May 15, 20203 min read

Friday Book Debrief Vol 24

Every week we’re sharing what our some of our writers are currently reading.

For all of our US readers, we now have our own Bookshop! You can find the full list of the below books here and with every purchase you will be helping local independent bookstores! If you do not live in the US please support your local independent stores, lots are now doing local deliveries and they need your help more then ever in these uncertain times. - ❤️

Normal People by Sally Rooney - Alice-Rae

This week I'm re-reading Normal People (unsurprisingly to anyone who's seen it) and finding new ways to fall in love with Connell and Marianne again, as well as seeing different things in the book that I wouldn't have picked up on having seen it through someone else's eyes. Let's just say, it's a good thing I'm not wearing mascara during the lockdown…

Buy it here.

Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan - Jessica

I was drawn to this book because it was literally all over my Instagram for the best part of a month. I feel completely inside the mind of the protagonist—an overthinking ELT in Hong Kong who ends up in something resembling a love triangle with a banker and a lawyer—and it's a relentless but enjoyable place to be.

Buy it here.

Becoming by Michelle Obama - Mel

I kept telling myself I was waiting for the right time to finally delve into what I was sure would be a wonderful, touching memoir. Needless to say, I needed this now and it does not disappoint—Michelle has an astounding narrative voice.

Buy it here.

Inferno by Dan Brown - Maggie

I always know Robert Langdon and his European shenanigans will pull me out of a reading rutt. Fast-paced chapters packed to the brim with historical factoids and drama....love it.

Buy it here.

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener - Christina

I am so happy to be living in the age of the memoir. Everyone has a story to tell, and I can't put Anna Wiener's down. A must for anyone who has ever worked in an office where you conduct meetings on beanbags and the CEO has a poster of Che Guevara behind his desk.

Buy it here.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim - Marian

I have been devouring this fast-paced courtroom drama this week. Kim has deftly written the main Korean immigrant Yoo family, as I have been ruminating about the struggles they faced particularly gender issues and language acquisition. Read this book immediately.

Buy it here.

On Lighthouses by Jazmina Barrera, Translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney - Jessica Maria

I find myself incredibly mesmerized by Barrera’s descriptions of lighthouses; a structure that beforehand never made much difference to me. Through her obsessive eye I see their mystique and am beginning to understand how my own obsessions could be written about to provoke the same (if only I could). Excited to finish this, full review soon here on The Book Slut.

Buy it here.

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio - The Book Slut

I'm been waiting it seems like forever since I read Karen's amazing review and read Karla's poetic, provocative, and riveting responses in her interview to get my hands on this book and it has finally arrived.

Buy it here.