★★★★★

Trust was one of my top-ranked books for 2022, and I’m republishing this review because it just won a Pulitzer. Congrats to Hernan Diaz!

It’s hard to describe this novel without giving away the thing that makes it so great. But here are a few clues: 1920s, finance, marriage, mental illness, high society, writing, WTF, and seriously WTF. In some ways, this book is straightforward with simple narration—easy to read, even! Yet, all the while, you never know what is real or whom to trust. I loved Trust, and when you read it I would like to discuss, please. This one definitely deserves a book club.

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“While grateful for it, he was suspicious of the American notion of freedom, which he viewed as a strict synonym of conformism, or, even worse, the mere possibility of choosing between different versions of the same product.”

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★★★★

I could never have imagined that a book about gaming and coding would hook me so completely. But it’s a love letter to creative process, collaboration, and story-telling—and I ate it right up. If you’re into creativity, you will enjoy this one. Creative nerd or not, you will find a beautiful story about relationships, chosen family, success, failure, and the many ways people make meaning from their suffering.

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“‘So what do I do?’ she asked. ‘You go back to work. You take advantage of the quiet time that failure allows you. You remind yourself that no one is paying any attention to you and it’s a perfect time for you to sit down in front of your computer and make another game. You try again. You fail better.”

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