[59] House Moms by Jen Lancaster
Fiction / Women?, Amazon First Reads Book, Kindle

Synopsis: Three women are attempting to reinvent themselves in a small town university in rural Indiana. Janelle is hiding from the mob – she literally has a new identity and made up past, CeCe’s glam life came tumbling down when her husband ran away after embezzling funds and she is looking for a place to stay and way to survive, and her daughter Hayden is attempting to be independent. Janelle and CeCe end up as sorority house moms, and Hayden works at a local coffee shop and takes graduate classes.

Review: Well, if my half-assed synopsis didn’t give it away, I didn’t love this book. It was kind of bizarrely disjointed. The writing was really casual, but not in a fun way. I didn’t care about 2 of the 3 stories, and barely cared about the third. Why did I even finish this? Meh.

Recommend? No

[60] Pageboy by Elliot Page
Biography & Autobiography / LGBTQ, saw in “Available Now” on Libby, audiobook

TW: homophobic slurs

Synopsis: Elliot Page shares snippets of his life story from childhood to current day.

Review: Y’all, this is an emotional listen. Prepare to feel lots of feelings when you take it in. Page did an excellent job describing the angst and hatred he felt toward his body and the person others wanted him to be. Honestly, the book made me feel like absolute shit until he got top surgery and finally felt like himself. And I think that’s a good thing – for the reader to feel how hard that is. But whoa, it’s intense.

A lot of reviewers complain that the book is not chronological and reads like poetry. It didn’t bother me as much listening to it, but I can see me putting the book down had I been reading it. Elliot’s monotone did annoy me at times though, ha.

Recommend? Yes, if you are ready to feel all the feelings

[61] A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey
Fiction / Family Life / Siblings, saw in “Available Now” on Libby, audiobook

Synopsis: Natalie hasn’t spoken to her two siblings in fifteen years, since she was 18 and got them both arrested and sent to jail. She also hasn’t been home to Santa Cruz since – she went to college in Boston and never returned. But she hears from a lawyer that her mother passed and left her historic Victorian mansion to the three siblings if and only if the three of them show up at the house together. Natalie treks back to California to see if she can get her two siblings to show up.

Review: This book was interesting and kept me engaged. I appreciated the reveal of why the siblings went to jail early on in chapter 5 and not making us wait until the near end of the book. And I liked all the sub stories going on – Natalie’s work and boyfriend issues and trying to find herself, Natalie making new friends and love interests, what’s been going on with Natalie’s siblings. They were all characters I felt invested in.

I do have to say though, the narrator bugged me. I hated how she did men’s voices, and she kind of talked like Holly Hunter, ugh. And Natalie is a bit frustrating. She makes poor choices, is a meddler, and her cat was lost for half the book and her level of worry was too low for me, ha. But at the same time, I found myself getting defensive of Natalie and worried about certain situations, so even though she frustrated me, I was rooting for her.

It tied up a bit rapidly and neatly, but whatever, at least they didn’t leave me hanging.

Recommend? Sure!