[29] Drowning: the Rescue of Flight 1421 by T. J. Newman
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense, heard about from Jamie on The Popcast, read Kindle version

Synopsis: Minutes after taking off from Hawaii, flight 1421 loses an engine and all redundancy systems fail, so the plane has to land in the water (this is called “ditching”). Some of the crew and passengers do not get off, and the plane sinks with them in it, and authorities struggle to figure out how to rescue them.

Review: This was a suspenseful, quick read that I enjoyed. Not unputdownable, but good. I could tell it was well researched, but thankfully, not overly explained (like how an airplane system or diving or etc. works), so I didn’t get bored by all those details. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but they’re distinct and spread out enough that you can. We got back story on one set of characters only, which I thought was an odd choice, until I realized those were the main characters. I think the rights were bought to make this into a movie and I’d totally watch it – it’s nonstop action!

Recommend? Yes

[30] When in Rome by Sarah Adams
Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, can’t remember where I heard about this one!, read on Kindle

Synopsis: Rae Rose is a famous singer who is burned out and in desperate need of an escape, so she decides to drive to Rome – Rome, Kentucky, that is. She plans to stay in the small town’s bed & breakfast and fly under the radar, but her car breaks down in Noah Walker’s yard on the drive in. Noah is getting over a breakup and reluctantly offers for Rae to spend the night in his guest bedroom until she can get her car fixed. When he finds out it can’t be fixed for two weeks, and she still wants to stay in town for a few days, and the bed & breakfast is mysteriously full, she ends up staying at his place longer and he does he best to remain distant (and I’m betting you can guess that he fails at it, ha).

Review: I loved Rae and Noah – Rae is sweet and sassy, and Noah tries to be grumpy, but has a huge heart. It’s completely hypocritical that I didn’t mind the long drawn-out background story for Noah in this book, but couldn’t stand it for the male character in Georgie, All Along. I have no excuses other than being a huge fan of the “behind the scenes of a famous person” and “famous person falls in love with small town nobody” storylines (see The Stand-In). This book is definitely silly (the Audrey Hepburn obsession) and unrealistic, but I loved it!

Side Note: these modern romances are so purposeful about consent! Has anyone else picked up on that? It’s great, but there is one scene where I wished they would have kissed but didn’t because one of them was drunk. Does that make me a horrible person?!

Recommend? Yes! And I can’t wait to read Practice Makes Perfect the “part ii” about one of Noah’s three sisters.

[31] What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
Social Science / Feminism & Feminist Theory, saw in Stephany’s Body Positive Resources post, listened to on audio book

Synopsis: Gordon, who identities as a very fat person, shares personal experiences along with history and statistics that demonstrate how horribly anti-fat our society is.

Review: First of all, I listen to Maintenance Phase (Aubrey’s podcast) and was really disappointed she didn’t read this book! Womp womp. But moving on, this is informative, and presented in a way that isn’t overly statistic-y (yay!), but also such a disappointing and difficult listen. I was absolutely slapped in the face with stories of fat people being treated horribly and inhumanely, and just generally shocked by their experience. I didn’t know because I didn’t know, and I’m glad I read this and have a better idea of their experiences now, and feel like I can be more of an advocate. And it’s definitely making me consider internal weight bias I didn’t realize I had until it was pointed out to me.

Recommend? If you’re interested, yes!