I just learned that MasterClass describes their customers as CATS (creative, aspiring thirty-somethings). That’s one way to describe Lily King’s protagonist, Casey. She’s in a love triangle. She has writers’ block. But worst of all she’s wrestling with what a lot of people go through in their thirties - is it time to quit her creative aspirations and settle?
books
If the old man from Up was endearingly suicidal
in books, fiction, character driven
I never knew failed suicide attempts could be so charming but here we are. A Man Called Ove (2012) by Fredrik Backman is about a stodgy old guy who just wants to die but his neighbors keep bothering him and somehow his suicide attempts keep getting foiled or put off. The story goes back and forth between the present and his past, revealing why he is the way that he is. Makes you wonder if that grouchy old neighbor of yours is hiding some rich stories.
READ if like character stories about curmudgeons
Slam poetry meets Brexit meets improbable connections
How do I describe Spring (2019) by Ali Smith? It’s a novel collaged with politically charged rants (which will make sense about halfway through the book). It’s a bleak look at the political and cultural landscape - Brexit, refugee detainment, youthful hope, right-wing rage, data collection - wrapped in a narrative that follows unlikely connections - an old director, a detainee custody officer, a young activist. It’s beautiful, energetic, angry. It’s one that you might want to read a couple times to fully understand its meaning.
Quirky girl has dark relationship with her mom
Don’t be fooled by its cover, girl, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017) by Gail Honeyman, isn’t easy, breezy, beautiful. Our quirky lead is a little stand offish, but she doesn’t mind. She lives a life of routine; no friends, just “mummy.” That is, until she becomes obsessed with a guy she thinks she’s destined to be with. Sound delightful? Well, throw in a traumatic past, vodka, facial scars, and an IT guy and you have a surprisingly dark novel that you can get through in a weekend.
READ if you like female protagonists with traumatic back stories
Making a Murderer meets fanciful Savannah, Georgia, in the 80s
in books, nonfiction
Savannah, Georgia - the city that asks you what you’d like to drink - is filled with wild characters and no reason to change. This is all according to the Yankee journalist who is documenting his stay in town in the 1980s. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1994) is true story. It says a lot when the eccentricities of the characters, including an antique seller who throws the best Christmas parties, an inventor rumored to have a poison that can wipe out the entire town, a widowed socialite who loves the color green, and a scene-stealing drag queen, to name a few, are more interesting than the main plot (the murder) itself. Did the antique seller murder his much younger assistant who also happens to be a very good male prostitute? Does it matter?
Thank you to Josh Hill for recommending this book to me after watching Tiger King!
Cuties be texting!
Emergency Contact (2018), written by Mary H. K. Choi, is a darling romcom about two loner types who spend all their time texting each other. He’s poor and lives above a coffee shop. She’s awkward because it’s a YA book. In young people fashion, the meat of the story is actually less of a will they, won’t they, and more about coping with tensioned relationships with mothers. This one is very cute and great if you’re looking to burn straight through a book in a weekend.