I like Friends the way everyone likes Friends. I'm not a die hard, owns-several-t-shirts type of fan but I know most of the episodes, references, etc. and won't change the channel on a rerun. I got this book for Christmas and figured with the announcement of the reunion that recently aired that now would be a great time to dig in.
This is the first book I picked up based off a recommendation from Juliet Litman of The Ringer Podcast Network. Every so often she will mention a few books she is enjoying, and she mentioned The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Reading, watching, or hearing anything about prison usually makes me extremely anxious, but I decided to give this one a go after seeing Jonathan Franzen praise it as Kushner's best book yet. I am also in a big fiction-only phase right now, so it seemed to fit with my current reading interest.
I'm down to only 3 Anita Shreve books left in her entire repertoire and I'm really hoping they're all a lot better than this one. I can't remember the last time I felt so bored by a story, and it has all the things I usually like!
I spent the last few months stockpiling book reviews so that I could finally tackle John Steinbeck's classic The Grapes of Wrath (~500 pages). My supervisor in grad school leant me her copy of East of Eden and it is easily now one of my favourite fiction books. I love Steinbeck's writing style (how simple it is) and the stories he wants to tell. The Grapes of Wrath quickly got added to my list of must-read-classics.
I always try to start the new year reading a book I expect to love. I had seen Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation on so many bookstore shelves, and the cover is pretty eye catching (especially with the use of neon pink). I originally thought this was a memoir but quickly learned it was fiction. I read this quickly and immediately ordered another Moshfegh novel. My Year of Rest and Relaxation is 304 pages and I flew through it. It's about a young woman who decides she wants to sleep for an entire year.... this book is not about self-care.
