The Nest

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars The characters in The Nest have all built their lives around expectations. Expectations of finally getting that trust fund money, of becoming that predicted best-seller, of winning the love of a boyfriend, of fulfilling parents dreams, of living up to society's judgements. We can all tell that basing our financial decisions on future money is not wise, but Sweeney asks us to question what other ambiguous and ethereal "windfalls" we are basing our life on. Cutting the cords of expectations may seem wise, but as the characters learn to do this, some end up happier, others seem just more unmoored and alone (though, I think that is my opinion, and maybe not what the author had in mind). It is an interesting idea, and well written, but the novel didn't carry enough weight as a whole to make it 4 stars. ( it didn't meet my expectations?)

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 The things money could buy weren’t the reward; the reward was to feel lifted above everyone else, to get a look at the other side of the fence where the grass was rarely greener but always different and what he loved was the contrast—and the choice. The ability to take it in was what mattered; the ability to choose was what mattered.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. I liked Harold and his journey to self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. Some parts got a little long, and the media circus part felt a little inorganic, but all in all it was a lovely book about how relationships require action, memories can be warped, and love can both trap us and set us free.

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 as if he wasn’t so much walking to Queenie as away from himself.

 It was the first time anyone had referred to his walk as a shared responsibility.

 Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before

 The waves kept throwing themselves further and further up the shoreline. All that energy, all that power, crossing oceans, carrying ships and liners, and ending just a short distance from her feet, in a last flume of spray.

I'm Judging You

I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, if I'm going to get "the side-eyes" from someone, I'd pick Luuvie. With a sense of humor that is actually funny, and doesn't dip in to crassness often, Luuvie explains how we can "do better" as Americans. She warms us up with humor, than gets to the meatier issues of race and sex. She judges us, but with compassion and openness as well, so I could take her views and not feel defensive if we happened to disagree; it helped me empathize more with her point of view than if she had been acerbic and abrasive. She ends with some sort of irrelevant essays about fame and social media that most of us don't have to deal with, but overall a very good collection of essays.


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All I got was that wilted kale salad that tasted like the tears of my disappointed ancestors

 Coke Zero version of yourself.

 Knowing our privilege does not make us villains, but it should make us more conscious about the parts we play in systems that are greater than us.

 the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

The Clay Lion

The Clay Lion by Amalie Jahn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a surprisingly enjoyable read. It explored grieving in a new and fascinating way with Brooke going back in time three times to try and save her brother. The writing was a little immature, but the plot was well-developed and interesting, despite living the same time period three times. An uplifting, thought-provoking book. I would definitely recommend it to YA....has more meat than the usual YA tropes.


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Dishes

A tower of metal and glass
Garnished with last night's feast;
Water and suds,
Scour and scrub,
But the pile is never decreased.

I work the pile left to right
Almost like an automaton,
No piles shrink,
Despite work in the sink--
The chore goes on and on.

Years flow by, rooted at the basin
Dreams, hopes, circle the drain.
Grease skims water,
Fingers pucker,
The unwashed tower remains.

Perchance a day arrives
Where all is washed and dried,
But sitting down,
I look around,
To see my eyes have lied.

Clanging drowns out thought,
Water leeches laughter.
I am not whole;
I have no soul,
And no one to see me shatter.

A Study in Scarlet Women

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do not go into this thinking it will be as good as a Sherlock Holmes story, or you will be dissappointed. Charlotte is neither as witty or eccentric as her male counterpart, nor are her observations as masterful, but she is a great character in and of herself. The mystery is entertaining if a bit convoluted and I loved the setting. I thought it was a charming, fun read.

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Wuthering Heights

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somehow I made it to this point without having read Wuthering Heights. I always assumed it was about forbidden love and that Heathcliff was a misunderstood romantic somewhere along the lines of James Dean. I also got the impression there were supernatural elements and that Wuthering Heights was a house shrouded in mystery. That I had so many impressions about it, and not necessarily wrong ones, shows how much Heathcliff and Catherine's story echoes in modern literature today. That being said, it was not a love story, in my mind. It was a revenge story. Heathcliffs revenge on Linton of course, but also Catherine's revenge on the both of them for making her choose between them that she makes herself ill. This is a good manual for how to will yourself to die. None of the characters are especially sympathetic and there are very few moments of hope. But it is interesting to see itinerations of it play out in other literature...the most recent I've read was A Little Life...

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Ways A Little Life is like Wutherimg Heights:

Jude and Heathcliff are both abandoned as a baby and left outside the church
Both have unidentifiable heritage
Both are abused as children by their father figures
Both become wealthy and 'respectable' but Heathcliff does not act like it, and Jude cannot believe he is (maybe Heathcliff can't either?)
Lipserd street is WH?  Crawling in and out of Windows
Both fall in love with their "sibling"....Willem often treats Jude as he would have his dead brother...
It is a " forbidden" love... Catherine for respectability sake, Willem had to deal with publicity
Catherine and Willem both die
Heathcliff and Jude both starve themselves in order to see their "ghosts"
Both take their own lives