My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Author: Otessa Moshfegh

Authors come up with all sorts of strange premises to grab the attention of the reader. This one is off the charts. The main character is a privileged, rich adult who is in denial about her depression. She is fed up of society and socializing and so decides to just sleep in, every single day of the year. 

As I turned every page, I was curious to see how she could write an entire book with the main character sleeping or planning to sleep, and that is an amazing feat that only someone who has great writing chops can pull off.  Along the way you are treated with some dark humor, substance abuse, philosophy, psychology.

The book is a quick read and you'll probably either love it or hate it.

There There: A Novel

Author: Tommy Orange

This book was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2019 and won the American Book Award in the same year. With serious credentials like that there is no question that the book is beautifully written and an interesting read. It captures the trials and tribulations of present-day Native Americans living in Oakland, California. The book follows the lives of a dozen characters and explores what it means to be an urban Native American Indian in the US today. 

The book has an air of authority about all things Native American and it probably comes from the fact that the author, Tommy Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and was born and raised in Oakland, California.  This is his debut novel and judging by the reception in the media, it has been a huge success.

Small Fry: A Memoir

Author: Lisa Brennan-Jobs

This is a beautiful book that takes the reader through the early private life of Steve Jobs. Chrisann Brennan had a relationship with Steve Jobs in the seventies and Lisa Brennan-Jobs was born in 1978.  For many years, Steve denied paternity but finally accepted it in the eighties and developed a connection with her. This memoir explores the ups and downs of this relationship and provides a rare and unfiltered view into their world. 

One example is the story of how he bought her a car when she was a teenager.  Despite his immense wealth at the time, he insisted on buying her a used VW Beetle to teach her the importance of frugality and hard work. 

Another more painful example is the one where she confronts her father on the naming of the Apple Lisa computer. He insists that it stands for Local Integrated Software Architecture and denies her the joy of having a computer named after her. 

In the end, Steve leaves a considerable amount of money to Lisa and so hopefully all is good moving forwards!