Y’all, I made it back from India!
More on our adventures in another post, but first let’s get to reviewing some of the books I read on my trip!
For those of you who haven’t experienced the pure enjoyment of reading a Maria Semple novel, now is your chance. Following up on her widely successful Where’d you Go, Bernadette?, she recently released a new story about a mom, her son, and one very interesting day.
I read this book in a single sitting (I mean, I had a 9 hour flight so I had endless amounts of time in that sitting); it’s a short story, practically a novella, and the pages fly by. The main character is so relatable, too – a mom who is trying her best to “be better” but always feeling like she has fallen short in some way. On this particular day, she has committed to her quest for “self-improvement,” but between her child’s illness, her husband’s strange behavior, and her friends’ dramas, one tangent leads to another.And you’re hooked the entire time!
In such a short little book, Semple covers so many topics, both mundane and profound – pop culture, religion, the private school social construct, gender identity, art, hipster culture – you name it, she references or explores it in a wry, smart manner.
Tl;dr: 4.5/5 stars. I only wish it had been longer. READ IT!
Anyway, get ready for lots of stories about India later this week once I get my pictures edited!
Green Gables State of Mind 