Nathan Hill writes with the wisdom and life knowledge of a person much older but with his generation's funny, dry, cutting language. His observations about diets and tech, to name just two societal staples, are hysterical. And yet, while being funny and amusing, the book is heartbreakingly poignant on themes of loss and disappointment.
I toggled between reading and listening to the audiobook because Ari Fliakos is my all-time favorite narrator. His tone captures the wry wit of Hill's characters and commentary. The best kind of book is one you can’t wait to share, and as my husband read before bed at night, I would ask him to read it aloud so we could share a good laugh.
'American storytelling at its era-spanning best . . . An immersive, multi-layered portrait of a marriage, Nathan Hill's follow-up to The Nix is a work of quiet genius.' - The Observer
'The incredible scope of this dazzlingly detailed state-of-the-nation satire almost defies description . . . Brilliant doesn't begin to describe it, but I'll say it anyway.' - Daily Mail
'I doubt I'll enjoy many books this year as much as Wellness.' - The Times
An Oprah's Book Club Pick.
Moving from the gritty 90s Chicago art scene to a suburbia of detox diets and home renovation hysteria, Wellness is…
So much more than a coming-of-age journey, this novel's two main characters, Sadie and Sam, develop from a childhood friendship centered on early-generation video games like Mario Bros and Donkey Kong to designing their own and starting a company together. Combining a history of gaming with themes of unrequited love, class, and parents' expectations, this novel delivers on multiple dimensions.
The various settings were highly provocative, from Harvard and MIT in Cambridge to Los Angeles and the virtual world of gaming narratives. My favorite line was when Sam asks Sadie at the novel's end while she thought they never became romantically involved (he had assumed it was because he was poor, Korean, or disabled). Sadie replies, "Romantic love is so common." Indeed, the collaborative connection between artists this book so deftly portrays is one on a higher plane.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow takes us on a dazzling imaginative quest, examining identity, creativity and our need to connect.
This is not a romance, but it is about love.
'I just love this book and I hope you love it too' JOHN GREEN, TikTok
Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital in 1987. Sadie is visiting her sister, Sam is recovering from a car crash. The days and months are long there, but playing together brings joy, escape, fierce competition -- and a special friendship. Then all too soon that time is…
I was inspired and shocked that it took me this long to find this book. Both because I am beginning my own agricultural journey and because Barbara Kingsolver is an all-time favorite, I loved this book’s calendar-following content and the voice it employs. The family’s pact to eat local and seasonal food for a year is portrayed honestly with humor and joy instead of preachiness.
It speaks to the things we dive into full-bore without completely appreciating how much work it entails. With determination and intentionality, they commune with the land and find a community- truly aspirational.
"We wanted to live in a place that could feed us: where rain falls, crops grow, and drinking water bubbles up right out of the ground."
Barbara Kingsolver opens her home to us, as she and her family attempt a year of eating only local food, much of it from their own garden. Inspired by the flavours and culinary arts of a local food culture, they explore many a farmers market and diversified organic farms at home and across the country. With characteristic warmth, Kingsolver shows us how to put food back at the centre of the political and family…
Days after graduating college in the spring of 2019, Betsabé Ruiz’s life is nothing less than cinematic. Although her job at a white-shoe Wall Street investment bank is the opportunity of a lifetime, she is unprepared for the magnitude of wealth swirling about her, the long hours and close quarters that infuse her professional relationships with intimacy, and an unexpected attraction to her boss. And like all great films, Betsabé’s New York dream comes with a twist that challenges her to find a balance between where she came from and where she’s going.
Told in the retrospective as a letter to her unborn son, this book represents Betsabè’s coming-of-age and a modern retelling of a biblical love story.
