my opinion matters

Because I read so much, not every book is a home run. Some are tedious and others are predictable, equally devastating sins for fiction. Sometimes I choose the wrong books and don't challenge myself to read something different. Even more disappointing, I sometimes judge books by their titles and covers and think they're something else without reading the description. Shame on me. My husband and I celebrate Jolabokaflod, an Icelandic tradition where you gift each other books on Christmas Eve, get in your pajamas, eat chocolate, and read. This past Christmas we had a 3-month-old baby at home and I didn't have time to choose books and my husband chose carefully from high-rated lists on Amazon, and he chose Klara and the Sun  for me, and I am forever thankful. It is rare to read a book that sticks with you and noodles around in your brain months later, and I believe that is the mark of successful fiction. Maybe it's shocking or sad or makes you think about things differentl

You would think since I’m so obsessed with The Circle that I would immediately know when Dave Eggers wrote a sequel. I blame my eight month old baby for not knowing when anything new comes out. Of course, I devoured this book as soon as I got it. Unfortunately, this one just went too far. There are cute references to Amazon and how they made a movie and it was terrible, but overall it was a bit of a mess. It’s unrealistic that Mae Holland would be the CEO. Sure, she is the reason Ty didn’t destroy everything, but I didn’t like that she was in the book at all. It’s like when a TV reboot references the old show too much, it comes across a bit pathetic. Like if you don’t have any more ideas, don’t write a second book.  To be fair, the reason I love The Circle is because it sounds great - I love tech and the book teetered in the edge of plausible spookiness in a way that was obliterated in The Every , with the weird clothes and the general mania and WHY was Francis back? Ridiculous. I kno