The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
Book of September, 2022
Stars: 9/10
As a group we went around giving this book star ratings… when asked why 9/10, no one was able to give a reason for a point deduction outside of asking the existential question of “is anything perfect?”
Bennett drives home points about race as a perception and how it shapes a persons life, the perception people have of them and their ability to navigate classes within a culture. The story itself was delivered with excitement and continues to pull the reader into the main plot and all of the underlaying story lines.
*Caite’s Comment: was a GREAT follow up to Born A Crime. If reading with a book club, I would advise reading that first.
Born A Crime
by Trevor Noah
Book of August, 2022
Stars: 9.5/10
I feel as though I could give this book a 10/10 but as the french academic system works… perfection is left to “god” or the universe… but this book comes close.
Trevor Noahs book made us all laugh, cry, really learn about Apartheid, contemplate race through color and languages and expected us to be quite introspective. He delivers a lot of traumatic experiences with such ease and lightheartedness. I loved reading this as a book club book because after we were all able to digest what has happened and the intensity of his experiences.
*Caite’s Comment: Trevor Noah reads his own book through Audible, although I loved reading the book, I heard his dictation and voice really amplify some of his stories and deliver them how he intended for you to read (…obviously).
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
Book of June, 2022
Stars: 8.5/10
The forever existential crisis between life and death surfaces here. The main characters entire reality shifts as she is brought to realise what “regret” is and how mindset determines the actual outcome of decisions (i.e. being happy with a decision maybe is a better outcome?).
The club was split on liking how it ended. Some mentioned that it was too obvious, or prolonged, others liked the feel good ending. regardless, the discussion around lifetime regret when considering ourselves vs maybe our parents or people younger was intriguing. Great read.
*Caites Comment: Read Many Minds, Many Masters By Brian L. Weiss before this book. His ideas around reincarnation shaped how I digested this book. I loved it.
Good Neighbors
by Sarah Langan
Book of May, 2022
Stars: 6/10
Overall this was a great discussion book. Sarah Langan really tried to build in layers and layers of societal issues from climate change to classism. Finding points to talk about were no issue, rather, Langan pulled in maybe a few too many ideas. While reading the book you are thrown a lot of names and addresses, which makes me feel like I need to know them. Reality was a lot of these side plots were not useful to major storylines or exterior points.
Langan’s biggest points are regarding classism and climate change, both of which were driven home in the final 10% of the book. She had great ideas but delivery was rushed.