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[69] Here for It : Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays by R. Eric Thomas
Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs, Green Light by Jamie on The Popcast
Synopsis: R. Eric Thomas (playwright, The Moth host, and writer for Elle.com) shares essays about his life and learning to accept himself as a Black gay Christian.
Review: Thomas is hilarious and his life is interesting so I thought I’d dig this but I didn’t. Sad face. The essays fell flat for me – vacillating between too fast paced and over-laced with jokes to sprawling with too many questions. The focus of the book is Thomas feeling “other” and figuring out who he is and how he fits in, so I get all the questions, and he seems like a super fun dude, but I wasn’t here for the book. I wanted more detail from it, more focus, maybe? I am totally in the minority in this opinion, as this book is highly rated and highly recommended, so don’t use my review to decide whether or not you’ll read it!
Recommend? No
[70] I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman
Fiction / Contemporary Women, heard about on Currently Reading “Season 2, Episode 46, Say Hello to our Newest Host + Books that Shook Our Worldviews”
Synopsis: Jessica Burnstein is a single mom and busy lawyer in LA. She takes a week off to do an organized tour of east coast schools with her daughter Emily, and the friction they have at home follows them on to the tour. Jessica is very focused on work and paying for Emily to go to college, and Emily isn’t even sure if she wants to, and doesn’t expect her mother to know anything about her, since she’s rarely home.
Review: When I heard there was a new Abbi Waxman book out I was so excited! I’ve enjoyed her other books, and think it’s fun she has some of the same characters in them (since they’re all set in LA). I wasn’t really in to this book though. It felt too fast paced, and had me questioning “do people really talk this way?” and (again) “are young people really so trendy and woke?” (I am definitely out of touch with the youths.) Most of the book is Jessica and Emily being snippy with each other as they attend this week long tour with other parent-child duos from LA. They do foray in to a few other topics (questioning if Jessica is happy with life, a scandal at Emily’s school), but that’s the gist of it.
Recommend? No
[71] Heft by Liz Moore
Fiction / Friendship, recommendation from Amy
Synopsis: Arthur Opp lives alone and hasn’t left his house in ten years. He’s severely overweight and lonely, and what is the point in leaving when you can get everything delivered? He’s pen pals with Charlene, a student he taught twenty years ago. Charlene calls him out of the blue, asking him to help her son, Kel, apply to colleges. The potential of seeing Charlene and meeting Kel inspires Arthur, but also makes him extremely nervous.
Review: After this, and Long Bright River, I am convinced Moore is brilliant and I should read the rest of her backlist. Warning, this book is depressing – a lot of it is about loneliness, addiction, broken families, and poverty – but gah, it’s so good. We get the story from Arthur and Kel’s perspectives, and I enjoyed Kel’s a bit more – maybe because I felt there was more potential for him, and that I knew more about him. But they’re both interesting characters, and Moore is brilliant with how she reveals their stories! I’m so glad Amy recommended this to me (after I recommended Long Bright River and she couldn’t get it, she read two books off of Moore’s backlist – she also loved The Unseen World, which I just put on hold on Libby).
Recommend? Yes!
Oh, I am so glad you liked Heft! Good synopsis. I also liked Kel’s perspective a lot, but Arthur fascinated me – I kept thinking about the people who are profiled on hoarder/obesity shows and how it so often goes back to trauma they experienced. She really is a brilliant writer – Long Bright River is sitting here waiting for me to finish my library books, I am really looking forward to reading it. And if my book club ever gets started again, I think I will choose Heft when it is my turn.
I liked that one Abbi Waxman novel about the bookstore but not so much the other ones, so I’ll give her new one a pass, I think. Hopefully Liz Moore comes out with something new soon!
I think I wanted to know more about Arthur and his trauma and that we only got a peek at the end! But that is the brilliance of her writing – you believe Arthur’s character and were willing to wait to get his story. I can’t wait to hear what you think of Long Bright River.
The bookstore one was my fave too. Def give this one a pass!
I am glad to read your review of the Abbi Waxman book – makes me grateful I decided to abandon it. I just could not stand the snipping between the mom and her daughter, and all the miscommunication. I feel like she was trying for a Gilmore Girls vibe, but it just did NOT work at all.
You are NOT missing out by abandoning it! I have never seen Gilmore Girls but I’ve heard a few things about it to make me think I would not like it, and I think that IS the vibe Waxman was going for here. Strife between a teenage daughter and her mother makes sense. It does. But it wasn’t entertaining at all.