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Natural Beauty By Ling Ling Huang This is another book that attracted me based on the cover. I wrote a quick little summary previously about how excited I was for this book's publication. Now that I have a copy in my greasy paws, and I had gotten around to finishing Kunstlers in Paradise I wasn’t so sure this was the next book for me. I looked through the disgustingly growing to ‘be read’ pile and nothing seemed to jump out at me. So I found myself looking back at the first book I thought of reading. "Don't be so unimaginative. This is America. And not just America, but New York, and Helistik. I can be whoever I want to be." The book begins with learning that the protagonist is working at a restaurant as a dishwasher. A Chinese 2nd generation immigrant whose parents share their love for music to the protagonist at an early age. Through their direction, and their shared love for music the main character pretty much becomes a prodigy of music, more specifi

I picked this book up purely based on the cover. I don’t know what actually drew me to the book initially, but when I saw it was a new book set to be published midway through March 2023 I added it to my ever growing to be read pile. Then as I progressed through the last book I finished (The Dark Window by Rachel Gillig) I could not stop thinking about this book. This book had me at hello, and there was no way to get it out of my head unless I actually sat down and cracked it open. What it’s about: This book follows Salomea “Mamie” Kunstler who travelled from Europe in 1939 with her family. When they landed in the United States, they landed in New York and eventually found their way to Los Angeles, where they finally settled.  Present day: Julian Kunsteler is Mamie’s grandson, 24 years old, who has no real direction in his life. He travels from hobby to hobby obsessing about them until he loses interest and moves on to the next idea, without completing the previous hobby before moving o