One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk (2018)
Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham (2015)
Lovely, unique novel written in email and text from the perspective of two characters meeting and falling in love. And then struggling in the relationship.
Shah wrote Elliot's perspective and Chatham wrote Madeleine's as well as their conversations with their best friends. This lends the novel a unique authenticity and reality.
Charming and very relatable. Unfortunately, the only book written by these two together. :(
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (2018)
Every time Liane Moriarty comes up, I feel a little glow of having 'discovered' her with her first novel Three Wishes (2004!) Every single novel since then has been a treat.
Rich characterizations and complex relationships in unique situations are Moriarty's stock in trade. This novel is no different and has a particularly unique setting. Nine strangers meet at a health resort. Secrets unfold. Unexpected things happen. AND there's a kickass, menopausal, romance writer heroine called Frances.
Endearing, absorbing, and so readable.
Going Into Town by Roz Chast (2017)
I adore Roz Chast and I love her New York. She created this guide for her daughter and expanded it into a quirky, funny, affectionate graphic memoir. I absolutely agree with her and her statement of how she "really likes density of visual information" and it's one of the reasons I love NYC.
Also, this:
“I feel about Manhattan the way I feel about a book, a TV series, a movie, a play, an artist, a song, a food, a whatever that I love. I want to tell you about it so that maybe you will love it, too. I'm not worried about it being 'ruined' by too many people 'discovering' it. Manhattan's been ruined since 1626 , when Peter Minuit bought it from Native Americans for $24.00.”See also Chast's Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
Choose Your Own Disaster by Dana Schwartz (2018)
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018)
Fantastic short novel about Korede and her sister Ayoola, the serial killer of the title, who keeps murdering her boyfriends. Korede is left to clean up the messes. When Ayoola starts to date Korede's longtime crush, things get especially complicated and messy. SO readable, engaging, and gripping, and the setting of Lagos is vivid and fascinating.
Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco (1973)
One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau (2010)
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (2018)
"The way Emily describes it: when I meet someone I love, I become an octopus and wind my tentacles around their heart, tighter and tighter until they can't deny they love me just the same." (p. 9)
"Dinner parties at my apartment consist of paper plates, boxed win, and the last three minutes before serving featuring me running around like a maniac because I burned the lasagna, insisting I DON'T NEED ANY HELP JUST SIT DOWN AND RELAX."