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flatlay of waiting for godot by samuel beckett with plant, candles, a pile of books - book review | book book bitch

Published in 1949
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The story revolves around two seemingly homeless men simply waiting for someone—or something—named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree, inhabiting a drama spun of their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind’s inexhaustible search for meaning. Beckett’s language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existential post-World War II Europe. His play remains one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time.


VLADIMIR: I don't understand.
ESTRAGON: Use your intelligence, can't you?
Vladimir uses his intelligence.
VLADIMIR: [finally] I remain in the dark.

 Waiting for Godot is a sentimental read from high school. I recently gave it a reread because I realised I didn't remember much from it and felt like a fake fan, so I needed to redeem myself.

I think I enjoyed it even more on this reread than I did in high school. Maybe it was the nostalgia or maybe it was because I finally wasn't reading for class haha.

I admit that I don't think I would have liked this play so much in high school if it weren't for the fact that my friends seemed to enjoy it. Despite my doubts, I had fun quoting the play with them in our everyday life (nerds, I know). But personally, the play was a bit nonsensical and repetitive for me. And maybe that isn't a personal opinion. Some may argue that it is even the point--the point that life is meaningless.

But on this reread, without having to do any analysis for my high school English class, I found humour in the nonsense and great fun in Vladimir and Estragon's dynamic. That quote, case in point.

flatlay of please send help by gaby dunn & allison raskin with laptop and pencil case - book review | book book bitch

Published by Wednesday Books on 16 Jul 2019
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In this hilarious follow-up novel to the New York Times bestseller I Hate Everyone But You, long distance best friends Ava and Gen have finally made it to the same time zone (although they’re still over a thousand miles apart).

 Through their hilarious, sometimes emotional, but always relatable conversations, Ava and Gen are each other’s support systems through internships, relationship troubles, questionable roommates, undercover reporting, and whether or not it’s a good idea to take in a feral cat. Please Send Help perfectly captures the voice of young adults looking to find their place in the world and how no matter how desperate things seem, you always have your best friend to tell it like it is and pick you back up.


I didn't read I Hate Everyone But You but hoped I'd be able to follow along anyway. The series follows Ava and Gen via correspondences over text and email. In the first book, they help each other survive the first semester of college, and in this second book, they help each other survive life post-grad. As someone who has no idea what's been going on in her life since graduation, I was especially interested in the second novel and dived straight into it instead of starting with the first book.

At first, I was entertained by the office drama and other updates Ava and Gen shared with each other, but after awhile, I couldn't help but feel that there was something disingenuous about the banter between these supposed best friends. Maybe this is where reading the first book would have come into play--to help me get a better sense of these characters--but that's not something I'm planning on going back to do.

The main reason for their banter feeling disingenuous to me was that there were so many explanatory asides throughout their correspondence, which cheapened their relationship to me. The explanatory asides felt like a crude attempt at giving Ava and Gen distinctive personalities. Gen's only personality was being gay; it was as if she just discovered her sexuality and couldn't stop talking about how she was gay. All the 2019 references you could think of were thrown in, and they cracked jokes that I would have missed if not for, again, the explanatory asides.

I suppose this is the challenge that comes with writing in epistolary format (or this kind of modern epistolary format). There's not much context to draw from, so these explanations must be made.

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flatlay of the crowns of croswald & the girl with the whispering shadow by de night with lantern and plant - book review | book book bitch

The Crowns of Croswald published by Stories Untold Press on 21 Jul 2017
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For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic––and her life––is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow published by Stories Untold Press on 23 Jan 2019
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Ivy Lovely is whisked away from her beloved school to Belzebuthe, a secret town for only those with magical blood. She sets out on a mission to uncover the second facet of the Kindred Stone while eluding the Dark Queen’s wrath. But even when she’s supposed to be safe, something is shadowing Ivy. She will need all her natural-born magic and more as she battles to find the rest of the Kindred Stone and return to the Halls of Ivy. Before it’s too late...


More strangeness, she mused. She was getting used to everything being odd, all the time.

I know we're all tired of comparing every fantasy to Harry Potter, but you can think of the Halls of Ivy in The Crowns of Croswald as Hogwarts and Belzebuthe in The Girl with the Whispering Shadow as Hogsmeade. If you're looking for another fantasy series with a magical boarding school and a magical town, this could be one for you.

The most wondrous things, the most impossible of things, are often just ordinary things doing what they are best at.

Croswald is pretty much the middle grade parallel to Harry Potter. There's great world-building in Croswald--a world complete with its own magical terminology too, like "scrivenist," "slurry," "scaldron," and more!--but the concepts are nothing new. Instead of wizards, they have scrivenists. Instead of wands, they use quills. The orphaned protagonist is actually the chosen one (spoiler, but you saw it coming. I mean, the school is named after her).

I personally always look for something different in my next read, especially with fantasy, but if you're looking for something similar to Harry Potter, I would recommend this. It's well-written and fast-paced. It's a middle grade series, so the plot is a bit simplistic, but it's still great fun to immerse yourself in a new magical world.

flatlay of brave new world by aldous huxley on a pile of open books - book review | book book bitch

Published by Chatto & Windus in 1932
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Largely set in a futuristic World State of genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a utopian society that goes challenged only by a single outsider.


This is a book that I like more in retrospect. I'm a bit rusty with classics, so the physical act of reading this book wasn't the easiest or most enjoyable experience for me. I ended up getting through the book by alternating between reading a chapter summary from SparkNotes and reading a chapter from the actual book itself--SparkNotes first! This helped me get through the book quickly and pick up on important themes. After all, I didn't enjoy the reading experience per say, but I thought the ideas brought up were very interesting. Upon finishing the book (finally!), my immediate rating was a 3, but now that time has passed, my rating is inching toward a 4, so perhaps I'll settle my final rating at a 3.5.

Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand.

At first, the World State was shocking to me. Society is optimised by capitalism. The population is cloned. Thus, families don't exist and parents are taboo. Kids are brainwashed in their sleep to prefer the castes they are assigned.

And yet, in the end, reflecting upon myself, I feel that I would prefer dull happiness over the grand struggle for it (at least at this moment in my life), which is very World State of me. But how could a sane person possibly prefer this shocking World State way of life?

I don't think anyone would find it too strange to hear that some people prefer dull happiness over the grand struggle for it. But this book shows the possible implications of that way of life--of course, in a much more extreme way than would ever be realistic, probably, but still, the hyperbole reveals truths--and those implications are very concerning indeed.

I can stay comfortable and learn to be happy with settling for less. Or I can strive for more, struggle and fail, maybe succeed one day and maybe not.

Reading buddy: Emily's review

flatlay of bad blood by john carreyrou with tea, florals - book review | book book bitch

Published by Knopf Publishing Group on 21 May 2018
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The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.

 In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionise the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.

 For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.


How did Elizabeth Holmes fool everyone--her board, investors, employees, and the public?

I've been fascinated by Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes ever since listening to The Dropout podcast miniseries. I immediately requested this book from the library, and whilst waiting for it to come in, I watched The Inventor documentary on HBO. So I must give the disclaimer that it's quite possible that my 5 star rating is due more to my fascination with the case in general than about this book specifically, but nonetheless, I was absolutely gripped reading this account from the man himself who first broke the story to the public in The Wall Street Journal.

I would highly recommend the podcast if you're intrigued by the story and seek easily-digestible entertainment, but if you really want to get into it, I highly recommend the book too! Carreyrou is extremely thorough, and it's crazy to see how many players were involved. Because of Theranos' company culture of fear and secrecy, even many of the employees didn't know the full picture of what was going on in the company. Major props to Carreyrou for piecing it together, and to the brave sources who stepped forward to help Carreyrou break the story, exposing Theranos and saving lives of potential Theranos customers, all in spite of Theranos' intimidation tactics in their effort to keep up their ruse.

This really made me think about how far talking a good talk and having a powerful network can take you. It's astounding what a beautiful young woman surrounded by rich old men can do with a tempting vision and great marketing.

flatlay of the whisper man by alex north on blanket with flowers and candle - book review | book book bitch

Published by Celadon Books on 20 Aug 2019
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After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town. Featherbank.

 But the town has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed "The Whisper Man," for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.

 Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes. His disappearance bears an unnerving resemblance to Frank Carter's crimes, reigniting old rumors that he preyed with an accomplice. Now, detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis must find the boy before it is too late, even if that means Pete has to revisit his great foe in prison: The Whisper Man.

 And then Jake begins acting strangely. He hears a whispering at his window...


I gotta give a shout out to my reading buddies Sadia and Tegan for recommending this book to me! Both received ARCs of this book and recommended me to request one as well, so I did, and now The Whisper Man is my favourite thriller of 2019!

I was especially intrigued by the blurb because I had read I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara, a true crime account of the Golden State Killer, just the month prior. The Golden State Killer was known for casing his victims' homes months in advance and peeping under their windows at night. Before he was caught, he was even sighted under a window and described as a ghostly figure in the bushes... So with that knowledge tucked under my belt, the Whisper Man really came to life for me, for better or for worse!

Small triumphs on terrible days. You had to cling to them.

This story is far from your formulaic thriller that relies on the account of a high functioning alcoholic woman. We've had enough of those. This thriller is the first one that has properly creeped me out. (Most thrillers I read simply keep me in suspense with my curiosity. Maybe I'm choosing the wrong ones haha.) The creepy sensory descriptions were so vivid--not just visual imagery, but oral imagery too, hence Whisper Man. Creepy men. Creepy voices. Creepy kids. Creepy kids are the worst, man. Lots of suspense. (How are these disappearances still happening if Frank Carter is already incarcerated?)

It was past midnight by the time I reached the last 20% of the book, and at that point, I had to stay up and finish the rest, because it was too creepy for me to fall asleep until it was resolved. The end was really satisfying. And still creepy. Haunting.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves thrillers!

Note: I've recommended this book to a few friends already and it seems that I may have overhyped it for them. I mean, they still rated it 4 stars, so they liked it, but perhaps didn't find it as creepy or original as I did!

flatlay of things you save in a fire by katherine center with candle, matches - book review | book book bitch

Published by St. Martin's Press on 13 Aug 2019
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Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's excellent at dealing with other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it's an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.

 The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because she doesn't fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don't date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping... but will she jeopardise her place in a career where she's worked so hard to be taken seriously?


Who doesn't love a strong female lead? Plus, I interned at the Austin Fire Department one winter, so that's fun. However, I felt that the idea of a strong woman in this book was a bit superficial and nothing that I hadn't seen in a superhero movie already. That said, I keep watching superhero movies and am still entertained. This book was no exception.

Choosing to love--despite all the ways that people let you down, and disappear, and break your heart. Knowing everything we know about how hard life is and choosing to love anyway... That's not weakness. That's courage.

At the beginning of the book, Cassie and her superiors list off everything she, as a woman, can't do, in order to maintain her credibility at the station. You already know that the rest of the book involves breaking every single one of those rules. The most obvious of which? To not get involved with another firefighter. No matter how hot, how good natured, how perfectly dreamy he is. So waddyaknow??

Yes, the world is full of unspeakable cruelty. But the answer wasn't to never feel hope, or bliss, or love--but to savor every fleeting, precious second of those feelings when they came.
The answer wasn't to never love anyone.
It was to love like crazy whenever you could.

It was super predictable and reads like a YA novel except for a traumatic experience in Cassie's life that is alluded to throughout the book and revealed at the end. I loved her mother Diana and Diana's best friend Josie, and loved seeing how Cassie and Diana's relationship developed throughout the book.

What I think would be interesting to explore is this whole "I'm not a girl"/"I'm not like most girls" thing.

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flatlay of spare room by dreda say mitchell with keys and jewelry - book review | book book bitch

Published by Bloodhound Books on 22 Jan 2019
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Lisa, a troubled young woman with a past, can’t believe her luck when she finds a beautiful room to rent in a large house. The live-in owners are a kind and welcoming couple. Everything is fine until she finds a suicide note hidden in her room. But when the couple insist this man didn’t exist and that Lisa is their first tenant, Lisa begins to doubt herself.

 Compelled to undercover the secrets of the man who lived in the room before her, Lisa is alarmed when increasingly disturbing incidents start to happen. Someone doesn’t want Lisa to find out the truth.


Immediately upon viewing the spare room in the Victorian home, Lisa felt an ominous energy about the home and the owners. Yet for some inexplicable reason, she was determined to have the room. Even when weird things started happening and people were literally telling her to move out, she refused. Nobody was keeping her in this bad situation except for herself. It felt like she was trying to make a point that nobody else, including me, cared about. It didn't help that her arguments were logically confusing to me and felt like reaches.

Furthermore, the owners were portrayed comically evil, none of the characters seemed real, the ending was cheesy, and overall the writing wasn't great. I would have DNFed if it wasn't for this being a buddy read!


flatlay of the arrangement by robyn harding on a breakfast tray with jewelry, florals, candle - book review | book book bitch

Published by Gallery/Scout Press on 30 Jul 2019
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Natalie, a young art student in New York City, is struggling to pay her bills when a friend makes a suggestion: Why not go online and find a sugar daddy—a wealthy, older man who will pay her for dates, and even give her a monthly allowance? Lots of girls do it, Nat learns. All that’s required is to look pretty and hang on his every word. Sexual favours are optional.

 Though more than thirty years her senior, Gabe, a handsome corporate finance attorney, seems like the perfect candidate, and within a month, they are madly in love. At least, Nat is... Gabe already has a family, whom he has no intention of leaving.

 So when he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking him: watching him at work, spying on his wife, even befriending his daughter, who is not much younger than she is. But Gabe’s not about to let his sugar baby destroy his perfect life. What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement devolves into a nightmare of deception, obsession, and, when a body is found near Gabe’s posh Upper East Side apartment, murder.


I would never consider being a sugar baby because social interaction is scary and sugar daddies seem creepy, but oh, how nice would it be to have someone sponsor your Manhattan penthouse apartment?

The story started fun with a playful amount of danger, and the writing was very easy and readable. I was teetering between a 4 and a 3 star rating--leaning toward a 4--but the end was completely lukewarm, settling my rating at a solid 3. I won't say more on the end because I don't want to spoil anything!

But I will say--just to get it off my chest--Nat and Gabe are both psychotic, and I don't feel bad for either of them.

Reading buddy: Tegan's review

flatlay of fix her up by tessa bailey with hammer - book review | book book bitch

Published by Avon on 11 Jun 2019
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Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World... whatever that means.

 Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

 Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

 Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

 Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

 Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

 Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his... bat. And then there's Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her...


What I heard everyone say about the book: The cover looks cute, but don't be fooled! This book is totally smutty!

Curious and in the mood for contemporary romance, I picked it up. I can now confirm that this book is very smutty and you'd pretty much just read it for the sexy stuff--not the characters, not the plot. I mean, Georgie is a literal clown and Travis keeps getting boners from every little thing, so it's pretty ridiculous. Man, that guy needs to get a grip haha.

It's lighthearted and I was thoroughly amused. Sometimes you're just in the mood for a book like this. What can I say? :P

flatlay of the friend zone by abby jimenez in net bag with florals - book review | book book bitch

Published by Forever Romance on 11 Jun 2019
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Kristen Petersen doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.

 Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.


You know what I think the trick to dealing with family is?... Marrying your best friend... You marry your best friend, and at family gatherings you deal with your shitty relatives together. You laugh about it and have each other's backs. Share looks and text each other from across the room when everyone else is being an asshole. And nobody else really matters because you have your own universe.

I'm a sucker for friends-to-lovers stories, and this one hit me in all the right places. Kristen and Josh's chemistry was undeniable--fun and playful, but also with that underlying heart-fluttering tension. They connected emotionally and in their senses of humour.

I didn't love the end and I started getting annoyed at Kristen's stubbornness, but overall I loved this story. A solid contemporary romance for the summer (or any season).

flatlay of my friend anna by rachel deloache williams with coffee, croissant - book review | book book bitch

Published by Gallery Books on 23 Jul 2019
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Sex and the City meets Catch Me if You Can in the astonishing true story of Anna Delvey, a young con artist posing as a German heiress in New York City—as told by the former Vanity Fair photo editor who got seduced by her friendship and then scammed out of more than $62,000.


New York attracts such a wild range of people: artists and bankers, immigrants and transients, old money and new money, people waiting to be discovered and others who never want to be found. Everyone here has a story to tell--some more elaborate than others. But without exception the people have texture, and texture is character, and character is fascinating.

Anna Delvey, the real life Neal Caffrey?? (Where my White Collar friends at?) I had never heard of her before but I was immediately fascinated. But getting conned by Anna is nowhere near as fun as solving white collar crimes alongside the charismatic, good-natured, well-intentioned, HOT Neal Caffrey.

I didn't have a trust fund, or even any savings, but my family had given me all of the love and encouragement in the world--and still, chasing dreams was an unending and treacherous business.

In fact, dealing with Anna was downright stressful. I got stressed reading this book. Anna is a manipulative sociopath and it's impossible to have a productive confrontation with her since her arguments are circuitous and she has a loose relationship with the truth. And Rachel fed into it, getting dragged in circles with Anna's lies, believing that was the same as chasing Anna down for her money ($62,000!). Even to the very end, like, when Anna was finally arrested, it still seemed like Rachel couldn't let Anna go.

And as readers, we were dragged into the mess with her. The repetitive details became frustrating to follow, and it just felt like more of the same. I mean, Rachel must have been beyond frustrated rehashing the same conversations with Anna, not to mention that her livelihood was on the line, so maybe I should be applauding Rachel's ability to bring us to that anxious period in her life through her writing (reading ! this ! was ! stressful !), but I selfishly would have appreciated more synthesis in her account.

Although I don't think I could see myself ever getting into a similar situation to the extreme of getting conned out of $62,000, I do see how Rachel fell for Anna's con at the beginning (and I suppose that finally falling for the big con could be seen as a frog in boiling water situation). The lesson learned is fuck politeness! (Don't quickly cover a bill because of the awkwardness your con artist friend--who has no intention of paying you back--is purposefully creating! lol)

Reading this was stressful and the writing could have been more concise, but the case was fascinating. 3 stars.

If you're interested in the case but don't want to stress yourself out with this book, check out this article about Anna Delvey by Jessica Pressley in The Cut, which was mentioned in My Friend Anna.

flatlay of the unhoneymooners by christina lauren with coffee, cake - book review | book book bitch

Published by Gallery Books on 14 May 2019
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Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in... well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

 Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

 Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.


I loved Olive and Ethan's banter and bickering. It fulfilled some kind of middle school satisfaction in me. Olive is hilarious and terribly unlucky, and I audibly laughed out loud several times, especially when she struggled with telling white lies. She acts super suspicious when she does it, which is totally me.

I hold a mean grudge so I wasn't totally satisfied with the end, but overall, I loved it and had a lot of fun reading it. My favourite contemporary romance of the season!

Would you go on an all-expenses paid trip with an enemy/frenemy? (I wouldn't. Again, I hold a mean grudge.)

dark matter by blake crouch stacked on other books in a basket - book review | book book bitch

Published by Crown on 26 Jul 2016
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Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

 It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying from there, as Jason’s abductor injects him with some unknown drug and watches while he loses consciousness.

 When Jason awakes, he’s in a lab, strapped to a gurney—and a man he’s never seen before is cheerily telling him “welcome back!”

 Jason soon learns that in this world he’s woken up to, his house is not his house. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born.

 And someone is hunting him.


I picked up this book after loving Recursion--also by Blake Crouch--so much. I had seen many people talk about anticipating Recursion (the newer release of the two) because they enjoyed Dark Matter so much. Some of these readers were underwhelmed by Recursion, saying it was just more of the same of Dark Matter. Now having read both, I can definitely see the huge similarities between them. So if you do decide you want to read both of these books, I would recommend giving yourself some time in between before starting the next one.

And now, if you have no idea what I'm talking about because you haven't read Recursion and you haven't seen my review of it, I'll get on with my review of Dark Matter and try to keep my comparisons to Recursion minimal!

It's terrifying when you consider that every thought we have, every choice we could possibly make, branches into a new world.

The concept that Crouch plays around with in this novel is the multiverse. Think almost Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I was expecting a sci-fi thriller, and this was (very fast-paced too), but it also read very heavily like a romance, which was surprising. There are certainly those mind-bending moments characteristic of the best sci-fi, but a lot of the story is also simply about Jason getting back to his family, and particularly to his wife Daniela. Romance is a bit of a hit-or-miss for me, but I was really invested in Jason and Daniela finding their way back to each other!

We're all just wandering through the tundra of our existence, assigning value to worthlessness, when all that we love and hate, all we believe in and fight for and kill for and die for is as meaningless as images projected onto Plexiglas.

Blake Crouch is officially an auto-read author for me! I'd like to check out his Wayward Pines series next!

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spiral stack of books with recursion by blake crouch on top - book review | book book bitch

Published by Crown on 11 Jun 2019
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Memory makes reality. That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

 Neuroscientist Helena Smith already understands the power of memory. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious moments of our pasts. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

 As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

 But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?


I love sci-fi and have ventured in many a story exploring memory; Recursion is the best of them. Memory, changed memories, and changing realities are tricky things to write about. It's easy to get confused when you're following an "everything was not what it seemed" kinda story (i.e. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton and The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh fell short of my expectations). Yet Recursion was executed so well; I was able to follow the concepts and stay engaged, and still continue to be surprised as events unfurled.

Life with a cheat code isn't life. Our existence isn't something to be engineered or optimized for the avoidance of pain. That's what it is to be human--the beauty and the pain, each meaningless without the other.

What is False Memory Syndrome? How is it spreading? Why/how are the consequences so devastating? How much longer can the world tolerate looping through recursive memories and realities before everyone goes completely crazy? These questions kept me plowing through this adventure.

Recursion was as mind-bending for me as Inception was; I'll have to give it a reread eventually and create an infographic to straighten out the timelines in my head! I'll also have to read more Blake Crouch; I'm thinking of going for Dark Matter!

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flatlay of home remedies by xuan juliana wang with bottle - book review | book book bitch

Published by Hogarth on 14 May 2019
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In twelve stunning stories of love, family, and identity, Xuan Juliana Wang’s debut collection captures the unheard voices of an emerging generation. Young, reckless, and catapulted toward uncertain futures, here is the new face of Chinese youth on a quest for every kind of freedom.

 From a crowded apartment on Mott Street, where an immigrant family raises its first real Americans, to a pair of divers at the Beijing Olympics poised at the edge of success and self-discovery, Wang’s unforgettable characters–with their unusual careers, unconventional sex lives and fantastical technologies–share the bold hope that, no matter where they’ve come from, their lives too can be extraordinary.


I was really excited about this collection and was ready to rave about an Asian-American author and stories about the Asian-American experience, but unfortunately I felt completely disconnected from the characters and writing.

What I love about diverse stories is how they bring forward unique people/experiences and at the same time show how we're all human, all the same, all in this together. However, I didn't get that intimate feeling from these stories. I felt like I only got a sense of a type of person but not any particular person from these stories, if that makes any sense; the characters felt more like archetypes than real people. Perhaps short stories are not long enough to delve into these characters.

Theirs was a Chinese love. It was not about making each other happy. It was about sacrifice. It was a love devoted to suffering for the beloved. They were supposed to sacrifice over and over again for each other, each getting a turn to give up something he or she did not want for the other, until one of them died.

There were some interesting concepts with lots of potential though. I was particularly hopeful about "Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments," "Algorithmic Problem-Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships," and "Echo of the Moment."

"Home Remedies for Non-Life-Threatening Ailments": A silly list of emotional problems and advice on how to deal with them.

"Algorithmic Problem-Solving for Father-Daughter Relationships": A father tries to understand his daughter algorithmically.

"Echo of the Moment": A woman reinvents herself with luxurious outfits swiped from a dead rich lady's wardrobe.

The Goodreads rating for this collection is average, but the Goodreads reviews are quite positive, with many speaking on the beautiful writing and raw emotion. But again, I felt distant and disconnected from these stories and characters, and no emotional chord was struck within me whatsoever. I'm confused and would be very curious to hear from anyone else who has read this collection!

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flatlay of big little lies by liane moriarty with jewelry and decorative boxes - book review | book book bitch

Published by Berkley Books on 09 Feb 2017
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A murder... A tragic accident... Or just parents behaving badly? What's indisputable is that someone is dead.

 Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She's funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mum Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.

 Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.


It took me awhile to get into the mundane suburban gossip, and it reminded me of Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple at first, but I before I knew it, I was as keen on all the gossip as all the mothers were. I particularly loved Madeline; she's loyal af, loves a good fight, and is hilarious.

As the story progressed, the mundane gossip gradually got heavier, involving themes of bullying, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

The first 100 pages were slow but the last 100 pages were wild. Because my mind was lulled into the mundanity of suburban life, the plot twists really caught me.

Now that I've finally read the book, I'm looking forward to binging the show that everyone's talking about! I can already tell that there's gonna be lots and lots of drama!

flatlay of she lies in wait by gytha lodge with plants - book review | book book bitch

Published by Random House on 08 Jan 2019
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On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group—Aurora Jackson—is delighted to be allowed to tag along. The evening starts like any other—they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found.

 Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night. Sheens’s investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead, and all of them profoundly changed forever.


This book started off strong with short chapters alternating between two timelines: one from the night of the crime from Aurora's perspective, and the other 30 years later when her body was discovered. However, the story started to drag on after awhile and the suspense created at the beginning of the book was lost.

My main qualm was with Jonah. Besides the fact that I didn't like his personality or his character, I felt that the way he jumped on every lead in the investigation detracted from the story's suspense. Much of the book was him suspecting each member of the group of friends at one point or another.

On the other hand, none of the friends in the group ever suspected one another. I felt that this story could have been much more suspenseful and psychological if they did. Another way to amp up the psychological aspect of the story could have been to dive deeper into the personal psychological changes in each of the friends since Aurora's disappearance. The fact that there was a change was stated but hardly explored.

The end wasn't satisfying. But I did get to the end. Despite my desire for more suspense, there was enough curiosity in me to keep reading to the end and know once and for all what happened to Aurora.


flatlay of the gospel according to coco chanel by karen karbo with jewelry, candles, and flowers - book review | book book bitch

Published by skirt! on 01 Sep 2009
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Delving into the long, extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of book, exploring Chanel's philosophy on a range of universal themes--from style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.


I was hoping that this book would be memoir-like and show some insight to Chanel's perspective on life/work/fashion, but this book is more about the legend of Chanel (rather than about who Chanel was as a real person), lauding her accomplishments much like a fan would. I suppose it must be difficult to write a memoir on Chanel, as I learned from Karbo's account that Chanel was "Mademoiselle Misinformation"; she regularly fibbed about her background when asked, and she even hired many people to write her memoir, gave every writer different accounts, and fired every one.

The book was broken into thematic chapters rather than organised chronologically, which was a bit confusing, and I wasn't interested in the parts when Karbo inserted herself into the narrative. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to read, but it'd be a nice book to use as decor and flip through occasionally.

flatlay of reasons to stay alive by matt haig in a tote bag - favourite quote | book book bitch

Published by Penguin Books on 23 Feb 2016
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I read and read and read with an intensity I'd never really known before. I mean, I'd always considered myself to be a person who liked books. But there's a difference between liking books and needing them. I needed books. They weren't a luxury good during that time in my life. They were a Class A addictive substance...

There is this idea that you either read to escape or you read to find yourself. I don't really see the difference. We find ourselves through the process of escaping. It is not where we are, but where we want to go, and all that. "Is there no way out of the mind?" Sylvia Plath famously asked. I had been interested in this question (what it meant, what the answers might be) ever since I had come across it as a teenager in a book of quotations. If there is a way out, a way that isn't death itself, then the exit route is through words. But rather than leave the mind entirely, words help us leave a mind, and give us the building blocks to build another one, similar but better, nearby to the old one but with firmer foundations, and very often a better view.

flatlay of reasons to stay alive by matt haig on a booksleeve - favourite quote | book book bitch

Published by Penguin Books on 23 Feb 2016
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I wanted to be dead. No. that's not quite right. I didn't want to be dead. I just didn't want to be alive. Death was something that scared me. And death only happens to people who have been living. there were infinitely more people who had never been alive. I wanted to be one of those people. That old classic wish. To never have been born. To have been one of the three hundred million sperm that hadn't made it.

flatlay of becoming by michelle obama on a breakfast tray - favourite quote | book book bitch

Published by Crown on 13 Nov 2018
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In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

 In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.


Michelle Obama is smart, strong, driven, perceptive, and an excellent story teller. The way she weaves together her values, her accomplishments, personal anecdotes, and social issues is seamless, avoiding sounding too preachy. Even if you're not into politics (tbh, politics go over my head), I would still recommend this memoir.

Even when it's not pretty or perfect. Even when it's more real than you want it to be. Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.

It is told in three parts: "Becoming Me," "Becoming Us," "Becoming More." The first part talks about her life from the South Side of Chicago to her time as a law associate at the prestigious law firm Sidley & Austin. The second part begins when she and Barack start dating, and the third part begins with her as First Lady. Admittedly, "Becoming More" does get a little politic-heavy, which is natural considering the phase in her life that part is covering, but again, her story telling is seamless, and I read it more as an insight into her values and her determination to make a difference.

This is the story of a woman who didn't back down when society told her she couldn't. She worked harder. She made plans and executed them flawlessly. She did everything she was supposed to. She rose from the South Side of Chicago, went to Princeton, then Harvard, and straight to work at Sidley & Austin. She did everything she was suppose to and found that it wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to make a difference in the areas she cared about. And there is so much she cares about. So many she cares about.

His was the lone voice telling me to just go for it, to erase the worries and go toward whatever I thought would make me happy. It was okay to make my leap into the unknown, because... the unknown wasn't going to kill me.

Michelle Obama is an amazing woman and a blessing to us all. She is an inspiration to all of us to have bigger hearts and reach bigger goals.

the paper menagerie and other stories by ken liu against the sunset - favourite quote | book book bitch

Published by Gallery / Saga Press on 08 Mar 2016
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We spend our entire lives trying to tell stories about ourselves--they're the essence of memory. It is how we make living in this unfeeling, accidental universe tolerable.

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flatlay of everything i never told you by celeste ng with plants - book review | book book bitch

Published by Penguin Press on 26 Jun 2014
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Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

 So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

 A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.



This is not that story. This is a story of belonging, of loneliness, of perfection, of failure, of of all the words said and unsaid in between. It's in the way that one thing happens, and two things are remembered. How it stays with us and shifts our understanding of the world and our relationships without notice or fanfare. It's an incredibly subtle, intricate story, and I think that's what makes this story so real.

Lydia, five years old, standing on tiptoe to watch vinegar and baking soda foam in the sink. Lydia tugging a heavy book from the shelf, saying, "Show me again, show me another." Lydia, touching the stethoscope, ever so gently, to her mother’s heart. Tears blur Marilyn’s sight. It had not been science that Lydia had loved.

Any attempt to try to convey how the particular dynamic between the children and the parents of the Lee family resonated with me feels cheap, as pointing to any one example would oversimplify what Ng so artfully crafted. But another way I related to the story was about the desire to please--not being given any pressure to do so, but getting caught up in it, then not being able to keep up. A perfectionism of sorts.

Every character had their flaw. As we all do. Except for Hannah maybe; she's precious and must be protected at all costs!! (Not a fan of James though.)

The end was a little too subtle for me. Carrying the same rhythm and subtlety throughout the book to the end left this story feeling a bit incomplete. But there was plenty else in the book to think about.

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flatlay of naturally tan by tan france with loafers - book review | book book bitch

Published by St. Martin's Press on 04 Jun 2019
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In this heartfelt, funny, touching memoir, Tan France, star of Netflix’s smash-hit Queer Eye, tells his origin story for the first time. With his trademark wit, humour, and radical compassion, Tan reveals what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional Muslim family, as one of the few people of colour in Doncaster, England. He illuminates his winding journey of coming of age, finding his voice (and style!), and how he finally came out to his family at the age of 34, revealing that he was happily married to the love of his life--a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City.

 In Tan's own words, “The book is meant to spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all understanding. Each of us is living our own private journey, and the more we know about each other, the healthier and happier the world will be.”


As a fan of Queer Eye, I was super excited about this memoir. I love how the Fab Five see the beauty in everyone, and I was intrigued to know more about Tan's own journey.

This memoir was a fun, easy read and Tan's voice was very distinct in the writing. Though he has faced many challenges, he keeps his tone upbeat. The happy parts made me smile and laugh; the harder parts made me respect him so much more.

Tan fans will not be disappointed by this memoir. He covers racial and sexual identity, growing up South Asian and gay, raised in South Yorkshire in a traditional Muslim family; school life; his early realisation of his interest in fashion; relationships; his unconventional career path and experience on Queer Eye, including the audition process, how the opportunity came upon him, and insecurities; and fashion tips, of course.

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flatlay of the tao of pooh by benjamin hoff - book review | book book bitch

Published by Dutton on 28 Jul 1983
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Is there such thing as a Western Taoist? Benjamin Hoff says there is, and this Taoist's favorite food is honey. Through brilliant and witty dialogue with the beloved Pooh-bear and his companions, the author of this smash bestseller explains with ease and aplomb that rather than being a distant and mysterious concept, Taoism is as near and practical to us as our morning breakfast bowl.


This is an aesthetically-pleasing pocket book that taps into nostalgia, though I must give the disclaimer that I never read Winnie-the-Pooh growing up (or ever). In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explains how Pooh embodies Tao philosophy, and he includes Pooh and his friends on this discovery by actually writing/speaking to them in dialogues interspersed with the rest of the text, as I'd imagine Christopher Robin might have spoken to them (again, I've never read Winnie-the-Pooh, so I can't say for sure).

However, I found the format of this writing very roundabout, and it took a bit of effort to read. I suppose I was hoping for a little more straightforward clarity with an informative non-fiction book like this, and I suppose it's my own fault for being a lazy reader! I would rather have read the original Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne. Perhaps I would have been more charmed by The Tao of Pooh if I was more familiar with Winnie-the-Pooh.

Further reading: Lessons in mindfulness from The Tao of Pooh -- a straightforward summary of lessons from the book. I would recommend just reading this article and reading the original Winnie-the-Pooh for fun.

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ask again, yes by mary beth keane on a picnic basket - book review | book book bitch

Published by Scribner on 28 May 2019
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A profoundly moving novel about two neighbouring families in a suburban town, the friendship between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, and the power of forgiveness.

 Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are two NYPD rookies assigned to the same Bronx precinct in 1973. They aren’t close friends on the job, but end up living next door to each other outside the city. What goes on behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the stunning events to come.

 Ask Again, Yes by award-winning author Mary Beth Keane, is a beautifully moving exploration of the friendship and love that blossoms between Francis’s youngest daughter, Kate, and Brian’s son, Peter, who are born six months apart. In the spring of Kate and Peter’s eighth grade year a violent event divides the neighbours, the Stanhopes are forced to move away, and the children are forbidden to have any further contact.

 But Kate and Peter find a way back to each other, and their relationship is tested by the echoes from their past. Ask Again, Yes reveals how the events of childhood look different when reexamined from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace, and those who appeared innocent seem less so. Kate and Peter’s love story is marked by tenderness, generosity, and grace.


This was a family drama--of two families actually--but my heart ached for Kate and Peter particularly. At once you can see that they have a deep understanding of each other, and you can't help but root for them. Wanting to know whether they and their families would be able to overcome their traumas and find happiness kept me plowing through this book, and I finished it in three sittings.

That was a great life, in Kate's view. What else could there be? If they reminded themselves that these small things were enough, she believed, then they'd always be okay.

I was anticipating a coming-of-age story about Kate and Peter, but this story spanned much more of their lives than the transition from youth to adulthood (I forgot about the "reverberates over four decades" part of the blurb oops). Some phases of their lives sped by when the narrative focused on other members of their families; I would have loved more about Kate and Peter in those moments, though I suppose this isn't meant to be a romance novel exactly!

If you like this book, you might like: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

Reading buddy: Mckenzie's review

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