The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading Cultish, nonfiction by Amanda Montell; the upcoming (to be published tomorrow) young adult story How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez; and I'm listening to Mean Baby, Selma Blair's memoir about life and multiple sclerosis.
What are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms?
01 Cultish: The Language of Fanatacism by Amanda Montell
In her nonfiction work Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell explores the language, power, and persuasion of cults, from Scientology to SoulCycle to Jonestown, and our collective fascination with them.
Montell suggests that cult-book readers, documentary-watchers, and those obsessed with cults are looking for explanations about what draws people to them.
Meanwhile, she uses a foundation of the social science of power and belief to explore out the many ways we are influenced, shaped, and affected by society and social media.
I'm reading Cultish for my book club.
02 How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez
In Cristina Fernandez's young adult book How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying), to be published tomorrow, our main protagonist Astrid is dating Max Martin, a nerdy boy she knew back in high school.
Astrid is always on time, always, whereas Max is always crashing in late for their dates and dashing off abruptly in the middle of their time together.
When a supervillain breaks into Astrid's apartment, she has to face facts: It really seems undeniable that Max...is a superhero.
How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a romantic story about coming into your own and being the hero of your own story--even if you don't happen to be superhuman.
I received a prepublication copy of this book courtesy of HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley.
03 Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up by Selma Blair
Long before she appeared in Cruel Intentions, well before Legally Blonde, and years before she was diagnosed with and became an advocate for those with multiple sclerosis, Selma Blair was a Mean Baby.
In her memoir, Blair takes the reader through her childhood, where she is steadily called Mean Baby--and she wonders if the name could possibly have been apt for a days-old baby, or if she grew to fit these expectations, biting a chunk out of her sister's back, lying for attention, and willing to go to great lengths to get her smart, emotionally unavailable, critical, passionate mother to show her love.
Selma digs into her lifelong haunting feeling that something dark was looming in her future, shares her reliance on alcohol and her experience with depression, lists her long-term, mysterious symptoms, and shares that her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, when it finally came, was something of a relief.
I'm listening to Mean Baby as an audiobook.
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