Reading, Writing, and Me

Intimacies  by Katie Kitamura  Overview:  While the main character steps into a difficult role as a court interpreter in The Hague, she adapts to a new country, a strained romantic relationship, tentative friendships, and a lack of belonging. In The Netherlands, she is rootless and unsure of her direction as she bounces between various worlds, none of which fit entirely right. She goes weeks between speaking to the best friend she has in the country. Her boyfriend happens to be in a strained marriage and have teenage children. Her job forces her to granularly translate and speak to atrocities on a global scale. Though none of these things feel right, she doesn't have a clear path towards what would be better. Instead, she clings to the granular details of the interactions of the people around her, the same way that she takes her job one precise word at a time.  Overall: 4.5  Characters: 4  You come to inhabit the main character so deeply in the novel that it struck me as strange th

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise  by Colleen Oakley Overview: Louise took a fall on the edge of a rug, and to avoid being sent to a nursing home, she agrees to have someone move in to assist her. Tanner took a fall off a balcony at Northwestern resulting in the loss of her soccer scholarship that lands her back in Atlanta and in Louise's house. Though Tanner isn't a nurse or particularly enthusiastic about her live-in job, she doesn't have much of a choice. While they're an odd pair for a while, when Louise ropes Tanner into driving her on a cross-country mission, they become closer with every passing mile. Hilarious and full of heart, this book is well worth the read. Overall: 5  Characters: 5 Colleen Oakley knows how to write characters that pop. Louise is a particular old lady who has quite the snarky, spunky spirit. She has great quips and a real regal sense about her which clashes with Tanner's depressed affect towards life immediately. She's a un