Just the Right Book! is different than the other book subscriptions I’m reviewing this year in that a real life person actually picks a book out just for me – as opposed to picking out one book to go to all subscribers.
There are numerous subscriptions to choose from. I choose a 12-month softcover subscription, which cost me $240 and I filled out a fairly long and involved profile to indicate what genres, authors, etc. I’m interested in. You can read my past Just the Book! reviews to see how this subscription has worked out for me overall.
The book they chose for me in July was Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett. It looks like this is a well-known and beloved book that a lot of my Goodreads friends liked. I can’t say I joined them.
Described by some as a series of short stories, I’d describe it more as a series of rambling, relatively boring thoughts of a woman who lived in some type of coastal town. There were these little moments of humor and some metaphors I liked, but overall it all felt very academic and sort of structural versus . . . anything else? I’m not a person who needs a strong plot but I do like some character development or something going on. This was just like academic thoughts about shells and things.
Not my jam.
Rating: 2/10
Recommended for: Fans of experimental literature. People who want little tidbits of academic thought on inanimate objects.
Does it pass the Bechdel–Wallace test? N/A
Author of color / main character of color / female author / female main character: N / N / Y / Y
NOTE: This subscription has still only sent me books written by white people.
