I started my Substack with a lot of passion that waned quickly and I’m trying to get it back. Read Wrap-Ups are a staple post that grace our feeds and the thought of continuing them without acknowledging the months I missed isn’t who I am as a person.
All Fours by Miranda July
Based on my TikTok feed, All Fours has been controversial with book lover. Personally I loved it. Any writer that uses a dogs impacted asshole as a metaphor for coming to terms with perimenopause has my attention.
All Fours is a story of a perimenopausal woman who lies to her husband and briefly moves to a small motel where she starts an illicit affair with a younger man. It was the first entry I’ve read in the “unhinged woman” genre that follows a woman in her 40s, and I think it’s a good addition to the swarth of books largely about women finding themselves in their 20s. It was a good reminder that, even at 45, you can still be trying to find yourself.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Suzanne Collins is a fucking genius. When initially read and rated these books when I was in my early 20s I think I was trying to be edgy by only giving them 3/4 stars. I was in my “I only read literature” phase and waxed lyrical about Lolita. Now I understand that writing a great work of literature, and writing something as enthralling as The Hunger Games require the same amount of talent.
The Unworthy by Augustine Bazterica
This book was on my most anticipated reads of 2025 and I hate to say it, I was disappointed. The premise is right up by fucking alley, a strange cult in a post apocalyptic world that gives hard Catholic Vibes? Sign me the fuck up.
Unlike her first novel, in The Unworthy Bazterica plays with formatting, leaving pages half written, moving text around the page, and scoring out lines. I get why writers do it, but I it’s so hard to pull off and often dulls the reading experience. Overall, it was a solid read and I still devoured it in two days but it didn’t live up to the hype.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Yael van der Wouden came to Melbourne for the writers festival and I thought I would go but I read this book too late so, by the time I went to get tickets they were sold out.
I purchased a physical copy of this book on the recommendation of a friend without researching anything about it. I was dismayed when I figured out it was historical fiction. I fucking hate historical fiction. To get through the first few chapters I started the audiobook and after the first two hours I was hooked. It was during the school holidays so I listened to it while I was walking the dog.
About half way through the book there is a gag that gagged me so hard I stopped in the middle of the pavement and stared at a wall for five minutes. I loved this book so completely and think about it often. I guess I’ll have to try more historical fiction (probably won’t).
Chlorine by Jane Song
Chlorine is as a coming-of-age horror novel that came to me after I told a friend how much I loved The Pisces by Melissa Broder.
Chlorine is the story of Ren Yu, a high school swimmer who slowly loses her grip on reality as she starts to believe that she is a mermaid. Like The Unworthy I think I hyped this book up too much and it was never going to meet my expectations. There were a number of impactful scenes and Ren was a fantastic unreliable narrator (something I love) however the prose was, at times, too convoluted which lost me. Basically what I’m trying to communicate with my reviews is that I get lost so easily in books, and once my attention is gone there’s no getting it back.
Catching Fire by Susanne Collins
Please see above. No notes. Arguably better than the first (upon second read).
Napalm of the Heart by Pol Guasch
I found the prose in this book overly flowery and the structure hard to follow. I don’t know that I took much in while I was reading this, and couldn’t tell you a single thing about it (not just because I finished it two months ago).
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
I am the only man in one of our book clubs, so discussing this with a room full of women resulted in me apologising for 45 minutes. Basically we’re fucked. I love data so knew that this would be the sort of book for me. It was a grim read but also an important one. Now we need to pull our heads together and figure out how we can get more men to read this.
Would I actually like ALL FOURS? I have it to read but can’t decide