan!

PS – Last month’s list!

Everything I Read in September 2024

Romance

Big Fan, by Alexandra Romanoff

First of all, this book is the definition of a little treat, clocking in at just under 200 pages. Second, it’s pretty much like if The Idea of You and Scandal had a baby (don’t worry, no huge age differences here!). I am not typically a huge romance reader, but I really enjoyed it. It is smartly written and feminist, with a main character I admired and could relate to. I say this a lot, but we really need more romance novels where the main character has her act together. No more messy/helpless damsels in distress!

Maya is a political strategist who can’t seem to escape the limelight. Her ex-husband’s high-profile sex scandal (he cheated on her with a young aide) nearly ruined her career, but now she has a fresh start working for a gubernatorial candidate. No more drama, or so she tells herself. It’s time to focus and get back to being taken seriously. But when she receives an email from her teenage boy brand crush, all bets are off. Charlie is set to make a solo comeback and wants Maya’s help. And it turns out she likes grown-up Charlie even more than she liked teenage Charlie. Maya is torn between her heart and her political ambitions as she tries to balance the two.

This was a fun book. I loved the writing and the characters, and I liked that it was a fast little read. Overall Score: A // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Contemporary Fiction

Here One Moment, by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty has always been one of those authors I pre-order without even reading the book’s descriptions. I am reevaluating that, as I haven’t loved her last few books (and didn’t love this one). This wasn’t bad, but it was 500 pages, which felt too long for something I was just medium about. The book opens on an airplane. There was a slight delay, but everything is fine. And then something happens: A woman (who we later will learn is called Cherry, aka The Death Lady) begins predicting each of the passengers’ deaths (and causes of death). At first, it’s just a laugh/creepy story. But then, people start dying… exactly how Cherry had predicted they would.

We learn Cherry’s life story; we meet some of the passengers. If you knew exactly when (and how) you were going to die, how would you change your life? Would you try to dodge it or just accept it? The concept was interesting but it was just too long. I found that I just didn’t care about a lot of the story (so much seemed unnecessary, the book could be a third shorter), and the ending was just meh for me. I’d say to skip this! Overall Score: B // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Literary Fiction

The Bee Sting, by Paul Murray

A week after finishing this, I still couldn’t decide what I felt about it. This book is a masterpiece. It is extremely well-written and clever and really challenges the reader and makes them think. That being said, I didn’t exactly enjoy reading it! The book is about a family in chaos. It’s told from each family member’s perspective. Dickie, his wife Imelda, and their children Cass and PJ. Dickie’s once-lucrative car dealership is going under, and Dickie seems to be doing nothing to fix it. He spends his days in the woods, building a survivalist-style bunker with his handyman. Meanwhile, Imelda is selling off all her jewelry and furniture and considering having an affair.

Imelda’s chapters are very hard to read. To convey her lack of education (and chaotic mindset), there’s no punctuation. Their daughter Cass, once an academic superstar, has let her grades slip and is drinking herself into oblivion. Will she even manage to get into college? Meanwhile, her brother PJ plays video games and talks to strangers in chat rooms. He daydreams about running away. When did it all go so wrong? The book takes us all the way back to Dickie and Imelda’s childhoods, through Imelda’s wedding day when a bee stung her in the face. The ending is really something. I can’t stop thinking about it. Overall Score: B+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Thrillers

Madwoman, by Chelsea Bieker

I really struggled with this one for the first hundred pages or so but ultimately wound up loving it. The ending was fantastic, and there were a few big twists. That being said, there is a massive trigger warning for domestic violence. So, if that bothers you, please: avoid it! (I was bothered by it and I’m pretty hard to shock/scare!). Clove has a picture-perfect life. An adoring husband, two beautiful children… a privileged life in a beautiful Oregon town. Sure, she’s addicted to figuring out the next cure-all supplement, but she’s happy. She has secrets and a dark past but she’s managed to bury it.. no one will ever find out who she really is and what she is running from. Or so she thought, until one day a letter arrives in the mail from a woman’s prison. And everything she’s worked so hard for could fall apart.

We witness what feels like an All Fours style breakdown (she secretly gets a job at the grocery store and becomes a little bit obsessed with a woman who works there). The book gets very messy and is, at times, super difficult to read (it’s hard to watch someone totally unravel!), but the ending is worth it. I wound up enjoying it and can’t stop thinking about it. Overall Score: B+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org

Non-Fiction

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari

This book is a masterpiece–both interesting and helpful. I opted to listen to it via Audible and cannot recommend it enough. It’s changed the way I think about social media and the apps (mostly, the way that they are designed), and taught me so much. I finished it last week and can’t stop thinking about it (and telling everyone I know to read/listen!). If you ever feel like you can’t pay attention, it’s a must. But also: if you work in the social media space, or if you are a parent. (Even as a non-parent, the chapters about parenting and children were fascinating to me). I love that the book is a combination of relatable anecdotes from Hari’s life and researched interviews with experts.

Hari tried everything (even abandoning his phone for three months!) and traveled the world to interview the leading experts on human attention. His findings are incredible and jarring. Sure, there are things that we as individuals can do to improve our focus, but this is less about personal failure and more about the world we are living in. This is one of those books I will probably read more than once. Overall Score: A+ // Order on Amazon.com or Bookshop.org