Reading Recap: January-March '25

 

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

For some reason, the beginning of the year struck me as the perfect opportunity to pick up reading again. I used to be the type of kid to go through a new book each day, but as I'm sure you've noticed, for the past few years all of my spare time has been dedicated to watching as many movies as possible. So it comes as no surprise that when I went to the book store, I singled out books that had been made into movies. I love the movie, but this type of story is made for print. You need to be able to flip back and forth to keep track of the one million characters. Chandler has an undeniable way with words, which was a breath of fresh air after the 70s misogynistic detective shlock I've dabbled in. I appreciate that it works as a standalone because at the end of the day, Chandler knows his place. He is perfecting the genre, not reinventing it. / ★★★★

 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

It's kind of embarrassing to admit that I know about this book because of Dungeons & Daddies. It had been sitting on my shelf for years, and when I picked it up it was more out of a need to clear room for new books than appreciate the story. I was expecting the type of semi-biographical Pulitzer bait that plasters every storefront for a month before everyone forgets about it. I didn't expect to be crying off-and-on throughout the last 200 pages.

    Chabon clearly knows a lot about the 40s comic book scene. Not only is the book informative, it also presents nuanced depictions of immigrating to the U.S. and struggling to accept your sexuality. More than that, though, Chabon is constantly aware of the language and expression available to his characters. They don't act by modern standards. They shouldn't. Two men create heroes because they think it's the only way to save the world and their loved ones. Whether they realize it or not, both of them expect to live up to those standards. There could be a happy ending if you wanted one. It's more interesting if you don't. / ★★★★★

 

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Do you ever read a book and feel like it came into your life at the wrong time? Don't get me wrong, I liked the book and I identified with Holden, but I can't help imagining the effect it would've had on me when I was 15. Part of the reason I read it is because I wanted to explore Jughead's high school psyche. An unfortunate chain of events (my life) led to me imprinting on Jughead at a pivotal point in my life, and if I read this at that time then maybe I would feel like Holden too. As it stands, I think that people who hate on this book and call Holden a horrible person don't want to confront the ugliness that is inside teenagers. You have to learn to temper it, and this book gives people an outlet and let them know they're not alone. I recognize that, but I don't feel it. We're ships passing in the night. Maybe we'll meet again. / ★★★½

 

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

I rarely read autobiographies. When I was in middle school, I was deep in the pop-punk (i.e. Waterparks) scene. I watched every interview, Instagram live, and even ventured into the depths of Discord. I went too deep, and since then I've never gotten that invested in a celebrity, and while Bruce and his music mean a lot to mean, he's not an exception. The book was good, and I gleaned an insight into his writing process, but I wouldn't reread it. I would rather go in-depth on certain periods of his life, and certain relationships, than a general overview of the entire thing, which is what Born to Run was forced to do. Most bandmates or friends got a paragraph, maybe a page. Certain areas tend to be glossed over out of necessity because no one wants to read a 1.5k page book. It's not meant to be the definitive guide to Springsteen. It's a supplemental material to go along with hundreds of hours of concert tape and newspaper clippings and special edition box sets. I'm just not ready for that. / ★★★

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

As with Catcher in the Rye, I sort of started this because or Riverdale. Oh yeah. It works. It's fascinating that Jughead was both the Richard stand-in and the sacrifice. The new guy is left out of the action, but more than that, he gets in the way and forces their hand. Jughead has friends back in Riverdale, so he doesn't feel the need to cozy up to the students at Stonewall. He goes against them because he can.

    Aside from the Riverdale parallels, it was a very well done book. I read it in four days, which is no easy feat in the middle of the reporting-on-softball season. Details and tangents felt natural instead of padding. If arguments seemed far-fetched, it was because they were Bennington kids. They couldn't help it. Tartt struck a very fine line between sympathetic and sickening and we're all worse off for it. / ★★★★

 

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

This was meant to be an easy read between Tartt novels, mostly to make sure I didn't get tired of her voice, but that didn't do any favors for Gibbons. Her writing's simplicity left something to be desired. It felt like something I would've read in school, and while I don't have anything against it, it lacks an edge that most of the books I read excel in.

    The best part about it is the opinionated female protagonist, no doubt spurred on by the female author. I hesitate to say anything bad about the book because I'm sure readers' main criticism is that Flora's overbearing and annoying. I like her! It's the stylization I'm not crazy about, but I will absolutely overlook that to see Flora carve out her own happily ever after. / ★★

 

1 book — 210 pages — avg 4.00 ★ 

2 books — 855 pages — avg 4.25 ★ 

3 books — 1553 pages — avg 3.00 ★