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I had heard of Riley Sager from some BookTubers I follow but I had never read any of his books. Like most authors, Sager gets mixed reviews. Some love his work, while others think he should stop writing. A BookTuber I love agrees with the latter and I usually like her recommendations. So, I thought I wouldn’t particularly enjoy his books but I was also intrigued.

‘The House Across the Lake’ is Sager’s latest thriller. His other works include ‘Final Girls’, ‘The Last Time I Lied’, ‘Lock Every Door’, ‘Home Before Dark’, and ‘Survive the Night’. A year ago, paperbackdreams, whom I follow on YouTube, posted a five-minute video, ranting about how terrible Survive the Night was. Apparently, it shouldn’t have been written. She says Sager comes up with great premises. Reading the blurb makes you want to pick up the books. But his stories, she says, always fall short.

I started reading The House Across the Lake with mixed feelings. I wanted to enjoy it but I thought I wouldn’t like it. I was surprised to find myself breezing through it. The writing wasn’t that great but the story was captivating. I didn’t see the twist coming at all. It blew my mind.

The story follows Casey Fletcher, a widow who is forced to retreat from her stressful life at her family’s tranquil lake house. Following the tragic death of her husband, she finds herself taking solace in glasses of bourbon. One day, she saves one of her neighbors from drowning in the same lake her husband had died in. Then, out of curiosity, boredom, or just nosiness, she starts spying on them. She tells herself she feels responsible for Katherine, having saved her life once.

Casey notices Katherine seems to be a little out of sorts. She believes her husband Tom might have something to do with it. Katherine too drops little hints that she isn’t happy with Tom.

Then Katherine disappears and Casey thinks Tom had something to do with it. Is something sinister going on? Or is her alcohol-addled mind playing tricks on her? The deeper Casey digs, the more complex things seem to be. But can we trust Casey?

I admit I had fun while reading the book. It was by no means the best thriller I had read but I also stayed up half the night to finish it. I had to know what was going on. Sager throws a curveball three-forth into the book and I literally put the book down to process what had just happened. I’m still undecided about whether I like that twist but I would definitely recommend The House Across the Lake to anyone who wants a spooky read.

Thriller

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58909880-the-house-across-the-lake  

The House Across the Lake

Riley Sager

Published: 2022

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Pages: 349, Paperback

I’ve once been scolded by a relative for saying I didn’t want children, at least not yet. She told me I was not doing ‘what I was meant to do’ and depriving my parents of the right to be grandparents. She said children would complete me, and that not having them was out of the question. I shouldn’t even be thinking such horrid thoughts.

Fast forward a few years and a miscarriage later, I still don’t have a strong maternal urge to have children. If it happens, fine, but I don’t think I will feel empty and incomplete if I don’t. In our society, having children is made out to be such a natural progression of life that you are almost looked down on if you aren’t pregnant within a couple of years of marriage.

But what’s also true is that many women are choosing to have children later in life—in their 30s and even 40s—or at least wait a few years after getting married. They want to be financially secure before being responsible for a baby. Some want to focus on their careers for a while. They believe having a baby will slow their progress and shift their priorities and they don’t want that at the moment. I also have a couple of friends who don’t want children. While all this is normal, our society doesn’t think so and women who deviate from the norm are considered misfits and lectured.

Emma Gannon’s debut novel ‘Olive’ explores this very theme. The protagonist, Olive, doesn’t want to have children. She’s never wanted them and now that she’s in her 30s she’s even more certain of it. Her best friends are having babies or trying to conceive but “that doesn’t make her ovaries twitch”. She breakups with her boyfriend of nine years when he suggests they might want to start a family. But she feels her friends—Cecily, Bea, and Isla—are moving on without her. They are no longer as accessible as they were before they were parents or were trying for a pregnancy.

Olive is a thought-provoking read that explores motherhood, fertility, female friendships, relationships, and what it means to be true to yourself when everyone around you wants you to conform. I just wish Gannon had been a little more empathetic in her writing. Very often the characters come across as selfish and annoying. Some topics like veganism and infidelity are discussed so lightly that the tone is almost mocking. Something feels a little off but the story isn’t one that you come across regularly so you might want to overlook the little niggles.

Fiction

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/52928287 

Olive

Emma Gannon

Published: 2020

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 409, Paperback

‘I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki’ by Baek Sehee is less than 200 pages long. The chapters are short too. You will be able to read it in a single sitting. But you won’t be done with the book so soon. You will want to keep rereading passages and dipping in and out. I’m not someone who likes to underline and write in her books but my copy of ‘I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki’ is filled with scribbles and notes. I wanted to be reminded of some things over and over again.

Part memoir, part self-help, the book is a record of the therapy the author received for dysthymia, or persistent depressive disorder (a state of constant, light depression). Written by a young woman who is struggling through life, caught in a web of mood swings and ups and downs, the book is highly relatable and discusses fairly common issues like low self-esteem, jealousy, anger, etc. It also highlights how social media and society put pressure on us to conform—look a certain way, behave a certain way, etc—and how that can have a detrimental effect on our mental health.

Baek Sehee decided to open up her sessions to the world by writing a book because she wanted others who were going through the same problem as hers to know that they weren’t alone. Early on, in the introduction, she admits that the next book she writes might not be as honest but she will try to do everything she can to help those going through mental health issues.

Baek Sehee’s book quickly became a Korean bestseller. It was even recommended by a BTS member. Mental health problems are highly stigmatized in Korean society, despite highly stressful work and social environment being a leading cause of suicides among youths. This book sheds light on what it’s like living with mental health issues and how getting help can prevent problems from escalating. I Want to Die But ‘I Want to Eat Tteokbokki’ is an insightful and eye-opening take on the importance of acknowledging mental health conditions as any other health problem and how therapy can be a boon.

Memoir

I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki

Baek Sehee

Translated into English by Anton Hur

Published: 2018

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 194, Paperback

‘Counterfeit’ by Kirstin Chen could very well be made into a movie. It reads like one. Maybe it’s already being adapted for the screen as the book was Reese Witherspoon’s book club pick in June last year. It’s basically about complicated friendships and fake handbags and it’s really fun. Counterfeit will remind you of ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ both of which are highly enjoyable books and movies. 

The story is narrated in the first person by Ava. She meets an old friend, Winnie, who used to be her roommate during her freshman year of college. Winnie had disappeared under mysterious circumstances—pulled out of college after roughly six months. Now, she’s back and she runs a successful business. The catch is it’s not entirely legal. High-end luxury handbags are bought and then ‘superfakes’ (top-quality fakes) are returned in their place. The originals are then sold at slightly cheaper prices than their retail values. The scam is highly profitable but Winnie needs help with it. 

Ava is reluctant to help out at first but then she’s bored of being a stay-at-home mother. Despite having been a highly-paid lawyer, she enjoyed going on extended maternity leave because she secretly hates her job. Now, she wants some change in life. After an incident where she finds herself broke and alone in Hong Kong (her husband cuts her access to their joint bank account), she is forced to join Winnie. We find out about Winnie’s business as Ava tells the story to a detective. Winne has vanished and Ava claims to be the victim. We also hear Winnie’s side of the story in the second half of the book. Who is telling the truth? And what is really going on? These are the questions that compel you to keep turning the pages. 

Counterfeit is original and fresh. I hadn’t read anything like it before. It’s a fairly quick and easy read given the captivating plot. If you ask me, reading it is a great way to spend your Saturday afternoon.

Four stars

Counterfeit

Kirstin Chen

Published: 2022

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 274, Paperback

If you plan to read one book this summer, please let it be ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ by Bonnie Garmus. It’s such a delight. You will laugh. You will cry. You will jump with joy. You will vow to live life on your own terms and be you, unabashedly so. I absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. A couple of times, I even hugged it while going to bed. It just made me feel so good and positive about life.

Studded with a dazzling cast, ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ is set in the early 1960s when women scientists were unheard of. Elizabeth Zott is a chemist but she’s not your ‘average woman’. In fact, Elizabeth believes there is no such thing as an average woman.

But the place she works at—the Hastings Research Institute—doesn’t believe in equality. Her boss makes life extremely difficult for her. However, hope comes in the form of the brilliant Nobel-Prize-nominated scientist Calvin Evans who, like her, doesn’t think gender has anything to do with how smart you are. The two fall in love and their relationship isn’t your ‘average’ relationship. It’s a coming together of two great minds.

But life is unpredictable and Elizabeth ends up as a single mother and a reluctant star of a cooking show, Supper at Six. She doesn’t just tell you to put salt and vinegar. It’s sodium chloride and acetic acid, much to the chagrin of the producers who tell her she must be more ladylike. Her viewers think otherwise. They love the show and feel empowered by the way Elizabeth tells them to take charge of their lives while teaching them to cook delicious dishes. This infuriates men and even certain women who believe women have a dutiful place in society and shouldn’t challenge the norms.

‘Lessons in Chemistry’, which is about an exceptional woman struggling to make her place in a man’s world, is basically an exploration of gender discrimination. But it’s also about the essence of love and how your passion—towards work and life—can save you from the depths of despair.

Fiction

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57684325-lessons-in-chemistry 

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus

Published: 2022

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Pages: 390, Paperback

A couple of years ago, I read ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ by Iain Reid despite having watched its movie adaptation and not liking it very much. A story about an unnamed woman dating a dullish man called Jake for about six weeks when the two decide to go visit Jake’s parents, it was dark and creepy. I had bought the book because I had fallen in love with the cover but I actually ended up enjoying it quite a bit. 

So, I was excited to stumble upon another book by the author. ‘We Spread’ is a recent release—it came out last year. I’m Thinking of Ending Things was dialogue driven, ‘We Spread’  a lot less so. But despite the different writing styles, Reid knows how to captivate his readers. 

‘We Spread’  is a story of a widow who finds herself at a strange care home where time seems to pass quickly. At the beginning of the story, Penny lives alone in an apartment that she shared with her husband for many years. But she falls and injures herself when trying to change a lightbulb and finds herself being taken to a private care facility, Six Cedars, when she regains consciousness. Apparently, her husband had made the arrangements for her years ago. Her memory is failing her, so she can’t remember agreeing to it. 

Initially, she’s skeptical and wants to move back into her apartment. She thinks she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But she slowly starts to adjust to life at the facility—she has people her own age to talk to and isn’t lonely anymore. The facility’s manager, Shelly, claims she has a background in science that makes it possible for her to provide top-notch care for older people. She seems to really care about Six Cedar’s six residents. But something feels off to Penny and she starts wondering if Shelly’s motives are actually driven by something sinister. 

‘We Spread’  is a quick read. The chapters are short, some just a page long. But its message about identity and aging makes you want to slow down and take your time. I have to admit it’s not an easy book. There were times when I had to pause and ponder over what I had just read or go back a couple of pages to make sense of things. The book is dedicated to Reid’s grandmother, who died in a care facility when she was 101, after having lived there for two years. Despite its horror backdrop, ‘We Spread’  is an important story that looks at how society marginalizes older people, and how aging is viewed with disdain and distrust.

Three-and-a-half stars

Fiction

We Spread

Iain Reid

Published: 2022

Publisher: Scribner

Pages: 287, Paperback

I had been looking for ‘In My Dreams I Hold a Knife’ ever since I first heard about it but I only recently got my hands on a copy. The book, I believe, lives up to the hype it received on Good Reads and BookTube—it has a 3.91 rating on Good Reads and so many BookTubers rave about it, calling it one of their best reads of 2021. It has suspense, intrigue, and drama, and the story unfolds beautifully, creating a tense environment you can’t (or don’t want to) escape. About six friends who meet during a college reunion 10 years after graduation, the narrative of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife alternates between the past and the present, which makes the story even more compelling. Winstead’s debut novel is an engrossing tale of love, lust, obsession, and murder, set against a fascinating backdrop of an elite university. 10 years ago, Jessica Miller and her friends, a group known as the ‘East House Seven’, suffered a horrific tragedy when one of their own was brutally murdered in her dorm room. Heather Shelby was stabbed to death while she was sleeping. The incident brought some of them closer but also tore others apart. Now, Jessica is returning to Duquette University and she wants to prove to her classmates that despite what happened, she has managed to do well in life. But Heather’s brother is determined to figure out what happened to his sister and has plans of his own for Jessica and her friends. I found the characters to be interesting, albeit a bit whiny and thus unlikable. Jessica feels like a central character but the others don’t seem like side characters either. Everyone seems integral to the story. It’s also interesting to see the story unfold from different perspectives. For a while, you walk in someone else’s shoes, and see things through someone else’s eyes and it’s fascinating. The good thing about the plot is that you can’t make up your mind about what might have happened. Just when you think things must have gone a certain way, something happens to make you doubt your thoughts. You will either love or hate ‘In My Dreams I Hold a Knife’ depending on what you are looking for or want from a story. If you are just looking for some suspense-filled time, you are in for a treat. But if a relatable story is what you want when you pick up a book, this might not be for you. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/50485649 Three and a half stars In My Dreams I Hold a Knife Ashley Winstead Published: 2021 Publisher: Source Books Pages: 326, Paperback

It’s hot, and that’s an understatement. I have been oscillating between wanting to take a long nap or perpetually immerse myself in a pool. But I must work to survive so that hasn’t been possible. So, I’m looking forward to the weekend when I can lounge around in a kaftan, sip on some cold coffee, the glass clinking with ice, and perhaps read a book uninterrupted. I want distraction and I have some good books in mind. Here are three summer reads that will take your mind off the scorching heat. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry The first time Poppy meets Alex she never wants to see him again. But as all great love stories go, they soon become friends and develop feelings for each other. Fast forward more than a decade later and Poppy is a travel journalist in New York and Alex is a teacher in their Ohio hometown. Despite being in separate places, the two have managed to reunite every summer for 10 years for a grand vacation. But they haven’t done so in two years, since their trip to Croatia when something happened. Poppy misses Alex and convinces him to join her for one more trip to save their friendship. ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ has the cliché friends-to-lovers trope but it’s a fun read because of Henry’s witty writing style.  The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Olive has never liked Ethan, the brother of her sister’s fiancé. So, when everyone, except her and Ethan, gets food poisoning at her sister’s wedding, she finds herself with quite the dilemma – pose as her twin sister and go on the all-expenses-paid honeymoon to Hawaii with Ethan or let her archenemy go on his own. Ethan and Olive agree to act like a newlywed couple to avoid charges of fraud, but it doesn’t take long for them to actually start having feelings for each other. ‘The Unhoneymooners’ is a cute rom-com that will often have you in splits. The banter between Olive and Ethan is hilarious and endearing at the same time.  The Duke & I by Julia Quinn ‘The Duke and I’ is the first book in the Bridgerton series. Daphne Bridgerton is the eldest daughter of the Viscount, but the fourth of her eight siblings. Despite knowing most of the young eligible gentlemen in London, she is unable to get in a relationship with anyone. Her eldest brother’s best friend, Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, has no interest in marriage or what the society has to say. The duo decides to fake a courtship. This way Daphne can be viewed as desirable, and Simon can avoid all the mothers who are pushing their daughters at him. It sounds like a great plan, but what they never factor in is that they might fall in love. Read the book for the fun banter and superb historical references and scenes.