Written by Isabella Schammel
Here are some of my favorite fiction books I have read so far in 2021, I hope you like them as much as I did!
By: Diane Zinna
I know they say you should never judge a book by its cover, but in this case I did, and I wasn’t disappointed. This was one of those books that I picked up and didn’t put down until I finished. It’s a captivating read about friendship, sadness, fear and loneliness. It follows the story of Lauren, a young teacher who has lost her parents ten years ago, and how she deals with the grief that still follows her. For years, Lauren has removed herself from anyone around her, but soon finds herself forming an unusual relationship with one of her students, Siri. While they only form an intense friendship they begin to blur the lines of a student-teacher relationship. Siri is the rebellious, ‘cool girl’ who invites Lauren to come home with her to Sweden for the summer to celebrate Midsommar. Lauren impulsively accepts and soon finds out Siri isn’t as great as she seems. The calmness and vivid imagery that Zinna used to describe Sweden made me want to travel there and experience it all for myself. Sweden felt like a beautiful breath of fresh air in contrast to Lauren's grief throughout the book. The ending is bittersweet and shocking, but it is a must-read masterpiece.
By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Reese Witherspoon summed it up best, "Beautifully layered and complex… Daisy and the band captured my heart and they’re sure to capture yours too.” This book is set in the 70’s and follows the story of a rock and roll band. It's set-up interview style which I
was wary about at first, but soon realized it was nice to hear monologues from every character. The book gives a backstage pass into the band's life and insight into the characters and their relationships. The two main characters of the book, Billy Dunne, the arrogant self-proclaimed leader of The Six, and Daisy Jones, a young, crazy and carefree songwriter, cross paths and the band realizes they are stronger with the addition of Daisy. It follows their journey to fame and the ups and downs that come with it in the age of “Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll.” Reid makes you feel like you are part of the band while reading this book. The details are so realistic that the author managed to convince me the characters were real, leading me to look up Daisy and the Six on google, only to find out that there was a TV show in the works. It was truly the best news I could have received, and I must say this cast is even better than I could have hoped for. Casting Riley Keough (Elvis Presley’s granddaughter), as Daisy Jones, the band's lead singer, only makes sense. The one thing that made me so upset about this book was that I couldn’t hear the band's songs while reading, but I am so excited to hear the original music in the show!
By: Sam Lansky
Let me start by saying this is one of those books that took me 100 pages to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. The book is about Sam, a journalist from New York who moves to LA after a horrible breakup with his boyfriend. At a party, he gets invited to a retreat in Portland with a Shaman who supposedly, “fixes everything that's wrong with you in three days.” He is faced with all of his past and current demons at this retreat and takes a deep dive into his previous relationships. Other challenges he must face are his body dysmorphia, previous addictions and unhealthy habits in hopes of helping him learn to love himself and find inner peace. By the end of this book, I felt like I went on this retreat with Sam because it left me emotionally drained. You could tell that Lanksy poured his body and soul into writing this book and the end result is something you definitely want to read.
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