Rapid Fire Thoughts on my First Reads of the Year

I started my reading resurgence about two years ago now and it has honestly been one of the better decisions I’ve made in my adult life However, last year, I started off strong with about five books but then had a 4-5 month lull where I didn’t read a THING and spent the rest of the year trying to catch up to meet my reading goal (a humble forty books). With that in mind, I figured a way I can hold myself accountable so I’m reading, at the very least, two books a month is to do a little check in and yap about what I’m reading/what I’ve read so far in the year.

Book 1: The Divide by Morgan Richter - 2.5

This book follows a former actress turned fraudster psychic in LA named Jenny. She had one starring role in an indie film called The Divide and thought that was gonna catapult her into fame but alas, she’s using her people skills to pretend to be able to read minds and predict futures whilst living in the studio she does her readings out of. Her world gets shaken when a detective comes to visit and tells Miss Jen Jen that the director of The Divide has been murdered. In addition, the authorities initially suspect that Jenny may be the director’s ex-wife, Gena, in hiding because they share an uncanny resemblance…and this is where our story kicks off.

So Miss Morgy Morg had me going in the first half, she really and truly did. However, without spoiling anything, this book just got kind of very unserious and that’s saying a lot coming from me because if you know me, you know I love an unserious book. I think, for me, I prefer predictability versus outrageous surprise in a mystery situation. Think Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl; two shows that valued the shock factor versus the…well, the common sense factor. Sometimes putting the pieces together and figuring out all signs point to an obvious conclusion mid-way through is better than a gag for the sake of gaggery because then the gag falls flat…and that sums up my feelings on The Divide.

Book 2: You’re Embarrassing Yourself: Stories of Love, Lust, and Movies by Desiree Akhavan - Unrated²

This book follows filmmaker/director Desiree Akhavan through adolescence, her experiences as a queer (more specifically bi) Iranian-American woman, her ever evolving relationship with her immigrant parents as well as her journey toward self acceptance and following her dreams as a filmmaker. I enjoyed reading this book even if I had to reread some of the ending chapters again through no one’s fault but my own³ . I always find anything from the life of an artist, especially non-white artists, to be useful because hearing different kinds of industry journeys reminds me that everybody’s road to what they deem to be success is different. I need this as a reminder constantly because I love a comparison game, chile. I am very quick to point out how someone else is ahead while I’m…here and I need a little nudge to put me back on my path. A testimony that lets me know that my dreams and aspirations are possible although it may (and very likely will) look completely out of left field for me than for others and that’s okay…at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Book 3: The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand - 4

This book follows a wedding on Nantucket that ends in the murder of the maid of honor before the ceremony even begins. It features a down to earth, middle class raised girl named Celeste Otis who is marrying into the uber rich and posh Winbury family via the youngest son, Benji. Both the Otis’ and the Winburys have their own drama and issues (both related and unrelated) to the murder of the bride’s best friend. I really enjoyed this book like this was a reprieve from the flop murder mystery experience I had with The Divide. They definitely did a red herring but they did it well and the reveal was both something that was plausible as well as a bit gag worthy so I was left feeling satisfied. Now that’s not to say the identity of the killer was completely off my radar before the reveal but they set it up well and did it at a decent point in the book where it didn’t seem either rush nor drawn out which is all I could ask for.

Book 4: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - 4

Alright, I was late to the party with this one and there was a successful Hulu series about this book featuring two of America’s sweethearts Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon so we should all know what this is about but in case you live under the biggest rock known to man: this book is follows a single mother Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl as they move to Shaker Heights, Ohio and befriend (kinda) the Richardson family who is the epitome of suburban white privilege. When a baby snatching scandal occurs and divides the town, drama and chaos ensues and secrets are revealed and lessons are learned and all the things. Again, I really enjoyed this book. I’ve seen some people say they don’t enjoy the third person/omniscient POV like they didn’t enjoy being in everyone’s head at once and jumping from perspectives, often times in the same paragraph. But, I actually don’t mind books like that. It is a bit confusing at first if you’re not expecting it but, once I get used to it, it’s not something that hinders my enjoyment of a book unless it’s done poorly. I’m nosy as hell and I am very curious about what everyone’s thinking at any given time so it works for me. I also find books about family/relationship dynamics to be very entertaining and are usually quick reads for me because I do love me some family drama, baby.

My most recent read was American Rapture by C.J. Leade and it was a longer read so I’m gonna marinate on it a little longer before giving it my full fledge thoughts but now I’m currently reading Erasure by Percival Everett, the book in which the movie American Fiction is based off of and I will say, I’m liking it so far and can’t wait to finish and ruminate on some thoughts and maybe do a cute movie/book comparison since, already, there are things I’m noticing that are different. And no, I’m not one of those people that think the adaptation needs to be EXACTLY like the source material but, I do like to observe and ponder the differences in the two and speculate why the adapter would take certain artistic liberties over others. So…more thoughts on that and American Rapture in my next round up. Buh bye for now.

1  Especially with the decline in literacy rates and attention spans which goes across ALL ages ranges, contrary to popular belief

2  I usually don’t rate memoirs or non-fiction unless they’re egregiously hard to follow or if they completely changed my life or my outlook which is hard to do because I’m notoriously stubborn and hard headed

3  I was listening to the last few chapters on audiobook whilst on a road trip and me and road trips do NOT mesh so I was opting for sleep most of the time