Book Review: "Three Parties" by Ziyad Saadi

I’m always fascinated by retellings and reimaginings. Ziyad Saadi’s debut novel is a reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, which was also reimagined in The Hours (one of my favorite books of all time), so I was very interested to read this.

Today is Firas’ 23rd birthday. He’s throwing himself a dinner party with a greater purpose than simply celebrating the day of his birth, however. He plans to officially come out to his family, friends, and coworkers. He’s trying to remain calm as the time of the party draws closer, but his stress level is rising.

While he wonders how his Palestinian parents will react to the news, Firas is also making sure every last detail of the party is perfect. He’s planned the menu, the decorations, even the floral arrangements. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans…

Firas is constantly worried about how he is perceived—by his family, his colleagues and friends, even the two men he is dating. The thought of falling short in anyone’s eyes appalls him, and of course, the more you worry about failing the greater the likelihood that you might fail. Meanwhile, crises within his family threaten to upend the party—and there’s even the possibility that his secret might get exposed before he’s ready to share it.

Much like Mrs. Dalloway, this book takes place over the course of one day. It’s a tremendously thought-provoking read with occasional bursts of humor.

I’m not certain if this book didn’t work for me as much as I’d hoped because I can’t imagine throwing a party to reveal a secret like this, or if the plot became overly complicated. Saadi’s talent is definitely evident and I look forward to seeing what’s next for his career.

Book Review: "I Think They Love You" by Julian Winters

Julian Winters is one of my auto-buy authors, so when I saw he had a new book coming out I was definitely excited. And as much as I’ve loved all of his YA books, learning this would be his first adult novel was even more exciting!

As the son of the CEO of 24 Carter Gold, Atlanta’s most prominent event planning company, Denz has always been expected to make a good impression. He’s tremendously conscious that someone is always watching him, which as an adult has translated into social media success for the company.

When his workaholic father announces his retirement and a search for the company’s new CEO, Denz decides to become a candidate. His family questions his seriousness and his commitment to things, so he tells them he has a boyfriend to prove them wrong.

Of course, now he has to find a boyfriend, or at least someone who’ll pretend to be one. The person to fill the role is the last person Denz is expecting: Braylon, his college boyfriend, who took a job in London after graduation and broke his heart. (Braylon needs Denz’s connections, so it’s not a one-sided fake relationship.)

As Denz jumps through hoops to try and prove his worthiness to be CEO, he and Braylon go all in on fake dating. Of course, there’s always some truth in every pretend relationship, but can either of them admit their true feelings before it’s too late?

I loved how much heart this book had. It’s not only a story about second chances; it’s also about family, friendship, ambition, fear, and trying to figure out what you want out of life. This is a sexy, romantic, emotional story, and proof that Julian Winters succeeds no matter what genre he’s in.

Book Review: "The Jolliest Bunch: Unhinged Holiday Stories" by Danny Pellegrino

“I was an emotional kid, who turned into an even more emotional adult—one who mourns the good times as much as he mourns the bad. Perfect days end with me wiping up the same tears that result from the crappy days.”

The holidays always seem to bring out healthy doses of both joy and craziness. I guess that’s why they’re such great fodder for writers. In The Jolliest Bunch, Danny Pellegrino, host of the podcast “Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino,” shares some of his holiday memories. They’ll either make you feel good about your own experiences or make you think he doesn’t know what crazy really is.

Having read his last book, How Do I Un-Remember This, I really enjoy Pellegrino’s voice. His stories never seem so wild as to be preposterous, but they’re always at least a notch or two beyond the usual holiday experience.

Some of my favorites include: “The Nativity,” which meshes your typical Christmas play story with an overly dramatic child with abandonment issues; “Black Velvet,” in which he gives Mrs. Claus her long-overdue adventure; “The Night Before,” about his mother’s annual meltdown before hosting a Christmas Eve party; and “The Ghostly Duo,” where he recounts his experience being haunted by a gay, pop culture-savvy ghost.

Not every story was a winner for me, but many of them touched my heart, reminded me of my own experiences, and/or made me laugh. No matter what Pellegrino talked about, it reminded me to always find the joy in being with those I care about, because you never know when circumstances will change.

While I mostly read fiction, this book was a fun departure for me. This reminds me a bit of a David Sedaris collection but it has a charm all its own.

Book Review: "Astrid Sees All" by Natalie Standiford

Natalie Standiford's new book, Astrid Sees All, is a look back at the decadent club and party scene of 1980s New York City, and one young woman’s search for herself.

It’s 1984. Adrift after college, Phoebe finds herself in NYC, hoping to find something to excite her and help her figure out what she wants from life. After the death of her beloved father, she comes back to the city against her family's wishes and finds an apartment on the Lower East Side with a college acquaintance, Carmen.

Carmen, shrugging off the yoke of a privileged childhood, and Phoebe find themselves in the midst of the wild club scene, where celebrities and junkies mingle. Carmen takes up with a junkie, while Phoebe is still seething about the way she was mistreated by an older man. Phoebe is desperate to make money and finds an opportunity telling fortunes at club parties as “Astrid the Star Girl.”

Drugs and sex and the glamorous life prove too intoxicating to resist, and it’s not long before Phoebe and Carmen’s friendship ends with a betrayal. Both young women hit rock bottom in their own way, but can they find their way and survive despite the chaos of the city, where young women are actually going missing?

I love everything about the 80s and so I really enjoyed the setting of Astrid Sees All. Even though I wasn’t old enough for the party scene at that time, I remember NYC when it was seedy and gritty, and Standiford really captured that so well.

While I didn’t necessarily find the characters sympathetic, I felt the sense of sadness and fear and uncertainty that seemed to exist beneath the surface of the story, the “smile although you’re crying inside” mentality that characterized the atmosphere and the time. It was a really vivid book.

Book Review: "Beneath the Bonfire: Stories" by Nickolas Butler

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Nickolas Butler's Shotgun Lovesongs made my list of the best books I read last year. He imbued his characters with emotion, complexity, and an amazing sense of place. I absolutely loved the way he told a story. So needless to say, when I saw he had a short story collection coming out later this year, I jumped on it as quickly as I possibly could. And the good news? Beneath the Bonfire is just about as good as Butler's first book, and his writing is still pretty fantastic.

The characters in Butler's 10 stories are all struggling in one way or another. They're struggling to find or keep love; they're struggling with the circumstances they've found themselves caught up in; they're struggling with family, friends, emotions, illness, even loneliness. These are stories which will make you feel, make you think, make you laugh, and perhaps even make you cry. (Or maybe that's just because I'm a sap.)

I honestly loved 9 of the 10 stories, and would love to read a full-length novel with the characters from many of them. There's the man struggling to keep his unexpected family intact despite the emotional instability of his girlfriend in "Train People Move Slow"; the story of childhood friends living very different lives in "Morels"; the policewoman fighting demons both real and unreal in "In Western Counties"; the grandfather wondering if he might need to be a parent again in "Rainwater"; and the beautiful poignancy, restlessness, and desperation described in both "The Chainsaw Soirée" and the fantastic title story.

This collection reinforces my belief that Butler is a writer to be reckoned with. If there's a downside to reading this collection a few months before it is to be released, it's that I'll have to wait even longer for his next book. But don't you wait—read Shotgun Lovesongs, and then wait for Beneath the Bonfire. Hopefully you'll be as blown away, and as touched, as I have been.

Now THAT'S the way to open a Bar Mitzvah...

And I thought I've seen some pretty ostentatious Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties...

Check out Sam Horowitz's opening dance number at his Bar Mitzvah last fall in Dallas. I would wager that the hora and lifting him and his family up on chairs pales in comparison to this! (I was wondering why I couldn't have something like this at my Bar Mitzvah and then I remembered: I can't dance, and was even less, umm, graceful back then!)