I’m going to pull out the most interesting of the books from the West that I’ve read recently. I did set myself a few rules for recommendation: first, I had to really really really like the book or have it speak to me in some way, not just because it was well-reviewed or popped up everywhere or had a pretty cover. And second: It had to be published in 2015, because if not, where would it stop, right?
Now that the caveats are out of the way, here’s what you should be reading this month.
The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo
I’m a hoarder. Not in a debilitating newspapers-in-stacks-up-to-the-ceiling-kind of way, but I do still have t-shirts I thought were out of style when I was fourteen. So Marie Kondo’s efficient way of getting rid of things was my jam. Only: it’s a big ask.
Kondo’s method is stacking everything up in a big pile (you work category by category, not room by room), touching things and seeing if they spark joy in you. If yes, you keep them. If no, then out they go.
I had a whale of a time cleaning out my cupboard, but then I examined all the stuff I had and all the time it was going to take, and yes, my cupboard was very clean for a while, and now it’s back to vomiting clothes all over the floor each time I open it. Not Marie’s fault, she’s still awesome. Try it! (Besides, she taught me a T-shirt folding method that has changed my life.)
Because You’ll Never Meet Me, Leah Thomas
What starts off as your standard YA novel about two teen boys who are pen friends because they both have a debilitating handicap that doesn’t let them interact with a lot of people sort of twists and turns into something new entirely. It brings everything into it: from first love to strange parents and finally this unexpected plot twist that you totally don’t see coming.
The Rocks, Peter Nichols
I read a bit of this delicious long book and then lay down for a nap where I had a dream I was in sunny Mallorca at one of those old-school seaside resorts where you chill for weeks on end, making best friends with your fellow guests. It was a great dream, and it’s also where this book is set, but it’s less summer holiday with lots of fun and more the sad tightening of your throat when you realise things never actually turn out the way you want them to. Spanning decades and romances, this was a glorious read.
Unbecoming, Rebecca Scherm
If everything is the “new” Gone Girl, I wonder how much relevance the “old” Gone Girl actually has anymore. Either way, this books stars a wonderfully selfish heroine, the girl-next-door who actually fell in love with the boy-next-door. But Grace wants so much more: primarily to steal things, which she does with great skill. When we meet her, she’s living under an assumed name in Paris, but her past is always right there. I kind of wanted to swipe a shiny bauble or two once she described them but I restrained myself nobly.
Everything Everything, Nicola Yoon
Oh hello, Other Book About Disabled Teen Who Can’t Leave The House. Only this is YA romance, and as such, totally different from the other book with a similar plotline I mentioned. You’re totally rooting for the heroine from the moment you meet her. It’s sappy in bits, but a lovely read if you’re looking for something to fill the Fault In Our Stars hole in your heart.
Day Four, Sarah Lotz
Ooof. This book is creepy. I had to go back and read Lotz’s other book, The Three before I read this one, but you can read them individually as well. The story of a cruise ship which suddenly randomly vanishes and what exactly happens to the people on board. Even typing out the synopsis gives me chills. Maybe don’t read on a cruise unless you’re prepared to be terrified the whole time.
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Now that the caveats are out of the way, here’s what you should be reading this month.
The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo
I’m a hoarder. Not in a debilitating newspapers-in-stacks-up-to-the-ceiling-kind of way, but I do still have t-shirts I thought were out of style when I was fourteen. So Marie Kondo’s efficient way of getting rid of things was my jam. Only: it’s a big ask.
Kondo’s method is stacking everything up in a big pile (you work category by category, not room by room), touching things and seeing if they spark joy in you. If yes, you keep them. If no, then out they go.
I had a whale of a time cleaning out my cupboard, but then I examined all the stuff I had and all the time it was going to take, and yes, my cupboard was very clean for a while, and now it’s back to vomiting clothes all over the floor each time I open it. Not Marie’s fault, she’s still awesome. Try it! (Besides, she taught me a T-shirt folding method that has changed my life.)
Because You’ll Never Meet Me, Leah Thomas
What starts off as your standard YA novel about two teen boys who are pen friends because they both have a debilitating handicap that doesn’t let them interact with a lot of people sort of twists and turns into something new entirely. It brings everything into it: from first love to strange parents and finally this unexpected plot twist that you totally don’t see coming.
The Rocks, Peter Nichols
I read a bit of this delicious long book and then lay down for a nap where I had a dream I was in sunny Mallorca at one of those old-school seaside resorts where you chill for weeks on end, making best friends with your fellow guests. It was a great dream, and it’s also where this book is set, but it’s less summer holiday with lots of fun and more the sad tightening of your throat when you realise things never actually turn out the way you want them to. Spanning decades and romances, this was a glorious read.
Unbecoming, Rebecca Scherm
If everything is the “new” Gone Girl, I wonder how much relevance the “old” Gone Girl actually has anymore. Either way, this books stars a wonderfully selfish heroine, the girl-next-door who actually fell in love with the boy-next-door. But Grace wants so much more: primarily to steal things, which she does with great skill. When we meet her, she’s living under an assumed name in Paris, but her past is always right there. I kind of wanted to swipe a shiny bauble or two once she described them but I restrained myself nobly.
Everything Everything, Nicola Yoon
Oh hello, Other Book About Disabled Teen Who Can’t Leave The House. Only this is YA romance, and as such, totally different from the other book with a similar plotline I mentioned. You’re totally rooting for the heroine from the moment you meet her. It’s sappy in bits, but a lovely read if you’re looking for something to fill the Fault In Our Stars hole in your heart.
Day Four, Sarah Lotz
Ooof. This book is creepy. I had to go back and read Lotz’s other book, The Three before I read this one, but you can read them individually as well. The story of a cruise ship which suddenly randomly vanishes and what exactly happens to the people on board. Even typing out the synopsis gives me chills. Maybe don’t read on a cruise unless you’re prepared to be terrified the whole time.