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Claire Bailey

@booked.all.year

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Just a gal who likes to read

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📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Misery by Stephen King - 7/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
Bestselling novelist Paul Sheldon has finally said goodbye to his beloved romance series by killing off the popular protagonist of the novels, Misery Chastain. He’s spent the past few months finishing a totally different novel, abandoning Misery entirely. However, as he drives through a snowstorm in rural Colorado, he falls victim to a near-fatal car accident that leaves his body completely broken.

Paul finds himself at the mercy of his terrifying rescuer, Annie Wilkes, his self-proclaimed Number One Fan. As Annie nurses Paul back to health, she also demands that he writes one last Misery novel, and Paul finds that Annie has some very convincing methods of persuasion…

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“umber whunnn
yerrrnnn umber whunnn
fayunnnn

These sounds: even in the haze.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
I’ve been in such a reading slump lately, but luckily being part of multiple book clubs keeps you accountable to keep reading, and takes the weight of having to pick a book off your shoulders too.

This book was a book club pick by the lovely @ella.bailey09 ! Our theme for this round of picks was to 1) choose something nobody in our group has read yet, and 2) choose a book that has a one-word title.

This pick was super fun to read at this moment in the year because it is classic Stephen King - morbid, makes you question humanity, downright gross at moments, and just the right amount of scary for Halloween season. I definitely enjoyed reading this, but there were also moments that were a tad too gruesome for me, and moments where the narration and plot dragged for me personally.

I know King is an amazing writer, and his ability to churn out stories is so impressive to me. The Stand is one of my favorite books of his, but also one of my favorite books of all time too. His knack and ability for creative plot, dialogue, and character creation cannot be understated. I also felt like, when he is writing about Paul as an author, he was writing about himself. I loved his dialogue about Paul’s writing process because it felt like a glimpse into Stephen King’s own mind. by @booked.all.year

3

1

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - 7/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
JB, Willem, Jude, and Malcom meet in college and become bound for life. The reader follows their paths as they are broke, adrift, and full of ambition, to New York, where they search for fame, fortune, and connection, and onwards through their separate journeys. Through stories of addiction, trauma, and success, their bonds with one another deepen over the decades, held together by their devotion to Jude, who has survived unspeakable things. It is a story about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“The eleventh apartment had only one closet, but it did have a sliding glass door that opened on a small balcony, from which he could see a man sitting across the way, outdoors in only a t-shirt and shorts even thought it was October, smoking.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
I am so conflicted on how to rate this book, and I truly tried to give it as objective a rating as possible. The writing itself is beautiful - Yanagihara writes in such a poignant, honest, clean way that doesn’t feel sterile. Her characters felt well flushed out, and came through very clearly for me as a reader. She does an incredible job at spanning decades of these men’s lives, which is not always an easy thing for a writer to do well, and I felt like her timing and pacing was really well done, even with the book being over 700 pages.

All that being said, I simply did not enjoy reading this as much as I expected to based on other reviews I’ve seen?? I am not against a sad story, but Jude’s story felt horrific simply for the sake of being horrific. It felt like Yanagihara wanted to make the worst possible story that she could’ve and torture the reader with Jude’s life and storyline. I found myself almost dreading reading rather than enjoying the story, and it’s definitely not a book I would recommend to anyone who struggles with trauma or their mental health. It was like the more you read, the more and more horrific the story became (which I think was Yanagihara’s intention), but I don’t think it was necessary for a good story and felt really overly done. by @booked.all.year

3

8

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
The Wedding People by Alison Espach 7.5/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
Phoebe Stone arrived at the grand Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island wearing a stunning green dress and gold heels, no suitcase in hand, and entirely alone. There is a wedding happening at the Inn that week, and the bride and groom have ensured that all of the guests there are there to celebrate their matrimony. Except, there has somehow been a mistake - Phoebe is not at Cornwall Inn for the wedding, and she doesn’t in fact know any of these people at all.

Phoebe came to the Cornwall Inn because her life hit rock bottom, and she is determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. While it seems that the bride has accounted for every possible detail of her wedding week, and planned for every possible disaster, she has not prepared for Phoebe.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“The hotel looks exactly as Phoebe hoped.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
This was a really enjoyable read, and came at the perfect time for me, both in my life but also in the midst of the other books I’ve been reading. I feel like I’ve been reading some really heavy books lately, and this one (while still touching on heavy topics) was also light, humorous, and a great reminder to me to wake up and really live your life honestly.

As a protagonist, Phoebe is funny, super intelligent, relatable, and over all a great narrator. While we get the illustration that she was not always this way, from the point in her story where the book begins, she is so honest, refreshingly real, and unapologetically makes choices for herself simply because she wants to, and it made me want to be more that way myself.

I enjoyed the romantic storylines in the book as well, and was so glad that, despite her feelings towards Gary, Phoebe didn’t act on them in a way that would feel like a betrayal to Lila or hypocritical to how her own marriage ended. I heard a few reviews about how this book starts out slow and depressing, and if you just hang on through that you’ll enjoy it, but I actually was glad for the beginning too. It painted the whole picture of this moment in Phoebe’s life, and had me feel connected to her from the start. by @booked.all.year

3

0

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Men Have Called her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler - 7/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
In 2021, Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression, and self-harm. While there, she participated in therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients, and went through numerous psychological tests, while also recounting many pivotal experiences in her life that preceded her hospital stay.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“First, they take my suitcase away from me.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
I’m so behind on reading, but I listened to this memoir on my commute to and from work, and I think that still counts as being included (and if you disagree, kindly leave me alone).

I always enjoy listening to a memoir that is read by the author themselves, as I feel like the tone is read exactly how the author intended it, which can change the consumer’s experience so much.

I definitely did not dislike my experience listening, and I had seen really good reviews online that made me want to listen in the first place. BUT, I definitely did not love it either. Critiquing a memoir is hard because it’s someone’s life I’m talking about, much less someone who has struggled with depression, anxiety, self harm and suicidality, which is 100% not something I want to take lightly. I could see how much Tendler had struggled, and I don’t want to invalidate any of that. Specifically, Tendler’s mom and therapist did not treat her fairly at ALL.

Because of the title, I was expecting to hear about men in Tendler’s life that had been just as awful (if not more) than the way her mom and therapist had treated her, but really, most of the experiences with men that she recounts sounded pretty normal to me? Excluding her anecdotes about significantly older men preying on underage woman, I think most women could probably recount just as many stories as Tendler about men in their lives that have behaved just as poorly, if not even worse. Maybe the point was to show how insidious the patriarchy can be to the extent that most women have probably normalized it? by @booked.all.year

3

0

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors - 8.5/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
24-year-old Cleo has graduated Arts school in NYC, escaped from her tragic family past in England, and is still figuring herself out when, just months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years her senior, and a self-made success in the advertising world, Frank offers Cleo the chance to not only stay in NYC, but also the freedom and financial means to paint, and the chance to be happy. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives, and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could've predicted.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“She was already inside the elevator when he entered.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
Never have I ever both loved and simultaneously hated a cast of characters so much. In order to read this book, you have to let go of liking the protagonists, because the reality is - you probably won’t like most of these people. Each person is so fucked up in their own way and have so many things they need to work on in themselves, yet they also all offer such genuine, tragic, even humorous glimpses into the human character and psyche that can be quite refreshing to read. One of my FAVORITE things an author can do is write characters that are real and flawed, rather than perfect characters that constantly live in the moral high ground.

I think most people could probably find themselves relating to some aspect of Frank and Cleo’s love story to varying degrees; they both have made such a huge impact on the others’ life, and they love the other so deeply, yet they are also so tragically incompatible. They bring each other to their highest highs, but also their lowest emotional lows.

My only criticism of this book is that the writing sometimes came off like it was over-written, in the sense that it felt like Mellors was TRYING to WRITE and IMPRESS, which can sometimes feel false to me and take me out of the story.

All in all though, this was a really well written book, and I would recommend with caution, as it also explores some themes of alcoholism, drug use, mental illness, and suicide that could be triggering for some. by @booked.all.year

3

1

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - 9.5/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
Set in the rural mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead tells the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a knack for drawing, and a fierce talent for survival. Demon braves the perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“First, I got myself born.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
This book is easily going down as one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, and arguably one of the most masterfully written books that I’ve read point blank.

I’ve never read Charles Dickens’, David Copperfield, so I can’t speak on how similar or dissimilar the two novels are, but I know that Kingsolver has said that she was inspired by Dickens while writing Demon Copperhead. I also know that it was one of the best stories I’ve read in terms of plot; Demon’s life is a constant rollercoaster of shitty cards dealt to his hand, some shitty choices made on his part, and poignant losses, but it’s also a story of incredible resiliency, caustic wit, honest commentary on poverty and addiction, and a coming of age story we can all find connection to in some way or another, even if your own circumstances were nowhere near his.

I was blown away by Kingsolver’s ability to write so convincingly from Demon’s perspective in a way that felt so genuine and honest all the way through. I don’t believe she grew up in Lee County, or even in the midst of any sort of poverty or addiction, yet she writes about it in such a real way. I loved the casualness of the narration, and how it read like Demon was sitting down next to you telling you his life story face-to-face.

Can’t fit enough good words about this book in this caption, but I highly recommend it!! by @booked.all.year

3

3

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman - 7.5/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in the 1600s, when Maria Owens was accused of witchcraft, simply for loving the wrong man. Hundreds of years later in 1960s New York City, Susanna Owens recognizes that her own three children are dangerously unique; Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood-red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, and charismatic, but trouble-prone Vincent.

Susanna creates important rules for her children to follow in an attempt to protect them, the most tantamount being that they should never, ever fall in love. But the Owens children are not ones to adhere to the rules, and seem to be willing to take any risk to uncover who they truly are.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“Once upon a time, before the whole world changed, it was possible to run away from home, disguise who you were, and fit into polite society.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
Reading an Alice Hoffman book feels like you’re being put under a spell by a beautiful witch, and I am absolutely here for it every single time.

I loved reading about Frances and Jet’s childhoods, and the turns of their lives that brought them to their beautiful home in Massachusetts that Sally and Gillian later come to live in with them in Practical Magic. The Owens family truly is so magical and whimsical, and I’m so so jealous I’m not an Owens too. I love the little bits of magic that Hoffman sprinkles into the plot, like omens for bad luck or little remedies for heartbreak.

I really picked up this book wanting something more lighthearted to read, and despite the fact that there is lightheartedness and whimsy throughout, it is also a really sorrowful and poignant story too. But despite the loss and heartbreak, Hoffman leaves us with the overarching idea that love, and to love more instead of less in this lifetime, is always the most important thing.

I definitely recommend this one, but ideally read in October, followed by Practical Magic (book and movie), and best read with a cup of tea. by @booked.all.year

3

1

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner - 8.5/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
Michelle Zauner is a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for leading her Indie band, Japanese Breakfast. In this memoir, she shares her experiences growing up as one of the few Korean American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her relationship with her mother growing up; of spending time in her grandmother’s small apartment in Seoul where she and her mother would bond over late night food breaks; and of her mother’s eventual diagnosis of terminal cancer when Michelle was 25.

Crying in H Mart is Zauner’s testimony of the love she and her mother shared, her reckoning with her Korean identity, and a tribute to the Korean cuisine, language, history, and culture imparted from her mother.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
Once again, I find myself reading (and really enjoying) a genre I don’t typically feel myself gravitating towards. This memoir was so beautifully written - raw, genuine, emotional, and honest. Despite the difficulties that Zauner may have faced with her relationship with her mother throughout her adolescence, you can plainly see the bond that the two women shared, and how much love passed between them in Zauner’s writing.

My favorite parts of this memoir were the way that Zauner wrote about food in general, but specifically Korean food. You can tell that the Korean food that Zauner’s mother and family made for her was a love language in itself, and the descriptions of the ingredients, cooking processes, and tastes were all so amazing. While not as lovely to read, Zauner’s honest depiction of living with and caring for someone you love who is actively dying was also extremely poignant, honest, and well-written. The whole book makes me want to eat a huge jar of kimchi and hug my own mom a little bit closer - definitely worth a read! by @booked.all.year

3

2

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghes- 9/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, this story follows three generations of a family living on the coast of Southern India as they suffer from a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning - and where they live, water is everywhere.

At the turn of the century, a 12-year-old girl, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to meet her 40-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable beginning, the young girl - and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi - will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“She is twelve years old, and she will be married in the morning.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
I started reading this book with no knowledge of the plot, really just going off the fact that it had been highly recommended. I usually don’t find myself drawn to historical fiction, and especially if it’s 700+ pages, but I won’t lie when I say this book really blew me away, and had me invested from the first page with the start of Big Ammachi’s story.

It is so beautifully written, and for as much as I enjoy reading cheesy, fun, entertaining fiction, this book really struck me as a real work of art. It is no easy feat to follow multiple generations of a family, and Verghese is able to do so in a way that feels flowing, natural, and lyrical, without ever feeling like we dwell in one moment of this family’s history for TOO long. I also loved reading about India; the food that is described, the landscape, the commentary on their political and social history across the generations including British colonialism and the caste system - all of it was so well-written and explored in a way that felt historically accurate but also respectful to all sides involved.

My only criticism is that, despite how long the book already is, I wasn’t ready for it to end. I wanted to keep reading on and see what happens with Mariamma’s medical career, and how things unfold between her and Lenin, as well as with her parents. by @booked.all.year

3

1

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
The Guest List by Lucy Foley 6/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate a wedding. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“The lights go out.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
I’ve admittedly been in a bit of a reading slump lately, so I read this little thriller to try to break me out of it. It wasn’t horrible, but unfortunately didn’t wow me either and not sure if it broke my reader’s block.

I liked all the backstories and connections between all the characters, and I felt like it increased the mystery and intrigue. Multiple characters are revealed to have different motives for murder, which makes the whodunnit that much more fun to guess at.

I didn’t love the relationships in this one - I felt like none of the relationships made sense to me and I had a hard time believing a lot of them. Marriages seemed to be based on such flimsy connections, familial relationships felt so unrealistic and unhealthy, and the personalities of each of the characters were not super clear. I definitely enjoyed the last third more than the first two thirds, but once again am still on the search for a mystery/thriller that knocks my socks off. by @booked.all.year

3

0

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Something Wilder by Christina Lauren - 6/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession, and even less money to her name. With no other options, Lily begins using Duke’s hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on “treasure hunts” through the canyons of Utah, searching for Butch Cassidy’s long-lost bank robbing loot. She makes enough to pay the bills, but not enough to buy back the beloved ranch Duke sold years ago.

Then, when Lily’s first love shows up with a motley crew of friends to take part in a “treasure hunt”, she’s left shaken. On top of trying to cope with seeing Leo for the first time in ten years, her normal routine is thrown completely on its head when the group begins to wonder if the legend of the hidden treasure isn’t just a myth after all.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“Lily Wilder’s boots crunched through smooth gravel as she made her way from the barn to the lodge, surveying her favorite place on earth.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
This is definitely not going to be the most well-written or most riveting book you’ll ever read, but if you’re looking for a fun, action-packed adventure with a cute love story thrown in, then this is the book for you!

This was a fun little summer read, and felt very low stakes as a reader. There is death, adventure, deception, thrills, romance, and lots of beautiful nature to enjoy.

There were definitely a few moments that I had to suspend my disbelief to stay invested; For one, I felt like the group moved on WAY too quickly after one of their group died. I get that he wasn’t very well-liked, but STILL. He literally just died and they take a few hours to decide they want to keep going on the treasure hunt anyway, and then even proceed to make jokes about his death not much longer after that. Leo and Lily’s love story is admittedly also super cute, but they haven’t seen each other in 10 years - I know they can’t be the same people they were at 19 and 22, but I had to let go of my own judgements to allow myself to believe they could fall back in love and be willing to give up their lives after just a week-long trip. by @booked.all.year

3

0

2 years ago

📖 BOOK RATING 📖
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - 7/10

📖 QUICK SUMMARY 📖
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at Sowell Bay Aquarium, cleaning and mopping floors. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her 18 year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound thirty years ago.

Through her time cleaning the aquarium, Tova becomes friends with the curmudgeonly yet brilliant Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living there in captivity. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared, and now must help Tova uncover the truth before it is too late.

📖 FIRST SENTENCE 📖
“Darkness suits me.”

📖 REVIEW (SPOILERS) 📖
I think I have an unpopular opinion about this book because every time I’ve seen people post about it online or Goodreads, they all leave such great reviews, but truthfully I found it a little boring and lackluster. I thought the connection between Cameron and Tova was a little bit easy to predict from early on, and once you figure that out the book feels like it drags until *they* finally figure it out themselves.

I also read so many reviews about how people LOVE the characters in this book, but other than Marcellus I got annoyed at the other characters lol. Tova was so uptight and Cameron really did make some dumb choices for himself that were frustrating to see (not a fan of when someone plays the victim too much). Marcellus’ chapters were my favorite to read, but they were so few and far between compared to the other characters.

All of this to say, it definitely wasn’t a bad book. I enjoyed reading it, but felt like it was much more meh than reviews had made it out to be for me. by @booked.all.year

3

0

2 years ago