Two Short Books That Pack a Big Punch

One will make you unplug your smart devices. The other will make you buy the good jam.

In the past week, I’ve had the rare experience (at least for me lately) of reading two books that were both one-sitting reads. It helps that they were short, but the bigger help was that they were both propulsive and completely absorbing (in very different ways.)

A tough but touching novella

What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella (Amazon | Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)

Okay, so, we’ve talked about how I don’t read about certain things/subjects. However, last week, I broke that rule when I loved a book that happened to have a bug scene in it. Apparently, I’m in a mood to break my own rules because my number one thing I don’t read is books with a cancer storyline—and this book is literally about that.

This was not my planned read. I was trying to read something else and it just wasn’t holding my attention, so I opened up the Kindle app on my phone and started scrolling. I had heard this book was fiction but that really it was autobiographical at its core because Sophie Kinsella has been dealing with a medical diagnosis. I don’t think I’d heard that it was cancer.

So, I opened it up on my phone to sample the opening pages. Note: I never read a book on my phone. The screen is too small and I have a Kindle and I just don’t. Well, forty-five minutes later or however long it took, I finished reading this on my phone. I was drawn in by the story and the writing style from the jump.

This novella opens with Eve, a novelist who has just gotten a great idea for a book. The book idea strongly resembles Kinsella’s breakout book Confessions of a Shopaholic. The story quickly fast-forwards through all the success it brings her (movie deals, premiere parties, etc.), then suddenly Eve wakes up in a hospital with huge holes in her memory—including how she got there, what certain words are, who she was before. She’s had surgery for a brain tumor. What follows is Eve, her husband, and five kids dealing with the diagnosis.

I’m not going to lie. This is a tough read because you know the author is going through this herself. The cancer is incurable. She is having to face heartbreaking realities. But Kinsella offers such insight and little moments of hope that I am thankful I read it.

For instance, when her husband asks about bucket list items she wants to tackle, she realizes that she just wants “home life plus” not elaborate travel or sky diving. She wants to get the good theatre tickets. She wants to buy the fancy marmalade.

So that’s what I took away from this. Appreciate all the little things in your day-to-day. And buy the good jam.

If you’re not sure about this one, just give the opening pages a try to see if it connects for you.

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A 5-star read that confirmed I don’t want Alexa or Siri running my house

William by Mason Coile (Amazon | Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)

Y’all. This book. I’m not easily scared by fiction, but this book got me. I am already averse to AI stuff. I unplugged my Alexa smart device years ago and have Siri turned off on my phone because just the idea that something is always listening freaks me out. (I grew up watching movies with villains like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey and the T-1000 in Terminator 2. I don’t want a sentient robot, thank you very much.) So this book was aiming straight at that fear.

Henry is a robotics engineer who is feeling some distance between him and his pregnant wife, Lily. He loves her deeply, but he knows he’s not the easiest to love back. He’s agoraphobic and can’t walk outside their house without panicking. Also, he spends most of his time in the attic working on William, an AI robot that he hasn’t let Lily see yet.

One day, Lily has invited two co-workers over for brunch so that they can meet Henry and see the house (which has all the smartest of smart home tech.) Henry is nervous because they never have people over and he hasn’t met these two. But when they arrive, he decides to show all of them William. But William has developed some ideas of his own and he’s figured out how to access the smart house systems…including the locks.

This is horror done right. I was creeped out from the start, a little disoriented, and completely compelled to turn the pages. (I even downloaded the audiobook from the library so I could continue reading when I had to drive the dog to the vet yesterday for a vaccine, lol.) And the ending was…well, you’ll have to find out. :)

DO NOT READ REVIEWS. This is a short book (a little over 200 pages) and a lot of reviews give too much away and can spoil some great plot points. So, if what I’ve said interests you, just jump in!

And maybe turn off your smart devices while you’re reading.

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Have you read either of these? I’d love to hear what you’re reading this week. Let me know in the comments!

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