Books I've Read in Aug-Present

a book log dump because I haven't been writing

Oct 25, 2023

Hi there,

It’s been almost a month since my last newsletter. I’ve been really occupied with planning an upcoming big event. A lot of relatives and friends have been coming over in the city as well and so I feel like I’m always out every weekend or when I’m not at work. And because of that, I didn’t have any time to write. I still do read though. I just haven’t had the time to write. So I thought to share some books that’ve read in the past couple of weeks in the hopes you might find your next best read (or help you skip some). Let’s Go!

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle - SKIP
When Katy’s mother dies, she is devastated. She’s not only her mother but her best friend and the love of her life. To heal, she takes the Italy trip that she and her mother initially planned to go before she died. Surprisingly, by some time travel or some other magic trick that’s never explained in the book, she meets her mother. In the flesh, but younger. Kathy gets to know Carol, her mother, as a carefree young woman and the total opposite of the mother she knew.
The writing is really wonderful it will make you book a trip to Italy ASAP (even if it’s not summer!) However, I think Katy’s character was so self-centered. She’s very, very dependent on her mother despite being a full-fledged married adult. I mean, she couldn’t even buy her own food because her mother always brought her food. It ruined my whole reading experience. But, I finished it because it’s about ITALY. One of my dream countries.
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - MUST READ
Twenty-five years ago, police officers received an anonymous phone call from 16 Cheyne Walk - a well known mansion from London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood. When they arrived, they found a healthy baby happily cooing in her crib, three dead bodies in the kitchen, and three other resident children gone.
Libby Jones inherits an abandoned mansion worth millions soon after her 25th birthday. What she doesn’t know is that others have been waiting for this day as well and not all of them have good intentions. She soon learns the identity of her birth parents and the mansion’s history.
Unpredictable. Unsettling. Unreliable Narrators. This has been the best psychological thriller I have read this year. I never knew what to expect until the ending. One of the main narrators, Henry, is one of the most well written, messed up, and broken character I have ever read. His narration was so dark, sinister, and unexpected. And all of that comes from the trauma he experienced when he was a child. The way the two storylines were weaved is mindblowing.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave - SKIP
Hannah receives a note from his husband, Owen, just before he disappears. Protect her, the note says. Hannah is perplexed and terrified, but she knows who the note refers to: Bailey, Owen's 16-year-old daughter. As a series of events unfold, Hannah realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was and that Bailey might just hold the answer to Owen’s real identity and his disappearance. Together with Bailey, they embark on a quest to discover the truth.
I kept rolling my eyes with this book. Hannah’s realizations was just so out of the blue, inconsistent, and out of character. The craziest thing was that she was able to negotiate with the leader of a powerful mob family and walked away unscathed. It was unrealistic. The thrill was built up so high but the climax and conclusion felt short. It was as if all the trouble that Hannah and Bailey went through was just disregarded with the final ending.
In my opinion, I don’t think Hannah should even be the main narrator of this book. It wasn’t her story. It was Owen’s and Bailey’s. That could have been more thrilling I think.
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - MUST READ
In an unnamed country in South America a party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful businessman. The party’s main entertainment is Roxane Coss, opera's most revered soprano, and the only reason why Mr. Hosokawa even agreed to this party. Attended by politicians, diplomats, international businessmen, the evening was going well until a band of terrorists takes the entire party hostage. What begins as a terrifying, life-threatening situation evolved into something beautiful as terrorists and hostages becomes friends, lovers, and compatriots.
I loved the writing in this book. The way Patchett writes how enemies become friends and strangers to lovers is breathtaking. I mean that literally because i really stop breathing after a beautiful sentence or two. However, I plan to reread this again because I had a different mindset going in. I had high expectations of the book plot-wise. I had hoped that it will be fast-paced and thrilling. But it was not. The beauty in the this book is the distinct characters and how the relationships unfold. I know now that if you’re reading an Ann Patchett, you don’t read for the plot.
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen - MUST READ
Good girl rule-abiding Ava Wong has the perfect life - a brilliant law career, a successful surgeon husband, an adorable son, and the perfect home. But beneath it all her world is falling apart.
Winnie Fang, Ava’s former college roommate and a bit of bumpkin, suddenly reconnects with Ava twenty years later after Winnie’s mysterious disappearance at Harvard. But the shy and awkward girl Ava once knew is replaced by a confident woman covered in luxury goods from head to toe. Winnie tells her later on that she has developed a clever counterfeit scheme that imports near-exact replicas of luxury handbags. Now, she wants strait-laced Ava, someone who'd never be suspected of wrongdoing, to help her manage her business. Ava agrees but then the business falls apart, leaving Ava to pick up the pieces.
I really loved my experience reading this book. It’s short but really well thought of. The character’s narration of their story is clever and the plot twist was sneaky. I learned a lot on counterfeit luxury items and jewelry!
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister - MUST READ
While Jen anxiously waits for his son to get home, she witnesses her son stab a stranger. After her son is taken into custody, she fells asleep into hopelessness. But when she wakes up, she finds it is yesterday. The murder hasn’t happened yet and she might have a chance to stop it. Every day she wakes up, she finds herself further and further back in time. First weeks, then years, before the murder. She realizes that the clue as to how she can stop the murder is somewhere in the past and it is up to her to find it.
There is a reason that this book has a 4.03 rating in Goodreads. This absolutely blew my mind. The storytelling and the plot twist is unlike anything I have ever read before. There are so many twists and turns, it made a very pleasurable and exciting reading experience. Even though you kind of guess where the story is headed, I still got surprised by some of them. I gasped a lot. It’s a time travel story so expect minor plot holes. If you don’t mind it that much, you’re in for a roller coaster ride.
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - MUST READ
I don’t think this book needs more introduction or any more explaining why it’s a must read. I enjoyed my reading experience with this book and to this day, I keep thinking about the line below. It’s just so beautifully written.
Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - JUST OKAY BUT MIGHT REREAD
This book is a collection of narratives. It centers around the life of Bennie Salazar, an aging music executive, and Sasha, a troubled young women who is secretary to Bennie. We discover Bennie and Sasha’s past and future through the narratives of other characters whose paths cross with theirs.
The theme is mostly about how time steals our youth, ambitions, and passions without us noticing it. There’s really not much plot here and this book is one of those “no plot, just vibes” type. I love those type of books but I didn’t enjoy this one. I couldn’t connect with the characters at all and one of the characteristics of a “no plot, just vibes” book is that you really have to like the characters. I had high hopes with this one because it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. I guess I just didn’t have the right mindset when I picked this up but I am planning on a reread sometime in the future.

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What I’m Reading This Week

Spooky season is here so I am planning to read the classic thriller Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. My copy is this one with the Netflix movie cover so I’m planning to watch this after reading.