Bookworms and donuts lovers rejoice, as we warmly welcome you to our MAI Book Club! Here you’ll find a nook to feast on books that we’ve read and reviewed. Every month we’ll also be reading one new book. To join and read along with us, sign up for our newsletter or join our Telegram group, where you will receive each month’s book selection. At the end of the month we’ll post our review, and for book club members we’ll also host special donuts, books, and wine e-meets during lockdown & real meets there after!
Happy plowing!
The Heavens by Sandra Newman
I fell upon The Heavens during my maiden voyage through Apple Books with feelings of elation and shame tangoing within my body. My boyfriend had just purchased an iPad – was it a sign from the gods that I should enter eBook land once and for all? Probably not, but that’s what I was about to do as I started reading The Heavens, a story set in New York City in the year 2000 about two characters, Ben and Kate, who meet one night at a party. What mainly appealed to me about this book is the main character – Kate’s exceedingly active dream life. In her dream world she meets various characters and travels back in time to Elizabethan England, where she has relationships that prove to feel as real as the ones in her waking life. It’s a recommended read if you are a bit of a dreamer, enjoy fiction and a solid dose of madness.
Rated: 3.5/5 donuts
The Heavens by Sandra Newman
I fell upon The Heavens during my maiden voyage through Apple Books with feelings of elation and shame tangoing within my body. My boyfriend had just purchased an iPad – was it a sign from the gods that I should enter eBook land once and for all? Probably not, but that’s what I was about to do as I started reading The Heavens, a story set in New York City in the year 2000 about two characters, Ben and Kate, who meet one night at a party. What mainly appealed to me about this book is the main character – Kate’s exceedingly active dream life. In her dream world she meets various characters and travels back in time to Elizabethan England, where she has relationships that prove to feel as real as the ones in her waking life. It’s a recommended read if you are a bit of a dreamer, enjoy fiction and a solid dose of madness.
Rated: 3.5/5 donuts
Normal People by Sally Rooney
When I started reading Sally Rooney’s Normal People, I was not even close to aware that I was reading a book that had become a best-seller and had already been adapted into a TV mini-series. How wasn’t I aware of this? Because I’m speaking to you from under my rock where I sometimes sprawl out and call home, mmm-kay? But back to the book itself.
Two of the best ways to describe Normal People:
- It’s a page turner
- It’s a self-aware, tween-to-early 20s fiction novel, set in Ireland circa early 2000s. The story centers around friendships, first loves, dysfunctional families, growing pains, and a whole lotta – S-E-X. I finished the book in maybe two days. Meaning: I devoured it. The highly charged love and lust between the lead characters Connell and Marianne, combined with the fast-moving tempo of the storytelling is what made this book such an easy and enjoyable read. It also hits the sweet spot between sexy romance novels and what real-life first loves that are full of miscommunication, insecurities, and dysfunction feel like.
Rated: 4.5/5 donuts
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
I bought this book over ten years ago & left it lying on my shelf gathering dust until 2020, when I finally picked it up courtesy of lockdown numero uno. A friend of mine who I admired at the time – was a huge fan of Bret Easton Ellis, and is the reason I originally purchased the book. But as far as entries into works by famous writers go, Lunar Park was a bit of an odd place to start with Bret Easton Ellis, who is most famous for American Psycho, and Less Than Zero. The book starts off as a mock memoir, before heading into psychological thriller/fantasy, which Ellis does best. It’s the feeling of living vicariously through a famous writer as he grapples with his life, addiction, family and fame that gets eerily real, even if you know that most of it is coming from the writer’s sentiments rather than factual happenings. However, as things slipped deeper into madness and psychological thriller my attention began to wane. I guess I’m 70% interested in the imaginary lives of the rich and famous, 30% interested in psycho thrillers and 100% interested in the lustful lives of fictional teenagers (waves at Normal People).
Rated: 3.5/5 donuts
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
I bought this book over ten years ago & left it lying on my shelf gathering dust until 2020, when I finally picked it up courtesy of lockdown numero uno. A friend of mine who I admired at the time – was a huge fan of Bret Easton Ellis, and is the reason I originally purchased the book. But as far as entries into works by famous writers go, Lunar Park was a bit of an odd place to start with Bret Easton Ellis, who is most famous for American Psycho, and Less Than Zero. The book starts off as a mock memoir, before heading into psychological thriller/fantasy, which Ellis does best. It’s the feeling of living vicariously through a famous writer as he grapples with his life, addiction, family and fame that gets eerily real, even if you know that most of it is coming from the writer’s sentiments rather than factual happenings. However, as things slipped deeper into madness and psychological thriller my attention began to wane. I guess I’m 70% interested in the imaginary lives of the rich and famous, 30% interested in psycho thrillers and 100% interested in the lustful lives of fictional teenagers (waves at Normal People).
Rated: 3.5/5 donuts
My Year of Rest And Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
I started 2021 with a book to match my mood: Dark, grieving, and in hibernation. My Year Of Rest and Relaxation is a story about a 20 something art student, living alone in NYC in the year 2000. The unnamed narrator is an only child and has just lost both of her parents. In order to cope, she decides that the best way to reset is by finding a terrible psychologist who will prescribe her all the prescription drugs she needs in order to be able to spend about 20 hours a day or more in sleep. It’s bleak. It’s weird. It’s a relatable craving we’ve all probably had at some point in our lives.
Rated: 4/5 donuts
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
A wonderfully observational book about an author who has just lost her best friend & muse to suicide. It’s another beautiful read about grief, friendship, nearly unraveling, and man’s best friend. A dog. A Great Dane who the main character inherits after her friend’s passing. She soon realizes that dealing with her own grief is one thing but dealing with the grief of a 90 pound dog, is a whole other ballpark. No pun intended.
Rated: 4/5 donuts
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
A wonderfully observational book about an author who has just lost her best friend & muse to suicide. It’s another beautiful read about grief, friendship, nearly unraveling, and man’s best friend. A dog. A Great Dane who the main character inherits after her friend’s passing. She soon realizes that dealing with her own grief is one thing but dealing with the grief of a 90 pound dog, is a whole other ballpark. No pun intended.
Rated: 4/5 donuts
Words by Marijana Jocic
