Book Review- Rebecca Serle's In Five Years

Dannie Kohan is a lawyer who has her whole life plan figured out. She does not like surprises. In line with her plans, she gets engaged to her long time boyfriend and lands her dream job. Bella, Dannie’s best friend, couldn't be more different. She is a free spirit who takes every opportunity to travel and experience new things. Childhood friends, Dannie feels protective over Bella, who comes from wealthy, yet emotionally and physically distant parents. Bella felt abandoned by her parents, who were always off traveling or meeting their own desires, rather than the needs of their child. This made Dannie even more protective over her friend during their childhood, a dynamic that continued into adulthood.

On the same night that Dannie gets engaged, she has a vivid and visceral premonition, where she’s having sex with a man who is not her fiancé. It feels so real that it shakes Dannie to her core and makes her question her real-life relationship.

Years later, Bella shares news of a new boyfriend named Greg. When Bella meets him, she is shocked to realize that he is the same man from her premonition. Is it possible that her premonition is real?

Just weeks into their relationship, Bella thinks that she is pregnant with Greg’s baby. They are both elated at the news, but are crushed to learn that Bella isn’t pregnant, she has cancer. Dannie must now navigate co-caring for Bella with Greg, hiding her feelings that she might end up with him.

My neighborhood book group selected In Five Years for their June book pick. It was my first time attending our local book club and I had great time. I actually owned the book for several years, but had not read it. I found the start of the story to be a bit slow, but about a third through I became captivated by the relationship between Bella and Dannie.

I think the romance parts of the book are a bit of a ruse, as the heart of the story is the friendship between the women and their dynamic. I didn’t really care about the men in the story or think that they were very important. Dannie is a workaholic, control freak who struggles to let go of her master plan. The men serve as a plot device to show that Dannie will and can have relationships outside of Bella. She does not have a romantic relationship with Bella, but their friendship is the most important and dominate relationship in each other’s lives. This is the core of the story.

The premonition drove the story, but I’m not sure I liked it. We see it mirrored at the beginning and end of the story. It’s a plot device. It works as far as framing the story and adding intrigue. It serves to show character development with Dannie, but it also seemed to be a bit of a gimmick. I have mixed emotions about it. It did keep me turning the pages.

In Five Years is a solid friendship story and a tear jerker. It would be a good vacation read, assuming you can handle crying in public. I also found the story to be more layered and interesting when we discussed it at book group, than when I finished it initially.

Book Review- Agustina Bazterrica's Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories

Thank you to Scribner for the arc of Agustina Bazterrica’s Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories.

In her horror collection, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories, Argentinian author Agustina Bazterrica writes unsettling and downright shocking stories. Bazterrica has a quirky, dark sense of humor and a feminist bent. One of my favorite stories involves a young girl that warns a sexual predator that she has a rabbit named Roberto that lives between her legs. Of course, he does not believe her and when he attacks her, he meets Roberto.

The most shocking and unusual story is The Continuous Equality of the Circumference, where a woman desires to turn herself into a circle. A circle. An actual circle. She physically alters her body to become a circle. It’s absolutely bonkers and filled with imagery that stuck with me long after finishing the story.

I work at a bookstore and Bazterrica’s bestseller, Tender is the Flesh, has long caught my eye. I have not read it yet, but it is on my list. I jumped at the chance to get an arc of Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird. I’ve confirmed my suspicions that I would like Bazterrica’s style.

I think it’s also important to read outside of ones own language and culture. Originally written in Spanish, this is a translated work. I wish I was skilled enough to read it in its native language, however, even if you need to read a translation, I think there is value in experiencing works from other countries. The themes and way of storytelling can vary culture to culture, and this is just an interesting way to gain new perspectives.

If you like horror (gruesome horror) and short stories, make sure to add Bazterrica’s Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird to your reading list.

Book Review- Jen Sookfong Lee's SuperFan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart

Thank you to Libro FM for the audio arc of Jen Sookfong Lee’s memoir, Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart.

In her essay collection, Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, Jen Sookfong Lee relates her love of pop culture with aspects of her own life. Lee was the youngest of five girls born in Canada to Chinese immigrants who settled in Vancouver. As first generation Canadians, Lee and her sisters struggled with a cultural identity that was different from their parents, yet also not reflected in white dominant mainstream pop culture. Lee’s essays capture this aspect of being caught in the middle and not quite knowing where she fit in.

When Lee was a child, her beloved father passed away from cancer. His death dramatically changed their family dynamics with Lee’s mother becoming increasingly distant and her older sisters starting to leave the home. Lee and her sisters struggled to connect with their mother, who could be quite critical and hostile towards her daughters. Lee also is the daughter who bucks against traditions and expectations, adding to the conflict with her mother.

The essay that stood out to me the most was Lee explaining her negative reaction to The Joy Luck Club when it was released in the 90’s. A reaction, that was not shared with her fellow Asian-Canadian friends, as they watched the movie in theaters as a teenager. I’m just a year younger than Lee and I remember watching this movie with my friend in the theatre, I am white and she is Chinese-American. I don’t remember her reaction to it, but now I’m inclined to share Lee’s essay and hear my friend’s thoughts. I didn’t really think of it at the time, but Lee is right when mentioning that Amy Tan’s writing was one of the few Chinese-American authors that broke through to mainstream pop culture. Even now, as pop culture becomes increasingly diverse, it’s still white dominated.

SuperFan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart is an outstanding essay collection that covers several issues. Lee shares many intimate details of her family and adult relationships, making this a very personal essay collection. My background may be very different from Lee’s, but I related to her push to forge her own path, even if it wasn’t what her family expected or wanted. I highly recommend Superfan, especially if you’re a Gen-X kid.