#TNReads: Real Quick Reviews for Lazy Readers featuring Claire McGowan

Six best friends from University gather for a weekend of memories and merriment twenty years after their graduation. Hostess Ali is full of anticipation as all her old friends gather in her beautiful home. With families and careers well established, have they lost their old chemistry? Or does a tragedy from their past keep them securely bonded?

When the unthinkable happens, old wounds are opened and new blood is drawn as the best of friends are pitted against each other. With ramifications no one could see coming, one violent act sets off a chain of events that will have Ali, Mike, Karen and the rest of the group questioning everything. Claire McGowan, author of the Paula Maguire crime series, keeps readers guessing as lives unravel and secrets are revealed. How well do you know your friends?

Mary H.K. Choi’s first book, Emergency Contact, was one of my favorite reads last year. She has such a way with dialogue and creates characters so real you swear you know them. Plus, her book covers are hands down, the best.

Pablo Neruda Rind, Pab for short, is a half-Korean/half-Pakistani college dropout with an ever-growing mountain of debt. He works the graveyard shift at a bodega in Brooklyn and spends his time dreaming up the best snack food combos and wondering what to do with his future – Should he reapply at NYU despite not being able to afford it (and not fitting in the first time)? Should he apply elsewhere? Can he even do anything with all the debt following him around?

And then all that falls out of his head when Leanna Smart, former Disney star, current pop phenomenon (and amalgamation of about 15 real-life celebrities) walks into the bodega one morning. Alone, sans entourage, vaguely disguised to “fit in.” She’s there for snacks, Pab’s greatest weakness. The two feel an undeniable spark. But this is a relationship destined to go nowhere because they couldn’t come from more different worlds. But they kind of can’t resist each other…

There is a plot here. It’s very minimal for the majority of the book, as we simply bear witness to Pablo and Lee’s relationship. And while I appreciated the perspective on celebrity and the magic of being caught up in someone, after a certain point, I wanted something more to happen. Pablo was stuck in some sort of suspended animation and it took him until around 80% through the book to actually figure anything out. He was pretty terrible to everyone around him, and while I get it, it’s not that fun to read about…

The only person he wasn’t terrible to was Leanna, but I wasn’t rooting for the romance at all. I wasn’t engaged with that aspect of the story. (view spoiler)

But this is a story worth reading. For Choi’s amazing writing, to meet Pab, who I swear I just passed on the sidewalk, and to remember that the future is undoubtedly terrifying, but the people around you want to help you and will be there for you if you let them. Choi will always be on my automatic-read list.

I love both Rowell’s and Hicks’ work, so I’ve been looking forward to Pumpkinheads for a long time, and it was as lovely as I’d hoped. It reminds me of Rowell’s short story “Midnights” but with bonus illustrations and background jokes. Josiah and Deja ditch their post at the Succotash Hut on their last night as employees of the biggest, greatest pumpkin patch ever. Will Josiah fall in love with the Fudge Shop Girl? Will Deja ever get to finish a snack without being interrupted? Will they get vengeance on the caramel apple thief or be trampled by the escaped goat first? Will they stay friends as they leave the patch and head off to college? Pour yourself a cider, light a seasonal candle and snuggle in for a delightful hour of finding out.

Stories about the transition from high school to college are my favorite genre of YA, and Field Notes on Love didn’t disappoint. Hugo needs an adventure before buckling into the path he didn’t choose; Mae needs an adventure to shake her out of an artistic and relational rut. They get a week on a train together and new outlooks on the world. It’s a coming of age romance that’s sweet and gentle without veering into sappy and sentimental, and the perfect kind of book to read as summer fades into fall.