nomadreader

The basics:  "Two wildly different women—one a grifter, the other an heiress—are brought together by the scam of a lifetime in a page-turner from the New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me Disappear ."--publisher My thoughts: Two (of many) things I enjoy more than the average person: heist novels and feminist novels. So a feminist heist novel is a delight. I had the pleasure of seeing Janelle Brown speak at ALA Midwinter in January (that feels like a lifetime ago), and I was thrilled to pick up an ARC at the event too. Since then, Nicole Kidman optioned the novel and will produce and star in it for Amazon  (I am quite curious which part she will play, as she is older than both of the main characters). Often with novels like one (thrillers, buzzy, about to be adapted), I like to wait until just before the publication date to read it, so that I can share the excitement with more people. Sure, it's fun to read a novel months before everyone, but it's often more...

The basics:   "Kim Lord is an avant-garde figure, feminist icon, and agent provocateur in the L.A. art scene. Her groundbreaking new exhibition, Still Lives, features portraits in which she depicts herself as famous, murdered women—the Black Dahlia, Chandra Levy, Nicole Brown Simpson, among many others—and the works are as compelling as they are disturbing, implicating a culture that is too accustomed to violence against women. As the city's richest art patrons pour into the Rocque Museum's opening night, all the staff, including editor Maggie Richter, hope the event will be enough to save the historic institution's flailing finances. Except that Kim Lord never shows up to her own gala."--publisher My thoughts: I am perhaps the perfect audience for this novel: it's a mystery, but it's also a thoughtful examination of the contemporary Los Angeles art world, the role of women in art (as artist and subject), and how we view violence against women. I would ...

The backstory: The Shore  was longlisted for the 2015 Baileys Prize . The basics: Stretching from 1876 to 2143, this non-linear novel is the story of generations of a poor family, principally its women, who live on the titular shore of small, isolated, Virginia islands. My thoughts: I first heard about The Shore  when it appeared on several blogger's Baileys Prize prediction lists. The UK cover is very different, and when I saw the U.S. cover, I thought The Shore  would be a family beach saga. And it is, but it's as far from WASPs as you can get. When you look closely at the house on the U.S. cover, it's clear the house is dilapidated. The novel opens in 1995, and the first chapter sets the dark tone of this novel beautifully. It's haunting. The second chapter is set in 1933, and slowly a picture of how the family we meet in 1993 came to be. The concept of this novel is great. I squealed when I saw the table of contents. I love a novel that can be historical fi...

narrated by Orlagh Cassidy The backstory: The Bees  is on the 2015 Baileys Prize short list. The basics: The Bees  is the story of Flora 717 and her hive. Flora 717 is born a lowly sanitation worker, born to clean the hive and remove the dead, but she exhibits traits beyond her social status. My thoughts: When I heard that The Bees  was actually about bees, and that they were the only characters, I didn't quite know what to think. How would Paull bring them to life? Could she make me care about a bee (I am allergic enough to bee stings to not enjoy their presence.) She did. I was utterly enchanted with Flora 717 and cared what happened to her. The Bees  works on two levels. First, the story itself is interesting. I didn't think I knew a lot about bees, but as I listened, I realized how much I do know about bees and their lives. Flora's thoughts, feelings, and journeys kept me listening. What elevates the novel, however, is how perfectly the realities of a ...

The backstory: I've enjoyed Peggy Orenstein's features in The New York Times Magazine  for years and loved her memoir about infertility and adoption, Waiting for Daisy: A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, a Romantic Night, and One Woman's Quest to Become a Mother . The basics: Peggy Orenstein's subtitles really serve as their own descriptions: Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture . My thoughts: I've long been fascinated (and concerned) with what I perceive as a reversion to gender normative expectations and stereotypes. I fear the U.S. is regressing, and it's a trend I'm troubled by. Although I'm not a mother, I'm intrigued by the gender roles young children find themselves in, and this book included tales that frightened me: "They respond to questions about how their bodies feel--questions about sexuality or arousal--by describing how they thi...