Less

A little about the book

Follow a ‘failed’ novelist about to turn fifty around the world. Arthur Less visits Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India and Japan and puts thousands of miles between him and the problems he refuses to face, including an ex-boyfriend who’s now engaged to someone else.

Arthur will almost fall in love in Paris, almost fall to his death in Berlin, barely escape to a Moroccan ski chalet from a Sahara sandstorm, accidentally book himself as the (only) writer-in-residence at a Christian Retreat Center in Southern India, and arrive in Japan too late for the cherry blossoms. In between: science fiction fans, crazed academics, emergency rooms, starlets, doctors, exes and, on a desert island in the Arabian Sea, the last person on Earth he wants to see. Somewhere in there: he will turn fifty. The second phase of life, as he thinks of it, falling behind him like the second phase of a rocket. There will be his first love. And there will be his last.

A love story, a satire of the American abroad, a rumination on time and the human heart, by an author The New York Times has hailed as “inspired, lyrical,” “elegiac,” “ingenious,” as well as “too sappy by half,” Less shows a writer at the peak of his talents raising the curtain on our shared human comedy.

A little about the author

Andrew Sean Greer is the author of five works of fiction, including the bestseller The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which was named a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune. He is the recipient of the Northern California Book Award, the California Book Award, the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and the O. Henry Prize for short fiction, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Public Library. He lives in San Francisco and Tuscany.

Less book review

This book, for me, was hard to get into at first. The main character, Arthur Less, was a bit too whiny for my taste — especially given all of the success he had enjoyed. But after a book club discussion (to which I called into the Zoom gathering unprepared as I DNF), I decided I’d give it another try.

While it didn’t become my MOST favorite book I’ve ever read, I was happy I ended up actually reading and finishing the book — there’s a reason it won the Pulitzer Prize. Less is a highly relatable, self-conscious, self-deprecating character. Always thinking LESS of himself and also always wanting MORE out of life, Less finds it difficult to live in the moment. I’m not saying it’s me, but… it’s me — at least sometimes. I mean, can’t we all relate to being self-conscious, critically self-deprecating, and not-super-present?

Yes, Less, for me, was hard to get into at first. But if you’re having the same issue, I encourage you to try again. You may just find, like I did, that underneath all of his flaws, Less is a pretty lovable, goofy character and you’ll find yourself cheering for him (even if he is sometimes annoying). ★ ★ ★ ★

The Midnight Library

A little about the book

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

A little about the author

Matt Haig was born in Sheffield, England in 1975. He writes books for both adults and children, often blending the worlds of domestic reality and outright fantasy, with a quirky twist. His bestselling novels are translated into 28 languages. The Guardian has described his writing as 'delightfully weird' and the New York Times has called him 'a novelist of great talent' whose writing is 'funny, riveting and heartbreaking'.

The Midnight Library book review

The Midnight Library definitely has torn reviews. While the vast majority on Goodreads are positive, leaving the book with 4.21 stars from nearly 160,000 ratings, there are some in the bookish community who feel like the writing is too casual about serious things, like mental health and suicide… and I tend to agree. The first sentence of the first few chapters really made me uncomfortable. But maybe that’s the point. It definitely gets you thinking about how precious life is and how real mental health struggles are.

All of that said, I did enjoy the book. I liked the premise — while I don’t feel like I have a ton of regrets in my life (or that I’d want to explore living an alternate life where I chose a different path), I do think it’s relatable and interesting that even seemingly minuscule decisions could have such a large impact on where you end up. There were some ‘books’ (lives) Nora chose from the shelf that I wanted to read more about and some that I wanted to read less about, and the ending was a bit predictable, but otherwise it was a really enjoyable, quick, and easy read. Matt Haig’s style of writing definitely kept me wanting to read more.

Definitely recommend if you are interested in time travel or looking for a more approachable fantasy read: ★ ★ ★.5

In a Holidaze

A little about the book

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions. But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world: the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent the holidays every year since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop — and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

A little about the author

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally best-selling authors.

In a Holidaze book review

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit jealous of Maelyn in this book — not only because I wanted to live a day in her life in what seemed like the BEST and most beautiful snowy cabin backdrop, but also because I was reading this book as my holiday vacation was coming to an end… and I so badly wanted to relive it (or at least extend it) 😉

In a Holidaze was truly a heartwarming, feel-good page-turner. And, while there was a lot of lightheartedness and holiday magic happening in this book, the underlying premise of just living life the way you want to live it and not caring about what other people think or how they perceive your decisions, hit close to home for me. By being given the opportunity (and the challenge) to continue reliving her holiday until she was her most authentic self forced her to start making decisions that would prioritize her happiness (not steal from it). Shouldn’t we all live by that rule?

It’s such a fast, funny read, and had me rooting for Maelyn throughout. It also made me get a bit emotional at the end (happy tears!). It was everything I was looking for in a holiday read.

Highly recommend: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★