Still Summer, still reading. Today we have a screwball comedy, a hilarious memoir, and a poignant graphic novel. Enjoy!
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (2021)
Comedy, Thriller, Rom-Com, Family
Dark comedy. Light humor.
Dial A for Auntie has all the hijinks of a classic 80s comedy (most conspicuously Weekend at Bernie’s), while otherwise refusing to be boxed in by a single genre. There’s romance, murder, lessons about the love and dedication of family. There are plenty of twist and turns, a few obvious ones and a few genuine surprises.
But through all the screwball action and comedy, there’s a cast of characters who are easy to root for, even if their actions are a tad criminal. Meddelin Chan works for her family’s wedding business as a photographer. This is not the life she meant to choose for herself, and she is full of some reasonable self-doubt. Her life only becomes more confusing when she accidently kills a blind date. Her mother and aunts (a group of bickering sisters recognizable to all of us from large families) rush in to help Meddy without question, attempting to hide the body while inadvertently making the situation worse.
When the family business is contracted for a lavish wedding on a fantastic island resort, that wayward dead body turns up to complicate their business’ big break. And then there is Nathan, the lost love of Meddy’s life, who arrives in the middle of all the mayhem, ready rekindle their romance.
And that’s just the first 100 pages.
Sometimes the pacing is a bit off, and the coincidences a little too unbelievable. But Meddy and her family are charming and fun, and worth the introduction in this first novel in a new series.
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (2008)
Memoir, Hollywood, Mental Health, Family
I have to start by telling you that my entire existence could be summed up in one phrase.
And that is: If my life wasn’t funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.
(Fisher,2008, p. 17)
Knowing how the story ends, listening to Fisher examine her past with wry wit and a winking nod can be bittersweet. But Fisher is a great storyteller and her “I just don’t give a damn” attitude creates a funny and oh-so juicy narrative of one of Hollywood’s cool kids. (FYI, I just had to do this one as an audio book, because no voice tells this story as well as Carrie Fisher’s own).
In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher is here to spill all the tea. Her parents, her parents’ other lovers and spouses, Fisher’s own love life, her friends, Star Wars, and everyone else she has crossed paths with up to this point. In an early tale, she finds out her daughter is dating a grandson of Elizabeth Taylor. This creates a conundrum in which she breaks down every connection between her parents, their multiple spouses, the multiple spouses of those spouses, and which kids go with which coupling, all to come to the conclusion that these particular grandkids are probably not committing incest by dating. Probably.
It is a slim read, but as Fisher recounts her wild and unreal life readers won’t feel like she is being light on narrative. In fact, she tells her tales with such frankness and humor it feels more like an intimate conversation with an old friend.
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag (2021)
Coming of Age, LGBTQ+, YA, Romance, Fantasy, Graphic Novel
This story is a cute and poignant tale of a teen girl garnering the courage to come out to her friends, family, community, and in many ways, herself.
Morgan Kwon has a secret, but her life is changing so fast and dramatically around her that she is left feeling lost around the people she used to depend on most. In a particularly low moment, she finds herself literally and figuratively drowning, where she is saved by Keltie, a girl who sees Morgan for who she is and loves her instantly. But Keltie also has a secret (or two).
Together Morgan and Keltie navigate a summer of change. Through the liberating power of love our heroines learn the value of acceptance and, especially, self-acceptance. At the end of the story, both the characters and the readers are left on a hopeful and life-affirming note.
A magical story about learning to love and accept yourself and your place in the world, The Girl from the Sea is an inspiring and heartwarming read. If you agree with me after reading this, please seek out Ostertag’s earlier and equally enchanting work, The Boy Witch.
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