Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
They aren’t calling this the book of the summer for nothin’. In fact I absolutely attribute this to pulling me out of my reading slump. Everyone’s been talking about it, I’m sure you’ve heard something, but for those of you who haven’t this book is all about a fictional band from the 70’s. It’s told in the format of an oral history- imagine if Rolling Stones Magazine interview everyone involved in a band’s history and pieced their comments together chronologically. Once I got into the format I loved it and it made me want to go back to listen to the audiobook version because I heard they nabbed some great actors for it. I’ve already started casting the Hollywood movie version of this book in my head. It’s entertaining, riveting and beautifully told. Loved.
Parkland by Dave Cullen
I really appreciated Columbine, Cullen’s previous tome around school shootings, but I loved Parkland. Whereas in Columbine Cullen focuses on the events of the shooting, in Parkland he chooses to aim his lens on the kids who would be come the faces of a new movement in the aftermath of the shootings. There was so much I didn’t know about this story and so much that gave me hope. These kids were incredible and what they managed to do, without the help of adults was pretty incredible. It is non-fiction, but it reads like a novel at times.
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Ok, so I can’t say that I necessarily liked this book, but I’m so thankful to have read it. It’s format is not my usual jam (short stories) and it veers into the realm of science fiction (also not my usual jam), but it’s more than just that. It’s as if a book of short stories dealing with social justice had a baby with a science fiction short story collection. This would be the result. Some of the stories made me uncomfortable. Some of them made me profoundly sad. All of them took some elements of our society that are troubling and heightened them to a degree that forced me to pause and wonder if this was the course of the natural outcome of said elements. Which is, of course, troubling to consider. I think it’s a really important book to read, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t need to take breaks between stories.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
I really loved this story of two friends/loves who dip in and out of each others’ lives. It was set in Ireland, a place I love more than anything, and the characters are endearing and maddening all at once. I think Rooney captures that age of 18-20 something and all the relational strife that surrounds it really well. I found it to hold my attention and my emotions well and I was sad to close the book when I was done- always a mark of a good one.
