Author: Mel

Books

Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney

by Mel2 Comments on Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney
Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind–and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa’s orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman’s sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil–and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh.

But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances’s intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

I’ll be the first to admit, I definitely don’t understand the hype around Sally Rooney’s books. With all the coverage Normal People has received since it came out, I thought I’d begin with her first book as a primer.

It turned out I kind of hated it!

Continue reading “Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney” →
Books

The Last Five Books I Didn’t Finish

by MelLeave a Comment on The Last Five Books I Didn’t Finish

You never want to DNF a book, but sometimes it happens anyway. The book isn’t as good as you’d expected or heard, or maybe your attention just gets captured elsewhere and before you know it, it’s been weeks or even months since you last abandoned that book and now have a funny guilty feeling whenever you see it lying on the counter because deep down, you know you won’t be coming back to it.

But DNFs aren’t anything to feel guilty or bad over! I used to feel this internal pressure to finish every book I started, as if it was reflection on my character – like it meant I was persevering or loyal or something. But gradually I moved away from this mindset. There are so many amazing books in the world that if I’m not enjoying something, I leave it! What’s also comforting to me is knowing that even if I DNF something today, doesn’t mean it’s DNF forever. I can always come back to it later in life – maybe when I have more time, or perhaps more ready to appreciate it.

Below, three books that I recently put down…but plan to finish at some point 🙂

Continue reading “The Last Five Books I Didn’t Finish” →
Books

In Five Years – Rebecca Serle

by Mel2 Comments on In Five Years – Rebecca Serle
Where do you see yourself in five years? When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future. After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind. That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I was so excited for this book that it was one of my most anticipated reads of early 2020, but it turned out to disappoint 😦

Continue reading “In Five Years – Rebecca Serle” →
Books

Books on my TBR I’m Avoiding

by Mel4 Comments on Books on my TBR I’m Avoiding

I don’t know about you, but I’ve discovered recently that there’s normal TBR avoidance, and then there’s quarantine TBR avoidance. Namely: I don’t want anything too involved or sad or intellectual…or long, or upsetting, or too emotional either. I know, I’m really outing my pandemic self as an insufferably lazy bum 🤣 In all seriousness, I’ve been SO restless lately and can’t seem to sit through anything that requires too much dedication, which is the opposite of what reading is all about. Here are a few books that have been on my list forever but am strenuously avoiding because of any of the reasons above.

Continue reading “Books on my TBR I’m Avoiding” →