November Reviews

I wrote a lot in November, so that did unfortunately mean reading a little bit less. And the books I read this month were fine, a mix of stuff I liked and thought was just okay.

Let's get to it!

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

This book has been on my shelf for a very long time, and it had been a bit since I'd read a Jodi Picoult book, so I figured I'd finally get this one off my tbr pile.

Music therapist Zoe thought that by 41 she'd be a mother, but after nine years of IVF and a traumatic stillbirth, she's starting to lose hope. Then her husband serves her divorce papers, and her hope for a future of motherhood just about dies. In the wake of her tragedies, she grows close with another woman, Vanessa, and begins to see what else might be possible.

I walked into this story pretty blind, but I've read enough Picoult books to know there's a general formula-- there's at least two things that I'll feel much more knowledgeable about by the time I finish, and there will likely be some sort of court case involved. And I was right on both accounts-- this is a story about fertility, religion, gay rights, and a very messy post divorce legal fight over frozen embryos. 

Picoult clearly puts a lot of time into researching the topics for her books. This was a very 2011 story, both in the general topic of queer rights (marriage wasn't legal in every state yet at that point) and in some of the language used. It was probably considered very progressive for the time, and while I think parts of it do hold up, there are certain jokes and comments that I know Picoult wouldn't include if she were writing it now.

Picoult also does a really good job writing different perspectives with very different views. In this case, Zoe and Vanessa, two queer women, and Max, Zoe's ex-husband who finds religion after their divorce. And I'll be honest, some of Max's perspective made me upset, which is probably the point-- we're supposed to see him and his motivations, understand what brings him to each part of the story, but I think I was just tired of bigots and people using religion to justify their hate. My timing for reading this probably also wasn't great.

I also had some concerns about how fast certain things happen in the story, but I understand the need for speed for character reasons and to keep the story moving. She also got really creative with the music aspect of the story-- Zoe is a music therapist and singer, and so the book came with a CD with songs cowritten by Picoult and a songwriter, with each song corresponding to each chapter, so the reader could listen along. I only have a CD player in my car, so I haven't listened to it yet, but I still could.

I think overall, as far as Picoult books go, I have a lot of others I liked better than this one, but it was still a decent read.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

I'm not really a memoir or nonfiction girlie, but I remember this book being widely talked about back in 2020, so when I saw it at the thrift store for $3 I said, okay, let's do it.

I do appreciate the vignette writing style used in this book-- the one I'm writing is stylized similarly, so that likely fed into my decision to read this now.

Unsurprisingly, the parts I liked the best were the storytelling pieces-- her divorce, falling in love again, remarriage, rime with her children. The introspective stuff was well written and hit hard in some places, but in other places I felt myself drifting as I read, especially the chunk about religion.

I respect Glennon Doyle a lot, and I think she's put a lot of work into becoming and knowing and learning and helping people to do the same. I think it takes a lot of heart and a lot of courage to do the thing that will change your life forever but make you unquantifiably happy, and then turn around and try to help as many other people as possible. 

As far as non fiction goes, or I supposed inspirational not quite memoirs, this was a decent one. It didn't convert me to reading more like it, but if i was gonna read one I'm glad it was this one.

A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane

I don't remember where I got this book, only that I've had it a long time and figured it was time to get it off the shelf.

Charlie's life is dull, restless, unsatisfying-- until he's hired on as the personal assistant to Kathi Kannon, movie star and Hollywood legend. Life with Kathi is chaos, but Charlie's never felt so full. But chaos and fun and endless adventure can't last forever, and when Charlie starts to overflow, he has to decide where his life with Kathi ends and his real own life begins.

This is a weird and wacky book about a weird and wacky relationship and a weird and wacky celebrity. I can definitely see where some of the inspiration could have come from Carrie Fischer (Lane was her personal assistant for several years, and while this is absolutely a work of fiction, I can see where some things came from) and the world of celebrity and assistants. It also feels like a real look at fulfillment, what you build and experience and look for in life that makes or worthwhile. Charlie is seeking meaning and finds it and loses himself in Kathi, and the balance of it all is impossible.

The control freak part of me was super stressed out for so much of this story, but that's probably the point. The writing style is balanced, even if certain moments with Charlie are a little too introspective, him reading into things enough to slow down the action and movement sometimes, but it all added something to his character and arc.

Overall this was a decent and interesting read.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I picked this book up because the other two Zevin books I've read (Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow and Elsewhere) I adored, so I figured I'd try this one out too.

A.J. Fikry is a grumpy, lonely man, running a grumpy, lonely bookstore, and when his prized collection of Edgar Allen poems is stolen about a year after his wife dies, A.J. figures life is just about as bad as it can be. But when a baby girl is left in his bookshop, something begins to change in A.J., his bookshop, and the town-- something for the better.

This was a quick read, full of what I've come to know as Zevin's style of very notable characters, incredible dialogue, and the perfect balance of heartbreak and heartwarming moments.

A.J. is a very interesting character who knows exactly who he thinks he is. Alice Island makes for a charming small town setting while also adding in the skuttlebutt aspect of a small community. We get to meet several characters and spend time in each of their heads, each with singular and notable voices.

I love a book about books too, and this one included some references I knew and some I didn't, which is the ideal way to experience a book about books. It's charming and optimistic, with the right amount of real and tragic to keep things from feeling too idyllic. It's a story about love, all the different kinds of love that can exist in a person's life, and I really, really liked it.

And that's it! See you next month!

Literary Recommendation: Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Media Recommendation: The Mighty Nein series on Amazon! I loved Campaign 2 of Critical Role, so getting to see my beloved animated is so fun and wonderful