Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist was actually a re-read. It had been longer than I realized (18 months!) since I'd read this one. However, I think about it at least every other week. Truth be told, I (re)chose this one because I needed a moment of calm. I couldn't decide what I wanted to read next, so I decided to take a pit stop with an old friend. This is one of my go-to recommendations, and I'm glad I took the time to choose it for me this round. It's beauty is in its simplicity of prioritizing. It was good to actually revisit its message word for word. Oh, and if you're new here, I've actually written about my love of this one before - Taking Down Chairs.
Read this book if - You need some inspiration. You need some affirmation that it's okay to not do it all - and permission to stop trying.
Lord Of The Flies by William Golding was a book I picked up by virtue of my challenge to read something I didn't enjoy the first time around. Y'all, did I really read and get the dynamics of this one 15?!?!? I can assure you that I didn't. Given how often the idea of this book is mentioned when talking about problems with culture, I wanted to understand the source text. As a surprise to no one, this is a heavy read. Again, there is no way that high school freshman me emotionally processed this one as it was intended The 35 year old me was able to take this one in and understand what was happening much better. Also, I'm still not sure enjoy is the right word for how I feel about this one now, but I can say I have better perspective on what happens. So, there's that?
Read this book if - You're nostalgic for English 9H? You hear this book referenced often, but want to actually understand what it's all about.
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan was a really quirky read. There's really no better way to describe it. It's really a book like no other. The premise is Clay, a guy from the world of technology, picks up a job at a strange, old-fashioned bookstore. Those who interact with the bookstore are a mystery, and he tries to figure out just what the heck is going on with it all. It's actually a read that's kind of hard to explain, but I enjoyed it far more than I expected.
Read this book if - You like books that are a little unconventional. You like books about books.
The Double Bind was interesting. I accidentally saw part of the ending as I was figuring out many pages I had left to read, so I feel like I didn't get the emotion and *GASP* of the twist ending as intended. I absolutely loved the first Chris Bohjalian I read (Midwives), and it's his writing that kept me reading on this one. Given the dimensions of the plot, it's a lot to process from an emotion and trauma perspective. In other words, I'm offering you a content warning. This one was another heavy read, and there were a lot of moving parts that feed into the twist, but also made things hard to follow at times. It wasn't my favorite, but I'll definitely read more Chris Bohjalian.
Read this book if - You like a side of unexpected twists with your fiction reads.
