The Boy’s Club is a novel set in a high powered law firm in NYC with a work culture just like the name suggests. The Boy’s Club focuses on Alex Vogel, a first year associate and one of only a few females in this highly competitive group. 

Alex finds success, temptation, exhaustion, and isolation in her first year in Big Law. The story follows her through from her first day to several years on the job, with legal documents between the chapters, building suspense about how the events will conclude. 

This book is full of overworked people using drugs and alcohol to lure in clients and to avoid facing their problems. Everything is about power dynamics and impressing the senior associates and partners. The few women are pitted against each other. The token African American is touted by the firm. It is really a look at all that is ugly and hateful in Big Law, but you can’t look away because you’re rooting for these first years to be okay and make something worth having. 

I waffled about my rating but I’m settling on five stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially since it was written by a female lawyer. 

The Great Alone is the second book I have read from Kristin Hannah. I loved The Four Winds, but I may love this one even more. 

It is the story of a wife, a daughter, and their husband and father who was a POW in Vietnam. Ernst has terrible PTSD and decides his family should relocate to rural Alaska to remedy his outbursts. As you might expect, Alaska doesn’t fix anything and now the family is stuck alone in his cycle of abuse. 

This story spans decades; we mostly get the perspective of Leni the daughter but we also learn a lot about Cora, the mother. Leni goes through a tremendous amount in her life and her story has many ups and downs. 

This book is absolutely beautiful and gut wrenching and heartwarming. I now plan to read other books by this author, but be warned you may cry. With many longer books, I see places the author and editor could have shortened things. I wouldn’t want a single word left out of this book. It is well worth the read. 

Miss Quinces is the kind of graphic novel that promises a lot and delivers even more. I was so excited to read this one and I am already recommending it to everyone I talk to. 

Miss Quinces is about a girl who doesn’t quite fit in, especially in her family. She doesn’t want a quinceneara, but her mother forces her into it. They take a family trip to Honduras and while there she discovers more about her grandmother and herself. This is definitely a coming of age story but with a fresh perspective about how to be yourself when you feel in between two cultures instead of solidly planted in one or the other. 

As a reader, this graphic novel taught me so much. I really didn’t know much about the Quinceañera tradition and I learned so many important details from both the story and the author’s afterword about her own celebration. This is very close to a graphic memoir and it’s fantastic. I think adults and young readers will like will really enjoy this one. 

Allegedly drew me in from the very beginning. This is my first time reading Tiffany D. Jackson and I’m excited to read more from her soon. 

Allegedly is the story of Mary, a 15 year old girl who is living in a quarter pound after being released from prison for killing a baby when she was nine years old, allegedly. Jackson does an incredible job building tension around the unknown backstory of the murder from the get-go and gradually gives just enough information to keep you engaged but also so eager for more. 

I listened to the audiobook and it is incredibly well narrated, 10 out of 10. This book was 100% a 5 star read for me until the ending, I know some people will love the twist but it didn’t hit just right for me. If you like a lot of tension and a thriller that’s about revealing justice and the real story years after an event, this is perfect for you. 

Funny You Should Ask is Elissa Sussman’s absolutely wonderful adult debut. She has previously written three young adult books, none of which I have read. Funny You Should Ask reads with intelligence, wit, and feels completely situated in the adult genre. 

Told in alternating timelines and with news and blog articles interspersed with traditional chapters, the story is about Chani, a middling writer, and Gabe, a hunky celebrity playing the newest James Bond. Chani wrote a bombshell piece about Gabe ten years ago and now she’s been hired to write about him again. We gradually learn about each interview and the connection that Gabe and Chani just can’t ignore. 

If you like a celebrity story that focuses on our shared flaws and humanity, some spice, and really believable characters with good communication, this is the romance for you. 

After thoroughly enjoying The Vanishing Half, I decided to read this book by the same author. I love the way Bennett creates characters with messy realistic problems and unclear solutions. 

The Mothers follows a small group of friends through experiences with unplanned pregnancy, abortion, and later infertility. I really liked the way these topics were handled and the nuance that was given to the situations and the characters’ feelings. However, I think Bennett intentionally created characters that were a bit closed off and that made it hard for me to connect. I felt much more invested in the characters in The Vanishing Half. 

So while I thought this book was beautifully written and intelligent, it didn’t draw an emotional experience out of me in the way that I had hoped. Perhaps this is just the timing that I came into the book with or perhaps it shows that the author has grown since her debut. I think I may revisit this book one day to see if I experience it differently.