I don’t know how I got here, but I am now a person who says things like, “I kind of overdid it this week,” and what that means is I did hot yoga five days in a row. Being middle aged is lame. I’m working a killer half moon though.
I can’t totally put my finger on what I loved about Neon in Daylight. It isn’t really breaking any ground story-wise. I don’t know, maybe there is something to that theory that there are only like six different stories or something, not going to look it up. I loved the writing here, and I loved the characters, especially Inez. She’s unforgettable. I always have to remove points when the plot goes to the older man, 25 year old woman place, but that’s my issue. Too loaded! Anyway, this is a great debut.
Good Neighbors is one hot mess of a book. I’m really wondering what the heck was going on with this book. The story is right up my alley; basically anytime a book is compared to Big Little Lies, I’m reading it. But this narrator is the worst! I honestly want to meet the author and ask her why she gave us such an awful narrator. I hated being in her head, she is so constantly judging and critiquing all her friends and she’s a neurotic mess. And any white characters who complain about the very notion of white privilege because they have ever had a difficult day in their lives just lose me forever. This was a bad book.
The Perfect Nanny had a lot of buzz around it. I’d been waiting for a long time and was really excited for it. It gets going right away, and it’s pretty quick and has a chilling ending, but still I felt like I was expecting more. The climax of the story happens on page one, so there’s no real suspense, and I was hoping to at least get some insights or at least a twist, but it just didn’t deliver. I seem to be in the minority with this one. I thought it was okay, but just okay.
Back Talk also had a lot of buzz around it. All short story collections have their highs and lows; sadly I felt this one was mostly duds. There were a couple standouts but for me, this one was something of a disappointment.
I almost never do memoirs, but I love Maggie O’Farrell, and I can’t really resist the premise of seventeen brushes with death. Oh man, the first story is so terrifying! I honestly gasped out loud AND cried. Jeez. I’m about halfway through I Am, I Am, I Am, and it’s pretty great. I’m going to need something light and funny after this though. Open to suggestions!
