Expectation: A smart, timely commentary on celebrity culture and self-esteem.
Reality: All of that plus laugh out loud funny. I was compulsively entertained from start-to-finish.
All in Audiobook
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey
Expectation: A classic retelling of David and Goliath but set in a mental institution in the 1960s.
Reality: It has not aged well, and I barely finished it.
Yellowface – R. F. Kuang
Expectation: A timely and highly literary story about plagiarism and diversity set against the backdrop of the publishing industry.
Reality: A dark, shocking and highly engrossing novel that dismantles so many hot button issues in less than 400-pages. Unfortunately the last third lost steam.
You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington – Alexis Coe
This is largely a Cliff’s Notes view of the American Revolution and fledgling democracy, which is honestly the right amount for most readers, while focusing on subjects often overlooked - Washington’s propaganda machine, political enemies, women and slaves.
In Memoriam – Alice Winn
Expectation: A gut-punch queer love story set within the backdrop of World War I trenches.
Reality: Stilted dialogue, a ping-pong narrative structure and an unbelievable connection between the two main characters made this rather disappointing.
The Shards – Bret Easton Ellis
Expectation: A based on true events murder mystery set in the privileged world of 1980s Los Angeles teens.
Reality: A hedonistic cat and mouse story that will have you second guessing everything the narrator (a fictionalized version of the author) has told you.
Even Though I Knew the End – C. L. Polk
Expectation: A horror-tinged murder mystery that celebrates queer love.
Reality: Fantasy-heavy and a bit convoluted, as a non-genre fan it became too much, but the fantastic audiobook kept me enthralled.
The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel
Expectation: A ripped-from-the-headlines story of monied greed and comeuppance.
Reality: A nuanced and contained story that proved to be my favorite of the author’s even though it’s less beloved than “Station Eleven” and “Sea of Tranquility.”
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Expectation: An immersive and exceptional story about a dark period of American history.
Reality: Needlessly long and a little boring, I was completely turned off by Scarlett and Rhett and struggled to see why the characters are so popular.
Clap When You Land – Elizabeth Acevedo
Expectation: A sullen “Parent Trap”-esque young adult novel about two half sisters learning about one another through tragedy.
Reality: A gorgeously understated book-in-verse that delivered strong character development and real emotion without pandering to YA trends.
One Day: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America – Gene Weingarten
I adored the premise of this book, and in many ways it is a love letter to journalism in its purest form. Weingarten is a gifted writer and researcher who was able to find marvel in both the mundane and monumental aspects of life on that day. Yet, as the chapters went on, the whole exercise began to feel tawdry and voyeuristic.
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club – J. Ryan Stradal
Expectation: My enthusiasm was off the charts for this book, my most anticipated read of the year.
Reality: While not as strong as Stradal's previous novels, it was still highly entertaining and he took a few risks that mostly paid off.
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise – Colleen Oakley
Expectation: A quasi-retelling of the classic film but with a May-December friendship and some lower (i.e. not deadly) stakes.
Reality: Absolutely garbage.
Banned Books: The World's Most Controversial Books, Past and Present – D.K. Publishing
This is a wisp of a book that could be considered a primer on the subject, but it never goes deep enough to make you feel like you’re learning something versus reading a listicle.
Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng
Expectation: A family mystery-thriller akin to Alice Sebold’s “Lovely Bones.”
Reality: Not so much a mystery, but a slowburn exploration of the Lee family dynamics, which have a solid foundation of secrecy.
The Fisherman – John Langan
Expectation: A gory, nature-themed horror/fantasy centered around a fictional upstate New York urban legend.
Reality: An incredibly boring mishmash of genre tropes that overshadowed the few thrilling scenes and a likable main character.
The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation – Natalie Y. Moore
While there’s a lot to unpack, Moore keeps things focused and entertaining - insomuch topics like this can be - with well-placed curse words and anecdotes. Often nonfiction books of this nature bog the reader down with deep history and details that detract from the broader message, but that’s not the case here.
The Office of Historical Corrections – Danielle Evans
Expectation: A collection of stories exploring different facets of American history that were misrepresented.
Reality: A top-to-bottom solid collection that takes you on several intriguing and understated journeys that force the reader to question “what would you do?”
Nightcrawling – Leila Mottley
Expectation: A modern take on the world’s oldest profession.
Reality: Depressing and somber, the story went places I didn’t expect, but outside of the main character, I didn’t care much for what was happening.
Heavy: An American Memoir – Kiese Laymon
These raw and unfiltered memories from Kiese Laymon’s early life in Jackson, Mississippi - roughly pre-teen to mid-20s - left me uncomfortable, frustrated and sad. It’s no wonder this biography is titled “Heavy,” because there is so much weight - metaphorically and physically - that the author has had to carry throughout this life.