Books to Check Out: What I Read in August 2022

I love when reading different kinds of books back to back. It’s fun going from style to style, genre to genre, and it keeps me super engaged and eager to read more. This month was one of those months. We had loud and in your face drama, and we had softer drama. There were terribly realistic scenarios, and more surreal experiences. I think these are some vibrant and interesting picks that I have going on from the past month, and I’m more than excited to share.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

This was a devastating but incredible read. Reconstructing Amelia tells the story of Amelia, a high school student who died after falling off the roof of her school. As we get Amelia’s perspective leading to her death, we also get her mother Kate’s story as she pieces together a disturbing mystery. Though it starts out looking as if Amelia jumped to her death, that may not actually be the case.

I said this was devastating for good reason. You know how Amelia’s story ends in the first few pages, and the journey there is slow and painful. Still, the mystery thriller delivers on all fronts. Each twist and turn feels sicker than the last, and it went places that completely took me by surprise. It was enjoyable to read a book that stole my attention, and definitely a fantastic read to get your heart rate going a million miles a minute.

Fault Lines by Emily Itami

Now to something a little bit softer but just as emotionally stimulating. Fault lines is the story of Mizuki, a Japanese housewife torn between a dull life with her husband, and the exciting encounters she has with another man. While the story in itself wasn’t complex, the emotional impact of the first person narration made it feel larger than life in some ways.

It was only a five hour audiobook, and the tight storytelling was perfect for the type of tale it is. Being inside Mizuki’s head was a well-rounded experience. You could be invested in her problems quickly and sympathize with her too. She was a good protagonist to read, and I’m always a sucker for character-driven fiction. And also, the ending has a very tense, climactic scene that was very stressful and well written. It was a really great read from page one.

The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada

I love a quick, quirky bit of magical realism. The Hole picks up immediately with main character Asa and her husband moving to the countryside, and follows the strange, otherworldly journey Asa embarks on after falling into a hole. What happens after said fall is a creepy, weird journey that'll confuse and entice you to read the whole thing in one sitting.

This is another short one. Think a novella, or even a super long short story instead of a full length novel. Like Fault Lines, the quick storytelling made for a concise and hard-hitting tale that lingered long after I put it down. The back of this book has a comparison to David Lynch’s work, and the comparison is absolutely correct. This book was so odd, so magical realism-esque, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure if the things happening in it were real or not. It was disorienting, but in an intriguing way. I had to keep reading just to find out what happened. By the end, you might not understand just how things spiraled the way they did, but the uneasy feeling is proof that the writing here is really amazing.

It was a lovely group of books to finish out the summer months. I’m excited to have more cozy and entertaining reads to bring for the colder months. As always, happy reading!

Check out July’s recs here.