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Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu
This memoir is definitely all about the vibes. Hua Hsu captures the aesthetics and culture that characterized his college experiences. Hsu recollects the music, clothes, and cultural influences that shaped this time in his life. The memoir is also about his unlikely friendship with Ken, someone whose tastes didn’t really match Hsu’s. The two nevertheless…
1990s, 1st pov, academia, Adult, adulthood, America, ART/CREATIVITY, asian american, asian diaspora, belonging, biography, BOOKS ON WRITING, California, campus, coming of age, Contemporary, friendships, GRIEF, grunge vibes, Harvard, Hua Hsu, identity, it’s about the *aesthetics*, male authors, male friendships, MEMOIR, MEMORY, no plot just vibes, Nonfiction, nostalgic reads, Stay True, Stay True: A Memoir, style over character, taiwan, Taiwanese American Author, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri
“Writing in another language reactivates the grief of being between two worlds, of being on the outside. Of feeling alone and excluded.” While I can’t quite satisfyingly articulate or express why I find such comfort in Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing, I can certainly make a stab at it. In many ways, Translating Myself and Others reads…
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These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
“As it turned out, Sooki and I needed the same thing: to find someone who could see us as our best and most complete selves. Astonishing to come across such a friendship at this point in life. At any point in life.” Ann Patchett is easily one of my favourite authors of all time. The…
1st pov, 4.5 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANN PATCHETT, ART/CREATIVITY, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, California, Contemporary, DEATH, ESSAYS, fathers & daughters, favourite authors, female authors, female friendships, friendships, GRIEF, introspective, MEMOIR, MEMORY, My reviews, Nonfiction, pandemic, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, tennessee, These Precious Days, These Precious Days: Essays -
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
“I don’t write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don’t, everything feels even worse.” In Writers & Lovers, Lily King portrays an intimate and profoundly heartfelt slice of life that brims with wry humor and precise observations on grief, loneliness, identity, and creativity. This is truly a gem…
1990s, 1st pov, 20th century, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, Adult, age gap, America, American, anxiety, bars & restaurants, beautiful prose, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, BOSTON, DEATH, ennui, female authors, gay side characters, GRIEF, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lgbtq+ side, Lily King, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, love triangle, Massachusetts, mental health, My reviews, psychological, published in 2020, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, reading, ROMANCE, she is not feeling good at all, SLICE OF LIFE, Summer, summer reads, teachers, the female malaise, uplifting reads, work culture, Writers & Lovers -
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
She wondered if the rest of early adulthood would be like this—avoiding roommates, getting ripped off for bad fusion food, and the peculiar loneliness of being smothered by people she didn’t want to spend time with. Having recently fallen in love with Choi’s most recent novel, Yolk, I was eager to read more by her.…
3.75 stars, 3rd pov, academia, addiction, America, American, anxiety, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, campus, coming of age, Contemporary, drama, emergency contact, favourite authors, female authors, FRIENDS TO LOVERS, friendships, identity, korean american author, Mary H.K. Choi, mary hk choi, My reviews, NEW ADULT, published in 2018, rape, read in 2021, reading, ROMANCE, sexual assault/abuse/rape, social media, texas, toxic relationships, trauma, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, uplifting reads, YOUNG ADULT -
Help Yourself by Curtis Sittenfeld
Even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible I did really like her collection of short stories, You Think It, I’ll Say It, so I was looking forward to read Help Yourself. Sadly, I did not find the three stories collected in Help Yourself to be as memorable or evocative as the…
3 STARS, Adult, America, American, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, collection of short stories, Contemporary, Curtis Sittenfeld, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), drama, film industry, gay side characters, Help Yourself, HUMOR, lgbtq+ side, published in 2020, RACE, read in 2020, satire, short stories, social issues, social media, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE -
The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi — book review
The Eighth Detective is not quite the “thrilling, wildly inventive nesting doll of a mystery” it’d be promised to be. I approached this novel hoping for something in the realms of Anthony Horowitz. Sadly, The Eighth Detective seems closer to The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, in that both novels are hellbent on ‘confusing’ the…
2 STARS, Adult, Alex Pavesi, arc, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, Contemporary, CRIME, DETECTIVE, golden age detective fiction, male authors, murder mystery, MYSTERY, mystery puzzle, netgalley, published in 2020, read in 2020, short stories, story within a story, SUSPENSE, The Eighth Detective, unnamed country, whodunnit -
Old School by Tobias Wolff — book review
“A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life.” Old School presents its readers with a concise exploration of the complexities of writing and interpretation. Tobias Wolff exerts exquisite control over his prose, evoking through his sparse yet vivid language the rarefied world in which his unmanned narrator moves in.…
1960s, 1st pov, 3.5 STARS, academia, Adult, all boys school, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, american classics, boarding/private school, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, coming of age, dark academia, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, introspective, jealousy, LITERARY FICTION, male authors, modern classics, morality, Old School, philosophical, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 2003, read in 2020, Tobias Wolff, unnamed narrator -
If It Bleeds by Stephen King — book review
“News people have a saying: If it bleeds, it leads.” If It Bleeds presents its readers with four unnerving short stories. Yet, while Stephen King certainly excels at creating disturbing scenarios, there is something oddly comforting about his books. His distinctive voice feels familiar, and his stories are infused with a certain American nostalgia. King…
3.75 stars, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, bok review, Booklr, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, collection of short stories, CRIME, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), HORROR, If It Bleeds, madness, male authors, morality, MURDER, MYSTERY, PARANORMAL, psychological, published in 2020, read in 2020, revenge, SCI-FI, short stories, SPECULATIVE FICTION, STEPHEN KING, SUPERNATURAL, SUSPENSE, THRILLER, violence -
Beach Read by Emily Henry — book review
Romance enthusiasts will undoubtedly enjoy Emily Henry’s Beach Read. Personally, while I do enjoy romance books, I usually prefer them to be less cheesy…and while certain scenes or lines in Beach Read did make me smile, it wasn’t quite the ‘laugh-out-loud’ read I was hoping it would be. This is yet another novel that seems…
1st pov, 3 STARS, Adult, affairs, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Beach Read, books about books, books about writers, BOOKS ON WRITING, cheesy, Contemporary, drama, Emily Henry, ENEMIES TO LOVERS, female authors, HUMOR, hyped novels, hyped releases, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, light reads, Michigan, published in 2020, read in 2020, rom-coms, ROMANCE, Summer, summer reads
luce [is reading] 