My reads this month were extremely varied. I’m glad for it! It gives me some idea of where I want to go in the coming months with what I pick up.
Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler • ★★★★☆
When I heard Anna Marie Tendler, the artist who was once married to John Mulaney, was writing a book, I was so eager to pick it up. When I heard it was not a gossipy take-down of Mulaney, I became less interested. This was petty and wrongly reduces Tendler down to the role of being a celebrity’s wife instead of being an interesting, talented person in her own right.
In Men Have Called Her Crazy, Tendler details the time she spent in an in-patient psychiatric facility in 2021 along with stories from her life. She focuses especially on her history with men, her various professional and educational pursuits, how she coped with trauma, and finding moments of peace. I found Tendler to be infinitely charming. Her writing is self-reflective and smart, and she puts into words a lot of the experiences many women have with suppressed rage—especially rage that stems from experience with men.
This book could be hard for some to read as it deals with psychiatric issues and unhealthy relationships, so please proceed with caution.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones • ★★★★☆
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead starts with a body. Janina finds her neighbor dead in his home. She has her suspicions about what killed him. Later, when a police officer is found dead in the woods, she tries to tell the police what’s going on.
It all sounds very traditional murder mystery, but I assure you it’s not. This book, originally written in Polish, is slightly absurd and un-put-down-able. It has me excited to pick up another book from Tokarczuk.
Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green • 🎧• ★★★☆☆
Full disclosure: I became aware of John Green through Instagram. The algorithm would feed me fun reels from him, some of which would mention tuberculosis. Only later did I realize he wrote The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns (neither of which I read). I queued up Everything Is Tuberculosis since I like a nonfiction listen here and there.
I learned a lot while listening, but I don’t think this is something I’d recommend to others. It lacked some of the charm I had expected based Green’s videos (but also, maybe that expectation was unfair).
Holly by Stephen King • ★★★☆☆
Like everyone, I’ve absorbed a lot of Stephen King throughout my lifetime. I’ve seen The Shining, It (both versions), Misery and plenty more. Despite all this, I’ve never read anything from King. Why I started here with Holly, the third in a series, is entirely random.
My thoughts are… It was entirely entertaining but not my favorite. The story was kind of a gross one (cannibal serial killers). I also don’t think I’m entirely sold on King’s writing style. I found the dialogue to be very unnatural and sometimes clunky. I had a hard time believing that two characters would meet and in the first 15 seconds learn their thoughts on COVID, how long they lived near Bell College, and what a great employee they once had five years ago—all unprompted besides a hello.
This doesn’t turn me off the idea of reading more from King in the future (he seems like a cool guy and he’s responsible for The Shining which I love), but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to pick up another in the near future.
See you next month! And remember, I’ll be over on The StoryGraph this year!
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