What I Read This Summer, Part 2
If you missed my recap of What I Read This Summer, Part 1 featuring the 14 books I read in May and June, you can find it here. This post will cover the five books I read in July, to be followed by Part 3 which will include August’s seven.
Among the Missing by Dan Chaon (Ballentine, 2001)
Dan Chaon is, in my opinion, a brilliant and underrated writer. I’ve only read two of his books, including this one. (The first was Await Your Reply (Ballentine, 2009), which I loved. You can read my full review here. Among the Missing precedes that and is a short story collection that is equally as good.
As the title indicates, these 12 stories center on a person or place that’s missing, sometimes both. Chaon plays with that concept in an inventive, surprising style. His characters are deeply flawed yet completely relatable, and their stories are rendered with a stunning mix of dark humor and compassion. Favorites include “Safety Man,” “Big Me,” “Passengers, Remain Calm,” “Among the Missing,” “Here’s a Little Something to Remember Me By,” “Late for the Wedding,” and “Burn with Me.” 4 out of 5 stars.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (Riverhead Books, 2020)
Desiree and Stella Vignes are twins who grew up in Mallard, Louisiana, a small, Black town that prides itself on the light-skinned complexion of its residents. Desperate to escape, the sisters run away together. Stella creates a new identity and life for herself — one in which she easily passes as white, and one which doesn’t include her sister. Stella disappears again, without a trace. Twenty years later, Desiree is fleeing an abusive marriage and returns to Mallard with her dark-skinned daughter, Jude. Undeterred by the speculation and judgment of the town’s residents, Desiree also builds a new life for herself despite being haunted by her sister’s disappearance.
The Vanishing Half is a multi-layered, thought-provoking novel about race, identity, family, love and so much more. Spanning from 1968 through the mid-90s, Brit Bennett brilliantly captures the racial tensions and gender expectations of each respective decade as seen through each character’s perspective. Told from Desiree, Jude and Stella’s point of views, this is a story about understanding your past, reinventing yourself, defying society’s expectations and acceptance. This would be a good choice for a book club. Loved it and highly recommend. 5 out of 5 stars.
Eat a Peach by David Chang (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2020) is a memoir by the chef, restauranteur, podcaster and television personality. He’s the founder and owner of the Momofuku restaurant group. (One translation of momofuku is “lucky peach.”) I didn’t know much about Chang before this memoir but his story is an interesting one. In addition to reflecting on his successes and setbacks (he’s had quite a few of the latter), Chang writes extremely candidly about his mental health and struggles with bipolar disorder and depression. I listened to this on audio and Chang narrates. 4 out of 5 stars.
Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness (HarperOne, 2019)
In July, my College Girl and I took a trip to Philly that turned out to be an emotional ordeal. My girl is not a fan of audiobooks but we knew we would need some humor relief, so I suggested this memoir. It absolutely delivered and was the perfect book for the moment. We’re big fans of Queer Eye and JVN. Over the Top lives up to its title in many parts — Jonathan’s passion for Olympic figure skating and gymnastics is adorable, he gives real-life people in his life outlandish Russian names — but he doesn’t shy away from discussing several difficult life experiences. Highly recommend the audio as JVN narrates. College Girl and I enjoyed this very much, and I think I’ll always associate this book with this trip. 4 out of 5 stars.
Women Write: A Mosaic of Women’s Voices in Fiction, Poetry, Memoir, and Essay edited by Susan Cahill, PhD (New American Library, 2004) is an anthology that’s been on my shelves since it was published as a new release 17 years ago. I bought it at a women’s philanthropy conference in Toronto, started it at some point, and never finished. It includes mostly well-known women authors, but also some lesser-known (at least to me) names. Each author’s piece is accompanied by a very brief profile.
I thought this collection was just okay. I was glad to be introduced to some new authors and their work, as well as writing I’d never read before by authors I’ve previously read (that’s an awkward sentence, I know, but hopefully you know what I mean). I also hoped that it would pique my interest in exploring some women authors who I haven’t read much of, but it really didn’t. Mostly, this was a good bedside reading book to pick up when I just wanted something short. 3 out of 5 stars.