December 2021 Reading Round-Up
The best and worst of my reading month
Welcome to the December 2021 Reading Round-Up. Each month, I write about the books I read and rank them from worst to best.
Thanks to omicron and the subsequent need to cancel plans, I suddenly had time to read more books this month than I had in any other month this year. As a result, I’m doing something slightly different with this round-up by listing my least favorite books and reviewing the ones I enjoyed. If you missed my post with my overall favorite books of 2021, you can find that here. Happy New Year!
19. Never Saw Me Coming - Vera Kurian
Thriller/Mystery, Rating: 7/10
18. Untraceable - Sergei Lebedev
Fiction/Espionnage, Rating: 7/10
17. The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune
Fiction/Fantasy, Rating: 7/10
16. Good Eggs - Rebecca Hardiman
Fiction, Rating: 7/10
15. The Charm Offensive - Alison Cochrun
Fiction/Romance, Rating: 7/10
14. The Summer Job - Lizzy Dent
Fiction/Romance, Rating: 7.5/10
13. You Had Me At Hola - Alexis Daria
Fiction/Romance, Rating: 7.5/10
12. We Are Not Like Them - Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
Fiction, Rating: 7.5/10
11. Fulfillment - Alec MacGillis
Non-Fiction, 400 pages
Fulfillment is a work of investigative journalism examining Amazon’s foundations and outsized impacts. MacGillis covers topics as wide ranging as the founding of the company and decision to choose Seattle as the headquarters, the creation of fulfillment plants, the comparison of working conditions for high-level executives and factory workers, and the political and monopolistic impunity that Amazon works within. While the convenience of having a package delivered to your front door within hours is indisputable, MacGillis is keen to remind readers that at its core Amazon is a company that cares only about profit by underscoring the impact of how same-day shipping is made possible. MacGillis focuses on both the macro and micro influences that Amazon has had on the United States, discussing the extreme wealth gap in Seattle that has contributed to a homelessness and affordable housing crisis as well as unsafe working conditions in fulfillment centers.
Although the content is interesting and important, I thought this book tried to do too much within the confines of its limited page count. While there is obviously much to unpack when considering the many impacts that Amazon has had on all elements of our lives, the inability to fully explore each of these issues, many of which require specialized knowledge, decreased the quality and effectiveness of this book. Despite this, many things that I read stuck with me and increased my awareness of the harmful practices that Amazon employs that are negatively impacting workers, communities, and the environment.
Rating: 7.5/10
10. Young Jane Young - Gabrielle Zevin
Fiction, 320 pages
Aviva Grossman is a college intern working in the Miami office of United States Congressman Aaron Levin in the early 90s. She is young and impressionable and eager to please. Singled out for her good work, Aviva begins to spend long nights working with the congressman which turns into the long nights of an affair. After the congressman and Aviva get in a car accident, the police and media quickly discover their relationship and Aviva’s reputation is effectively destroyed while the congressman continues to serve virtually unscathed. Unable to find a job, Aviva leaves Florida, moves to Maine, and reinvents herself as a wedding planner named Jane. Twenty years later, Aviva has an insatiably curious daughter named Ruby who is completely unaware of her mother’s past. But when Jane decides to run for mayor of their small town, Jane’s secret comes under threat of exposure. This was a witty, easily readable story about family, double-standards, and politics. While Aviva is clearly based on a smaller-scale Monica Lewinski, Zevin has created a unique character of her own intent on leaving her past behind.
Rating: 8/10
9. The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman
Fiction/Mystery, 368 pages
The second book in the Thursday Murder Club series, The Man Who Died Twice follows a ragtag group of British senior home residents whose hobbies include solving mysteries and murders. These octogenarians are led by Elizabeth, a former MI6 officer who brings her past experience to the table when solving the previous book’s murder and the double-murder jewelry heist that is the central focus of this plot. This is a well-crafted book, with mystery elements that are equally balanced against the charming, quirky, and humorous characters. While I’m not sure that the story will stick with me in the long-term, The Man Who Died Twice is a prime example of a quality escapist read, providing an enjoyable and light who-dunnit.
Rating: 8/10
8. Filthy Animals - Brandon Taylor
Fiction/Short Stories, 288 pages
Filthy Animals is a short story collection by Brandon Taylor, the acclaimed author of Real Life. There are some recurring characters throughout the stories, but the common thread throughout the entire collection are the young people that each story focuses on, all of whom are grappling with life’s challenges of mental and physical health, relationships, and realizing one’s potential. Brandon Taylor is an excellent writer whose talents are on full display in his stories, which are each centered around character development far more than a driving plot. While I am usually a fan of character-driven work, some of the stories caught my attention more than others, leaving me somewhat torn in my overall impression of the collection.
Rating: 8/10
7. Mrs. March - Virginia Feito
Fiction/Psychological Thriller, 288 pages
Mrs. March lives in a nice apartment on the Upper East Side with her successful author husband and son. Mrs. March is extremely particular and obsessive about her image, crafting her entire life so that it looks as favorably as possible to any outsider. When her husband publishes a best-selling book with a prostitute as the protagonist who has characteristics that resemble some of those of Mrs. March, her carefully curated image of herself becomes threatened. Suddenly, Mrs. March hears references to the book everywhere - from the supermarket, to her favorite bakery, to parents of her son’s friends. While rifling through her husband’s office looking for evidence that will confirm that he has based the character of a prostitute on herself, she discovers a news clipping talking about the recent unsolved murder of a woman in Maine near where Mr. March goes hunting and becomes obsessed with the idea that Mr. March is the killer.
Mrs. March is the definition of an unreliable narrator. Throughout the course of the book Feito slyly reveals to readers that Mrs. March’s perceptions might not be as they seem, such as when Mrs. March thinks that a pigeon has died in her bathtub but no one else can see the bird, or when she thinks that someone is staring at her and it turns out to be her own reflection. The inability for readers to trust what Mrs. March is claiming to be reality is what drives this plot forward, which is especially pronounced against the backdrop of Mrs. March’s belief that her husband is a murderer. The surprise twist in the final pages of the book might have been the perfect way for Feito to end the novel as it caps off 288 pages of confusion, although it is certainly not a satisfying finish for a reader who is looking for a clean end with answers to the story’s central questions.
Rating: 8/10
6. Summerwater - Sarah Moss
Fiction, 208 pages
While not billed as a short story collection, Summerwater is made up of a series of short chapters populated by different characters all sharing different cabins within the same Scottish summer park. In one chapter readers are introduced to a mother whose long-distance runs are the only time that she has to her self. In the next, a retired man observes the woman running while considering his own life and relationship with the park. A newlywed couple is using the groom’s parents cabin and another cabin holds a family with a teenager who wishes that she was anywhere else but there. The book takes place over the course of one day, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year, and gradually bills to a devastating fire that breaks out as the sun finally goes down. Sarah Moss is an outstanding writer who packs each chapter with wry observations and fully invented personalities, creatively placing together the complicated lives of a myriad of characters.
Rating: 8/10
5. Hot Stew - Fiona Mozley
Fiction, 320 pages
In London’s Soho neighborhood sits a building representative of the changing tides of the area. Its basement holds squatters while a swanky restaurant and bar occupies the floor above. In the apartments higher up in the building live a prostitute and her female handler who represent the decades long existence of a neighborhood brothel. Sitting on the outskirts of the building are a retired man who used to make his money as an enforcer for the head of the local mob, an aspiring actor whose most recent role as a violent pimp is advertised as a feminist statement, and the rich young owner of the building intent on getting rid of the more subversive elements of the neighborhood and replacing them with profitable and upscale ventures. Hot Stew is a story of gentrification, told through the varied perspectives of the building and neighborhood’s residents and using the building as a symbol for the upheaval associated with forced change. Mozley’s ability to link so many characters together in the quickly shifting version of Soho is extremely impressive. My biggest complaint was that I found myself interested in some characters way more than others, although I still appreciate what Mozley was trying to do and continue to think about how she was able to present her larger message weeks later.
Rating: 8.5/10
4. With Teeth - Kristen Arnett
Fiction, 304 pages
Early in the novel, in a fit of frustration, Sammie bites her young son Samson on the arm in retaliation for an earlier tantrum in which he bit both his friend and mother. The scars that they both carry serve as a permanent reminder of the difficulty Sammie has in connecting with her son as he grows into a young adult. At the same time that she has trouble raising her son, Sammie’s marriage to her wife Monika is also crumbling, ending in co-habitation while they continue to date other people. Inserted between each chapter is a short paragraph told from the perspective of an outsider witnessing and judging a scene that just took place: a new girlfriend observing the family dynamics, the store clerk who catches Samson stealing, a fellow parent on the swim team interested in Sammie. Previous reviews that I had read for With Teeth present a somewhat different version of the book than what I encountered. Some advertise Sammie as fearful of her son or that she is an unreliable narrator on the verge of a psychotic break. Instead, I observed a story of a woman attempting to reconcile motherhood with the other elements of her life and personality.
Rating: 8.5/10
3. The Book of Essie - Meghan Maclean Weir
Fiction, 313 pages
Essie’s entire life has played out on national television. She’s the youngest child in the Hicks family, known for their reality television program focused on her father’s evangelical megachurch. When Essie becomes pregnant at 17, her mother and producers scramble to come up with a solution that does not contradict her father’s conservative teachings and the values the family is supposed to espouse. The least controversial and most profitable option, they decide, is that Essie should get married, and she is quickly paired with Roarke, a boy from their hometown who accepts the proposal after signing an extremely lucrative contract. As the book progresses, family tensions and secrets are revealed, including what happened to Essie’s sister who disappeared from the cameras three years ago, who the father of Essie’s child is, and to what lengths Essie is willing to go to expose it all. I enjoyed this book and would have given it a 9/10 if I hadn’t found some plot points resolved a bit too quickly, such as Roarke’s quick acceptance of the situation and rapid development of feelings for Essie. Overall, I found the premise of the book to be a unique look into the blended worlds of reality television, evangelical politics, and the profits that drive both.
Rating: 8.5/10
2. The Woman in the Purple Skirt - Natsuko Imamura
Fiction, 224 pages
Every day, the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan secretly watches the Woman in the Purple Skirt as she sits in the park, rides the bus, and looks for a job. The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan is obsessed with the Woman in the Purple Skirt and her antics, making sure that her favorite bench is always available for when she needs to use it and clandestinely placing job advertisements on the seat next to her to encourage her to apply. One day, the Woman in the Purple Skirt takes the bait and is hired as a cleaner by the same hotel where the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan works. Now, the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan has even more access to observe The Woman in the Purple Skirt as she waits for the moment that she will introduce herself and become friends. The Woman in the Purple Skirt, translated from its original Japanese, is an extremely clever work of fiction. The novel is very slim, leaving space only for the descriptions of the women and the specific actions of their days, leaving out nearly any background associated with traditional character development. While the premise is eerie, indeed I kept waiting for the inevitable moment of dramatics or violence, the book is also humorous and reality bending, as readers are left to question what is actually taking place and what are the machinations of an obsessed stalker.
Rating: 9/10
1. Cheat Day - Liv Stratman
Fiction, 320 pages
Kit feels like her life is stagnating. In her early-30s and married to her college sweetheart for almost a decade, Kit spends her days managing her sister’s bakery in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, while her husband David works a high-paying job in midtown Manhattan building skyscrapers. Intent on being able to control some element of her life, Kit turns to dieting, which she does with such intensity that she has difficulty focusing on other elements of her life that are meaningful. After her sister hires a carpenter to build new shelves in the bakery’s kitchen, he and Kit begin an affair that she believes she can keep separate and secret from her normal life. Cheat Day is a character-focused novel and Stratman is committed to presenting Kit as a fully-formed person with a sympathetic and flawed personality. I loved how Stratman placed the story and its characters within New York, making the city feel like just as much of a character as any of the other people presented. Kit and her family’s deep roots in Bay Ridge made me lose myself in a rabbit hole of the neighborhood’s history and google image searches. I found myself mapping the public transit routes between Kit and David’s home and David’s parents house in Midwood, Brooklyn or what subway line they took when they came into Manhattan. In contrast to some books set in New York that use the city’s superficial elements to populate the setting and highlight the stress and tumult of living somewhere with so many people, Stratman made New York feel intimate, full of neighbors and friends and the daily rituals of normal life.
Rating: 9/10
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Want to see last month’s round up? You can find that here.