August 2021 Reading Round-Up
The best and worst of my reading month
Welcome to the August 2021 Reading Round-Up. Each month, I write about the books I read and rank them from worst to best.
I had a slow start to my reading at the beginning of the month, but my pace picked up in the final weeks of August, allowing me to read the most books in a month this year to date. Yet, despite the total number of books read, I found that many of them were fairly average. Others might hold different opinions, however, so I encourage you to read the reviews and hopefully pick up a good book as a result. Happy reading!
11. Khalil - Yasmina Khadra
Fiction, 240 pages
Readers meet Khalil on his way to Paris to carry out a suicide bombing in the name of jihad. He is in a car with a childhood friend and two strangers who have all been brought together by the same terrorist cell to attack the Bataclan and the Stade de France. Khalil’s job is to detonate himself in the subway as people flee the first round of attacks in the area. However, when he tries to set off his suicide vest, the bombs do not go off, and Khalil is forced to make his way back to his neighborhood in Brussels and contend with his involvement in the attacks and faith.
Khalil is meant to be a rumination on why people are drawn to extremist ideology and commit acts of violence. However, a full development of the complex psychological reasons that people do terrible things is not adequately explored. At its simplest level, Khalil becomes a terrorist because he feels broadly alienated from his family and community in Belgium, without providing any specific examples as to why. This on its own is not reason for dismissal, however, there are plenty of other people in Khalil’s orbit who he interacts with every day who also sometimes feel a sense of isolation from the broader Belgian community, and yet are not joining terrorist groups. Khalil himself also feels like a caricature of what one would assume a hardened ideologue would be like. He is one-dimensionally evil and unwilling to compromise in any of his views, even for his twin sister who desperately wants to connect. On top of how little Khalil is fleshed out as a character, the plot is also full of basic conceptual holes. There is never a good reason given for why the suicide vest does not detonate, despite the author hinting at multiple reasons that are never fully explored. Khalil’s flashes of human emotion come only at the hands of unlikely coincidences, such as when a random cousin dies in the Paris attacks and when his sister is ultimately killed in the 2016 attack in the Brussels metro. If there is a redeeming quality to this book, it is that it could potentially serve as a high-level primer into the basics of radicalization for people generally unfamiliar with the subject.
Rating: 6.5/10
10. Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Fiction, 333 pages
Daisy Jones and the Six is an oral history of the rise and fall of the fictional rock-band Daisy Jones and the Six. The book takes place in the seventies, and is told collectively by the members of the band and the people who were in their orbit at the time. Given that the book is about the foundations of the band, there are many pages dedicated to the song-writing process, which I did not find particularly interesting after the first or second example. Before picking it up I had heard a lot of hype surrounding this book, but ultimately my expectations were not met. I did not find any of the characters particularly likable, and the ones that presented likable characteristics did not feel like realistic portrayals of humans. The book was also not particularly interesting. Although some novels have detailed characters who supersede the need for a compelling plot, this book had neither, and instead felt like a slow moving generic take on whatever stereotype you associate with seventies rock-and-roll.
Rating: 7/10
9. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab
Fiction/Fantasy/Magical Realism, 442 pages
In 1714 Addie LaRue is about to be married, condemning her to a life contained to her small town of Villon, France. In a moment of panic she makes a Faustian deal with the devil for more time. The devil agrees to let her live for as long as she wants, but while she lives she will not be remembered by anyone as soon as she leaves the room. When she grows tired of this way of living, she must surrender her soul to the devil. Addie lives for three hundred years, witnessing history across continents as it unfolds in real time, but unable to hold onto anything or anyone permanently. One day in 2014, Addie wanders into a secondhand bookstore in Brooklyn and meets Henry who, for the first time since she made her deal, mysteriously remembers her.
I do not typically read books with fantastical elements, but do enjoy plots that play with time and span across history. I was disappointed by how little Schwab did with this key element of her novel. Although Addie lives for 300 years, the events of the world feel like afterthoughts. I also felt that Schwab was trying a little too hard and too frequently to make larger philosophical points out of her characters’ choices and the basic premise of wanting to live a life of meaning, regardless of the cost.
Rating: 7.5/10
8. The Jetsetters - Amanda Eyre Ward
Fiction, 334 pages
The cover of this book is incredibly misleading. At first glance, it gives off the impression that the pages inside contain a vapid beach read about rich people laying around on vacation. The jacket description of the book does not do much better to dissuade this portrayal, advertising a family reconnecting on a cruise around southern Europe after the family matriarch, Charlotte, wins the trip in a contest. While these facts are not false, it does nothing to describe the deep emotional traumas that each of the characters has had to deal with or is currently dealing with. From coming out as gay to conservative members of the family, to a crumbling marriage with an unfaithful partner, to alcoholism, to suicide attempts, to just general anxiety about living a meaningful life as time runs out, this book has many dark elements hiding under shiny packaging. I listened to part of this book on audio and think that my reading experience was enhanced because of the stellar performance by the narrator who adds emphasis and dramatics to the story that might have otherwise gone unnoticed if I had just been reading normally. Overall, this book was more than I bargained for but definitely appreciated.
Rating: 7.5/10
7. Seven Days in June - Tia Williams
Fiction, 336 pages
Seven Days in June was a buzzy book this summer. Selected as the Reese’s Book Club book for June, I saw it in every bookstore I walked in to (which is quite a few) and reviewed on a few different book-related podcasts that I listen to. As a result, I felt like I needed to pick it up. The book is a beach read in the best sense of its definition - snappy and funny, but also full of substance and tough subjects such as addiction, substance abuse, and chronic illness. The protagonists of Seven Days in June are Eva, a romance writer, and Shane, an award-winning fiction writer. Shane and Eva met during their senior year of high school while living in D.C. and fell madly in love. An accidental drug overdose, however, pulled them apart and they do not meet again for nearly fifteen years, during which Eva has had a child (who is definitely the best character in this book), and Shane has refocused his life to get sober. When they meet again, at a book talk featuring popular Black writers, Shane and Eva instantly reconnect, but are forced to confront the trauma of their past before they can move forward. I enjoyed the book but felt that the ending was rushed and tried too hard to fit the plot arc of romance cliché.
Rating: 7.5/10
6. Made in China - Amelia Pang
Non-Fiction, Chinese labor camps, import/export production, 288 pages
In 2012, a woman in Oregon noticed a SOS note that had been slipped into the packaging of her Halloween decorations. The note came from a political prisoner in China named Sun Yi, who was forced to work in a labor camp for at least fifteen hours a day under back-breaking conditions making products to be shipped around the world. Amelia Pang uses Sun Yi’s experience to tell the broader story of the appalling conditions of Chinese labor camps, the connections between prison labor and the development of the Chinese economy, and the saturation of products manufactured in Chinese prisons within the pipeline of known, profitable companies from H&M and Zara to the companies that produce dog waste bags. The cheap and efficient labor that these camps are able to provide make products that have been made with slave labor difficult to avoid, and as a result, Pang encourages readers to use the book as a wake up call to become more conscious consumers.
Rating: 8/10
5. 10:04 - Ben Lerner
Fiction, 240 pages
After being diagnosed with an enlarged aortic valve that could be symptomatic of Marfan Syndrome, the narrator is forced to reckon with his mortality while life around him continues to move forward as if nothing is wrong. At the same time that the narrator is coming to terms with his health, his friend asks him to donate sperm so that she can have a baby, the Occupy Wall Street protests achieve their peak attention, and two “once in a generation” hurricanes hit New York. Despite all of this, this is not a book centered around plot, but rather on personal reckoning. By the end, readers become aware that the unnamed narrator is an only slightly fictionalized version of the author, Ben Lerner, which adds another layer of complexity to the story and the urgency the narrator feels to make sense of the world and his place in it.
Rating: 8/10
4. Do Not Disturb - Michela Wrong
Non-Fiction, Rwandan/Great Lakes Politics, 442 pages
Do Not Disturb is a history of modern Rwanda from colonial liberation in 1962 to the present. Although the genocide is mentioned, it is not the primary focus. Instead, Wrong writes in great detail about the rich and complicated politics of the country to make the argument that Paul Kagame and the ruling political party, the RPF, are not just corrupt but also dangerous. Although Rwanda’s economic development has made Rwanda a success story that Western governments like to look to, Wrong argues that the advertised rate of economic development is both fabricated by the Kagame dictatorship and also masks a repressive political regime that crushes dissent within and beyond its borders. Kagame has sanctioned the surveillance and murder of political opponents around the world, including the murder of his friend and former external chief of intelligence, Patrick Karegeya in South Africa, which centers Wrong’s writing. I am embarrassed by my gap in knowledge about the Great Lakes region in Africa, and felt that Wrong’s book was a fascinating and well-researched piece of journalism into a Machiavellian political machinery.
Rating: 8/10
3. Five Tuesdays in September - Lily King
Fiction/Short Stories, 240 pages, release date November 9, 2021
Five Tuesdays in Winter is a collection of ten short stories. Although none of the characters appear more than once, each story is linked by the universal themes of the search for love and connection. Like any short story collection, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but true to form for Lily King, the quality of the writing never lags. Two standouts were 'When in the Dordogne', about a young boy who spends the summer with two college kids watching his house while his parents travel to Europe and 'Hotel Seattle' about a man reconnecting with his college roommate after coming out.
I am a massive fan of King. Her novel Euphoria is excellent and her previous book, Writers and Lovers, is one of my favorite books of all time. Part of my love for King's work comes from her ability to create rich, detailed, beautiful characters without relying on flashy plots. While I very much enjoyed this collection, I think my favorite part about King's work is getting to watch characters develop slowly and intricately, which sometimes is only fully possible throughout the course of a novel. Given that this is work of short stories, I sometimes felt that the story ended just as I was getting to know a character in detail, leaving me wanting more. Although personally disappointed, this is undeniably the sign of a good book.
Rating: 8.5/10
Thank you to Macmillan for the advance review copy.
2. Burnt Sugar - Avni Doshi
Fiction, 229 pages
Antara has a complicated relationship with her mother, Tara. Not content to live a life as a traditional wife in India, Tara takes Antara along with her as she joins an ashram for a few years, becomes homeless, and tries to find her own identity. However, when readers meet Tara and Antara, Antara is an adult facing the realization that her mother is starting to forget things, exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimers. Antara, who is now married to an Indian-American man and lives a life completely opposite to her childhood, must reckon with the decision to care for her mother and confront the burdens of their shared past. Burnt Sugar was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize and I can see why. Doshi packed a lot into this short book and filled it with her beautiful writing.
Rating: 8.5/10
1. Standard Deviation - Katherine Heiny
Fiction, 319 pages
Sometimes you read a book and then need to read everything that has ever been written by the author. That’s how I felt after reading Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny, and is why I picked up her debut novel, Standard Deviation. Just like Early Morning Riser, Standard Deviation is a character-driven novel that is warm and full of heart. Standard Deviation follows the lives of Graham, his chatty-wife Audra, and their son Matthew. Graham and Audra could not be more different. Graham is quiet and reserved while Audra has a larger-than-life personality. Audra appears to know everyone in their Upper East Side neighborhood and can make conversation with anyone, including Graham’s first wife who Audra is desperate to become friends with and please. The book is filled with charming and hilarious scenes that encompass the personalities of the characters, such as the many awkward houseguests that Audra invites to stay, much to Graham’s chagrin, for indefinite amounts of time, or the quirky middle-aged members of the origami club that Matthew, their ten-year-old son diagnosed with Aspergers, goes to origami conferences with. Heiny’s talent comes from the richness of the characters she creates, and so even though there is no specific plot that propels the book forward, the book is engrossing and wonderful the whole way through.
Rating: 9/10
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Want to see last month’s round up? You can find that here.