Behind the Stacks April 2025

Behind the Stacks has always been one of my favorite posts. I am always in the middle of more than one book at once (usually four or five). I just love the feeling of settling into different worlds whenever I want to. Its a privilege that a library card and a local bookstore has allotted me. Here are what I’m reading now

• Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley. This is a slow read so it’s my eating book. Meaning I only read it when I’m at the dinner table. I thought several times of giving up on it but a) I have this weird thing where once I start a book I feel obligated to finish b) I’m halfway done and I don’t want to throw away all that hard work. It’s about a girl whose life gets waylaid by two unexpected pregnancies. I don’t know, if I met Stella (the main character) I probably wouldn’t like her. Not because she had children out of wedlock with different fathers but because I find her pretentious. I think the point of the book (or at least what Tessa Hadley wants us to question) is if she is clever at all.

• The Women in Black by Madeline St. John. This is the book I’m reading with my mom. We have just finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (which was amazing. Highly recommend). A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was very emotional. It made us cry alot. The Women in Black, on the other hand, is kind of like a slice of life book. Its about four women working in a department store in Australia in the fifties. That actually sounds kind of fun but I’ve sworn myself off  retail unless absolutely necessary. 

• Opinions by Roxane Gay. Roxane Gay is also the author of Bad Feminist and Hunger which I want to read next. Opinions is a collection of her essays and columns on a variety of subjects such as abortion, police brutality and LGBTQ legislaiton. I went into the book knowing I would disagree with the author on a lot but I find it engaging and thought provoking. My opinions haven’t really changed but I think it’s good to listen to other people once in a while.

• Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. This was my pick for book club. As it sounds, several “final girls” (aka the last ones surviving a  horror movie) are in a support group together after almost getting killed. But then someone starts picking them off one by one. I have mixed feelings about this book. I like the twists and turns it takes. Maybe some people would say it’s predictable. I wouldn’t. It’s not the usual genre I read but neither was Parable of the Sower, the last book we read for book club. It’s important to broaden your horizons.

• Instamom by Chantel Guertin. This book is about an Instagram influencer living the good life. She doesn’t have children and she’s built her entire platform around not having children. Then she meets Will. Sexy Will. Helpful Will. Will who has a daughter. We know where this goes from there (talk about predictable) but I’m still enjoying the book. And debating becoming an influencer (just kidding).

• Secrets of Adulthood: Simple Truths for Our Complex Lives by Gretchen Rubin. Okay I haven’t actually started this book yet. It’s supposed to arrive in the mail today and I’m so excited. Gretchen Rubin, author of the Happiness Project, is one of my favorite authors. I am shoving all  the other books aside and just reading that. I’ll let you know how it is. And that is my voice from behind the stacks. 

Update: I finished the Gretchen Rubin book within an hour. It was only about 160 pages but I got alot out of it. And don’t be worried, I will share.