Mommy issues
Everything I read in February 📚
Happy Oscars!
A night built to judge celebrities while sporting an elbow-length Ruffles chip bag on my right hand and a “smooth moves” digestive tea in my left.
That’s showbiz, babbbbyyyy
Below is my read carpet for every book that starred in my February StoryGraph.
This month’s theme is ‘mommy issues,' which is not a sandbox I play in often.
You can generally find me planting my flag deep in the “daddy issues” dirt next door, but variety is the spice of life, they say.
Let reading expand your horizons!1
The mommy issues:
🍩 I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue (5)
A depressed employee accidentally gains access to her entire workplace’s private emails. Hilarity ensues.
This debut novel(!!!) is a workplace comedy with a scathing portrait of corporate culture. It’s witty, sarcastic, and bleak, yet somehow humanizes even your worst, most annoying, microwave-fish-for-lunch colleagues. Imagine the office setting in Severence mixed with the heart and sweetness of any Fredrik Backman book. If you’ve ever felt personally victimized by working in a cubicle, please bump this to the top of your inbox!! (Also, how perfect is the title?)
Mom drama scale: 3/5
♟Intermezzo, Sally Rooney (2.5)
Two brothers navigating the death of their father go on opposite dating sprees to manage their grief.
This book has love triangles, vivid character descriptions, and an older woman dating a guy with braces, but I cannot give it a good review. Sally, my angel. Your style is so unique. So beautiful. So melodic. But you’re abusing your own voice. Some of these pages - I hate to say it - were illegible.
Mom drama scale: 3/5
🌙 I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman (5)
A dystopian sci-fi about a group of women trapped in a bunker without any memory of how or why they got there.
This book is mesmerizing and strange. It’s philosophical to the point that it transcends any sense of time or place - like one giant riddle or the half-baked poetry you read on a bathroom stall wall. However, Jacqueline Harpman doesn’t give us any answers (that’s too easy!). The whole book is a series of scenes about female friendship, loneliness, survival, and grappling with the meaninglessness of life. The parallels to the Holocaust are striking, but there are universal lessons woven into almost every line. Two examples that I highlighted:
“In the absence of choice, we are left with the choice to adapt.”
“Perhaps you never have time when you are alone? You only acquire it by watching it go by in others."
I was torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars because of how bleak it was to read in the context of the world right now. Ultimately, the fact that it’s still so poignant and was published in 1995 pushed me over the edge. You simply cannot deny perfection.
Mom drama scale: 4/5
🪦 I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy (5)
The holy grail of mommy and food issues written by a former Nickelodeon child star.
I know I’m late to the party on this memoir, but holy moly was it amazing. I listened to the audiobook and gasped no less than four times. That opening??????!?! Jennette, are you kidding???!? I plowed through this entire masterpiece in a day. To give you a sneak peek of some of the most unhinged mothering I have ever read about:
“Well, sweetheart, if you really want to know how to stay small, there’s this secret thing you can do… it’s called calorie restriction.”
Chilling.
Mom drama scale: 17/5
🗞️ Like Mother, Like Mother, Susan Rieger (2.5)
A multi-generational story about three women who are all insufferable and hold grudges about it — one going so far as to write a slander novel about her own mother.
This book is obsessed with referencing its own characters. The youngest quoted her mother in every👏single👏 conversation👏 despite admittedly hating her for over half of the story. Who does that? Why would anyone be her friend?? How many family-isms can an acquaintance possibly endure?!? How many quotable lines can one woman possibly have?!?! Ultimately, this was a character-driven novel, and I didn’t care about a single person in it.
Mom drama scale: 5/5
Important side note that my actual mother bought me this book for Christmas. Don’t think she knew what she was doing there…Or maybe she did??? Mom, are we okay?
Looking for the perfect book? Let me play matchmaker!
I’m here to help you find your next funny, sexy, emotional, or “what the fuck was that” page-turner.
This is my plea to become your book selection private eye — like Veronica Mars if she was a giant nerd.
Submit your request, and I’ll share my recs in a future My Side Plot newsletter👇
My TBR
Two new releases I’ve been waiting for!
🖥️ Hermit, Chris McQueer (Feb 27). The time has come! Incel fiction is officially here, and I’m ready for it to disgust me!
👩⚖️ Saving Five, Amanda Nguyen (Mar 4). A memoir from the activist who created the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, just in time for International Women’s Day.
Last Thought
My ratings in February:
The spirit of Wiarton Willie compelled my reviews all month... More decisive action!
“Loved it” or “hated it” rankings only!
If you ain’t first, you’re last!
Clearly, there is much to learn from our groundhog brethren (even when they doom us to endless winter).
Epilogue
What did you read this month?
Anything I should add to my TBR?
Do you agree with my reviews!? Tell me I’m right! Tell me I’m wrong! Send me hate mail! Engage, god dammit!
Love you, Mom! I just had to write that joke for the bit - don’t let it fool you!