Monthly Book Review: July 2019

I was intrigued about Daisy Jones & The Six as soon as I saw it as a Reese Witherspoon book pick. It was a nice departure after the languid and delicious (yes!) The Night Circus. Daisy chronicles a 1970s soft rock band documentary style, giving each band member’s perspective on the same events 30+ years later as the interviewer chronicles the timeline. I loved how different those perspectives could be. The author has a real gift for giving each character their own voice and emotions - you could swear these people are real. I had to google it to confirm if the band was truly fictional. I’ll be honest, it was a bit hard to get into with a different voice for each band member, but I stuck with it and was thoroughly engrossed by the third chapter. B+

Next up:
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng 
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Monthly Book Review: June 2019

I just realized that I didn’t post the one book I read in June and since I’ve already finished another, decided to log two for the month. It’s my blog and I’ll cheat if I want to. 

In Pieces by Sally Field - I expected a bit more “dish” than this served up. Sally spends a lot of time on early trauma and never explains how that shaped her as an actor or influenced her adult decisions - the reader is left to play armchair psychologist which is far more work than I was willing to do. The only costar she deemed worthy of spending significant time on is Burt Reynolds. Spoiler - he was not the love of her life. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - this was delicious, I didn’t want it to end. The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. Celia and Marco are “trained” for a competition that takes place in a circus much like Cirque du Soleil - defying feats of gravity and playing on the imagination - only more magical. The descriptive images evoked from Morgenstern’s fantastical writing create a world you want to escape into and never leave. I loved the relationships, the exploration of ‘both and’ vs ‘either or’. The rich layers rival the best buttery croissant. This is for sure at the top of my favorites list for the year thus far. A++

Next up:

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang