Happy Oscars!
A night built to judge celebrities while sporting an elbow-length Ruffles chip bag on my right hand and a āsmooth movesā digestive tea in my left.
Thatās showbiz, babbbbyyyy
Below is my read carpet for every book that starred in my February StoryGraph.
This monthās theme is āmommy issues,' which is not a sandbox I play in often.
You can generally find me planting my flag deep in the ādaddy issuesā dirt next door, but variety is the spice of life, they say.
Let reading expand your horizons!1
The mommy issues:
š© I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue (5)
A depressed employee accidentally gains access to her entire workplaceās private emails. Hilarity ensues.
This debut novel(!!!) is a workplace comedy with a scathing portrait of corporate culture. Itās 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 youāve 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
āIntermezzo, 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 youāre abusing your own voice. Some of these pages - I hate to say it - were illegible.
Mom drama scale: 3/5
š 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. Itās 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 doesnāt give us any answers (thatās 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:
āIn the absence of choice, we are left with the choice to adapt.ā
āPerhaps 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 itās still so poignant and was published in 1995 pushed me over the edge. You simply cannot deny perfection.
Mom drama scale: 4/5
šŖ¦ Iām Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy (5)
The holy grail of mommy and food issues written by a former Nickelodeon child star.
I know Iām 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:
āWell, sweetheart, if you really want to know how to stay small, thereās this secret thing you can doā¦ itās called calorie restriction.ā
Chilling.
Mom drama scale: 17/5
šļø Like Mother, Like Mother, Susan Rieger (2.5)
A multi-generational story about three women who are all insufferable and hold grudges about it ā 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 everyšsingleš conversationš 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 didnāt 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. Donāt think she knew what she was doing thereā¦Or maybe she did??? Mom, are we okay?
Looking for the perfect book? Let me play matchmaker!
Iām here to help you find your next funny, sexy, emotional, or āwhat the fuck was thatā page-turner.
This is my plea to become your book selection private eye ā like Veronica Mars if she was a giant nerd.
Submit your request, and Iāll share my recs in a future My Side Plot newsletterš
My TBR
Two new releases Iāve been waiting for!
š„ļø Hermit, Chris McQueer (Feb 27). The time has come! Incel fiction is officially here, and Iām ready for it to disgust me!
š©āāļø Saving Five, Amanda Nguyen (Mar 4). A memoir from the activist who created the Sexual Assault Survivorsā Bill of Rights, just in time for International Womenās Day.
Last Thought
My ratings in February:
The spirit of Wiarton Willie compelled my reviews all month... More decisive action!
āLoved itā or āhated itā rankings only!
If you aināt first, youāre 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 Iām right! Tell me Iām wrong! Send me hate mail! Engage, god dammit!
Love you, Mom! I just had to write that joke for the bit - donāt let it fool you!