What I Read in September: Dinah
My reading brain has definitely been going in cycles lately, whether it’s how much I can read or what I want to read, these monthly recaps have been funny in revealing to me exactly where my head is at. This month I zeroed in on two strong themes, memoirs and fantasy with strong, female lead characters, plus one random, fun read!
A Beautiful, Terrible Thing
My friend Andi (hi, Andi!!), recommended this book by Jen Waite to me when a totally psycho chef I had dated in the past popped up again out of nowhere. This book follows the main character, an actress working at a restaurant to pay her bills, as she falls for Marco, the bar manager she works with, through their marriage, pregnancy and finally the collapse of it all. This book rang so true for me as someone who has dated a person this manipulative, charismatic and destructive to themselves and others. If you have ever sat up at night googling what being a narcissist really means, you will relate to this book completely, and if you haven’t, you should read this book so that you can spot these red flags! Jen’s story does have a happy ending and I tore through this in a day to get to it.
Open Book
I was late to the game on this (the library waiting lists can take so long!) but I finally finished Open Book in September. I came out of this as a huge fan of Jessica - she was incredibly open about her relationships, struggles with drinking and eating, family relationships, all while taking accountability for her own actions and mistakes. The Nick relationship and divorce was what I had expected and what we had heard in the tabloids, but the details about her other relationships, specifically Tony Romo and John Mayer were fascinating. From the revelation that John repeatedly broke up with her to cause himself pain and get inspiration for songs, to the fact that Tony lived like a college boy with trashbags taped over his windows, she managed to tell the truth and call them out, while also acknowledging the very human issues good and bad that contributed. Also, as many people have said before, this was best as an audio book with Jessica reading it herself!
A Queen In Hiding
The first in a sweeping epic series, The Nine Realms, Sarah Kozloff’s book is set in a world where each country has it’s own unique type of magic, focused around the country of Weirandale where each Queen has a special power. The book opens with the current Queen, Cressa, realizing that her council is plotting against her, so she flees to save her life and her daughter while she works to win back the throne. The POV goes between Queen Cressa, Princess Cerulia and characters around the world, showing the perspective from warring countries, political enemies and viewpoints. The world building is very complex and original, and it feels like a more traditional fantasy series. It’s definitely a more adult series than YA.
The Queen’s Rising
This YA fantasy book opens with the main character Brienna, about to graduate from the school she has been attending, where each student “passions” in a different subject. An orphan, Brienna was brought to the school by her grandfather to protect her, as her mother was from their country Valeria, but her father’s identity is unknown, outside of the fact that he is from across the ocean, the country of Maevana. Maevana is under the rule of King Lannon, after he ousted the last Kavanaugh Queen, killed the family to destroy their magic, and slaughtered the families of several important nobles. Brienna finds herself in danger and drawn into this conflict across the sea as she begins to receive visions of the past from an ancestor and becomes an important player. I enjoyed this book - the world building wasn’t especially complicated and it doesn’t lean too hard into the magic aspect, relying more on espionage, secret identities and political maneuvers to drive the drama. It’s definitely on the lighter and younger spectrum of the YA fantasy world.
Sex and Vanity
I deeply loved Kevin Kwan’s Crazy, Rich Asians and the sequels, so I was very excited to dive back into the world of the ultra-rich. This book focuses more on the American side of the moneyed world, with the action starting at an over-the-top destination wedding in Italy between a very rich Chinese woman and her Italian Count fiance, where the main character XX and her older cousin/chaperone arrive for the festivities. The action then goes back to Manhattan and the Hamptons, where Kwan draws contrasts between old and new money, highlights racism and classism within families and drops so many brand names that I lost a few hours searching for the most compelling references. My favorite device was that every new character was introduced with their schools listed after their names, such as Dinah (Waynflete/Miss Porter’s/College of Charleston), so that you could know their exact background - most of the women over 30 were Miss Porter’s graduates, which gave me so much satisfaction!