Wow, Thank You: Bread, High School, and the American Dream

Once again, I don't have even one mediocre book to share with you.  I've got four strong recommendations, depending on what you're needing right now.  

Sourdough by Robin Sloan
This was a really oddball, sweet, amazing book about sourdough bread and a million other things.  As I was reading, I kept thinking that the premise sounded kind of stupid and wow, I really love this book.  The main character, Lois, was smart and very real to me.  Don’t read anything about it, just dive in and go.  It’s light but smart and a fairly quick read.  Plus, it’ll make you want to make bread!  In other words, a perfect book for Spring 2020.

(Note:  Sloan also wrote Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, which I found to be mostly kinda stupid.  SOURDOUGH WAS WAY WAY BETTER.)

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Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
Sam Irby is HILARIOUS and then poignant for a minute and then she’s hilarious again.  I loved this book of essays and I think I’d better go grab her other books as well.  She’s really crass and she will have you spitting out your drink, I promise.  I asked Levi if he wanted to borrow a book of essays by a crass overweight black Midwestern lesbian (and he said yes, obvs!)

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Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
Behold this phenomenal and sad story about the American dream, the ’08 economy, money, family, depression, New York City, and humanity.  What I loved, and what is referenced at the end with the conversation with the author, is that this is straight up just an amazing story without getting caught up in the right-or-wrong and this-is-how-you-should-think narrative.  I really appreciated that while we’ve got plot and drama for miles, it’s just so *real*, especially as the book wraps up.  I would really love to discuss this one with someone.  I’ve heard people reference books as being “compulsively readable” and although I know what that means and have experienced that with other novels, I feel that this particular descriptor is especially accurate for Behold the Dreamers.  In that “Oh sweet, I have to go to the bathroom, I can read my book for a few minutes” sort of way.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
This is a book club book that we’ve not yet discussed, so I’ll be just a little tight-lipped on how I felt about it for now.  This was a high school book that explored…..all the things.  That would be my main criticism is that so many heavy topics were packed into this one small book about Charlie’s freshman year.  Most of the rest of my commentary on Wallflower would be positive, though.   I especially loved how Charlie’s narration changed over the course of the year.  There will definitely be much to discuss at our meeting!
 

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Next up:  I peed my pants when I saw that the new book about The Office was $5 on Kindle, so I’m quickly making my way through that.  Spring of 2020 might be crappy in a lot of ways, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve read so many great books in one stretch.  Hopefully that continues!

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