April '22 Reads

I read six books in April, which, for most people, is a lot. More than some people read in a year. More than some people have read in years. And to be honest, I hadn’t read that much since high school, since before college – where I majored in English – took over, since before life took over. I was reading so much that there wasn’t time to write about each book I read. Or rather, I didn’t make time to write about each book.

So here, holding my promise to myself that I would get back into reading and writing by writing about every book I read in 2022, is a brief catch up (about a month too late) of the six books that kept me preoccupied in April.

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The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath, read #7 of 2022

Oh, The Bell Jar. Oh, Sylvia Plath. This book had been sitting on my shelves since pre-pandemic 2020, and I’m so glad I finally read it. Despite the fact that I found myself falling into madness with Esther Greenwood. I had to read it here and there, taking breaks with other books when it got to be too much. But I am so glad I finally read Plath’s only novel. I love her poetry, found myself in college through her words, but it wasn’t until The Bell Jar that I truly had my heart ache for Plath, although the novel is fiction. As someone who tends to reread novels that make my heart hurt, I don’t know if I’ll be rereading this one; it was too maddening at points. Was it Esther or was it myself?

The Girls – Emma Cline, read #8 of 2022

I had been wanting to read The Girls since it was published in 2016. I’m glad I waited until 2022, simply because I don’t think fifteen-year-old me would have fully grasped the denseness of Cline’s words and the Manson inspiration. I’m also glad I waited until 2022 because I borrowed it from the library I work at. Maybe twenty-one-year-old me still cannot grasp dense writing, but I did not enjoy The Girls. I still finished it, I wanted to enjoy it, I had waited years to finally read it, after all. But it just felt like a Manson retelling without anything new to it. I felt like I waited years for a literary disappointment. But it is popular and has won an award or two, so don’t let my disappointment for a cultish fiction novel sway your decision to pick it up.

Golden Boys – Phil Stamper, read #9 of 2022

I genuinely liked this one. Golden Boys is about a group of four gay teenage boys and their summer apart from each other. Love the queer representation without oversexualization, queerbaiting, and the “bury your gays” trope that is unfortunately too common in media. It is part light summer read and part coming of age as a member of the queer community. It shows how much you truly find yourself when you slowly grow and leave the security of a friend group. It shows you that maybe it is okay to love your best friend, and maybe they even love you back. It shows you that you deserve to be with someone who’s proud to be with you and who fully wants to be with you. I believe Golden Boys is the first book in a duology, and can truly say I am eager for the following novel.

Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid, read #10 of 2022

Another book I waited years to read, and while it wasn’t a disappointment, I just don’t think I knew what I was getting into. Daisy Jones & The Six isn’t written in a traditional manner, and I think that threw me off. I didn’t know that going into the novel; I only knew it was about a fictional rock band from the 1960s / 1970s. And although I wasn't a fan of the transcript style writing (I’m not a huge fan of reading plays because they’re primarily, if not solely, dialogue), I also couldn’t find myself putting the book down. I wanted to know why the band split up (slight spoiler: it was predictable). Will I read Daisy Jones & The Six again? Maybe. Or maybe I’ll bite the bullet and fall into the world of audiobooks; I’ve heard this one is great as an audiobook.

The Midnight Library – Matt Haig, read #11 of 2022

If I’m being honest, I don't think I would have read The Midnight Library if it wasn’t gifted to me and I felt a sense of obligation to finish it. It wasn’t bad, necessarily, I’m just picky about the books I read that make me second guess reality and the life I’m living. It’s no secret that everyone has something in their life and past they regret doing or not doing – anyone who says different is lying – and The Midnight Library shows that even if we change our regrets, we still might not be happier than in our present reality.

Brat: An ‘80s Story – Andrew McCarthy, read #12 of 2022

I unapologetically love 1980s pop culture. ‘80s Music, TV shows, Movies? The best. And of course, the infamous Brat Pack cannot be excluded. St. Elmo’s Fire is one of my favorite movies, so of course I had to read Andrew McCarthy’s memoir that only covered the 1980s. It was a quick read – I read it all in a single day free of any obligations – and I enjoyed it. If I do pick up a nonfiction read, it’s a memoir. They’re more narrative than other works of nonfiction, which I enjoy. Brat: An ‘80s Story was good, and confirmed my idea that Andrew McCarthy was my favorite member of the Brat Pack.

Six books in a month is a lot. April was a month of days of solitude, hence the time to devour these books. Working at a library certainly helps as well. My 2022 reading goal was twelve books, one for every month. It only took me four months to complete it.