Book Review: "Transcription" by Ben Lerner

Even though more experimental fiction doesn’t usually work for me, I wanted to read Transcription. The concept sounded unique and I am always interested in social commentary about our relationship with technology.

Anyway, Ben Lerner’s new book did have some beautiful moments. It’s essentially a novel divided into thirds. In the first, “Hotel Providence,” the narrator travels to Rhode Island to conduct an interview with his 90-year-old mentor and former professor, Thomas. This will be Thomas’ last interview, and given what he has meant to the narrator, the pressure is on.

At his hotel before heading to Thomas’ house, the narrator drops his phone into a sink full of water. He now has no way of recording the interview, but he can’t seem to be honest with Thomas about it.

In “Hotel Villa Real,” set after Thomas’ death, the narrator is part of a symposium, where he finally reveals he wrote most of the interview from memory because of his phone mishap. The final third, “Hotel Arbez,” is a dialogue between the narrator and Thomas’ son Max, who has been the narrator’s friend since college.

Each section of the book revisits many of the same themes—the fickleness of memory, how we rely on and—sometimes shun—technology to help our memory, and how technology both brings us together and creates gaps between us. At the same time, there are discussions about parenthood, children, and relationships. There are moments of real emotion, as the book touches on the isolation of the early days of COVID, and what it’s like to raise a child with an eating disorder.

This is a short book but it does pack a punch. The narrative gets a bit wordy and esoteric on occasion, but there’s no doubt Lerner is a talented storyteller who has given us much to think about.

Book Review: "Joan Is Okay" by Weike Wang

The second book from Weike Wang, Joan Is Okay is a quirky, thought-provoking look at work, family, our connections with others, and how we handle their expectations.

“Who really wanted to be different? I wondered. And to be treated differently for things about them that couldn’t be changed. Most people who were different just wanted to be the same.”

Joan is an ICU attending physician at a New York City hospital. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she was instilled with a strong work ethic, and she is willing to work constantly. Even though it can be difficult and stressful, Joan is lost without her work. She’s not one to seek out social connections with colleagues, peers, or potential love interests, but she doesn’t feel lonely or unfulfilled, even though others seem to think she should.

When Joan and her older brother were settled in their lives, their parents returned to China. Their father dies suddenly and Joan returns briefly to China for the first time in a long while. Her time there, coupled with her mother’s subsequent trip to America to stay with Joan’s brother, causes Joan to further increase her workload and reevaluate her relationships, with family, colleagues, and others. The only place she feels in complete control is when she is in charge of the ICU.

Joan’s mother’s return to America sets off family tensions, while at the same the world is on the cusp of dealing with the COVID pandemic. What does this all mean for Joan and her ambitions, as well as her family?

This novel is written in a very spare style, much like Joan herself, but there are many moments of wry humor. It’s one of those books that it feels like there's not much drama happening but at the same time so much character development occurs.

Joan Is Okay might not be a book for everyone but I found it really interesting and it definitely made me think.

Book Review: "Hello (from here)" by Chandler Baker and Wesley King

In this collaboration between YA authors Chandler Baker and Wesley King, two teens develop a connection as the world goes into COVID lockdown.

Jonah and Max have a fairly unique meet-cute: he tries to negotiate with her to get some toilet paper out of her shopping cart (she shops for people), since the grocery store is mobbed. And while she gets the upper hand in their negotiations, both are intrigued by the other, so Jonah does the (logical? stalkerish?) thing and tracks her down.

What ensues is a budding relationship of sorts, conducted mostly over FaceTime, and via calls and texts, along with some clandestine (and masked) meetings along the way. Both have been hurt before and both have their own issues—Jonah suffers from anxiety and is dealing with unresolved grief over his mother’s death, while Max worries about her workaholic mother and their financial status as everything shuts down for COVID.

When I read 56 Days earlier this month I wasn’t affected by its being set during COVID, but reading Hello (from here) definitely was a little soon for me. It very accurately depicted the anxieties of the early days of the pandemic, where no one knew how it could spread and there was so much worry about infecting those you loved with weaker immune systems.

Beyond that, though, I just didn’t love these characters. Their banter was cute but their behaviors at times (particularly Jonah’s) weren’t very redeeming. I enjoyed a subplot about one of Max’s customers and would’ve liked more of that.

I guess I’m not really ready to read a book set fully in the COVID pandemic!! Are you?

Book Review: "56 Days" by Catherine Ryan Howard

56 Days, Catherine Ryan Howard's new thriller, hooked me COMPLETELY!!

The FOMO got too powerful to resist on this one, considering how many people I had seen reading this on Bookstagram. Given that the book takes place in the early days of the COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdown in Ireland, I wasn’t sure how triggering it would be, but while it set a mood and provided evocative description, I didn’t see it as a hurdle to overcome.

Fifty-six days ago, Ciara and Oliver meet at a supermarket. They share some witty banter and start dating shortly afterward. Neither is sure what to expect from this relationship.

Three weeks later, as COVID lockdown restrictions start to be enforced in Dublin, Oliver suggests that they move in together and deal with quarantine together. Both are hopeful but nervous, for very different reasons.

Today, police have been summoned to Oliver’s apartment because of a horrible odor. They find a body that has been decomposing for a little while.

Whose body is it? What happened? What secrets will be uncovered?

The concept of 56 Days, shifting from past to present, shifting in narration between Ciara, Oliver, and the police detective investigating the case, drew me in instantly. Howard created a twisty web of a plot that continued surprising me as each new detail unfolded.

Yay, another thriller I enjoyed! Go me! (If you follow my reviews, you'll know that I have an uneasy relationship with thrillers. I always get excited when I find one that surprises and hooks me.)

Book Review: "Intimations: Six Essays" by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith's new collection of essays, Intimations, may be short, but it packs such a punch.

“Talking to yourself can be useful. And writing means being overheard.”

This is another book I read because, as I like to call it, "Bookstagram Made Me Do It" — my second this week, in fact! I have three friends to thank for this one.

Intimations is a 100+-page collection of short essays by Smith. I’m a fan of her fiction and don’t normally read essays very often, but I was fascinated by her take on our world as it has been affected by COVID-19.

Her essays fascinated me, serving as a source of amusement and inspiration as much as they made me think. She talks about the compelling need to always be doing something that has been exacerbated even more since the pandemic. She talks about anger, privilege, race, relationships, economics, psychology. She even touches on why so many writers love addressing the question of why they choose to write.

But it is the essay that serves as the postscript, “Contempt as a Virus,” that was the most impactful for me. In it she equates COVID with the plague of racism, particularly following the murder of George Floyd. In just a few pages she communicates so powerfully.

“Has America metabolized contempt? Has it lived with the virus so long that it no longer fears it? Is there a strong enough desire for a different America within America?”

If you’re looking for a thought-provoking piece, this is a book for you. Smith is donating all the royalties to charity, so you’re doing a good deed, too, in purchasing this.