What I Read in May
HI. IT’S ME, PATTY.
Right now, I am sitting on my couch after 3ish hours of facilitating group coaching sessions. I’m drinking a glass of pink champagne, just finished off two tiny slider sandwiches that consisted of rotisserie chicken, American cheese and mayo. Tell me you’re white without telling me you’re white - and too hungry/tired to make real dinner.
A lot of things happened in May:
I left my previous full-time job for valid reasons but still felt extremely emotional about it
I turned 37
I hung out with my friend Gretchen for the first time since I left Los Angeles, and drank dirty martinis with her awesome daughter in a bar that made us feel like we were in Palm Springs
I went to the Berkshires and ate really good food, swam in a pool, drank really good sour beers, went to a museum, hiked and got lost in the woods and cried and everything hurt for a very long time.
I started a new job for valid reasons but still felt extremely emotional about it
I started a daily writing habit and wrote at least 30% of a novel!
I watched a LOT of Vanderpump Rules, listened to a lot of content around Vanderpump Rules, and talked to a lot of people (some who cared, some who didn’t) about Vanderpump Rules
I read/listened to a couple of books… and here they are!
Enjoy my horrible reviews and HAGS!
Beach Read - Emily Henry
OK, I love Emily Henry I guess? I needed a light read after stressful times (all the times) and this was it, but also - it had some darkness. There was the hopeless romantic whose vision of love (#Mariah) was destroyed by her father’s secret life, which she only found out about after he died. Then she got his other family home in the will and had to clean it out and sell it while ALSO meeting a very important book deadline!!! AND also while falling in love with the hot neighbor she just so happened to go to college with.
It was a wild ride. Also, gay aunts. Love gay aunts!
Maame - Jessica George
This was good. However, I think I wasn’t in the mood for / am maybe sick of “coming of age” tales. It was a very honest, realistic portrayal of a woman of African descent living in the UK and is responsible for taking care of her ailing father while her mother works/lives in Ghana for months/years at a time (taking care of her father’s work) and her brother does his own thing. She is expected to be the responsible one and take care of everyone (often giving money to her older brother and mother) until she decides to move out on her own and discover life for herself and it all falls to shit.
The scene where the bottom falls out and she is DONE with it was fantastic. Her family needed to get their shit handed to them. And I really loved the ending, because it was satisfying and kind of funny. Actually, I liked this book a lot.
Big Swiss - Jen Beagin
Not going to lie, this one was WEIRD. A woman works as a transcriber for a sex therapist and becomes obsessed with one of his patients she refers to as Big Swiss. Then, she meets Big Swiss at a dog park and starts up a friendship with her (without revealing that she listens to her sex therapy sessions) and ultimately, a sordid affair.
It doesn’t work out! I liked the concept and thought it was a fun read.
Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann
Listened to this for the second time and can’t believe it’s a real story. Can’t wait for the movie. Also, my sister and I listened to it while driving on the Mohawk Trail to the Berkshires. It was unintentional, but it felt very fitting.
So Many Steves - Steve Martin & Adam Gopnik
This is a very short audiobook about the many lives of Steve Martin. It felt more like a podcast series, but it was packaged as a book so I’m including it! It’s an interview format, with clips of Steve’s work, and Steve sharing his experiences.
I love Steve Martin, so… yeah, loved it. Worth a listen.
Harold - Steven Wright
This fucking book. I posted this on IG, but I can’t recommend this for everyone. It’s certainly fucking weird, but absolutely “laugh out loud” funny. The entire book is the inner monologue of a third grader, Harold, while he sits in class. It’s odd, funny, and has very sweet moments. YOU MUST LISTEN ON AUDIO for Steven Wright’s iconic voice.
Example: At one point his teacher compliments him, and he responds (in his head), “How dare you judge me.”
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Needed a light read, and I remembered loving the movie… but then the main character is a snobby, racist bitch living in Imperial India and her aid dies of Cholera and she doesn’t give a shit and then her parents (who didn’t pay any attention to her) die of Cholera and everyone that lived with her forgot about her when they escaped the Cholera outbreak.
Then she is a bitchy little orphan with no friends who is sent to live with her rich hunchback uncle in England who despises her despite not even knowing her and is never around.
(Then she softens and discovers friendship and empathy and a weird cousin and of course, a secret garden and family love.)