Book Reviews: Spring 2020

While you can read my reviews on my Goodreads, here is a compilation of the short reviews I wrote this past spring.

“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (trilogy) by Jenny Han

A simple (spoiler-free) review of the whole trilogy: I love this series to death. I’m not big on YA, but these books are delightful in every sense of the word. “To All the Boys” is unapologetic in its approach to youth. Jenny Han captures every emotion perfectly, even the cringe-y moments in life, without being cringe-y in her writing. Another part of reality is having flaws, which Lara Jean so perfectly has, and we see her character grow by the end of the third book, but in some ways, she still falls into the same patterns as everyone else in our lives does. As common in most trilogies I’ve come across, the second book took a bit of a dip, but I still enjoyed it! The first and third books were amazing though and made the whole series worth it. I’m just sad to be done getting to know Lara Jean and Peter (until Netflix releases the third movie!).

“Anna K: A Love Story” by Jenny Lee

I loved this book! Every bit of rich-kid, “Gossip Girl”-esque drama entertains perfectly — and while I never finished “Anna Karenina” in high school (oops), the story is so well-fit in this modernized setting. The one thing that was a bit hard for me was reading people always talking in “text speak.” It makes total sense that the text messages in the book should abbreviate “boyfriend” to “bf,” but I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “bf” or “gf” in spoken conversation seriously, and when these characters said it, it took me out of the story a bit so that it didn’t feel real. That’s such a small detail and is easy to look over, but it was the main thing I noticed that I just didn’t like at all. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and each character, and I cannot wait for next year’s sequel!

“The Library Book” by Susan Orlean

Amazing, in-depth reporting. I came into this book just thinking it would be about a fire I had never heard of but ended up getting so much more. This is a worthwhile read on the case for the necessity of libraries and includes histories on library politics and book-burning, the open-ended nature of crime cases (particularly arson), the methods of book-stealing, and the relationship between libraries and social issues. Topics I had never considered before, such as homeless people's reliance on libraries as a resource, were brought to my attention and increased my appreciation for libraries. Learning about the ins and outs of that type of workplace and the unexpected drama (like how men used to dominate the librarian world until the early 1900s) was captivating. A must-read for any book-lover or library-frequenter.

“To Have and Have Not” by Ernest Hemingway

For a 262-page novel, there's a lot going on here. “A lot going on” isn’t a bad thing, but what is done with that lot is another issue. This story had so much going for it, and a lot of elements that I liked, but it is far from Hemingway’s best and was hurt by being released as a novel. To call this a novel would imply that it is cohesive, which it is not. The first two parts of the book were stand-alone short stories that would have worked well on their own. They showed “Have Not” Harry Morgan’s life as well as displayed 1930s racism well (something that I think is important for today’s readers to see).

The third part is where things got incredibly messy. New characters were quickly introduced, and, for the most part, it was hard to determine their relevance to the story. Of course, many were the "Have" characters from the book's title, and such characters should have been present, but it felt so slapped together — because, really, it was. Despite this, there were great parts of the book, my main takeaway being Helen Gordon. I’ve read “A Farewell to Arms,” “The Sun Also Rises,” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and while I never disliked the women in those, this is the first time I’ve really been taken by a woman written by Hemingway. It’s ironic because of how little page time she gets, but she is truly interesting, and I only wish there could have been more story around her.

Overall, I would recommend the book, but don’t let it be your first (or last) Hemingway read.

“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway

I was afraid to read this book, I’ll admit. I thought it might be boring, especially because of my mother’s warnings, but I was wrong. First, the writing and imagery are beautiful. I already love Hemingway, but this novella stressed the beauty in simplicity through his word choice and concision in such a way that was more moving than other works I’ve read from him. While not intrinsic to the quality of a story, this can be easily applied to others’ real experiences — whether the plot’s elements were intended to be symbols or not — this is life. This is a reflection of life that demonstrated the importance of each moment. Each moment of life is to be lived to the fullest and not taken for granted. To live is to survive is to live.