If only I could read all day everyday (or at least read novels, rather than academic journal submissions...) - but since life beckons sometimes, here's a roundup of 5 books I've enjoyed recently that take the everyday and make it interesting.
The Objects of Her Affection
Subprime mortgage crisis, antique silver pieces, and page turner... yes, these are all in the same book! Young mom Sophie thinks she has it all: two cute kids, a husband who adores her, and now the house of her dreams. But things start to fall apart as she realizes she has been duped into a bad mortgage that is now underwater, the house needs work, and her freelance gigs have dried up - and a series of ill-advised choices lead her into the antiques black market. Despite plenty of the scenes and descriptions being about the everyday routines and realities of motherhood, this one is still a page turner, thanks to the despration and deceit Sophie gets herself wrapped up in. And actually I was just as drawn in to the everyday life parts of the story. Totally immersed, in fact. However, I admit to skimming a few parts, despite enjoying the writing and the story overall, because sometimes when characters make decisions that are so obviously poor ones and are so obviously going to self-destruct I can hardly handle it. I picked this up because I love a museum/art history thriller type book (these do exist! Check out
The Art Forger), and I enjoyed the mix of modern-day mom story plus heist thriller, but it lost half a star for some of those suspenseful self-destructing-character-made-me-squirm moments...
3.5/5 stars
Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
A novel following four young people as they try to live their lives, fall in love, pursue vocations, and also to do their part in WWII, and come to terms with what bravery in the war is, and whether they can be forgiven - or forgive themselves - for the actions it requires. The dialogue was a huge part of what drew me into this one - it just sparks and carries the story along so well. And as said by the New York Times Book Review, "the novel’s ability to stay small and quiet against the raging tableau of war is what also makes it glorious" - exactly what made me think of it in the "everyday" category, despite its wartime setting. I thought it was so fascinating to read about the lives of those who were just trying to live life in London during the blitz, and the contrast of the experiences of those in different classes, both at home and on the front. The characters are great, the action compelling, and the story full of wit and compassion in the midst of wartime. Recommended!
4/5 stars
Truly Madly Guilty
Liane Moriarty is back with what she does so well: uncovering something about everyday life by making the apparently regular lives of suburban Australian moms so deliciously and compulsively readable. In this one, the setup is a lot like
Big Little Lies, in that you know at the beginning that something major has happened in the community/circle of friends (in this case, taking place at what seems at the outset to just be a regular old neighbor barbeque), but it takes the course of the story, told from various characters' perspectives, to find out exactly what it was, and exactly what this guilt weighing on each character stems from. Speaking of
guilty, I call Liane Moriarty my favorite "guilty pleasure," but really her work is not entirely (or only) that - like my other favorite books by her, this is compulsive, page-turning reading for sure, but there's also something that makes me stop to think about relationships or choices, and continues to stick with me after I put the book down.
4/5 stars (
What Alice Forgot, my favorite Liane Moriarty read, is a 4.5/5 star though.)
Catastrophic Happiness
When I was pregnant one of the mom memoir type books I loved was
Waiting for Birdy, so I was pleased to see when the same author came out with another book, in which her kids are a bit older, more like 4-10. It's one of those perfect mixes of funny and life truths (sometimes truths that are so painfully
true you can't help but laugh) - super relatable, heartwarming, and entertaining stories and musings about the everyday of parenthood and the comical and scary rollercoaster it can be. I love her writing and find her children kind of delightful. (Also, some days I just need a reminder that the hard things about parenting a toddler are not going to last forever - and rather than one of those "enjoy it while you can" reminders is NOT what I want to hear. The introduction to the book in which she relates a whole series of those annoying toddler items like you know how you can't ever go to the bathroom without someone following you in?, and puts it out there that they will end!)
4/5 stars
The Quotidian Mysteries
Quite literally about the everyday (
quotidian meaning "ordinary or everyday, especially when mundane"), in this little book Kathleen Norris considers how we can treat the daily tasks in our lives, like laundry, as a form of liturgy that can lead us to spiritual experience, rather than seeing them as drudgery. This is not my typical sort of book choice, but I heard it recommended several times on the
What Should I Read Next podcast and I liked the idea of a little something contemplative in my reading life. It's a very short book that you can consider snippets of at a time, and on top of her own excellent writing, Norris provides plenty of wise and inspiring quotes from philosophers, poets, and more. While I'd still always rather pick up a novel (junkie!), I appreciated the perspective and the prompting to consider the spiritual and meditative in my daily chores and routines.
3.5/5 stars
What kind of reading are you doing on the daily?
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