September 2020 Round Up

Before I start, let me just say I wasn't able to read as much. September has been a pretty busy month, and for the most part, it's exhausted me. However, I enjoyed a lot of what I read - probably too much to write interesting reviews. I'll try to keep things balanced but no promises....

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

I picked this up on the recommendation of a lot of people - and it's also shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020! How could I not? I had so many thoughts about this book, before and after reading it. Real Life spans a weekend, after Wallace finds out his father dies. It touches on so many different themes - race, sex, trauma. Because it's a long book spanned over literally a few days, Taylor provides you with an intense amount of detail. Sometimes, it felt like a dizzying amount.

Anyway, my thoughts? I felt so angry at the people in Wallace's life - their cowardice, their simplicity, how they all seem to use him. But if I'm being honest.... I felt the same about Wallace. Taylor portrays such complex relationships, and at the end, I felt such a sense of sympathy for Wallace, and a resounding amount of irritation. I would highly recommend this - reading this was so intense it was hard to put down.

Rating: An easy ★★★★★

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

I've read so many books this year that try to touch on hyper realistic modern culture, and they have all failed so intensely. Boy Parts succeed in so many ways - I tried so hard to find it annoying, but it was so charming. The relatability of a friend writing angry Tumblr posts about you, the messiness of acquaintances, oh my god the pop culture references! Clark did so well in incorporating these without making it embarrassing. That alone made this book enjoyable.

Boy Parts is about Irina and her career of photographing men in submissive, definitely but also are-they-really exploitative positions. I found it hard to follow towards the end - but not because of Clark's writing. Irina is an unreliable narrator, and I spent so much of this book trying to decipher between Irina's perception and what was actually happening. I loved this book, and I was immediately sucked up into its very real portrayal of a messy life.

Warning: this book can get pretty graphic. I would thoroughly warn before reading.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Monogamy by Sue Miller

The idea of people dying frightens me so much. I hate uncertainty, I hate the unknown, I hate the thought of losing someone important to me. Monogamy is a woefully sad story painting grief, betrayal and loneliness, following an unexpected event, and an unexpected betrayal.It also reminds you of the complexity of relationships, how you can be happy and still.... Not be. This book painted beautiful imagery and so deeply touched on the perspectives of so many - of thoughts and feelings of people who wouldn't normally be considered - the too-present ex wife, an unknown lover. It was so easy to be absorbed into this world. Maybe I'll give up law to own a bookstore like Graham....

However, I struggled to read this towards the end. Maybe this is just a common theme with me lately - but I felt that the ending of the book couldn't quite hold my attention when the focus of the story shifted. But don't let that put you off - the rest of this book was well worth the wait to read.

Rating: ★★★★★

Ordinary People by Diana Evans

Let me start this review by saying that I am perhaps not the best person to read this book. I knew that going into this, I would need to be acquainted with London. And I thought I was (turned out I wasn't). This book was mostly written well, outside of the intensely long descriptive paragraph that didn't actually add any value, and the plot definitely had me interested. Ordinary People showcases the struggles of 2 couples - Melissa and Michael, who were once oh so passionate and have since lost their spark, and Damian and Stephanie, who can no longer connect after the death of Damian's father. This book touches on a lot of different topics, but the number one topic I enjoyed the most was culture. I definitely started this book thinking I knew how it would end, and I was pleased to find out I still felt fulfilled when it deviated from my expectation.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

The first thing you need to know about Pachinko is that, despite its intimidating length, you do not need a detailed understanding of Korean-Japanese history to be hooked. Pachinko follows Sunja through 4 generations of her family - her parents, herself, her children, her grandchildren, following her move from Korea to Japan. I cant say anything more, because I really do not want to give anything away. This book is best read blind.

Reading this was a ride. I read the entire thing in 2 days, which is more impressive because it was during a work week. I've seen a lot of people describe the writing as poor - for example, Lee writes about her characters attributes instead of showing them - but I think the plain writing made way for the depth of the plot and characters, because there really was a lot to get through, and it truly would've been overwhelming to have beautiful prose and an intense storyline.