Shen Dove

personal style, musings and inspiration

Recent Reads – February 2018

Here is a run down of the books I read in February.

1// The Power by Naomi Alderman | My Rating: 5/5  – The fact that this book was one of President Obama’s favorite reads of 2017 sold me on picking it up and giving it a try. And I found it to be a worthwhile read. But honestly it took me a while to get into this book but overall it’s equally compelling and disturbing. In the novel, teen girls now have immense physical power that can cause great pain and even death and suddenly, the entire power dynamic of the world shifts and the fallout from it is far-reaching and dramatic. This speculative fiction novel would lend itself to a film/movie version and has lots of interesting themes to discuss in a book club.

2// The Book of Dust: Le Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman| My Rating: 4/5 – As an  ‘older’ millennial, I remember reading The Golden Compass and other books in Pullman’s His Dark Materials series in the 90s. So when I saw that this book was coming out, I knew I’d read it for nostalgia’s sake alone. This book is the first in what will be somewhat of a prequel series that features the origin story of Lyra from the original trilogy and a new protagonist, a boy named Malcolm who you want to root for from the very start of the book. I now wish I has gone back and read the original series before reading this book, but you need not do that to get into this story. I’m curious to read where the series will go in the next two installments.

3// Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong | My Rating: 5/5  – This book was my favorite read of the month. I was wary of reading this book because I thought it would be a downer. But while it was sad, I thought it really gave a perspective of how hard it can be to be a caretaker of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s heartbreaking in a way that is different from other (currently) incurable illnesses because there isn’t the hope of remission on the horizon. The book was equally sad and humorous and made me think a lot about family dynamics and how hard it can be to get over break-ups as well. It’s also a fast read, mainly because of it’s journal-like format from the perspective of the protagonist.

 

 

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Recent Reads – January 2018

Now that the first month of 2018 is coming to a close, here are the books I’ve read over the course of the month.

 1 // We’re Gonna Need More Wine: Stores that are Funny, Complicated, and True: by Gabrielle Union | My Rating: Rating: 5/5 Gabrielle Union is a veteran actress who somehow manages to be relatable, funny ,and wise through triumphs and tragedy in her book of essays. I really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about her journey. Being a black woman in Hollywood can’t be easy and she covers that in her essays, she also talks about the challenges of assimilating into the predominately white spaces during childhood and adulthood, being in a blended family/being a step-parent, relationship mistakes, among other relatable topics. This book is a quick read if you read it straight through but I read it slowly to savor it more and was bummed when I finished her last essay. I look forward to reading more by Union in the future.
2// Difficult Women by Roxane Gay | My Rating: 4/5 This was a solid book of short stories but I wish they had been organized more thematically. There were a few magical realism stories in the book that just seemed like they belonged in another book in itself (which btw, I’d love to read an entire book of stories by Roxane Gay in that genre). There were also a few stories that just didn’t resonate with me content-wise, but overall, I liked the book and Gay’s writing in general.
3// Fitness Junkie by Jo Piazza and Lucy Sykes| My Rating: 3.5/5 This was the first book I read of the year when I needed the book equivalent of junk food before life and work went full steam ahead after the holidays. This tongue in cheek satire took many of the wellness tropes that are in the mainstream media like Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP and exaggerated them.  When the protagonist of the book, Janey Sweet CEO of a couture wedding dress company, is photographed in the front row of a fashion show eating a bruffin (a trendy combo of a brioche and a muffin)—her best friend and business partner, Beau, gives her an ultimatum: Lose thirty pounds or lose your job. This ultimatum takes Janey on a sometimes humorous (sometimes rather alarming) journey that illustrates just how ridiculous the mainstream fitness/wellness industry can be. It’s a quick light read if you need a break from reality.

Now reading: The Power so I can finish it up in time to attend the Girls Night In Book Book Club Meeting.

 

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My Six Favorite Reads of 2017

I’m generally a pretty voracious reader, but found that in 2017 I read far fewer books than I have since I was a college student when I didn’t have time to read for fun. I suspect my evening Instagram scrolling habit has replaced my reading as a favorite way to unwind…whoops. I’ll work on fixing that in 2018. But despite reading less in 2017, there were still six books I really enjoyed and could frankly see myself re-reading at some point.

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Summer Reading List

I haven’t been reading nearly as much lately as I have in past years, but something about the (unofficial) start of summer makes me want to sit in a park or on a beach and read through a stack of books. Here is an assortment of books on my ever-growing reading list from genres from crime thrillers to YA to dramas to professional development.

The Trespasser | Astrophysics for People in a Hurry | Exit West | American Street | The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell | You Are a Badass | Another Brooklyn | Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions | Everything, Everything