Book Report

 

My rating system:

10 – life-changing, an all-time favorite

5 - average for what I read

1 – terrible; why did I finish it?

 

The Followers by Rebecca Wait – I feel like it’s so rare for me to get my hands on a novel that I get lost in, that I can’t wait to pick up and read more of. So I’m glad to say that this happened here. The novel takes place in modern times, and when it opens, a young woman named Judith is visiting her mom in prison. We later flashback to see Judith’s mom meeting a compelling and persuasive man, and things falling apart from there. Loved the plotline and the pacing of the story; it was also written with a lot of heart. Grade: 8

 

Stray City by Chelsey Johnson - A novel split into two halves – the first taking place in 1990’s Portland, and the second ten years later. The main character, Andrea, finds herself unexpectedly falling for a man even though she’s a solid figure in Portland’s lesbian community. I was attracted to the book because Andrea did what I wondered about but never did: lived her 20’s in a place with a ton of LGBT people and really became part of that community. I was never a part of Portland’s (or Chicago’s) lesbian scene in the 1990s but had I been a more adventurous soul, I could have been, and so I loved reading the author’s descriptions. It felt like I was really there. But the downside is that the novel is 400-plus pages and bogged down with too much detail. We’ll get a paragraph or two advancing the plot, and then any momentum stops as we get backstory on this character or more about this incident and stuff that happened three years ago. A lot of part 2 is exposition on what happened since part 1, which made me question the decision to break the novel up like that in the first place.  There is also a lot of “telling instead of showing”, so I can’t say that the writing is great or the plot compelling. Grade: 4

 

How to Fall in Love With Anyone by Mandy Len Catron – This was a bit of an unusual book. It’s a series of essays on the topic of love and relationships. The author uses her own experience, that of her parents, and that of her grandmother as well. She also uses research and studies. The book is thoughtful and deep and inclusive, and it gently pushes conventional thinking about love. It’s not just a string of anecdotes about how people fall in love; it’s a lot more than that.  So yeah, it’s a bit hard to describe but the book felt like a good conversation worth having. Grade: 7

 

Landwhale by Jes Baker – Thank goodness for books like this! This is a serious of essays by fat activist Jes Baker. She is amazing. Whether she’s dealing with haters, confiding her own body image struggles despite being overall happy with her size, or providing lists of things she thought she couldn’t do but did, she is witty, hilarious, and completely on the mark. I wanted to savor and enjoy this book but I finished it in like 3 days. Grade: 8

 

A Girl’s Guide to Joining the Resistance by Emma Gray – The book is exactly what its title says it is, and it can be read in a couple of sittings. It’s funny, easy, and full of ideas. A variety of different methods for resisting are covered like online activism, running for office, joining groups, and self care. Best quote/idea in the book comes from Lucy McBath: “Start volunteering your time and your effort. That’s how you grow into an activist or a movement. That’s all it simply is….being mad enough about something to make a difference.” Grade: 7