How do you discover the next book to read? For me, I look at my to-be-read pile teetering on the edge of my desk or my written list and choose from there, but the pile and list have origin stories as well.
I read the New York Times Book Review every Sunday and receive the NYT Book Briefing newsletter and newsletters from several bookstores. Fellow readers who I trust make recommendations. Sometimes I’ll nab an interesting book someone left in my Little Free Library.
But mostly there is Goodreads, where I’ve acquired a bunch of reading friends who write book reviews that show up in my feed. Who knows how I’ve found some of these connections. There is one digital friend, portmanteau of Switterbug, who writes some of the best book reviews I’ve ever come across, whose taste in novels is complementary to mine, and who seems to post several reviews a week.
Because Switterbug’s reviews have turned me on to so many exceptional books (GREAT CIRCLE, LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS . . . ), I visited her page on Goodreads to see what other books she’s reviewed that I might have missed.
I’m scrolling through and I come across Switterbug’s review of STASH. 5 stars!
The money quote from the review kind of made my day, on a day that needed some making:
The denouement was tidy on one front, luridly messy on another. Klein doesn’t tarnish it by creating a sea change in his characters or laying on a heavy-handed, disingenuous morality. The final and anticlimactic scene was authentic and arch, and I admire the author for his audacious and honest story.
Thank you, Switterbug, for the thoughtful and glowing review. If you haven’t read or reviewed STASH yet, you still can. You might really enjoy the novel. Don’t take it from me, take it from Switterbug.
