Writers and Lovers by Lily King

Love, love, love this book. Sometimes a book just hits you, and this one was a great read! I've been struggling with reading during the pandemic, but the world and I seem to be coming out of it. I could hardly put this one down.

The wonderfully written novel is about Casey, a 31-year-old woman who is broke, living in the back of a garage belonging to a friend or her brother, while she tries to earn some money as a waitress. And she is also trying to write a novel. The story is about this period in her live as she struggles with her creativity, her relationships, and her grief after losing her mother. So much is going on in her life and yet not all that much really happens in the book. The writing is fun, poignant, and thought provoking. Just really enjoyed this book.... can you tell?  -June

P.S. And anyone who has been a waitress at some point in their life can relate to the restaurant scenes.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

 I found this to be a very good book with a number of difficult themes: race, identity, starting over, relationships with sisters, relationships with mothers and daughters, LGBTQ, and the list goes on. The first half is about two twin sisters who live in a tiny town in Louisiana. The residents of this town are light-skinned and Black. When the twins are teenagers, they run away from home together. After being away from their hometown for a few years, one of them leaves the other to begin a new life "passing" as white.

This book, like so many others, jumps from time to time and from character to character. We learn about the love lives of the twins as well as their daughters. And, of course, all of them come together at different times to reveal their lies and struggles.

It's well written but on several occasions I felt the author was preaching and repeating - which is always something that bugs me. There's just no need to say the same thing 5 different ways. But overall I do recommend this book for the memorable characters. - June