Late to post this one - pandemic is still going on but at least things are slowing starting to open up! Let’s get down to it…Here’s everything I read this month:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Dutch House is a gorgeously written novel. It is easy to see why it was a 2020 finalist for the Pulitzer Award for Fiction. I loved how much of the book was centered around this unique and unchanging house, which I felt like I could see perfectly in my mind’s eye through all of Patchett’s detailed descriptions. I also loved the sibling relationship between Maeve and Danny and how they remained each other’s rock through several losses and hardships. I don’t think I loved this one quite as much as most did, but it was still a great read!
Overall Score: B
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
This one has been in my To Read stack for a while and I’m so glad I finally picked it up! The Color Purple is an exceptionally written novel written entirely in letter form. The book, full of some strong and diverse female characters, examines the many abuses women face all over the world by bringing readers up close to life as a Black woman in both the deep American South and in Western Africa. Stylistically, I loved Walker’s choice to refer to men in her story as “Mr._____,” as eliminating the name is a method of removing them from their position of power by effectively erasing the idea of a real human identity. The book is such a complex narrative about love: especially between two sisters who are separated by continents. It is vivid, heartbreaking, and sometimes disturbing, but it is also full of hope.
Overall Score: A
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, while not a typical book I might choose, was an easy and relatively light read that kept me engaged from beginning to end. The book is quick to action, developing the plot before giving you a good idea who the main characters are (but they are thoroughly fleshed out by the end). I liked that this book was not what I expected based on the title and found it refreshing to read about a female character who just does not give an eff about other’s thoughts or expectations of her. Again, not my favorite type of book, but I did enjoy it as a change up!
Overall Score: B+
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
This book got a lot of hype before I read it and I just want to say, it is DEFINITELY deserved! I love, love, loved The Vanishing Half! This was my first time Brit Bennett and I was so impressed. She does an amazing job weaving a tale of identical, lightskinned Black twin sisters who go on to lead very different lives, predominantly based on the race they choose to identify as. The book examines this concept of “passing” and the effect it can have on generations of families. The twins, who live wildly different lives in adulthood, can never escape each other fully as they are always connected by their sisterhood, their shared experiences, and their home. This dynamic family story takes place over the course of 40 or so years and the characters all make very different choices that have very different consequences with which they have to live. All in all, I highly recommend this book and I can’t wait to read The Mothers.
Overall Score: A+