On the bookshelf in September
The first book I read was Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. I started reading it in August, but then school started & I pretty much gave up reading in order to get more sleep. Now that I’m starting to get back in the groove, I was able to start reading a bit more.
As a school counselor, I’ve heard my fair share of bizarre / strange stories, but this book was beyond weird. Nine people decided to go to this health resort to “transform” themselves. The person who runs the resort, Masha, has some pretty wild ideas on ways to transform people — including not letting anyone speak for days (???). Weird, right? That’s just the tip of the iceberg with this book. I heard that it’s being made into a TV show so I’m super curious to see how the book compares to the show.
The second book I read was Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar. Being totally honest, this book was pretty hard for me to get into at the beginning. The language doesn’t flow super well & I had a hard time getting hooked. But of course, that eventually happened. The book follows main characters Olivia (a Caucasian woman) & Delan (a Kurdish man from Iraq). The two are dating & Olivia is certain that if Delan takes her to see his home country, it will either solidify their relationship, or expose all the ways in which they are fundamentally different. Olivia is trying to get a job in the photography world, so she brings her camera along with her to document the trip. Most of the book is spent in Iraq & the stories are truly haunting. This book is cringe-worthy in the absolute best way. These are stories that are so far fetched in my brain, but that are day-to-day realities for some. There were certain parts of the book where I felt truly sick to my stomach knowing that this isn’t totally fictional. I’m usually pretty good at predicting the endings of books, but I totally didn’t see this one coming. I was actually dreading finishing this book because I prefer to finish books feeling a sense of closure & I honestly didn’t think that was possible with this one. But it definitely gave me what I was needing. I love a good story about someone finding their inner voice or finding their niche & man oh man this fulfilled that completely! Highly recommend this read to anyone looking to expose yourself to more of the world.
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