Book Review: "Dear Monica Lewinsky" by Julia Langbein

Thanks so much to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book I was eagerly anticipating!

Sigh. I’m guessing this is more “it’s not the book, it’s me,” because I’m starting to realize that sometimes satirical books just don’t work for me. This may be why I struggled with the author’s last book, although like this one, I loved the concept.

When Jean receives an invitation to attend a former professor’s retirement ceremony in France, she is completely undone. She hasn’t communicated with this man since she studied abroad in 1998, and they had an inappropriate relationship. Jean believes this is what derailed her life all those years ago.

As she looks at her diaries and photos from that time, she realizes that her affair with her professor happened at the same time as the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Her life seems to be unraveling, so she decides to pray to Monica for guidance, as you would a saint. And Saint Monica answers.

I was living in the DC area during the whole Clinton/Lewinsky affair, and I always felt she got a raw deal. I really wanted to love the book, but it just didn’t work for me.

The book will publish 4/14.

Book Review: "If You Love It, Let It Kill You" by Hannah Pittard

I really had high hopes for this one, but what can you do?

A novelist and writing professor has her life turned a bit topsy-turvy when she learns that her ex-husband has created an unflattering version of her in his upcoming book. Although not many people will know it’s her—and he’s the one who ruined their marriage in the first place—she has trouble focusing.

Currently living in Kentucky with her boyfriend (and occasionally his stepdaughter), the news about her ex throws her into an emotional tailspin. Should she tell her boyfriend, knowing he might get angry with her ex? And worse, what if he doesn’t?

Meanwhile, she’s trying to deal with the foibles of her aging parents—her mother who wants to date again and her father who very well might be losing his mind. Can she just run away?

I’ve been a fan of some of Hannah Pittard’s books but this one never quite drew me into the story. It felt like there were lots of separate elements of the story that never quite came together, and the story moved very slowly.

Book Review: "Seduction Theory" by Emily Adrian

“‘A virtue with which every writer should acquaint herself,’ Simone went on, ‘is humility.’ She did not smile. My mortification at her hands was ecstasy.”⁣

⁣ Simone and Ethan are the it couple of Edwards University’s creative writing department. Glamorous Simone is the star—the daughter of a famed figure in the literary world, her grief memoir was a huge success. She is a tenured professor; Ethan, less handsome and the author of a less successful novel, is a lecturer who only got the job because of his wife.⁣

⁣ The two have been together for years, having met in college. They have long conversations (both intellectual and not) and lots of great sex; their seemingly perfect marriage is the envy of many at Edwards. And then, for seemingly no reason, Ethan starts an affair with Abigail, the department’s administrative assistant. He’s wracked with guilt but can’t seem to stop until he has to confess before Simone finds out.⁣

⁣ Simone is definitely floored by her husband’s infidelity, but the truth is, she hasn’t been entirely innocent. While Ethan was away for the summer (when the affair began), Simone drew very close with Robbie, a graduate student and Simone’s advisee. The two women trained for a marathon, spent nearly every day and night together, and shared secrets, but their relationship, while never getting physical, gets emotionally intense, and Robbie, who is a lesbian, falls in love.⁣

But when Robbie feels rejected, she decides to write a fictionalized account of Ethan and Simone’s marriage—including all of the people involved—for her master’s thesis. How much is actual fiction and how much is truth? And how will Ethan and Simone react?⁣

⁣ This was an interesting story. I don’t know that I loved any of the characters but I found myself invested in the story. Because Robbie is the narrator, you see parts of the story through her eyes, so it’s shaped a bit by her bias. It was an interesting concept that was well-executed.

Book Review: "Eleven Numbers" by Lee Child

When I picked up this story by Lee Child, the last thing I expected was math. At least I didn’t have to solve any equations!

Nathan is a mathematician and a university professor. He’s well known in his field, but mathematicians aren’t quite celebrity material. So needless to say he’s tremendously surprised when he gets a call from the White House, telling him that his help is needed.

“He was a very able mathematician. But there were fifty others in the world just as good. Maybe a hundred. His publication history was competitive. He had contributed to all the important journals. But so had fifty others. Maybe a hundred. His debut had been his PhD thesis. Groundbreaking, really, but in a field no one was interested in. Nothing about him stood out.”

He is flown to a meeting at the National Security Agency—a meeting attended by a famous mathematician and the President of the United States, as well as two intelligence officers. When Nathan is shown a series of 11 equations, he determines that they are part of a computer security algorithm. The correct numerical sequence is a powerful tool: it controls access to Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

The person who created the algorithm is a famed Russian mathematician. The President and his security team want Nathan to meet this man to try and get feel for which of the 11 equations will allow them the access they need. So they get Nathan an invitation to attend a mathematics conference in Russia, and he should be able to meet the man. But nothing goes quite like expected.⁣

This was very different than anything else of Lee Child’s that I’ve read. There were more twists than I was expecting, but it was a little dry. Or maybe it’s my phobia about math…