and why you should too!!
By: Rachel Lee
Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir by Dolly Alderton
I first saw this book on tiktok, or #booktok (I have mixed feelings about this, but I’m easily influenced). I saw so many good reviews, some claiming that the book was life-changing, that I felt like I had to read it. And I also found the book cover extremely cute. I went into the book expecting a self-help book. I thought I would be told what love is, how to find love, how to love. But I’m glad to say that this wasn’t a self-help book. Rather, the book stays true to its title: it’s a memoir. The book finds its resonance in that the experiences of Alderton carry emotional weight that so many women, especially women in their twenties, will find familiar. And this familiarity is comforting. The voice with which Alderton writes these anecdotes is so candid, humorous, and at times vulnerable that the reader cannot help but feel comforted. To me, the book felt like a hug and a whisper that everything would be okay. I also loved that this story was particular yet relatable. Some of the things Alderton discusses: the insecurities that come with searching for love and failing to find it, the insecurities that come with lying to yourself that you don’t need love anyway, the feeling of losing a best friend to a boyfriend, the complexities of turning thirty, the joys of living with friends, and more. I will say that the book certainly wasn’t life-changing. Still, it made me happy. And it made me excited for what is to come in my own twenties, the tiny things that come with adulthood and friendship. In her memoir, Alderton subverts the reader’s expectations for a book about romance and expands the meaning of love. Love can be found in the places we forget to look for it, whether that be a picture from a friend, an old souvenir, or the comfort of a familiar city. This book made me excited to love, in all the different capacities the word holds. And this is a book I know I’ll come back to; it’s that comforting.
Favorite line: “Love is a quiet, reassuring, relaxing, pottering, pedantic, harmonious hum of a thing; something you can easily forget is there, even though its palms are outstretched beneath you in case you fall.”
When to read this book: if you’re feeling sad for no particular reason
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
I feel like I don’t even have to explain this book. It’s just good. As an avid fan of All the Light We Cannot See, I honestly didn’t expect to love this book so much. I didn’t think he could do it again. But he did! Doerr weaves complex plot and emotion like no other. And to top it off, his prose has a tendency to be incredibly beautiful. This novel connects five characters, who are distanced by hundreds of years. It sounds impossible, but is executed masterfully. If you’re wondering why I’m not telling you more about the plot, it’s because I feel like you don’t need to know. Just read it.
Favorite line: “Sometimes the things we think are lost are only hidden, waiting to be rediscovered.”
When to read this book: if you’re looking for a nice, substantial, and engaging page-turner
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Warning: Butter focuses heavily on fatphobia and fatshaming
In Butter, we see Rika, an employee for a magazine company, and Gazii Manako, a woman recently accused of murdering several men. Rika wants to interview Gazii, who is at the center of Japanese controversy and attention. How could a woman who looks like Gazii steal the hearts, wallets, and then lives of so many men? It seems that the answer is simple: food. In this novel, Yuzuk weaves a compelling depiction of what femininity means in modern Japanese society, and what it means to be a woman in this context. I found two things incredibly compelling in this novel. The first was the spectacular depictions of food in this book. Be careful about reading this book at night; you’ll be hungry. And as the title suggests, butter has never sounded so delicious before. The second thing I found compelling was the complex depictions of womanhood. In this novel, Yuzuki questions the proper definition of womanhood that so many seek to enforce today. What is right for a ‘good’ woman to do and what is wrong for a ‘good’ woman to do? And when is feminism, in its most contrived version, actually for women? In fact, what is feminism? However, I must mention that not every reader will find this subversion of societal pressure satisfying. To a certain extent, it may be viewed as subtle, or perhaps even too comfortable. It may not feel absolute. Despite the lack of a radical subversion, however, I found the novel’s premise and exploration of character incredibly compelling.
Favorite line: “To me, you are the weaker person. Blind to what you do not want to see and reducing any who dislike you to nonexistent.”
*This is my very rough translation of a korean translation of the novel
When to read this book: if you’re looking for a unique story with lots of food references
Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
I started this book on the plane ride to Seoul. And I am a horrible reader on the plane; I get distracted by my phone, the window, and the limitless choice of movies ont he screen. But I finished it two days within getting off the plane-- the book is just that engaging. Visit from the Goon Squad is an intriguing novel, and an impressive one. Egan introduces a host of different characters, all with compelling voices, interiority, and humanity. Each chapter is dedicated to a different characters. It’s when these characters intersected that I was incredibly satisfied as a reader. It’s kind of hard for me to describe Visit from the Goon Squad. But if you’re a reader who enjoys more formal (as in structurally experimental) writing and more complex plots, this is the book for you. And the book is super famous, which I will admit isn’t always an indicator of how good it is. But in this case, the fame measures up to the quality of the novel.
Favorite line: “I’m always happy,” Sasha said. “Sometimes I just forget.”
“Rich children are always blond, Jocelyn goes. It has to do with vitamins.”
When to read: if you want to engage in a stunning array of characters woven together with a slight sci-fi twist.
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