Today I am reviewing two book club selections for upcoming meetings. Though the plots and characters are quite different, you will find my reviews of the two books to be almost identical.
Titles: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid and The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
Book Beginnings quotes:
That night, when Mrs. Chamberlain called, Emira could only piece together the words "... take Briar somewhere..." and "...Pay you double." (Such a Fun Age)
The doors are new: Automatic open. Fancy. That has changed since Aidan was here last. (The Reading List)
Friday56 quotes:
After Alix finally closed the door behind Laney and her family, she pulled out her phone again. CORRECTION, she texted her friends. I HATE EVERYONE EXCEPT MY SITTER. (Such a Fun Age)
Mukesh knew that last sentence came only from her frustration, but nonetheless it hurt. He'd noticed how over the past year, Rohini only ever mentioned "Mummy" to berate him, to tell him he was living in a pigsty. (The Reading List)
Summaries:
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other. (from the publisher of Such a Fun Age)
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Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.Review: After reading the summaries you see the stories are quite different, yet remarkably similar. Both have two main characters and all four characters are terrible at communicating what they are feeling. Each of the pairs are made up of two people who exist in different worlds of experience, age, race, etc. and this accounts for at least a bit of the miscommunication. In Such a Fun Age, Emira and Alix do not have an equal relationship as Alix is Emira's employer. Mukesh and Aleisha have a large age gap and cultural experiences that keep them from fully understanding the other.
Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's a list of novels that she's never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she's facing at home.
When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list...hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again. (from the publisher of The Reading List)
Neither book is exceptionally written and both books only improved in my estimation because the conclusions brought the characters to a point of growth and movement, having been stuck in their bad communication patterns for the early parts of the books.
Oddly, the covers are super similar, too. This amounts to nothing but I thought I'd mention it since I am comparing the books and noting similarities.
I don't know about you but I hate it when I feel like I've wasted my time reading a book. I don't hate either of the books, and I'd probably use the word "liked" to express my feelings about The Reading List, but that is only because of the ending. I always read book club selections otherwise I'm positive I would have considered setting each aside and not finishing it in favor of a book which is well-written, or where I am learning something new. I guess you can tell from this review that I won't be recommending these books to you or to anyone. You've been warned!
-Anne
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