American Mermaid (by Julia Langbein)

A Tournament of Books shortlist entry.  Two intertwining storylines: a screenwriter goes to L.A to make a version of her novel into the movie, and then excerpts from the novel. 

The L.A. satire was sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating. (Mostly the main character's terrible choices were frustrating.) The novel within the novel had the more exciting plot, although it doesn't really make much sense, and then everything tried to wrap itself up with magical realism?

I don't know, I didn't hate it and will enjoy discussing it in the Tournament of Books, but it wasn't my favorite.  I placed my zombie vote for Open Throat, and I still stand by that one so far.  Eleven books to go if I'm going to be a shortlist completist for the first time ever!

Romantic Comedy (by Curtis Sittenfeld)

A creatively structured, above-average twist on the romcom genre. The main character is a writer for an extremely thinly veiled version of Saturday Night Live; the first third of the book goes through a week on the show in which she gets to know the host and musical guest, and they hit it off, only to end on a sour note of misunderstanding.

We pick up again in the midst of Covid lockdown, when the two characters become email pen pals and friends. She eventually drives out to visit him, they connect in person, complications ensue, yadda yadda yadda. 

The SNL stuff was fun (I too have read all the SNL memoirs in the world) and I enjoyed the epistolary secton, although the main character really seemed to lack growth and got a bit grating by the end. A fast read, for SNL and romcom fans who don't mind a whole lot of Covid flashbacks (also not my favorite).

Boys Weekend (by Mattie Lubchansky)

Like Shamshine, this is a Tournament of Books entry; unlike Shamshine (in my opinion) this graphic novel has an undercurrent of real profundity.

It's about a trans-femme named Sammi who is invited to be the "best man" at their friend Adam's wedding, along with a truly horrifying group of tech bros, a cop, and one "not like the other girls" woman. The bachelor weekend is on a capitalist, libertarian hell island version of Las Vegas, with clone strippers, a party submarine, and an odd group that looks like it might be a cult. And as Sammie navigates dealing with their gender in this group, they are either seeing real monsters or having a psychotic break.

I loved everything about it, from the tiny world-building easter eggs to the central metaphors representing Sammi figuring out what vestiges of their old life are worth hanging onto and what may be worth leaving behind. A super quick read but I found myself going back to savor panels, and I think I will probably at least skim through it once more before I return it to the library.

Highly recommend! 

The Shamshine Blind (by Paz Pardo)

Speculative fiction that's weirdly a cross between Shades of Gray by Jasper Fforde and Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde. It's an alternative future where Argentina has achieved world domination by weaponizing color and most major American cities are in ruins. It is left to our hero, Kay Curdita, to unravel a conspiracy in Daly City, resolve her romantic problems, and save the day.

This is a Tournament of Books offering that feels, for the Tournament, relatively lightweight. It's definitely fun but more of a romp than a Serious Novel, and thus will probably not make it too far in the competition. But still, you never know. It's super enjoyable nonetheless, especially for Fforde Ffans.

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library (by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts)

This was one of my top picks from the ToB longlist and I was happy to see it make the shortlist.  It is billed as a novel but reads as interlocking short vignettes about people who go to a library and get magically recommended the perfect book by a mysterious librarian.

The only thing I didn't enjoy was that the librarian was described as so big it was shocking to people, and the narrators compared her to everything from Baymax to a giant panda to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Every time we started a new vignette I was bracing myself for the description of this woman.

Apart from that, I adored the characters, each and every one. Each vignette was delightful and I loved that the resolutions to their problems were realistic and represented that tiny shift in consciousness that is very Joycean.  I always love the matter-of-fact, minutia-laden style of Japanese authors.  Just as delightful as I anticipated.

Cold People (by Tom Rob Smith)

I was hoping this wouldn't make the shortlist so I could DNF it but alas, it made the shortlist and my friend and I are trying to read the whole list, so I persevered. 

The writing is good, but world building here makes no sense and contradicts itself multiple times. (Are they all overcrowded or has everyone died? Is there "only one stained glass window on the continent" or is Notre Dame there? Do they have no technology left or do they somehow have supercomputers? Are humans unrealistically peaceful or unrealistically stupid? So many questions.)

The ending is the most irritating part, because it is unsatisfying in and of itself, and clearly meant to set up a sequel. I might read the Wikipedia summary of any sequels that come out but there's no way I'm reading more of this.

You Can Go Your Own Way (by Eric Smith)

In hindsight I'm really not sure why I kept reading this; I think because of the very delightful pinball arcade setting? But the pacing of this book is truly insane. Here's the blurb:

"A heartwarming and thoughtful enemies-to-lovers rom-com about two teens—one trying to save his family's failing pinball arcade, the other working for her tech genius dad who wants to take it over—who get trapped together in a snowstorm."

They do get trapped together in a snowstorm. Except it doesn't happen until about 70% into the book, when they have already solved their major conflict. They are trapped for, generously, three pages.  But then all these huge developments happen at the end (their big conflict, which is at like 90%) and is immediately solved with a time jump that makes it feel like multiple chapters are missing.

The writing of the "girls" makes it obvious that a man wrote this book. The characters are flat and feel like cardboard stand-ins. (Nick, in particular.) The chapters alternate POVs but the voice of each character is exactly the same (they both refer to people as "standing about" multiple times, which is awkward). The cultural references are all Gen X. Dear YA authors: you can't keep dropping these sentences - e.g., "like that old movie my mom likes, called Clueless" - throughout an entire book.

Anyway, sorry to that author, this was not a winner.

Open Throat (by Henry Hoke)

A short but powerful novel from the point of view of a cougar who lives below the Hollywood sign, observing the people and sights of "ellay."  

Somehow this conceit completely works, giving a perspective on humanity that packs a punch. This is one of those "never in a million years without the Tournament of Books" discoveries.  I'm so happy the shortlist is out! 

If you're interested in dipping into the ToB this year, at only 176 pages, you can't do better.

Against White Feminism (by Rafia Zakaria)

My final book for the Read Harder Challenge, and unlike Pleasure Activism, this book exceeded all my expectations! 

This book is not anti-white people, it is anti-white supremacy. Zakaria argues persuasively that the modern feminist movement is irrevocably underpinned with whiteness. (Even the framing of first-, second- and third-wave feminism - those are the waves of white, Western feminism.) (She also feels the way I do about choice feminism, which is negatively.)

It challenged and educated me, and I think it's a must-read for anyone trying to be a feminist. I consider intersectionality an essential part of my feminism but this still opened my eyes to a lot of blind spots I've had and undoubtedly will continue to have.

Read this one!

Friends Forever: The One About the Episodes (by Susman, Dillon, Cairns)

A very breezy* read about the sitcom that stays pretty surface level.  There are recaps of 10 or so episodes per season, but not all of them, and a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff is glossed over. (For example, Matthew Perry's well-known addiction struggles are not mentioned at all, RIP.)  There is also at least one embarrassing mistake, where the authors say Christina Pickles played Bridget Jones's mom in the movies. That was Gemma Jones! For superfans only.

*You can't say you're breezy, that totally negates the breezy!