Short Book Reviews of 2019: Part 2
APRIL, MAY, & JUNE
# 9
The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
“We are born to dream and make the things we dream about.”
I don’t often read YA nowadays, but this book was too good to skip. It has everything: love, science, poetry, and so much heart.
5 out of 5 stars
# 10
The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon
“I felt how easily I could dissolve into the life I’d left behind.”
A compelling, deeply unsettling look at first love, religion, and the beliefs that drive us. Written with prose that whirls like a tornado.
2.5 out of 5 stars
# 11
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson
“Edwin never saw mastery as having an end. As an artist, believing he had perfected any technique was anathema to him.”
Fascinating looks into worlds you probably didn’t know existed, unless you’re a fly tier, of course.
3 out of 5 stars
# 12
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott
“I feel iterations of myself, as if right-now-me crosses paths with past-me or imaginary-me or future-me. "I miss you when I blink," one says. "I'm right here," says the other, and reaches out a hand.”
This. Book.
5 out of 5 stars
#13
Normal People by sally rooney
“Life offers up these moments of joy despite everything.”
A thoughtful, poignant coming of age story that thrums with melancholy, love, and tenderness on every page. Marianne and Connell prove that if no one’s normal, everyone is.
4 out of 5 stars
#14
Daisy Jones and the Six by taylor jenkins reid
“Don’t count yourself out this early. You’re all sorts of things you don’t even know yet.”
Fun, rockin’ book about music, songwriting, and the cost of fame. Written like an oral history of a band I now wish was real.
4 out of 5 stars.
#15
Shrill: notes from a loud woman by lindy west
“We’re all building our world, right now, in real time. Let’s build it together.”
Good memoir about coming into your own voice and learning how to use it. We should all be loud and shrill.
3 out of 5 stars.
#16
Renegade Women in TV & Film by elizabeth weitzman
“Women in entertainment do the same thing women everywhere have always done: create new opportunities out of imposed limitations.”
A pick-me-up of good ‘ole female empowerment featuring wonderful illustrations.
5 out of 5 stars.
#17
The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by nova jacobs
“Once you decide the universe is knowable, all kinds of answers become available to you.”
Fun mystery romp through Los Angeles, with both mathematics and literature to boot.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
#18
The Buried: an archaeology of the egyptian revolution by peter hessler
“Maybe that was the meaning of spiderwebs. They connected it all. The webs ran everywhere from this place they called um al-duniya, mother of the world.”
The wide-eyed, Egypt-obsessed 6th grader inside me loved everything about this book. Successfully reignited my obsession with Egypt — past and present. An incredible work of journalism.
5 out of 5 stars.
#19
Trust Exercise by susan choi
“We never know, when life reunites us with someone, how closely our stories will match.”
A novel in which nothing is as it seems. Fast and mesmerizing read. Left me thinking long after the last page.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
#20 I Feel Bad About My Neck
#21 I Remember Nothing
#22 Nora Ephron: The Last INTERVIEW
“Just about everything is a story.”
Reread the two essay collections for the millionth times, and found this wonderful book of interviews. Nora Ephron was a QUEEN in so many ways.
5 out of 5 stars, on all fronts.
#23
I’ll Have What She’s Having: How Nora Ephron’s Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy BY ERIN CARLSON
If you love Nora Ephron, you’ll love this book. Such a fun read.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
#24
Lost and Wanted BY NELL FREUDENBERGER
“You can hear about something for a lifetime, though, even something you know is happening all around you, and still not really believe it — until it happens close enough to feel yourself.”
Interesting premise, but better as a longline than in execution.
1.5 out of 5 stars.
#25
Miracle Creek BY ANGIE KIM
“Good things and bad — every friendship and romance formed, every accident, every illness — resulted from the conspiracy of hundreds of little things, and and of themselves inconsequential.”
A dazzling drama that unravels piece by piece, from different perspectives, until the truth finally comes out.
5 out of 5 stars.