2022, Week the First: At Least I’m Well Rested?

Happy New Year, Bookworms,

It is now officially 2022. I started the year getting 3 consecutive nights of decent sleep, which, honestly, feels like about all I can hope for at the moment. Instead of me fretting to you about the dumpster fire that is the world at large, I’m going to try to keep focusing on little things that don’t suck. Like the fact that I’m well rested for the first time in… I honestly have no idea how long. (Part of that is due to my being up too late reading, but it’s also due to the fact that as a sleep training dropout, my 4 year old still comes to wake me most nights.) I have a few books to tell you about that I read in December that I didn’t get around to reviewing, so let’s start there, shall we?

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon- Look, this is the ninth book in the series, so there isn’t a whole lot I can tell you plot-wise that wouldn’t in some way spoil earlier books. I will say that while I enjoyed this book and just, like, sitting with the mundane day-to-day adventures, I think I’m ready for book 10 to be the final installment. I love the comfort of slipping back into life with these characters, and I definitely googled what exactly a pie safe was (FYI, it’s a cabinet, sort of like a refrigerator but not at all refrigerated. Just, like, a cabinet it was harder for vermin to infest so you got to eat the pie before the mice did.) However, certain plot points are getting repetitive (like, how many times is a character going to be kidnapped by nefarious persons? By my count it’s happened at least 5 times now over the course of the series.) That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book, I just think it’s the right time to wind down the story, you know? Anyway, I will happily read the final installment whenever it becomes available.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood- BELIEVE THE HYPE, PEOPLE. This book is adorable. Olive Smith is a PhD student struggling to get by financially. She’s never been great at dating, but in an elaborate ruse to keep her roommate from feeling guilty about dating her ex (ex is a generous term here), Olive impulsively kisses the first guy she sees- the notoriously grumpy Dr. Adam Carlsen. And then, of course, the two decide it’s best that they fake date because it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement and neither party will actually catch feelings, OBVIOUSLY. I’ve never totally gotten the ‘Adam Driver is hot’ thing, but the love interest in this book really couldn’t be based on anyone BUT Adam Driver aaaaaaand I might get it now. Because, like, if Adam Driver were in a movie version of this book I’d be very on board, probably swooning. It also makes me happy that Olive is very clearly demi-sexual and you don’t see a ton of ace-spectrum characters in romance. It’s all extremely fun and cute AND it evangelizes the importance of sunscreen, which is just good advice. Wear sunscreen. Do science. Fall in love. Excellent work, no notes.

The Guncle by Stephen Rowley- I thought this would be a lighthearted romp, but I was mistaken. You should know going in that this book is all about grief. I mean, it’s CHARMING, but it should come with a boatload of content warnings: Loss of Parent, Loss of Friend, Loss of Partner, Cancer, Car Accident, Addiction, Pink Christmas Trees… I’ve gotten ahead of myself. Patrick O’Hara is a reclusive TV star. After his popular television show wrapped, he escaped to Palm Springs where he’s been hermit-ing it up ever since. Then his BFF turned sister-in-law dies of cancer, and his brother begs Patrick to take the two grieving children for the summer so he can go to rehab. GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) reluctantly agrees to this arrangement and he and the children embark on QUITE the summer journey. Caftans and brunch and all manner of shenanigans ensue as the trio try to figure out what to do with themselves in the face of unthinkable loss. The book has a lot of heart and humor, and I definitely cried more than once. It’s a very sweet book if you’re in a headspace that can handle the whole laughter-through-tears thing.

Alright Bookworms, that’ll do it for this week. Make good choices. Talk soon.

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