Hello, team. I’ve read a few books so far this year, and let me tell you: the debuts are good. The weather: perfect for reading. The omicron variant: stay inside and read. Or do your thing, go inside somewhere else and read. You do you. How is everyone doing on their book reading resolutions? It’s never too late to start, here are some ideas:
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart
About an eclectic group of people stuck in upstate New York at the onset of the pandemic, this is the only book I have enjoyed—no, loved—that even mentions the pandemic. It’s hilarious.
Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui
I don’t know? Do you?
Joan is Okay by Weike Wang
Okay I lied this one also mentions a pandemic but it’s not a major plot point and it’s inescapable anyways. For fans of books about multi-faceted women just trying their best in the best way possible.
Notes on An Execution by Danya Kukakfa
You like thrillers? Here you go.
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
A big, juicy novel about two Puerto Rican siblings born in Brooklyn to a revolutionary mother who abandons them and writes them passive aggressive treatises throughout theirs live. Olga is a single, 40-something wedding planner to wealthy WASPs and her brother a congressman for the Brooklyn neighborhood in which they live, and it’s just a great story about family, generational inheritances, Puerto Rican history, Brooklyn, and hoarding.
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
Reading this book is like listening to the best gossip you’ve ever heard about people you love to hate. It takes place over a wedding weekend on an island in New England.
Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
A gothic romance set in Edinburgh in the 1800s featuring an aspiring female surgeon. Blood, mystery, meet-cutes at the morgue; what more could you want from YA.