From quirky narrators to finding love at NASA to a celebrity tell-all

I have a little over 100 days left in my pregnancy, and while the days are long, the weeks are flying by. I can’t believe I’m almost 26 weeks pregnant and am feeling my little girl kick already! I’m excited to meet her, but there’s so much that still needs to be done.

Being back home and in a routine has given me a lot of time to read and write, and I’m feeling a renewed sense of purpose and joy in my work. I know life is going to be chaotic and busy once spring comes and even more so once we start our first international move (but not first overseas) move this summer. It’s becoming real that our time in Guam is coming to an end in about six months. I’m excited for this new chapter, especially for our growing family, but change is always hard.

Today, I’m giving my thoughts on four very different books. The first is a translated novella with a unique and engaging narrator. The second is a fluffy and romantic beach read set partially on Long Island. The third is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest book that blends STEM and slow-burn romance in an immersive setting. The fourth is a Hollywood memoir filled with trauma and overcoming adversity as a child performer. It’s a little something for everyone today!

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

This was the first book I read as part of the Island Girls Book Club I joined, and I’ve been so grateful for the opportunity to chat about reading and life with a group of other women. Since stepping back from working full-time as a teacher, I’ve enjoyed the flexibility and freedom my schedule has given me and the ability to readily say “yes” to writing opportunities. I have, however, missed the socialization that a more traditional job provides. I went from talking about reading and writing in front of teenagers all day and small talking with colleagues to spending much of the day by myself.

Convenience Store Woman is a Japanese novella that follows social misfit Keiko Furukura, who, despite being in her mid-thirties, is still working the same part-time job at a convenience store that she started when she was eighteen. Keiko’s narration lets us know quickly that she perceives and thinks about the world, the people around her, and herself far differently than her peers. Keiko is not officially given a diagnosis, but her struggles with social interactions, masking behavior, and comfort in routine and clearly established procedures indicate that she is on the autism spectrum.

Keiko is an exemplary employee, but her efficiency and success are all but meaningless to her peers and society because she “just” works at a convenience store. Society demands that she should strive for a competitive corporate job, find a husband, and have children. Her peers accept her excuses about her weak health that bar her from these typically expected milestones, and Keiko does her best to mimic the normality she believes those around her are displaying. Indeed, these mirroring acts feel disingenuous, unsettling, and downright creepy as Keiko’s voice and mannerisms disappear. We’ve all made changes to ourselves to better fit within a group, but Keiko’s extreme actions—wonderfully displayed in the audiobook narration—cause us to wonder what parts of ourselves we’ve compromised and at what cost.

Keiko’s quirky narration is compelling and keeps this character-driven story engaging while the plot subtly unfolds. Keiko makes the bold, reckless, and foolhardy choice to silence the society that questions and belittles her by living with and financially supporting a former coworker whose extreme views on relationships, women, and what he should be entitled to are tiresome, bothersome, and, honestly, disturbing. Shiraha sees himself as a victim because he isn’t an alpha male and feels an unjustified anger towards society for not accepting and supporting him. Meanwhile, he is a terrible employee, a misogynist, and a parasite whose greatest desire is to vanish from society and leech off someone else’s labor. Shiraha’s many rants feel straight off the more disturbing corners of the Internet and drag on and occur too often.

Murata excels at having readers introspectively question and reflect on when we have been too quick to judge, too elitist in our thinking, and too quick to conform to what we believe is ‘normal’ for the sake of appearing ‘normal.’ How many times have we thought and preached and bought into the idea that working in food service, retail, and other customer-serving roles is beneath us and is not a job fit for a successful and mature member of society? And yet, how many of us have felt frustrated by long lines, slow service, messy displays, and poor customer service? We are quick to say that these jobs don’t matter, but places like convenience stores are a necessary part of our society. Having worked in retail as my seasonal job through college, I can relate to Keiko’s satisfaction at a job well done and her comfort in being part of a store’s ecosystem. Yes, it was frustrating having to fold a mountain of shirts that I literally just organized or to answer questions that felt idiotic (no we cannot have any whales in this river on Long Island), but I loved the satisfaction of helping someone find something they were looking for or to sell out of an item or to finish counting and sorting inventory. It felt good to feel like each day I had accomplished something and had touched countless lives through a fleeting interaction while also knowing that the stakes were incredibly low. I was a part of a larger system that would move on in a moment without me, but I was also proud of the work that I did and could find comfort and importance within it.

Murata also appeals to all those moments in life in which we’ve felt like we weren’t enough and didn’t belong. Whether we want to believe it or not, we’ve all felt the pressure and expectations of what “they” think. Who are “they” anyway? We are part of the “they” of society that dictate blindly that success can only look like a certain set of criteria that are met on a certain timeline. We bow to these pressures, but we enable them by buying into them. There is no law that declares in no uncertain terms that a college degree and white-collar job and marriage and kids are the only sure path to success. We succumb to influencers telling us what to wear, what to eat, and who to vote for. We abandon pieces of ourselves and adopt the verbiage and mannerisms we see repeated over and over again on TikTok (if 6-7 doesn’t go away soon, I’m going to lose my mind). We hide our opinions and our interests and our passions for the sake of social approval. We dim our lights because we’re afraid of shining too brightly.

While Murata beats a dead horse at times with repetitive rants and the story is led far more by character than plot, Convenience Store Woman was a fascinating read that made me appreciate the power of a strong and distinct narrator. It’s the perfect book club choice because of how much discussion it sparks in a slim volume. If you plan to read this, I highly recommend the audiobook so you can more deeply appreciate Keiko’s unique voice.

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

On a much lighter and far less societal-questioning note, It’s a Love Story is a fluffy romance that feels cozy and straight out of Hallmark. Well, it’s not Christmas and there’s not a tree farm or bakery. But otherwise, it’s very Hallmark.

Jane Jackson wants to have a successful career in television as an executive and put her embarrassing past as the child actor treated like a cringey punchline far, far behind her. Jane is still awkward and struggles with her confidence, but she knows in her bones that the script she’s fallen in love with is the one. However, her boss is very confident that the script doesn’t have the “wow” factor and is about to reject the project when Jane recklessly promises that she can get an original song created by pop star Jack Quinlan because…they’re so close. Well, it’s not entirely a lie. They knew each other as adolescent performers, but while Jack’s star has risen to astronomic heights of fame and popularity, Jane has hidden in the background and hasn’t spoken to him in years.

In a desperate plea to find Jack and somehow convince him to help her, Jane teams up with her wildly attractive coworker, Dan, who she had written off as being arrogant. Dan’s loveable, welcoming, boisterous family just so happens to live on Long Island right by where Jack will be performing, so Jane travels home with Dan as his kind of, sort of, not really girlfriend just in time for Dan’s parents’ big anniversary celebrations.

Jane’s walls slowly crumble as Dan consistently proves that he is worthy of her love and that she is worthy of being loved. His family’s stability and consistent demonstrations of love show Jane the power of a good relationship and add to the overall coziness of the novel. It’s light, it’s summery, it’s wholesome; it’s exactly the kind of book you want in your beach bag. It’s not one of my top romance books and doesn’t have any scenes that have stuck with me as being particularly powerful or uniquely romantic, but it has genuine heart and the expected and beloved steps of any rom-com worth indulging in. My one complaint as someone who grew up on Long Island is that the setting doesn’t feel grounded in Suffolk County. It could have easily taken place in any beach town, and I wish there were more recognizable elements of home in it for me. It’s a small nitpick for an otherwise adorable and light read.

Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book gets major props for making me feel so attached that I cried at the ending. Well, we might be able to blame this on the powerful and unrivaled dual narration of Kristen Dimercurio and Julia Whelan. There’re chasms of difference between reading and performing, and those emotional scenes were most definitely a performance. We might also blame the pregnancy hormones. In the past few weeks, I’ve cried about wanting to eat tomatoes, my favorite contestant winning her round in Jeopardy, and how expensive tomatoes are in Guam. I really like tomatoes, okay?

Anyway, Atmosphere starts in media res when a catastrophic accident puts Vanessa Ford, an astronaut, in grave peril during her space mission. Safe on the surface, Joan Goodwin is all but helpless to try and save her. The story takes us back to Joan’s determination to join NASA and to redefine the narrative about who an astronaut could be in the 1980s. She works hard and has her eyes set firmly on the prize of making it to space while balancing her role as a makeshift mother for her niece. Her life and plans get complicated, however, by her increasingly undeniable and unshakeable feelings for her coworker, Vanessa. Joan and Vanessa have too much to lose professionally if anyone finds out about their relationship, but they have so much to lose personally if they ignore their hearts. Their relationship is publicly platonic and privately romantic, but they must navigate the perils of secrecy, the obligations of family and work, and the ambition that drove them to NASA in the first place.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is beloved for immersing readers into competitive worlds that existed a few decades before our own. She creates characters that are deeply flawed that we can’t help but follow, despite, in spite of, or because of their choices. I particularly like that Reid explores the “found family” element not only with Joan’s cohort of astronauts in training but also with her role as a stand-in mom for her niece, Frances. Frances’s storyline is heartbreaking and demonstrates the importance of presence and the ache that comes from being cast aside.

If you’re looking for a technical, scientific story that has gripping adventure and high stakes, you’ll want to watch Apollo 13. If you want a purely romantic novel about women in STEM trying to make their mark, read Ali Hazelwood. If you want both of those blended together—with a heavy emphasis on the love story (it is in the title, after all)—then you’ll find joy in this book. If I were to compare it to another of Reid’s work, I’d say it bears the greatest resemblance to Carrie Soto is Back. My favorite of hers remains Daisy Jones and the Six, and I’m aching for something that feels that fundamentally unique and immersive.

Semi-Well Adjusted Despite Literally Everything by Alyson Stoner

By now you know I love a memoir, especially when it’s narrated by the author. You know I’m reading for the drama, especially if it’s sharing insider industry secrets, and wow does Stoner deliver a powerful, heart-wrenching narrative about fame, trauma, and finding herself after years of stress, turmoil, disappointment, and relentless expectations and commitments.

While Stoner appeared to be a wildly successful actress with a stable career, she honestly recounts all of the ways her family and the industry betrayed and failed her. These external battles were only compounded by her internal battles with her physical appearance and religious OCD. By all accounts, seeing Stoner thrive as a mental health advocate today who has maturely reflected on the events of her life and organized a reflective and coherent narrative is a miracle. As an actress, Stoner understands the importance of voice in how a person will be perceived, and I was consistently impressed in how Stoner could capture her lowest moments with the same vividness that she captures her strength. She wants the world to know that the film industry, music industry, and her family all failed her, but she also wants you to understand that she is not defined and doomed by these events.

This memoir is on the heavier side and doesn’t flinch from the details of Stoner’s worst moments. She cautions readers to take a step back if they need to at the beginning of the novel, and you might find yourself needing to. She is not detailed or graphic or trauma dumping to be shocking. She is honest about a profession that the public has been warned time and time again has failed and harmed vulnerable youth. Growing up in the spotlight leaves many children feeling inadequate as they are pitted in constant competition and see diminishing opportunities as they grow from cute kids to awkward adolescents. Growing up in the spotlight means losing opportunities to receive a stable education, create lasting and genuine friendships, and engage in much needed rest. Growing up in the spotlight means being controlled by a team that cares more about profit than your physical, mental, and emotional well-being and sacrificing your health for the impossible standards that are demanded.

Stoner leaves us wondering what place children can and should have in the entertainment industry and how productions can do more to protect them from exploitation and abuse. We’ve seen memoirs and documentaries detailing the abuses suffered under Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, but what, if anything, will actually change? The Hollywood cycle of harm churns steadily onward.

---

Watching: I read Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation a couple of years ago and remember enjoying it. I’ve been watching the Netflix adaptation over the course of a few sittings, and I agree with other readers that it would have been a truer capturing of the source material if it was a mini-series rather than a movie. I’m always skeptical about casting for book adaptations, but I think Emily Bader absolutely captured the essence of Poppy. The film is sweet, the outfits are enviable, and the vibes reflect the book, but I wish we had more time with the characters and to linger on and develop the flashbacks.

Baking: We’re meeting up with one of Tom’s coworkers for a homemade brunch this weekend, and I’m really excited for the opportunity to practice my baking. I’ve only made cinnamon rolls once. It was six years ago, and I struggled with keeping the yeast alive. I found a recipe by America’s Test Kitchen that avoids the yeast, so I’m much more optimistic. I also plan to make Ina Garten’s buttermilk cheddar biscuits topped with sea salt. I made these once before for Tom, and they were delicious, but the recipe makes way too much for just the two of us.

Cooking: This week has been fairly straightforward in the kitchen. I made Love & Lemons’ peanut noodles, Tom’s mom’s recipe for chili, and Skinny Taste’s turkey Bahn mi bowls. I’m planning to make some canapes tomorrow to fancy up dinner a bit, and I have some steaks in the freezer I’m saving for a date night.

Listening: I’m listening to the House of Maher interview with Emily Henry, and it’s an enjoyable and wholesome discussion. There’re some humorous anecdotes, and it all feels so authentic and relatable.

Doing: I submitted two pieces for edits this week and have been working on some social media and newsletter writing for Rose Hill Heritage Farm 1630. My family has their first farmers market of 2026 this weekend, and I’m so sad to be missing another season. If you’re not already, you should follow them on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter! Without a lot of structure to my days right now and with my car rather thoroughly broken (it’s going to the shop on Monday—send me good vibes), self-imposed writing deadlines have helped to keep my mind busy. I thrive with creative and intellectual challenges to work through, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on with you soon!