Books I read in April, 2020
The books and my thoughts
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A biologist writes fiction? I'm in!
Even if you didn't know that Delia Owens was a biologist her descriptions of the marshes of North Carolina are a giveaway of her expertise. "Where the Crawdads Sing" give you an immediate role model in Catherine 'Kya' Clark - a strong girl, having to 'Home Alone' it in a shack. This is currently the best fiction I have read in 2020.
This book consists of essays written by Jia Tolentino - a writer for the New Yorker. My favourite was The Story of a Generation in Seven Scams, a holistic overview at some of the most well known scammers in US contemporary history. I found Jia's reflections on fictional heroines as written in Pure Heroines the most difficult to comprehend - potentially due to not having read much of the literature she quotes. It did give me along reading list to peruse later. It's definitely something I have bookmarked to reread later.
Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella
What can I say? Quarantine tricked me into thinking that reading Young adult romantic comedies would be be a good idea. The last time I read about Becky Bloomwood's shopaholic antics I was in my teens. Ten years (😲) later, I can confirm that my empathy doesn't stretch to finding her adventures amusing.
But ahh to be walking around in warm Los Angeles in my Lululemons.
On my 2020 reading list
Non Fiction
- Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener - midway through this one.
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
- How to Be a Conscious Eater by Sophie Egan
Fiction