Every year around the New Year I tell myself my only resolution for the New Year is to read more. I love reading, but every year I fail to make my goal no matter how much I try.
This year, I thought if I wrote a review for every book I read and then publicly shared it maybe I would be more motivated to make sure I’m reading every day and hitting my goals. This past year, I wanted to read a minimum of two books a month, and I have a stretch goal of four books a month.
Well, December was my last month to hit my challenge and finish up. Unfortunately, like most resolutions, I did not complete it. But, I did find that setting the resolution helped me become a more avid reader and not let large amounts of schoolwork bog me down. And there is always next year!
The last book I read in 2016 was Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler.Tess leaves her home and mundane Midwest life for New York City without knowing anyone or having any plan for once she gets there. Tess quickly finds a job at a restaurant and with the job she is thrown into a world she has never known. Soon she is learning the differences between wines, how to eat oysters, and making friends with people she never knew existed. And of course, the story would not be complete if there was not a mysterious bartender that Tess has her eye on.
I picked up this book around finals time hoping for a light, fun, beach read to counteract my heavy school material. What I was met with was a boring, cheap book with no real story. I did not feel that the book had any real plot to it and was bored with every character. Thankfully, the writing was decent, which kept the book from being completely unbearable, but it did feel like a waste of my time. And even though the writing was decent it still felt at time that it was trying too hard to be poetic, which gave the book the feeling that it was trying to be more than a beach read and failing miserably. Even though I was craving a “light read,” the lack of a real storyline made it something that did not balance out my heavy schoolwork.
Recently, I heard of the category of books called “airplane read,” which is a step below beach reads. It’s a book designed for you to just read it in one sitting (like on an airplane) but not serious in nature. If I was going to recommend reading this book I would recommend reading it as an “airplane read. ”2.5 stars.
Well that is it for 2016 reading! Make sure to check out all my reviews from 2016 and if you’ve read any of the same books let me know what you think. Maybe you really loved this book, so I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Also if you have any suggestions for 2017 reading, let me know that as well!
Image Credit: Goodreads