An Un-Calibrated Centrifuge

It's been a long time since a book grabbed me like Pioneer Girl (well, I guess I did read Free Food for Millionaires earlier this year). I kept forgetting I was reading fiction.

Nguyen's story just felt real. I love the conversations her characters have (about racism, identity, the problematic aspects of the Little House books, etc*). I love the connections she drew between Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and Lee's.

Definitely one of the best books I've read this year (though the romanticisation of CA is weird).

*There was one conversation where Lee uses the term appropriation in a way that I thought might be confusing to some. What she's describing is not actual cultural appropriation, but the way she has taken on one person's life trying to fit it into a narrative she's building for herself. It's a small quibble though, and overall nothing terrible.

Spoilers under the read more**

**I did find the sex scene at the end jarring. I literally put the book down the page before, picked it back up, read that and thought WHAT? I'm not sure it would have been as jarring if I had read the scene all the way through, but it pulled me out of the moment, felt forced and unnecessary to me.