Rating:
4 stars

In a nutshell:
Ten years after the events of the first book, the kids are teenagers, their mothers are perimenopausal, and once again something has happened that has shaken up the town.

Best for:
Fans of Moriarty. Fans of the TV series (and who can forget the second season).

Quote that made me think:
“How was it that the woman always ended up in this position? Trying to meet the competing needs of every member of the family, undertaking the most complex and sensitive of diplomatic negotiations, and then, when they failed, which they inevitably did, the woman had to take the blame?”

Why I chose it:
I will basically always read a new Moriarty book. And I think this is her first sequel, and it mostly works.

Review:
First off – this is a sequel to the book Big Little Lies, NOT to the TV show. Moriarty is up front about this in the book’s forward, and talks about how Renata gets a bit more time in this book than the first given how excellent Laura Dern’s performance was in the TV series. But that is also one slight issue – I picture the actors now as the characters I guess that isn’t really a problem, but I did recognize that as soon as I started reading the book.

This time the flashbacks or flash forwards involve the 15 and 16 year old children who were five and six in the original book. They are speaking to a counselor, and we aren’t sure what about, other than that it is referred to as ‘D-Day.’ From there, we get point of view chapters from Madeleine, Celeste, and Jane. We also see Bonnie, and Renata, but they don’t have their own chapters. The focus is on the challenges of being the parents of teenagers, and the challenges of being teenagers as well.

Now that I’ve finished the book, I think I like it even more because while the plot eventually resolves in what I think is an unexpected way, the focus of the book is on women at a stage of life that can be immensely challenging. I am not part of the sandwich generation (because I don’t have kids), but I do know the feeling of concern for one’s partner, ones parents, and still trying to keep everything going. These women have (mostly) dealt with the events of the first book, but life throws other things at them, and they’re trying to sort that out.

As I said, I think the ‘incident’ that the book swirls around was surprising but not utterly absurd. I also appreciate the resolution of Jane’s storyline in this one, which I won’t spoil, but which I found satisfying. Also ,it took me awhile to get into this time, so if you can, I’d recommend setting aside some time and just digging in. I read the final two thirds of the book in basically one sitting and I think that took the book from a 3 or 3.5 to 4 stars for me,

Would I recommend it to its target audience:
Yes

Rating:
3 Stars

In a nutshell:
Author Stapleton shares the story of how Google forced her out in retaliation for trying to improve the workplace.

Best for:
Anyone who still thinks corporations might actually care about their employees. Anyone embarking on their journey of improving the workplace.

Quote that made me think:
N/A

Why I chose it:
My partner works in tech and is heavily involved in workplace organizing. Oh, the stories he could tell…

Review:
Before writing this, I checked out some of the reviews, and it’s interesting how many people jumped at the chance to minimize what Stapleton experienced. It’s fascinating how quickly people defend poor corporations from these ‘entitled’ people. A strong ‘suck it up’ ethos runs through many of the negative reviews, which is so disappointing and unimaginative. These folks just can’t bring themselves a different world, where it wasn’t okay to treat people like shit. Now, there is definitely a validity to those who are skeptical because Stapleton’s activism only appeared when she was the one being mistreated. But also … that’s kind of how life works for many privileged people? Like, it would be absolutely fantastic if we all sprung forth from the womb fully aware of injustice and recognizing that even if our lives are good, others need support. That we immediately recognized when we were being used by higher ups to fortify the status quo. And obviously some people just get it from the get go, usually due to having grown up in oppression. But obviously not everyone does (or at least not in the same ways), and if those of us interested in change try to push these folks out of the movement, nothing will get done.

Onto MY take on it …

This is not ‘Careless People’ for Google. And I think that’s a good thing. It’s not focused on the super high up people (though they are discussed), but instead focuses on the insidiousness of the culture of the corporate world – in this case, tech – and how using ‘positive’ jargon and ‘hip’ lingo convinced a lot of people that THIS corporate was somehow different. When in reality, it, like every other corporate office out there, just doesn’t care about the workers unless the workers do exactly what they want in service of making the most money regardless of the cost to society. The culture is pervasive, and it impacts the day to day work.

To be clear: Google is not, and I’d argue never was, this fantastic Utopian company. They certainly were better in the start – and Stapleton talks about what it was like in the beginning of her dozen years there – but they’ve always been interested in making the most money. It’s pretty obvious these days, when one can’t really use Google as a search engine anymore without facing a bullshit AI summary followed buy more AI slop.

Part of this book is memoir, and we learn about Stapleton’s youth, including losing her brother to an accident when they were both just starting out in the world. This obviously colors her life and focus, and her brother is mentioned often when she is facing a moral dilemma. But most of it is specifically about her twelve years at Google, and how she was moved around to teams, dealt with misogyny and bro culture, and after she organized a walk-out related to Google treated those accused of sexual harassment, she was retaliated against. The desperation of her higher ups in trying to frame it as anything other than that is so familiar. Just look at what is going on with Rockstar Games in Scotland right now – they fired over 30 people for union organizing, and then lied and said it was for breaking NDAs. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxvzwnerq0o). Companies will do anything and everything to keep workers in line, and then lie about it, and clearly Google is no different.

The book itself isn’t the most well-written, and the author clearly speaks of some of the past through the lenses of where she is now in life. But there are some good bits in here, and I think the book is worth reading.

Would I recommend it to its target audience:
Yes

4 Stars

Best for:
Fans of claustrophobic mysteries with possibly unreliable narrators and reasonable twists.

In a nutshell:
Abby works at in a town where seven people have gone missing in four separate incidents over the years. The sibling of the latest to disappear has arrived at the Inn where she works, and he has questions.

Worth quoting:
Nothing stood out.

Why I chose it:
When I was visiting my parents last month, my mother recommended this as something I’d like.

Review:
This was an interesting mystery. It had that small town feel that I enjoy in mysteries – much like the Icelandic books I’ve read, where everything takes place in one town, and where everyone knows everyone else’s business.

Abby works at the inn owned by her now-deceased uncle and his wife. She’s been there for ten years, so not a local. She arrived right around when someone went missing – the fifth, after a group of four guys went missing over a decade earlier. The town is right at the edge of the Appalachian trail, so the assumption is that everyone who has gone missing met their end from a fall on the trail.

But four months ago, a reporter came to town, looking into the six disappearances. Then he went missing, and now his brother has shown up at the inn, wanting answers.

The author does a great job of holding back information without it being silly once it is revealed – nothing is truly out of the blue. She also plays around a bit with the narrator – is she reliable, is she telling us everything she knows? The author also creates a very specific feeling with the town and its inhabitants – how some people can never be considered a ‘local’ no matter how long they live there, how people can close ranks to protect their own, how some are always suspicious of others.

I enjoyed this one enough to seek out other books by the author – just downloaded one to read this week.

Four Stars

Best for:
Anyone wanting a beautiful bit of writing that isn’t about a plot so much as a feeling.

In a nutshell:
A day in the life of four astronauts and two cosmonauts as they orbit the earth 16 times.

Worth quoting:
“We find out about our own unspecialness and in a flush of innocence we feel quite glad – if we’re not special then we might not be alone.”

“We think we’re the wind, but we’re just the leaf.”

Why I chose it:
This was a birthday present from my partner, who clearly knows me well.

Review:
Like many people, occasionally I’ll have a moment where I think about the vastness of space and how I don’t understand it. It nearly takes my breath away when I really contemplate it. At the same time, I would love to spend a few days in space, to view Earth and the cosmos from high above.

This book isn’t plot driven – at the risk of spoiling it, there is not unexpected incident putting the six space travelers at risk. We learn a bit about each of their lives – one has just lost her mother (and will in fact miss her funeral while up in space), others have partners, children. What motivated them to want to be sealed in a tiny can circling the Earth sixteen times each day. How they feel now that they are in space. And that is a bit part of the book.

But most of the book is about Earth – what is going on, how humans relate to each other on it, how it appears from above, how it fits into the universe. The writing is beautiful but not overly flowery. It invokes a mood – for me it was a mixture of calmness, overall peace, and also curiosity. It’s a fairly short novel, but it’s clear why it won the Booker Prize in 2024. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit different.

I remember the first time I was on a flight where peanuts weren’t serve, and flight attendants asked all passengers to avoid consuming any peanut products they brought on board with them. This was because someone on the flight had a severe peanut allergy, and that is a particularly scary allergy. As someone who grew up being able to eat pretty much anything, I hadn’t had to think much about this. But I didn’t complain or anything; when I spent a second considering the request, it made perfect sense.

But avoiding bringing any food allergens out in public ever? As far as I can tell that isn’t just unnecessary, it’s unreasonable. Yes, some allergens are severe, but while the rest of us shouldn’t go around smearing peanut butter all over the slides at the park, it’s really up to the parent (or the child as they get older) to be aware of the food being consumed and their overall environment. That might mean wiping down public spaces before letting their child play on them, or bringing their own treats to events. That seems like a bummer, but so many allergens are present in most foods people consume, and it’s unreasonable to request that no one eat pizza (dairy, wheat) or a breakfast burrito (eggs, dairy, wheat) on a bench in Central Park because a toddler might come along and put some of the crumbs in their mouth.

That said, in the case of young children, I see the value in restricting foods that they can bring into the classrooms and cafeterias. Kids — especially younger ones — might not understand the seriousness of a peanut allergy and will want to share the dangerous food with their friends. For me, this means that the danger posed by the sandwich is greater than the inconvenience of a parent not being able to send peanut butter sandwiches in their child’s lunch. I also think it’s reasonable to ask that hosts not have such severe allergens at birthday parties and similar events if a child with an allergy is going to be present.

So, where does that leave us? Should people with allergies just not go out in public? Should parents of kids with severe allergies put them in a bubble? No. Of course not. But they can’t assume no one else will ever eat a candy bar or a seafood sandwich in their general vicinity, and they need to accept that reality. I’d imagine it sucks to have to be so vigilant all the time, but sometimes that’s how life works out.

At the same time, those of us without allergies can still be thoughtful. Avoid consuming the allergens that are most likely to cause severe reactions around people with allergies or around strangers who are essentially captive audiences. This doesn’t mean you can’t chow down on a Snickers at the park; it means don’t pull out some peanuts on the bus and then wipe your hands all over the seat and rail.