Aside from curating the music section, I’m an avid reader, clocking in around 20-30 books a year on top of my full-time job as a staff writer for City Paper. (My 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal is 25 books, but I will probably surpass that thanks to social distancing.) Since many are staying home due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, I thought about writing out full reviews of the last few books I’ve read. But then I remembered that in the age of social media, attention spans are minuscule. So instead, I’m bringing you a review of the past 10 books I read, in a short and quick five (or six) word summary. Maybe this will help you choose your next read.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali, out June 2019 via Gallery Books
A first love never dies.
Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin, out Feb. 2020 via Celadon Books
Privileged girl’s disappearance alters numerous lives.
You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, out March 2020 via Martin’s Press
Cults always pray on the meek.
Anna K by Jenny Lee, out March 2020, Flatiron Books
Gossip Girl meets Anna Karenina.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, out Dec. 2019 via Random House Race relations in a digital age.
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, out Feb. 2020 via Berkley
Paranormal true crime over multiple decades.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, out Oct. 2008 via HarperCollins Graveyard reimagining of The Jungle Book.
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher, out Dec. 2019 via Graydon House
Mental-health tinged polyamory relationship thriller. Severance by Ling Ma, out Aug. 2018 Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Apocalypse with millennial loner-type protagonist. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, out Oct. 2019 via Flatiron Books Magical elite Yale University cults.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2020.
