H1 Reading KPIs
JUMP SCARE it's Floor Time cosplaying as a corporate Friday email—ARE YOU AFRAID.
Floor Time
/flôr tīm/
noun
the 15-60 minute time period spent laying on the floor in the middle of the work day, typically as a relief from the soul-sucking reality of corporate America.
The end of H1 is upon us. We made it fam. Though I admittedly have been in a reading funk since the start of 2023, my ambitious goal of 70 books this year means I gotta stay accountable by sharing the reads with the team (you’re the team).
One thing I’ll say is: this half’s selection has been LACKLUSTER, so we’ll be trying to remedy that in H2. It’s becoming more and more difficult for me to read books that I’m not in the mood for, or finish books that are just…bad. That said, I’ve gotten through a few decent reads that I think warrant sharing my whole list. Hopefully by Q3 I’ll be back on the pace of my reading challenge (Goodreads loves to remind me that I’m simply…not), but for now, here are a handful of reads to both check out and stay very far away from *cough Spare cough*.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
So far this is the best book I’ve read this year. It’s the happiest I’ve ever felt while experiencing an existential crisis (and I experience a lot of them 🤪). The writing is stunning—many sentences gave me chills and I did that main-character-energy thing where I paused on the page, looked up into the ether, and went, “whoa.” It also has one of the most satisfying time loops. I imagine this is what Christopher Nolan was trying but failed to achieve with Tenet. I said what I said!
NSFW by Isabel Kaplan (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The first half of the book was fun, witty, and made me giggle. The second half incited corporate anxiety and also was pretty triggering in regards to mother/daughter dynamics and sexual assault/#MeToo. Read with care.
Spare by Prince Harry (⭐️⭐️)
L o L. I really don’t know why I thought I could read this. He is an extremely cringe human and honestly, if you’ve watched the documentary series about him and Meghan on Netflix, you can be done. Without her1, he’s so boring.
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (⭐️⭐️)
Goodness gracious was this overhyped by the book world. I feel like this book wanted so badly to be clever and different and it was so very meh. The “twist”—if you can even call it that—evoked no reaction from me, and it’s supposed to be a thriller/mystery! Come on!!!
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Carley’s other book, Every Summer After, is basically The Summer I Turned Pretty but with and for adults. Meet Me was super easy to get through, acted as a love letter to Toronto, and overall was a solid summer beach read pick. That said, the last chapter got it demoted from a higher star rating—everything was too buttoned up and hunky dory. But I guess if you’re into that sort of thing…
Once More with Feeling by Elissa Sussman(⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
FUN! If you’re into film and musical theatre, this nerdy book is for you. Elissa also wrote Funny You Should Ask, a book allegedly based on the viral 2011 Chris Evans interview, which was also a fun and easy read. Again, nothing spectacular happening here in terms of story and writing, but it’s a fun beach read and I would definitely recommend it.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Lived up to all the hype. I’ve seen the movie already (who hasn’t), and this is one of those rare cases where both the book and film are phenomenal. What an excellent, sociopathic tale.
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
As you know, I am glacially making my way through the series. And don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s got more of a plot than ACOTAR. That said, I am currently in the throws of book three, Heir of Fire, and I strongly feel that there is not enough smut. Give us what we want, Sarah!!!
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Loyal Floor Time readers will remember that the Atlas Six was my favorite read of last year. Alone With You is very different, and I stand by it being one of the most elite love stories I’ve read—it’s not like anything you’ve probably read before. That’s hard to do.
Armada by Ernest Cline (⭐️⭐️)
Ugh, so. Loyal Floor Time readers will also know that Ready Player One is one of my favorite books of all time. That said, my man Ernest really let me down with this one. It was a massive disappointment. The tone of the writing was recognizable, but everything else felt like reading material by a different author. The exposition itself was 2/3 of the book, and the last third was thrown together messily. The eventual “reveal” was so dissatisfying that I was sour that I stuck it out to the end.
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.8)
This is like the ultimate thesis on what love really is and why we as a society classify it wrong. Her POV is daring and different and it is definitely worth a read.
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Another STEM romance from our girl Ali. Fun, easy, pretty much the same as all the others ha. It gets five stars because she somehow incorporates so much accurate science (Ali is literally a neuroscientist by trade) into page-turner beach reads that you devour in a day.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Just a book that is written so beautifully. Any review I could come up with would be insufficient.
Read anything good lately? Let me know and I’ll add it to my Q3 list :)
Something Pretty
The little gremlin (Klausifer) and I are going camping this holiday weekend! I have visions that it will look something like this, if I can get him to go in the water…credit to Places We Swim (I LOVE THEM) for this awesome capture.
Something To Laugh About
Some good gems this week:
How did the internet get this footage of me as a kid!?
Not her needing to use Jimothy’s full ass name for this.
This woman has recently started showing up on my fyp and has rapidly become my new favorite person.
Listen, I’ve been preaching #RGS since 2019 and finally people are getting on board. See this.
Have a great long weekend! I’m celebrating Klüs’ third birthday (!!!) with a bunch of Canadians on American Independence Day2, so that’s confusing and wonderful and hopefully chaotic!
Til’ next time, team. Your friend,
Clarice
By the way…I’m reading this.
I read SO much last week—and now I’m moving to The Idiot by Elif Batuman, and I get the sense it’s going to be cringey and triggering and I’m excited 😊
Perhaps with her too, idk.
They’ll be upset if I don’t mention that it is also Canada Day tomorrow so the long weekend is also for them or whatever. Here’s the bone I’m throwing you!!!