Reading, Writing, and Me

Worry  by Alexandra Tanner  Overview:  Jules and Poppy are not the kind of sisters that are best friends, but they are inextricably linked as the only two people who understand their messy family and are thus deeply bonded to one another. While Jules has managed to survive for almost a decade in Brooklyn doing an MFA and then working various at-home writing jobs, Poppy has never found her footing out in the world as she battles severe anxiety. When Poppy shows up on Jules's doorstep, they have to figure out how to navigate life with each other even when neither are sure that's what they really want. Overall: 3.5 Characters: 3  You better like Poppy and Jules if you're going to enjoy this book because they're all you got. This is a very interior book, and the two sisters are the only characters that really have much dimension. Everyone outside their pair is a characteture that exists to make a point more than truly illustrate a person. Jules and Poppy both battle anxiety

After You'd Gone  by Maggie O'Farrell Overview: Alice falls into a coma in the first few chapters of the book, but that's only the beginning of her story. Tracing many decades and threads of lives, After You'd Gone  probes the family secrets and intimate realities of Alice and her family. The book jumps around to reveal her parents as young adults, the reality of her grandmother's marriage, Alice's childhood, and her twenties falling in love with a man, always fearing a tragedy. While we get to know Alice's life better than she does, there's the looming question of whether our protagonist will wake up to continue her story. Overall: 4 Characters: 4 There's a pretty oil painting on the library copy that I read, and I feel like that accurately represents how these characters are drawn. Alice and her family members are revealed slowly, seeming fuzzy and then gaining a certain clarity if you're quiet and patient enough. Alice, more than having a stro