(#partner @fsgbooks) • Severance by Ling Ma is my exact book type. Literary post-apocalyptic? Check. A story that bounces between past and present? Check. An NYC setting? Check. A millennial lead character who I could relate to? Check. Basically, this book has everything I love, and the combo was so perfect for me that it’s a new favorite.

In Severance, Candace Chen works at a book publishing company in NYC. She oversees bible productions and interfaces between clients and the printing companies usually based in China. Her immigrant parents are both dead, and she thrives on routine. At first, she barely worries as Shen Fever starts to spread through the city. “The fevered” perform repetitive tasks over and over (like setting a table or changing the channel) until they die. Eventually, Candace is forced to leave the city and meets up with a small cult-like group of survivors.

I always like a book that jumps between past and present. I loved the glimpses of Candace’s relationships with her parents, her first days in the city, and learning how she fell into her relationship with her boyfriend. And of course I loved the descriptions of the city after the fever had spread through because I just love apocalypse stories.

This book also explores themes of immigration, consumerism, and routine. There is a parallel between the fevered and Candace, as she follows her routine in order to survive and struggles with a sense of meaninglessness.

I loved everything about this book. The plot, the compelling main character, and of course the post-apocalypse. A new favorite. Recommended to basically everyone but especially fans of Station Eleven, as this one has similar vibes.

3.5 stars. Thanks to @aaknopf for sharing an ARC of Furious Hours with me. I’m not a huge reader of nonfiction normally, but really enjoyed this book! It’s broken into three parts. The first is about a reverend who is repeatedly murdering members of his family for insurance money and can’t seem to get caught. The second part is about the lawyer who defends him and then goes on to defend the reverend’s killer. The third part is about Harper Lee. Lee was working on a book about the story that never came to fruition.

The middle part of this book was a bit slow for me, but I really enjoyed the third section about Harper Lee. I knew going in that there was some drama with Go Set a Watchman being published, but didn’t really know much about Lee herself. I learned so much about her! I had no idea that she grew up with Truman Capote and helped him with all the research for In Cold Blood.

Lee was a fascinating person. I do think you’ll get more out of this book if you’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, despite the fact that I now think GSAW shouldn’t have been published. If you’re interested in true crime, a fan of Harper Lee, and like books set in the south, I’d definitely recommend picking this up!

3.5 stars. (#partner @randomhouse @litandlatte) • Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine is the second short story collection I’ve read this year. I do this thing, with short story collections, where I’ll read a couple, and then never pick the book up again. I don’t know why. That was never a problem with this book, though. I would finish a story and immediately want to see what came next.

These stories revolve around Latina women of indigenous descent who live in Colorado. They take place in the fictional town of Saguarita and real places like Denver, and the sense of place is strong. I pictured Saguarita as a Durango-like setting but I’m not sure what it was actually based on.

These stories explore the cycles of violence surrounding these women, how it feels to watch your neighborhood gentrify around you until it is unrecognizable, what it’s like to be a single parent or be raised by a single parent, and more. My favorite story of the bunch, Remedies, is about a girl who keeps getting lice when she has to visit with her half-brother. Her mother feels some sort of obligation to the boy, despite not even being in a relationship with his father anymore.

These stories are insightful, poignant, and moving. I highly recommend picking up this collection. I’ll be thinking about it for awhile

3.5 stars (#partner @randomhouse) • Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a tough book for me to review. I hated basically every character from the get go, did not root for anyone, and yet really enjoyed the book? It was confusing. I felt like I was hate reading a little bit but also I was loving it at the same time.

Toby Fleishman, recently divorced from his wife Rachel, is doing surprisingly well on online dating apps. Everyone wants to date him. But, when Rachel drops off the kids and doesn’t come back, his new freedom is interrupted, and he spends a lot of time ruminating about what went wrong in his marriage.

I don’t want to say too much about this book because I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say I loved the ending. It was satisfying. The book is a quick read. The writing is digestible and smart. At the end of the day, I would recommend it.

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips grabbed me from the beginning. Set on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia, in the first chapter two young sisters disappear. Every chapter after is a new month and follows different women and girls who live on the peninsula.

This book almost reads like short stories, but some characters appear in multiple chapters. The disappearance of the girls affects the women in different ways, but is the theme throughout. So many of the experiences depicted in this book rang true with familiar emotions that so many of us have probably felt: a girl who is hurt when her best friend’s mom thinks she’s a bad influence and won’t let them see each other anymore, a college student who questions her relationship with her controlling but comfortable boyfriend when she connects with someone new, a woman who is devastated and angry when a careless friend leaves her door open and her dog gets out. Every chapter drew me in immediately and I instantly was invested in the lives of literally every single character, which I feel like almost never happens for me when you only get to know characters for a short time.

The sense of place in this book is also strong. The descriptions of the city and small communities were such that I could really picture the peninsula. The writing is very atmospheric.

The mystery of the disappearance, while mostly in the background, is compelling too. I don’t want to give too much away, but my heart was racing at the end. This book is truly stunning. I highly recommend it. I absolutely loved it and I will read everything Julia Phillips writes.

Thanks to @shelfbyshelf for sending me his copy of Ask Again, Yes. He thought I would like it, and I did! It really helped break my reading slump. It’s a compelling family drama that kept me interested.

Ask Again, Yes starts with the stories of two families in a suburban town outside of NYC, and the friendship and romance that blossoms between Kate, the youngest daughter of the Gleeson family, and Peter, the only son of Brian and Anne Stanhope. Anne’s struggles with mental illness lead to a night that will change the trajectory of all of their lives.

I really liked the characters in this book, but I’m not sure how accurately mental illness and addiction are portrayed. I felt a little bit like mental illness was sensationalized and used as a plot device. However, that didn’t keep me from enjoying the story and the book.

This book was entirely readable, and I did find myself drawn in by the characters and their experiences. I especially liked Kate. There were some moving moments as well that almost made me shed a tear. If you like family dramas, this is a pretty good one.

Update: knocking it down a star after reading another review that points out many more problematic issues - use of “Indian-style” repeatedly instead of cross-legged, the way depression is portrayed, use of “fucked up kid with asperger’s”.... seems the author is a tone-deaf and inconsiderate with her language choices.

Thanks to Doubleday for the free copy! The Most Fun We Ever Had follows the various members of the Sorenson family. David and Marilyn have four daughters - Wendy and Violet are Irish twins, followed by the effectively middle child Liza and the much younger baby of the family Grace. Wendy is a young widow, Violet is a mom of two young boys, Liza is pregnant with a child she’s not sure she want, and Grace is living across the country and lying to her family about what she’s actually doing.

I found this book to be very readable, and I really liked some of the characters (Marilyn and Wendy in particular). Of course, as with most family dramas, secrets come out and things aren’t always as they appear.

This book is about marriage, the sacrifices of parents, family secrets, and sisterhood. It’s engaging, and the characters are well developed. I definitely felt that each character was their own, and I think that’s impressive for a debut, especially in a book this big with this many characters. I also found the story compelling enough that there were times I didn’t want to put it down.

I did have a complaint that the characters used the R-word multiple times in the book, which rubbed me the wrong way. There’s really no reason that particular word needed to be used. Also, everyone in the family is gifted and smart and beautiful, and although they deal with some struggles and tragedies, there is no real examination of that privilege.

Overall, though, this is an entertaining read and I was invested in the stories. I also think it would be a great TV show. If you like big family sagas, this is a good one.