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Review: L.A. Women by Ella Berman

L.A. Women by Ella Berman Blurb from Goodreads : After a steady descent from literary stardom, Lane Warren is back. She’s secured a new book deal based off the life of her sometime friend and, more often, rival Gala Margolis. Lane’s only problem is that notorious free spirit Gala has been missing for months. Ten years earlier, Gala was a charming socialite and Lane was a Hollywood outsider amidst the glittering 1960s L.A. party scene. Though they were never best friends, Lane found Gala sharp and compelling. Gala liked that Lane took her seriously. They were both writers. They were drawn to each other. That was until Gala’s star began to rise, and Lane grew envious. Then Lane did something that she wouldn’t ever be able to take back…changing the trajectories of both their lives. Bold, dazzling, and crackling with tension, L.A. Women plunges readers ...

Review: Songs for Other People's Weddings by David Levithan and Jens Lekman

Songs for Other People's Weddings by David Levithan and Jens Lekman Blurb from Goodreads : From award-winning, bestselling author David Levithan and beloved, acclaimed singer-songwriter Jens Lekman comes a charming, tender novel about an unlucky-in-love wedding singer trying to find the right words to save his relationship J is an accidental wedding singer. Unlike most wedding singers, he writes an original song for every couple—his way of finding out about the small, strange things that brought them together and the hopeful, vulnerable feelings they’re experiencing. J’s own love life is in a state of flux. His girlfriend is off to New York for work, and as her life grows bigger and busier without him in it, he finds it harder to stick to a happy tune. He doesn’t know whether to encourage the soon-to-be-wed couples or warn them. When complication...

Review: Kato by Otis West

Kato by Otis West Blurb from Goodreads : A darkly funny, low-stakes caper set in early-2000s Seattle—featuring a stolen BMX bike, a clapped-out Celica, and a ferret named Milo. After a rough breakup, Keith crashes with old friends at a dilapidated Ballard house. He quits his job, buys a rusty Celica for $400, and starts dating a Swedish nanny. But when one of the sketchier roommates steals his younger brother’s prized BMX bike, it sets off a slow-motion train wreck of epic proportions. Soon Keith finds himself living in a guest house behind a mansion and working as a personal assistant to a shady tech bro named Chad, whose startup might be porn-adjacent. There’s also drunken bowling, putrid corporate bathrooms, grow lamps, a reunited grunge-turned-rockabilly band, a houseboat, a flare gun, and eventually, a shootout. Set in a city where flannel had ju...

Audiobook Review: First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg, Narrated by the Author

First Time, Long Time by Amy Silverberg, Narrated by the Author Blurb from Goodreads : For fans of Emma Cline and Melissa Broder, the story of an untethered, sardonic young woman falling for an older radio host… and then for his daughter. When aspiring writer Allison moved to L.A., she expected her life to finally take shape. After years of dwelling in grief over her brother's unexpected and untimely death and allowing her mercurial parents' feelings and desires to infect her own, she feels ready become the main character in her own story again. Yet Allison continues to feel inextricably tied to both her parents, particularly her unpredictable father, and weighed down by her the loss of her brother. In L.A., as with anywhere else, she feels lonely and adrift, unable to write and barely scraping by as an English teacher. After a serendipitou...

Review: Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell Blurb from Goodreads : Years after her best friend mysteriously disappeared from a remote New England island, a young woman returns in search of answers in this atmospheric and scintillating thriller from Jessa Maxwell, nationally bestselling author of the “deliciously entertaining” (Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author) The Golden Spoon. Orla O’Connor hasn’t been to the isolated New England enclave of Hadley Island since she graduated from high school a decade ago. As a teenager, her best friend Alice disappeared from its shores without a trace—but with plenty of rumors. Now, Orla returns to her family’s beachfront home to clean it out before her parents sell it. The island and her best friend’s house next door, abandoned after her family left in grief, are stirring up memories she would like to avoid. The...

Review: The Greatest Possible Good by Ben Brooks

The Greatest Possible Good by Ben Brooks Blurb from Goodreads : Arthur Candlewick spends three days in a disused mine shaft with only his son’s drug stash, a book on the concept of ‘effective altruism’ and a bottle of medium-priced Bordeaux for company. When Arthur emerges, he has decided to sell the family timber business and give away his wealth to charity. His family think he has lost his mind. His university-bound daughter, Evangeline, wants to change the world but perhaps not at the cost of her own privileged life. His son, Emil, good at maths and not much else, becomes more distant than ever. And his wife, Yara, just wants the doctor to run another brain scan on her husband. A book hasn't depressed me like this one did in a long time... it was just so sad. It was not just a dysfunctional family but four very messed up people adrift...