Saturday, July 6, 2019

Daisy Jones & the Six

by Taylor Jenkins Reid
June 9-July2, 2019

Documentary style – following a rock band through the height of their career – a super fun premise for a novel that kept it quick-reading and initially half-doubting if it was indeed true or not (did this band actually exist??). The problem is that the further I read, the more cheesy it became, with a lot of "of course" moments in the end. Think of every stereotypical impression people have of rock bands and it's in here – sex and drugs at the top of the list, "of course."

The band is also supposed to be loosely based on my all-time favorite, Fleetwood Mac. However, if you know anything about them, it doesn't really come close. The similarities boil down to one – a  band that rose to stardom in the 70s. The number of band members isn't even the same! FM didn't break up after Rumors! And Daisy as Stevie is a major NO. Not only did their lives not align even fictionally, but Daisy was desperate, pathetic and needy.

The last pages of the book served as a dust jacket of sorts, with all the song lyrics written out. Talk about cheesy! I found this to be a bit indulgent on the author's part, and honestly, just filler. I skimmed the lyrics at best. I don't see how this furthered the story in the least. Perhaps I'm being harsh, but I expect a lot of my book choices. In the end it was still fun, just missed the mark of being fun and great.

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Sunday, June 16, 2019

The Altruists

by Andrew Ridker
May 18-June 9, 2019

Obviously the title is as ironic as it gets, because these people sucked. And that is about as much feeling as I can muster for this book. I'm completely indifferent about the plot and I'm just glad to be finished with it. The story lagged, was not funny (as it claimed to be) and generally fell flat.
Like a comatose patient with no DNR, his sedate lifestyle required a steady drip of funds.
A little indulgent, no? I also may or may not have choked on my wine when I found out the author was born while I was in college. So I suppose I can give him a break on his debut and hope that he succeeds in the future. But this book is utterly forgettable with zero impact.

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