2020: tl;dr Don't do drugs, kid.
The top two takeaways from this book are 1) don't do drugs and 2) don't do drugs.

I'm not sure why I immediately clicked the 5 star rating on this book. It doesn't meet most of my 5 star criteria: it barely passes the Bechdel test, it required me to use a dictionary and three bookmarks to get through it, and the ending is left SO WIDE OPEN, a sure sign of negative stars for me. I practically had to keep a running list of all of the names / nicknames that referred to each of the characters (how very Tolstoyesque of Wallace).

But the experience of reading Infinite Jest was unparalleled to any other book I've ever attempted. This was my third time trying to read the book, and the seven weeks I spent inside the world of Enfield, MA, ONAN were unique and unforgettable. I will be in an IJ book hangover for probably months. Maybe it's because I finally had some time in the middle of quarantine to persevere, or maybe because I was reading about the disillusionment of video conferencing (predicted by Wallace! written in 1996!) in the middle of a time in which so many of us are suffering from Zoom fatigue. But it WORKED and I am officially a fan.

There's not so much that I can say that won't simply mimic what many other reviews before me have mentioned. The endnotes of lore are insane, and multitudinous, with their own footnotes on top of them. Wallace enjoyed making up his own words (the man uses the word "tallly" in the book, as in tall but adverbially, this is a word with one letter THREE TIMES IN A ROW ARE YOU KIDDING ME), and I so appreciate everyone who ever contributed to or edited the Wallace Wiki (seriously, USE IT, it's so much better to be able to understand the book you're reading!) I give thanks that I have a dictionary app on my phone and that I did not need to lug around a dictionary with me. The best part of this is that Wallace does employ a number of the new words multiple times throughout the book, so I think I actually learned them (such as "prolix", meaning tediously lengthy, aka INFINITE JEST).

The ability to keep track of all of the different tangents and stories and endnotes together at the same time is truly an accomplishment. One of the reasons why I read multiple books at once is to keep my mind engaged, but that was not necessary with this book. (Did I do it anyway? Yes, because I am an addict). It takes until page 500 for you to begin to see maybe how all these stories might be connected in the end, and until page 800 for the connection to actually happen. Page 851 is a continuation of the narration that begins the book on page 3.

There are so many moments that would defeat the casual reader (and defeated me the two previous times I attempted to read this beast). There are paragraphless pages. The Hemingway App HATES this book. The only way I made it through the drug-fueled, six-page sentence was by checking that the T route outlined was accurately portrayed. Particular joy for me came from the many tiny references to Boston College, and the fact that Enfield is located pretty much right where I used to live. I read the line "Enfield is due east of the Marathon's Hills of Heartbreak" on Patriot's Day 2020, swoon!

I found the inclusion of many racial slurs and derogatory slang needlessly distracting and super unnecessary to the plot (if you can call it a plot). What's frustrating is that even though Wallace spells out and uses the n-word multiple times throughout the book, a couple of his endnotes refer to both "the n-word" and "the f-word", so it's not like he was unaware or opposed to using a reference to the word, instead of the word itself.

That being said, Wallace is incredibly well read and the depth AND breadth of knowledge required to create a world like this, AND be able to comment on it so thoroughly. I feel like I learned so much being in this world. I'm happy to be a part of it, and I cannot wait to experience the many, many pieces of fan fiction and pop culture that this novel has inspired.

2020: This was a good palette cleanser for me post Infinite Jest, a reminder that fiction can be easy and informative, without requiring a dictionary and seven weeks of my life.

Maeve is the best, and Danny is the absolute worst. Glad he spent the whole book telling us Maeve's story though. May is a gem and Kevin got zero screen time. I would have loved a little more of a backstory to Andrea. I certainly understand the premise of an "evil stepmother" story, but why was she so evil? Just because she wanted to own the house?

I want to like Patchett more, and I've certainly read a lot of her books, but she always seems to slightly miss the mark. A solid 4 star rating across all of her books from me.

According to other reviews, I probably should have saved this one for an audiobook, as Tom Hanks is the narrator. Not sure I really want to spend more time in this world or that I need to revisit this story, but I would love to hear Hanks' narration.

2020: I loved Mandel's Station Eleven, and if you did too, you're also going to enjoy The Glass Hotel.

I thought the presentation of new characters and their slow chapter-by-chapter reveal was masterful. This can very easily slip into a cliched trope, but it totally worked for me here. The connections between the characters were varied and complex, and each new development added to the mystery of the story. I was able to keep track of all of the different names and storylines quite well; Mandel leaves enough breadcrumbs throughout.

I was blown away by how much I loved and sided with Suzanne, even though she's barely in the book, and as much as I enjoyed being in Vincent's head, it was really Ella who I found the most connection with by the end. Mandel really wrapped up the different storylines more than I thought she was going to, which is ever-appealing to me. WHY DON'T YOU SWALLOW BROKEN GLASS

A couple of personal notes that stood out to me: Vincent has a project in which she films 5 minutes of video wherever she is. One of my quarantine projects has been to film 30 seconds of "calm" throughout the state of Maine, so that was a fun parallel to see. I was also crying / laughing when the Ponzi scheme collapses on the same day as their scheduled holiday party, as I recently lived through a similar experience in which my coworkers & I were informed of our company's empty bank accounts on the same day as our holiday party.

To recap, don't ever put all of your life savings into one investment from a random dude you meet at a hotel bar.

2020: There is so much ground covered in this novel, and many firsts for the young wizards: the first time they interact with peers of theirs from other countries, the first time they experience death firsthand, and the first inklings that the world as they know it is about to change, for the worse. The trio truly grows up in this book, marked by a transition in style of writing from Rowling (fewer explanations of past events, in contrast to the MANY still included in the third book, and the zero included in the fifth - seventh books).

Although Rowling often misses the mark (including in her most recent disappointing statements tweeted about trans women), I could not help but feel that she was instrumental in training us to call her out. There are so many poignant examples in this novel: Hermione calling out the injustices regarding the treatment of house elves ("That’s what made this dinner. Slave labor."), Sirius' wisdom in guiding the trio in how to judge Crouch ("If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."), the prejudice that haunts both Madame Maxime and Hagrid ("But honestly, all this hysteria about giants. They can’t all be horrible. . . . It’s the same sort of prejudice that people have toward werewolves. . . . It’s just bigotry, isn’t it?"), and of course Dumbledore's most famous line at the end of year speech ("Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy").

Always be critical of your idols. No one is immune from criticism; everyone should be constantly unlearning and relearning. As Moody says, CONSTANT VIGILANCE.

2020: This was historical fiction at its worst. When a reader is familiar with the historical events one encounters in the story, that should ADD to the experience. When a reader is unfamiliar with the events, it should not render the story unable to be followed.

I did not enjoy the style of writing, in which the main character knows more than the reader (not quite third-person limited, because I didn't even know what was going on in the Count's head). It made me feel like I was always a beat behind, like the Count was just stringing me along and making me feel stupid. The Count was the main character, but he was certainly not the narrator.

The pace is so unbalanced, and the lack of follow-through on characters that we met in the early parts of the novel is disorienting. I had a very hard time remembering characters' names. Are you kidding me with that one paragraph dismissal of Nina? Why on earth did she not get the ending she deserved? Also, I'm pretty sure this book doesn't pass the Bechdel test, so -1 star for that (there are conversations between named women, but they all happen offstage).

If you are having trouble with the book and you can stick with it until Sofia arrives on the scene, push on through to the end. The best line in this whole book was "Just because you witnessed the Comet of 1812, does not mean that Sofia must wear a petticoat and bustle." HAHAHAHAHAHA

2020: Roxane Gay is really, really good at her job. This collection of short stories made me gasp, think, wrestle and reconcile with my beliefs. If I had to sum it up, the stories are about women who have had difficult situations thrown at them in life, and how amazing they are at surviving AND thriving after that. Society still manages to call these women "difficult", as opposed to their situations. The stories are also about how the people that most often help and support these difficult women are their female friends and their sisters.

I was unable to find out during a brief internet search whether or not Roxane Gay is an only child (she tweeted recently about her niece & nephew, so I'm gonna go with NOT, but I'm not 100% sure) but she mentions it a couple of times in these stories. I also connected with her having multiple characters who are twins, as a twin relationship is what I wished for most as an only child growing up.

Overall, I don't love short stories; they always leave me wanting more (and not in a satisfactory way). Or maybe I'm just out of practice with them. I would LOVE to see a full version of "North Country", this was my favorite story by far. I just want more of those characters! I also think that "The Sacrifice of Darkness" could be made into a SICK film. Just saying, Ava DuVernay.... It was honestly chilling to read about the New Civil War during a time in which we are tearing down statues of Confederate leaders.

2020: I so thoroughly enjoyed this novel! I sped through it, barely taking notes, but the world in which I found myself immersed was detailed and complex. The characters were relatable and their relationships were messy but full of love.

I was invested right up until the end, when the narration shifted into Moushumi's point of view. We had spent so much time in Gogol's head, and so much time in Gogol's world, that to switch to his unfaithful wife's perspective during the final tenth of the book was a very odd move for me. I would have preferred learning about the affair from his point of view.

Definitely would recommend if you want a short, engaging escape into a pre-9/11 world that skirts over any serious political happenings in the lives of new American immigrants.

2020: I LOVED THIS BOOK. That's because one of my top goals in life is to get all of my friends to become friends with each other, and I think our priority as a species is to connect to others on this planet. Every single person who is ever going to meet with a group of people EVER should read this book.

This book is ESSENTIAL now, especially because meaningful connection is as scarce as ever as we navigate through a pandemic, and many people are having deeper discussions on racial tensions within our society. Parker hits home when inclusion AND exclusion can better benefit a group, and rips apart Martha Stewart's guide to party planning. She does what Gladwell tried to do in Talking with Strangers, but much more successfully, and with much better case studies (and I'm not just saying that because there is a Tough Mudder shoutout in the book).

I have so many takeaways from this book that will directly benefit both my personal and professional life: "Chill is a miserable attitude when it comes to hosting gatherings." Focus on the design and the layout of a room, which primes your attendees to expect certain things to happen in the meeting. What are the etiquette biases that your guests are bringing with them to the meeting, and what rules can you instate to counteract them? There are lots of vertical connections at a conference, but not many horizontal connections.

Parker gets bonus points for using the female pronoun whenever it's unclear what the intended pronoun of a noun is YAS!

2020: I do love this series. Colfer does a fantastic job of getting his audience to see both sides of the conflict. I’m obviously Team Holly (forever) but Juliet & Foaly are two of my favorite characters. Ugh and Mulch!! Can’t wait to see how terribly they’ve destroyed the storyline in the Disney movie version.

2020: Meh. The characters in this novel were pretty interesting, and I was super intrigued from the beginning as to what was actually going to happen on this retreat. But it feels like a bunch of random people were put together in a secluded place, a deus ex machina in the form of a drug trip gone wrong swoops in to connect them all, and then they all go their separate ways.

I'll say, I'm not a drug user myself, so maybe it's just harder for me to imagine having never experienced tripping. But I find that the medium of film does a much better job of portraying what a trip feels like (I'm thinking Booksmart and Midsommar off the top of my head recently).

A fun beach read with complex characters and almost zero plot that leaves the characters pretty much exactly where they started.