Seven books hit my to read pile last month – but I only finished four of them!

Top Picks

Playground, by Richard Powers

I absolutely loved Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Overstory, about how trees communicate with each other, and was excited to read Playground, which explores the intersecting lives of an oceanographer, a tech entrepreneur, and a Pacific Islander. Playground is truly something. You think it’s a book about oceans, and it is, but it’s also a book about technology, AI, colonialism, race relations, education, friendship, and humanity. You will get to the big reveal and want to go back and reread the whole thing (in a good way). Five stars and definitely worth a read. 

Orbital, by Samantha Harvey

Orbital follows the daily routines, reflections, and memories of six astronauts as they spend a day orbiting the Earth sixteen times in the International Space Station. The Booker prize-winner is a powerful meditation on how little we matter in the grand scheme of the universe and yet how deeply we matter to each other. Read my full review of Orbital.

The Rest of the List

I was traveling in the first week in April and slightly jet-lagged, which usually means a good chunk of time spent reading in a hotel room in the middle of the night. I hit Libby looking for some easy options, which led me to my first two books of the month: Sandwich, by Catherine Newman and The Cliffs, by J. Courtney Sullivan. I hate to say it, but I didn’t finish either one.

Sandwich, by Catherine Newman

Sandwich was not on my TBR, but I had seen several friends read it on Goodreads so I thought I’d give it a try. The premise of a woman sandwiched between her grown children and her aging parents facing nostalgia and family secrets on a beach vacation sounded interesting. I was hoping for some relatable and humorous moments with the main character. Middle-aged mom rage can be pretty funny if done right, but it’s hard to pull off without crossing the line into unpleasant anger, and this book crossed the line too many times for me to keep reading it.

The Cliffs, by J. Courtney Sullivan 

Archivist Jane Flanagan returns to her Maine hometown to investigate the haunted history of a Victorian house, uncovering generations of women’s stories that intertwine with her own journey of self-discovery and redemption. It is not by a bad book by any means, but it was too slow and didn’t really pull me in. About a third of the way in, the narrative gave way to a lengthy explanation of Native American history during colonial times. An interesting topic to be sure, but it took away from the story’s momentum and I just couldn’t get back into it after that.

The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore

I had this novel on hold for a long time and it seemed like everyone in my Goodreads feed was reading it, so I was happy when it finally became available. I really liked Liz Moore’s book Long Bright River (now a Peacock series), but The God of the Woods wasn’t as strong for me. The story of what happens when a camper goes missing from the summer camp that her parents own is told from the perspective of multiple characters, each of whom have split timelines. It was a lot to keep straight and I felt jarred every time the narrative returned to a character and I realized I had forgotten the cliffhanger that their story paused on several chapters earlier. It did get much better when the mysteries began to reveal themselves. The setting is strong and vibrant and the story is interesting, but structurally I struggled with it.

Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Careless People is a tell-all memoir by a former Facebook employee that went straight to the bestseller list after Meta barred her from discussing the book. Of course people are going to want to read it to know what secrets Meta didn’t want revealed! The stories she conveys in the book are shocking, somehow unsurprising, and very entertaining to read. 

Slow Productivity, by Cal Newport

Productivity expert Cal Newport’s latest book Slow Productivity explores how our definition of productivity is broken and provides suggestions for a more humane and meaningful way to prioritize our time, balance our work, and pursue accomplishment. I grabbed this spontaneously at the library – the promise of accomplishment without burnout was intriguing – but I didn’t finish it. I probably returned it to the library too quickly; I think I could have gotten more out of it if I had stuck with it.