August 2022 Reading Round-Up
The best and worst of my reading month
Welcome to the August 2022 Reading Round-Up. Each month I write about the books I've read and rank them from worst to best.
I had a busy reading month in anticipation of the start of law school. Although not every book on this list got a 9 or 10, I genuinely enjoyed each one, which speaks to my rating system - sometimes I love a plot but recognize the book won’t be winning any awards - and my encouragement to take a risk to read broadly and outside of your typical genre.
As a warning, I anticipate that my reading volume might decrease in the months to come as I get busy going from reading novels to reading cases. I’m committed to reading in free time and listening to audiobooks during daily tasks, so I’ll still be publishing at least once a month. And as a reminder, all of the books that I wrote about below are available on my Bookshop page, or you can click on the title of the book itself. You can also see all of the books that I’ve recommended, sorted by post, on the general shop page itself. Happy reading!
15. Counterfeit - Kirstin Chen
Fiction, 288 pages
Ava Wong, Stanford graduate and corporate lawyer, is married to a successful surgeon and mother to a two-year-old child. On the surface, she has it all. But two years after giving birth, Ava, disillusioned with being a lawyer, still hasn’t returned to work and is struggling with dealing with her son’s slow speech development and frequent tantrums. Her husband isn’t much help, working long hours at a hospital hours away from their home. Along comes Winnie Fang, Ava’s freshman year roommate who appears seemingly out of nowhere at Ava’s lowest point. Taking advantage of Ava’s moment of weakness, Winnie invites Ava to participate in a fraudulent scheme she’s been running: buying designer handbags, selling them online, and returning super-fake versions of the bag sourced from China to turn a profit. With Ava onboard, the scheme grows in size, spirals out of control, and, eventually, attracts attention from law enforcement. Very quickly into Counterfeit, readers become aware that Ava’s narration of the story is being told directly to a detective, which should clue you in immediately that the narrator might not be particularly reliable. This becomes obvious about halfway through the book, when Winnie becomes the narrator, and the carefully constructed story falls apart. This book was easy to read and entertaining, but I don’t think the reveals were as thrilling as the narrator intended.
Rating: 7.5/10
14. Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield
Fiction, 223 pages
When Leah is selected for a deep sea submarine research voyage, she and her wife, Miri, think that it will only last three weeks. A malfunction in the operation of the craft after it reaches the bottom of the ocean floor extends the harrowing journey to six months, and during that time both Leah and Miri are kept in the dark. When Leah returns, she is not the same woman as before, becoming increasingly withdrawn and spending the majority of her day in the bathtub with saltwater. Leah will not tell Miri what happened, Miri is receiving no help from the mysterious center that sponsored the research mission, and now Miri is struggling to care for her wife. I think this book is a good example of good for you, not for me. I picked up this short debut novel because I had read positive reviews, particularly from sources that I generally always trust. Unfortunately, however, I struggled to get into the story, feeling the most attached to the least covered portions of the plot (i.e., what was going on with the Center?). The story is also a little weirder and sci-fi adjacent than what I’m typically drawn to, and I found myself skimming passages where the details became fantastical. That being said, I fully recognize that the combined writing and craft of this book were extremely creative and well-done. No doubt the uniqueness of this story and its alternating perspectives would be a great match for readers who enjoy this type of story more than me.
Rating: 7.5/10
13. Aftermath - Harald Jähner
Non-Fiction/History (Germany, World War II, Recovery), 320 pages
When Germany surrendered to the Allies in 1945, it was not clear what would come next. Would Germans resist occupation in their cities? Who would rebuild all of the buildings that had been destroyed? What would happen to the vast numbers of displaced people and the 10 million newly released prisoners and forced laborers? How would the country acknowledge the Holocaust and the six million Jews that died at the hands of their government? These are all questions that author and historian Harald Jähner seeks to answer in his critically acclaimed book that has just recently been translated into English. In it, Jähner uses personal narratives to weave a larger story of destruction, survival, and rebirth. Jähner’s goal is to neither make Germany nor its citizens seem sympathetic or like the victims they often believed themselves to be. Instead, it is to paint an honest portrait of the aftermath of the Second World War in a country responsible for broader destruction that also nearly destroyed themselves. That Germany was able to rebuild itself into the powerhouse country that it is today is in no small part due to the decisions that were made in the decade following 1945, which makes this work of non-fiction interesting and relevant.
Rating: 8/10
12. Dead in the Water - Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel
Non-Fiction/Shipping Fraud, 244 pages
In July 2011, the Brillante Virtuoso, carrying millions of dollars worth of oil to Asia, was boarded by pirates, set aflame, and scuttled in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen. Ships of this size with such lucrative cargo are insured for millions of dollars, most frequently at Lloyds of London, and to confirm the payout, surveyor David Mockett was sent to view the wreckage. The scene before Mockett, however, did not make sense. Why would the crew let the so-called pirates on board? How did the fire start? When Mockett is killed by a car bomb shortly after the inspection, heads in London start to turn. While Dead in the Water centers around the Brillante, the incredible con behind the ship’s demise, and the efforts to solve the associated crimes, it also tells the story of the larger maritime industry, which is responsible for shuttling vital goods around the world with little oversight. In this sometimes crooked world, ship registration is hard to trace and shadow owners experience little punishment for brazen acts of fraud. This is a fascinating book about a little talked about industry. It would pair well with Outlaw Ocean, adding more evidence to a growing narrative about the lawlessness of the seas.
Rating: 8/10
11. Carrie Soto is Back - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Fiction, 384 pages
Carrie Soto is Back is the latest from Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of the popular summer books Daisy Jones and the Six and Malibu Rising. Reid is known for well-timed, fast-paced, plot-driven books that also prioritize character development, and this book is no exception. Carrie Soto is a tennis legend of the late 1970s and 1980s. Trained by her father, Javier, Carrie doesn’t just strive to be good, she strives to be the best, which she achieves when she breaks the record for most Slam titles of any man or woman. But a knee injury in her early-thirties prompts an early retirement, and in her six years out of the sport a different player, Nikki Chan, comes onto the scene and challenges Carrie’s record. Her whole life, Carrie has told herself that if she is not the very best, then she is the worst, so when Chan ties her world record in 1994, Soto decides to come out of retirement and play the four Slam tournaments in order to defend her crown. This is a book about tennis, but it is also a book about perseverance, family, and vulnerability. While I was drawn to the tension and drama surrounding the tennis world and the outcomes of Carrie’s matches, I thought that the book could have been trimmed a bit on the descriptions of Carrie’s training program and the play by play of matches that weren’t the pinnacle of a tournament. If you love tennis, this is absolutely the book for you. If you’re like me and only know the basics of the sport, Reid will draw you in with her impeccable writing about the intrigue and politics of professional sports, even if she loses you a bit on the minutiae of how each point is scored. And now, after hearing Serena Williams’ news about retirement after this U.S. Open, this book feels particularly timely.
Rating: 8/10
Thank you Ballantine Books for the advance reader copy of this book!
10. Love Marriage - Monica Ali
Fiction, 415 pages
Yasmin and Joe are getting married. They met at the London hospital where they both work as doctors, but despite their shared profession and the fact that they both still live at home, their backgrounds are unalike. Yasmin is the daughter of Muslim Indian immigrants. Her father, a doctor like her, is thrilled that his daughter is following in his footsteps and compensating for the disappointment of his son’s lackluster trajectory. Her mother is a delightful cook and homemaker whose outfits and demeanor embarrass Yasmin, particularly in the lead up to the meeting of her family and Joe’s. Joe was raised solely by his mother Harriet, a famous feminist thinker known for her books about sex and a nude photo that she published when Joe was in primary school. The meeting of the two families is cringeworthy and sets the stage for the entire rest of the book, which is character-driven in that it follows the travails of many different people. Dishonesty prevails, secrets are revealed, and religious and cultural differences are brought to the forefront. This is a relatively long book that I think probably could have used some more editing to slim it down by 100 pages. I’m giving it an 8/10 instead of a 7/10 because the writing is definitely good - Monica Ali was shortlisted for the Booker Prize after all - I just didn’t find myself caring about the many characters enough for a character-driven novel.
Rating: 8/10
9. The Last White Man - Mohsin Hamid
Fiction, 177 pages
One morning Anders wakes up, looks in the mirror, and notices that his white skin has turned dark. The phenomenon that he is experiencing is shocking but not unique to him. Indeed, a type of “pandemic” is taking place around the world where white people’s skin darkens until race is erased. The transition period, however, is fraught with political violence and internal reckoning about what it had meant to have light skin, become a minority, and then part of the homogenized majority. Mohsin Hamid has a very specific style of writing. He uses short clear sentences and frequent repetition, which makes the story seem very matter of fact if not emotionally removed. The New York Times review largely panned the book as unexciting, and I tend to agree. Despite the seismic events that shape the premise, nothing else really happens. People riot in the streets, gangs come to take away the newly changed, and yet, none of this really touches Anders in any meaningful way. Even the tension with his father, who dies a natural death before he can turn brown, hence the title, quickly dissipates as soon as Anders needs his presence. The brevity of the book and the sentences therein discourages much development of plot or character, and although the premise is fascinating, I think The Last White Man had more potential than what was delivered.
Rating: 8/10
8. The Assistants - Camille Perri
Fiction, 279 pages
Tina Fontana is the assistant to Robert Barlow, the CEO of the Titan Corporation, a multi-billion dollar right-wing media conglomerate similar to Rubert Murdoch and his empire. Despite six years working for Barlow, a billionaire in his own right, Tina makes only $40,000 and is struggling to pay off her student loan debt while affording life in New York City. A simple expensing misunderstanding at work leads the accounting department to reimburse Tina personally for Robert’s $20,000 flight, allowing Tina to pay off her student loans. When an assistant in the accounting department notices, instead of turning her in, she bargains a deal: file similar paperwork for future expenses and her loans can be paid as well. Pretty soon, Tina is in over her head, running a scheme much larger than herself. Will the Titan Corporation figure it out? Or does anyone pay attention to the assistants? The Assistants is quick and witty and excellent in audiobook format. It has a larger message about power, work, and wealth without being preachy and I appreciated this fast-paced book for what it was worth.
Rating: 8/10
7. The Crane Wife - CJ Hauser
Memoir/Essays, 320 pages
CJ Hauser is primarily a creative writing professor and fiction author, but when her 2019 non-fiction essay “The Crane Wife” went viral after its publication in The Paris Review, Hauser set about writing more essays about her life and her quest for love. The Crane Wife, now a collection of personal essays, is an expansion of her original essay, which features in this book. The essays that make up this collection all include universal themes of love and acceptance, found family, and personal growth. Recognizing CJ Hauser’s at a different stage of life than I am, not all of her individual experiences resonated with me. However, the root of each of the essays - love, family, and our search for acceptance - are universal themes that anyone can relate to. If you’re worried that you might not connect, I recommend googling “The Crane Wife” and reading the essay in The Paris Review. The style on display there - including Hauser’s ability to weave popular culture references throughout each of her essays, somehow linking all of the pieces together - is present in each of her essays. Hauser’s writing is magnetic and her style distinct. I loved how Hauser was able to write about such niche experiences or topics while making them universal, accessible, and beloved.
Rating: 8.5/10
6. Neruda on the Park - Cleyvis Natera
Fiction, 312 pages
Having immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic nearly twenty years prior, the three members of the Guerrero family have worked hard to establish themselves in their community of Nothar Park, a fictional Dominican neighborhood in upper Manhattan. Although she was recently fired from her job as a lawyer at a fancy corporate firm, twenty-nine-year-old daughter Luz is still intent on providing for her parents, manifested in a dream retirement home she and her father are building as a surprise for her mother, Eusebia, in the Dominican Republic. Their surprise is presumptuous, underlined by Eusebia’s anger over their changing New York neighborhood with the arrival of a new luxury condo building. In an attempt to prevent gentrification, Eusebia stages crimes of increasing severity to discourage the continuation of the project and the transplant of newcomers. Making matters worse for the previously close-knit family dynamics, Luz meets and develops a heady relationship with the lead developer of the condo project, driving a wedge further in the mother-daughter relationship. Neruda on the Park is told in alternating perspectives between Eusebia and Luz. The book is clearly and compellingly written without being sanctimonious on its central themes of gentrification, immigration, and belonging. The book’s dramatic conclusion was a nice touch, although I could have done without the bizarre finale to Luz’s relationship and the tidy excuse for Eusebia’s increasingly untethered behavior.
Rating: 8.5/10
5. Book Lovers - Emily Henry
Fiction/Romance, 373 pages
Sometimes you need to read a purely enjoyable book. For me, that was Emily Henry’s latest, Book Lovers, about Nora Stephens, a literary agent who escapes August in New York for a month-long vacation in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina with her heavily pregnant sister, Libby. Sunshine Falls happens to be the setting of one of Nora’s most famous books - hence, the inspiration to choose this location - and Libby arrives with a checklist of activities the sisters must participate in that match the plot points of a typical rom-com, such as sleeping under the stars, dating a local, and saving a small business. On their first day there, Nora is shocked to discover her editorial nemesis working in the (failing) bookstore, but, surprise, surprise, as the month goes on they grow close, engage in a lot of witty banter, and ultimately, fall in love. This book is absolutely a romance, but it is also equally a book about sisterhood and family. The story does not shy away from hard topics like grief, anxiety, and PTSD, which all add important motivations for the characters’ actions instead of contrived drama typical in the genre. True to form, Emily Henry’s characters are lovable, delightful, and funny, making me laugh throughout the story. Emily Henry is at the top of her game. I think she might be one of the best, if not the best, author in the genre.
Rating: 8.5/10
4. The Hopefuls - Jennifer Close
Fiction, 320 pages
Recently married, Beth makes the decision to move with her husband Matt to Washington, D.C., after he gets a job working in the general counsel’s office in the Obama White House. It is 2008 and all the hope and idealism in the world can not get Beth to like living in D.C., where she struggles to find a writing job and fit in with the strivers around her, one of whom is her husband. She becomes fast friends with Ashleigh, the wife of one of Matt’s work friends, Jimmy, and pretty soon the two couples are inseparable. A few years later, when Jimmy has the opportunity to run for office in his home state of Texas, he asks Matt to run his small campaign, and once again Beth’s life is uprooted.
Jennifer Close’s talent is in her ability to write about a large cast of characters and ensuring that each of them feel fully developed and real. I was drawn to each of their personalities and loved the voices that the audiobook narrator assigned each one during the portions that I listened to the book, enhancing this already witty, engaging, and well-crafted story. As an aside, this novel was published in 2016, which means that it is available in paperback and probably won’t have a wait at the library.
Rating: 9/10
3. Nightcrawling - Leila Mottley
Fiction, 277 pages
Kiara is struggling to survive. She is a high school dropout at seventeen, living with her older brother Marcus while her mother sits in a halfway house and her father is dead from prostate cancer. Kiara is looking for a way to support herself, Marcus - who refuses to get a job, deciding to instead focus on his music career - and their nine-year-old next door neighbor Trevor, whose drug-addicted mother has gone AWOL. No one will hire her and they are facing eviction. One night, while drunk, a man pays Kiara for sex, opening her eyes to a way to get money quickly, if not extremely dangerously. When Oakland police officers pick her up for prostitution, she quickly becomes victim to law enforcement officers who act as her johns and traffickers, promising they won’t arrest her if she agrees to work at their parties. Their arrangement does not stay secret for long, and soon Kiara’s world is thrown into further disarray when her name is leaked to the press and the police are forced to decide between an investigation or a cover-up.
The only portion of this book that did not fully add up for me was the penultimate scene, in which Kiara is called to testify in front of a grand jury that is deciding whether or not to indict the involved officers. In this scene, Kiara is seated with all of the witnesses testifying (given the secretiveness of grand juries, she probably would not have known who else was testifying), and then is subjected to excessively hostile questioning by the assistant district attorney who appears to blame her for what took place. While the ADA’s behavior may have been an accurate depiction of his feelings before a grand jury was empaneled, if a grand jury was called it would indicate that the state believed Kiara’s story and that there was enough evidence to indict. I’ll forgive these discrepancies, if not for the fact that the rest of the book tore my heart out with its brutal and accurate depiction of being a teenager, being desperate, and the experience of some sex workers. The fact that Leila Mottley started this book when she was seventeen, is now twenty-years-old and attending Smith College, and her debut novel was just long-listed for the prestigious Booker Prize is nothing short of remarkable.
Rating: 9/10
2. Trust - Hernan Diaz
Historical Fiction, 402 pages
Another 2022 Booker Prize long-list title, Trust is a unique story about a wealthy 1920s financier told in four distinct parts. Part one is a novel within this larger novel titled “Bond,” about a wealthy investor and his reclusive wife. The protagonist’s uncommon success makes him the talk of the town, particularly after he shorts the market in the lead-up to the Great Depression. At the same time, however, his wife, an appreciator of the arts and a philanthropist, is beginning a slow descent into madness. As the title suggests, this book is all about trust and, as an extension, perception. The layers of the story that readers are exposed to in part one are slowly peeled back in part two, with excerpts of an autobiography of the financier that “Bond” is based on. Part three includes a memoir by the woman who ghostwrites the aforementioned autobiography and part four is the journal entries of the financiers wife. I won’t go into detail about what parts two through four reveal, but suffice to say as the story unfolds whatever perceptions that were created with “Bond” as the foundational text are quickly unraveled and readers are forced to consider the perspectives that influence history. The skill required by Diaz to write four unique sections, each with their own voice and structure, reflects Diaz’s talents as an author. I look forward to seeing the Booker short-list because I think that this book will make the cut.
Rating: 9/10
1. You Have a Friend in 10A - Maggie Shipstead
Fiction/Short Stories, 257 pages
You Have a Friend in 10A is a short story collection by Booker short-list author Maggie Shipstead (Great Circle, Astonish Me, Seating Arrangements). Each story is as astonishing as the last, but what for me was truly impressive was the range in subject matter that these stories covered. One story is about a couple’s honeymoon gone wrong in Romania, another about a love triangle at a dude ranch in Montana, while another is about an actress breaking from a cult. Her characters are varied and diverse, each fully formed and discovered. Two stories that I found less engaging than others downgraded the book’s rating to a 9 rather than a 10, but I recognize that had I been in a different mood those stories might have seemed just as exceptional. Read this collection to sample an author working at her very best.
Rating: 9/10
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Want to see last month’s round up? You can find that here.