Some books I liked this year
Because yeah, it's almost over.
I told my wife earlier this week that the book I’d just finished reading was the best book I read this year. She told me I said that about every book I read this year, which:
isn’t true, and
made me realize I read a lot of good books this year.
Anyway, in the spirit of 2021 wrapping up, I thought I’d share some.
Pizza Girl
I picked up Jean Kyoung Frazier’s Pizza Girl because I love its cover. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but when the cover is neon and has a slice of pizza on it, I’m going to pick it up. It’s about a pregnant teenager who works as a delivery driver in Los Angeles and becomes obsessed with a stay-at-home mom who orders pickle-covered pizzas. It’s a wry, sad, and clever look at the ways we tackle our insecurities and attempt to deal with the emotional twists and turns that come with changes in our lives.
All Together Now
I started following Matthew Norman in 2013 or so, sometime between his first book, Domestic Violets, and his second, We’re All Damaged. All Together Now is his fourth, and it continues in the spirit of Norman’s witty, heartfelt takes on the eccentricities and hiccups of everyday life. It follows the story of thirtysomething billionaire Robbie Malcolm, who finds out he’s dying and decides to bring his oldest friends back together for a weekend on Fenwick Island. It’s a weird thing, reaching that age where you start pondering your own mortality a little bit, and Norman tackles it in a way that highlights how lucky we are when we have friends who, even if they weren’t always there physically, have stuck with us throughout our lives.
Stay Up With Hugo Best
I first heard about Erin Somers when she appeared on I’m a Writer But, a podcast about writing/parenting/juggling life that has gotten me through the last year or so of the pandemic. Stay Up With Hugo Best is about June, a broke writer’s assistant on a late night talk show who, after being laid off, accepts an invitation from the show’s host to spend Memorial Day weekend with him at his mansion. The relationship that develops between June and Hugo and the complexities it reveals about both of them provide an interesting, engaging look at workplace culture, the #MeToo movement, and the awkward ways we fall into adulthood.
Happy new year, y’all. Stay safe out there.