Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang

Okay, I always say I don't judge a book by its cover, but it has become abundantly clear to me that this is a lie. I will comment on a great cover (and here and here) and bad ones. I will puzzle over cartoony covers with matter that is anything but cartoony. I will be irate if the cover spoils the book. Part of it is that I try not to know very much about a book going into it and sometimes the only thing I know is what is on the cover. 

So if you saw the cover for Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang and all you know about it is that it has something to do with influencer culture, what would you think this was about? And, further, what genre would you say it was about?

Well, this book is a thriller? Horror? I don't know.

Julie Chan and her sister Chloe were separated when they were small children when their parents died. Julie was raised by a neglectful aunt and Chloe was raised by a wealthy white couple. Julie is now struggling to make ends meet as a cashier and Chloe is an influencer and they're mostly estranged. One day Julie gets a mysterious call from her sister and when she goes to check on Chloe, Chloe is dead. So, as you do, Julie TAKES OVER CHLOE'S IDENTITY AND LIFE.

Look, don't go digging into whether or not this is a realistic situation. It is not. But I put on my suspension of disbelief persona and kept reading. (No, I did not. I talked nonstop to my husband about how stupid this was.)

Okay, well, Chloe was part of a pack of influencer people and they all go on an island vacation together with Julie pretending to be Chloe and SHIT GETS WEIRD. I'm not going to say what happens on this island, but I didn't expect these events based on the cover or the rest of the book. It's like the book took a TURN at 70%. You've been warned.

Once again, I can't figure out how to link to direct Goodreads reviews, but Yun wrote this:

and basically Yun is right. I'm old, I don't understand influencer culture, and the satire is lost on me. What is Zhang trying to say here? That influencers are bad for society? Echoes of what true beliefs are? Evil? Is she trying to say something about class divisions? That even wealthy people can be as unhappy as the rest of us plebes? That there's nothing authentic in the world anymore, particularly online? I DON'T KNOW. The messages were too mixed and I'm too old to understand anything about the chronically online. (Unless we're talking about chronically online bloggers, which...huh. Anyone here want to go on an island vacation with me where WEIRD SHIT will happen?)

I think if I had cared more about any of these characters, maybe it wouldn't matter that I don't truly understand the real message. But since each of the influencer characters, including Julie and Chloe, are written as villainous, I just couldn't really feel anything about this book except revulsion and a tiny bit of joy at the unexpected batshit nature of it all.

Eh.

Maybe I'm just not the right generation or right audience. 

2.5/5 stars 

Lines of note:

...was working my usual morning shift, ringing up bananas (4011) and a bag of chia seeds for a platinum-haired lady with a shrieking baby clawing at her breast. (location 68)

Have you ever worked as a grocery store cashier? When I worked at Meijer, a large regional supercenter in the Midwest, the lady who trained me told me that the code for bananas was the first code you learned and the last one you forgot. And she was right. I don't know any of the other produce codes, but bananas are 4011. 

An old woman wearing a thick brown trench coat walks her Pomeranian across the street. The dog has little neon-green boots. (location 1656)

Aw. Little booted puppy. 

And it’s not like I’m the worst. Out of the major influencers, I’m at the bottom of the food chain. Imagine what the people in the double or triple millions are doing. At least I’m not running crypto-scams or filming dead bodies in suicide forests or dancing for TikTok in front of Auschwitz. (location 2013)

The bar is so low, isn't it? 

Things I looked up:

gacha machine (location 2014) - (or gashapon machine) is a Japanese capsule toy vending machine. Users insert coins or tokens, turn a mechanical crank, and receive a random toy packed inside a plastic capsule. - Look. We just called these gumball machines. 

new chara on Genshin (location 2064) - Genshin Impact is an open-world adventure RPG. New characters on Genshin. Boy, do I feel dumb for having to think this through a lot. 

Title spotting:

Julie Chan is dead. Julie Chan is dead. Julie Chan is dead. See? Nothing. In a way, Julie Chan is dead. (location 959)

Hat mentions (why hats?):

blankets and wool hats (location 1755)

Shirts, dresses, jeans, sunglasses, hats. (location 2012)

beach chair, sun hat, and flip-flops (location 2015)

Someone sends a cowboy hat. (location 3551)

 wearing the hat (location 3551)

Tinfoil hats aren’t part of my brand, but they’ve become my loudest supporters regardless. (location 4267)

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Do you want to read a book about influencer culture? Do you wish you'd never heard the world influencer? 

Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty

In Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty, single mother Anna gets herself a job at the Time Travel Agency, where people can travel back in time to witness things, but they cannot change the current timeline. There's a regular customer, Teddy, who's wife left him for another man. We mostly hear about Teddy through text messages he has with his two closest friends. And then there are journal entries from a woman named Jade who appears to be a mother at a school that Anna's daughter attends. There are lots of scenes about how to parents teen girls, what do with a cheating spouse, and, oddly, very few scenes of actual time travel.

Here's my beef with this book. There honestly isn't enough time travel. Anna creates a France Hodgson Burnett tour and here's all we get about it. 

...I had twelve tours completed and three more in progress. My favorites were "The Secret Garden tour" (parts one and two); "Frances Hodgson Burnett: A Literary Life" (parts one through four); "The Evolution of a Writer: Frances Hodgson Burnett"; "Frances Hodgson Burnett: Literary and Social Figure," incorporating her lunch with Emily Dickinson, parties with Oscar Wilde, dinner with Louisa May Alcott, et cetera; "The Eccentric Frances Hodgson Burnett: An Analysis" - oh, look, I liked them all.

(I took them all myself several times, fizzing with pride, the way you admire your own photos after a holiday.) (page 113)

But!! TELL ME ABOUT WHAT YOU SEE AND DO.

I don't know. This book started slowly (it was actually the book I said I was going to DNF on Saturday), picked up ever so briefly, then was slow in the middle, and while the ending was probably worth it and I'd love to chat with you if you read it to know if you figured out how everything tied together, the pacing was just not for readers like me. 

There are parts I really liked, especially the bits with Teddy texting his friends. There's a bit about Anna being a cellist that made me laugh whenever it came around. It felt like a bunch of friends texting each other and I truly enjoyed that. 

But for the most part? I don't know that I'd recommend this one unless you feel like you need to read every book about time travel. 3/5 stars

Lines of note:

Part of the trouble was that history mostly lists political developments, declarations, and documents. There's so little of the day-to-day or domestic. (page 73) - THIS!! When I was in college, I took a women in history course and that's when I first learned about Martha Ballard. The reason Martha Ballard's diary was so important is because a lot of the day by day is missing from the historical record. 

page 158

He found the sea annoying! Too glittery! I love this so much.

I started writing this book around twenty years ago, so I am definitely going to forget people here. Whoever you are, I promise I'll remember you in the middle of the night once the book's gone to print and it's too late to add you. I thank you effusively and deeply apologetically. (first paragraph of the Acknowledgements, page 531) - How perfectly charming. I loved the acknowledgements in this book. 

Things I looked up:

Weet-Bix (page 103) - a popular whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal widely recognized as a cultural staple in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (sold as Weetabix in the United Kingdom and other global markets)

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (page 257) - nicknamed Smithy, Smith was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand.

eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815 (page 313) - In April 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano on the island of Sumbawa in present-day Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies), erupted in what is now considered the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history. This eruption, with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 7, ejected 37–45 km3 (8.9–10.8 cubic miles) of dense-rock equivalent (DRE) material into the atmosphere, and was the most recent confirmed VEI-7 eruption.

The "Year Without a Summer" in 1816—caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora—trapped Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori indoors at a villa on Lake Geneva during freezing, stormy weather. To pass the time, they held a ghost story contest, inspiring 18-year-old Mary Shelley to dream up and write Frankenstein. (The name Mount Tambora rang a bell and I think it's because I read this book.)

Mudgee (page 356) - a historic rural town and food and wine destination in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia, located about 260 km northwest of Sydney along the Cudgegong River

packet of Tim Tams (page 413) -  iconic Australian chocolate biscuits made by Arnott's since 1964.

the Haka (page 525) -  a traditional ceremonial dance of the Māori people of New Zealand that combines rhythmic chanting, vigorous body movements, foot-stomping, and intense facial expressions

the Samoan Siva Tau (page 525) -  a traditional Samoan war dance (or muna style challenge) performed by sports teams—most famously the Manu Samoa rugby union team and the Toa Samoa rugby league team—before international matches

the Tongan Sip Tau (page 525) - a traditional Tongan cultural war dance performed by the Tonga national rugby union and rugby league teams before international matches

the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France in 1520 (page 525) - a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English Pale of Calais, it was an opulent display of wealth by both kings. The summit was arranged to increase the bond of friendship between the two kings following the Anglo-French treaty of 1514. 

Hat mentions (why hats?):

trees of hats (coifs, bonnets, top hats, straw hats) (page 48)

white dress and hat (page 114)

Especially when you wear that hat, you know the one? (page 123)

child's hat (page 169)

pillbox hats and trilby hats (page 265)

weight of a felt hat on my ears (page 271)

feathered beaver hat (page 285)

ribboned hat (page 285)

top hat (page 286)

crescent-shaped bicorne hat (page 289)

bowler hat (page 294)

straw hat (page 342)

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How do you feel about time travel books? Would you want a France Hodgson Burnett tour? I mostly definitely would. 

When I Fell From the Sky: The True Story of One Woman's Miraculous Survival by Juliane Koepcke

I have no idea how I heard about When I Fell From the Sky: The True Story of One Woman's Miraculous Survival by Juliane Koepcke, but here we are. Here's the gist:

Many people wonder how I still manage to get on airplanes, for I am one of the few who have survived a plane crash from a great height. It was a catastrophe that occurred nearly ten thousand feet over the Peruvian rain forest. But that’s not all: After the crash I struggled for eleven days on my own through the jungle. At that time, when I fell from the sky, I was just seventeen years old. (location 93)

Yep, Koepcke survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, including her mother. Koepcke had an interesting childhood. Her parents were German scientists, studying at an outpost in the Peruvian jungle. She grew up in the jungle and was sent to Germany after the plane crash. 

I'm not being critical of Koepcke at all when I say this, but this suffered from what I call "the memoir problem." Koepcke's background is interesting, her experience of the crash and trying to get back to civilization was interesting, and her post-crash life and relationships were interesting. But, it turns out, that real life is not interesting enough to me to make it worth reading 200 pages. The interesting bits of the book made up about fifty pages and the rest of it was stuff about her parents' research, her wanting to save the research station, what she's doing with her own career as a biologist, blah, blah, blah. 

This is almost certainly a me problem. I wanted the nitty gritty details of the plane crash (not for the fainthearted - there is a bit about maggots that if you shuddered when you read the word here WILL NOT LIKE IN THE BOOK) and not the nitty gritty details of running a remote research station. But maybe you, dear reader, do want those details. (Also, there's a closeup photo of a bat. A BAT. FYI.) If so, this book is for you. 

3/5 stars 

Lines of note:

Complete strangers approach me on the street, want my autograph or just want to touch me. I find this incredibly trying. (location 2402)

This is interesting and yet, it only got these two sentences. I honestly can't tell if Koepcke didn't remember more details, didn't want to talk about it, or if the translation was an issue here. Regardless, I wanted more than "trying," and I wanted to hear about one or two of these interactions, how she felt, and how she responded. 

The bulk of their work, therefore, consisted in making lists of species. (location 2525)

My husband and I joke that all biologists do is make lists. And categorize things. This book did not make me think we are wrong. (There's a biologist at our university who just got back from a semester-long research trip to Belize funded by his Fulbright to study the coral reef - it's not doing well, friends - and I kid you not, he mostly just made lists of species and what he saw and what he didn't. I mean, he did other things, but that's not what he presented at the symposium. My husband and I were making EYES at each other during this lecture.)

Things I looked up:

In Peru, there are around four thousand different known kinds of potatoes. (location 583) - According to the International Potato Center, this is true. Look, friends, I love that there is an International Potato Center. 

manioc (location 863) - a woody tropical shrub of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) widely cultivated for its edible starchy tuberous roots. It is also commonly known as cassava, yuca, or mandioca

Then there was the twelve-year-old girl who was the sole survivor of a Yemeni plane that crashed in July 2009 near the Comoros Islands. (location 1194) - Her name is Bahia Bakari.

Someone takes a photo that will soon appear in Life magazine. In it, I’m standing on a porch. Someone has put a bathrobe over my shoulders. (location 1697) - I haven't found this photo. 

These women thought my parents were pishtacos. According to folklore, those are supernatural evil spirits that appear in human form, have blond hair and carry backpacks on their backs. They come to kill people surreptitiously at night and suck out their body fat. (location 3075) - Pishtaco is a folkloric boogeyman figure in the Andes region of South America, particularly in Peru and Bolivia, which extracts the fat of its victims. It is believed to have originated in Spanish conquistadors' practice of using Indigenous Peruvians' corpse fat as treatment for wounds and illnesses. (I wish I could erase this from my mind, but now I'm sharing it with you.)

According to other legends, however, the Tunshi is also a guardian of the forest, for it will do something only to those who harm the forest, chop it down or kill its animals. It can make people deaf or blind and also bring madness or even death. But in reality, it’s a perfectly harmless little cuckoo that can almost never be glimpsed. (location 3164) - national bird of Peru

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

with the large straw hat on his head (location 515)

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Anyone else want a membership to the International Potato Center? Does this make you a little less eager to get on an airplane? 

CBBC Week Two: Convenience Store Woman, page 81- end

Past discussion:
Week One, pages 1-81

Welcome to Week Two of Cool Bloggers Book Club (CBBC) for Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. This week we'll be discussing the second half of the book from pages 81 to the end.

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What happened in these chapters?

Keiko starts to feel uneasy about her future in the convenience store. 

When you do physical labor, you end up being no longer useful when your physical condition deteriorates. However hard I work, however dependable I am, when my body grows old then no doubt I took will be a worn-out part, ready to be replaced, no longer of any use to the convenience store. (page 83)

Shiraha, the lazy roustabout who was fired for stalking, is lurking outside the store. Keiko thinks he's maybe still stalking someone, but then realizes he's crying. She takes him out for tea. He's an asshat who is constantly spouting incel-type propaganda about how modern society is just like the Stone Age.

"Don't make it sound so easy! We men have it much harder than women, you know. If you're not yet a fully fledged member of society, then it's get a job, and if you've got a job, it's earn more money, and if you earn more money, it's get married and have offspring. Society is continually judging us. Don't lump me together with women. You lot have a cushy time of it," he said sullenly. (page 89)

Keiko sort of falls for it (...I couldn't say he was completely wrong. page 90) and invites him back to her house when she learns he has no place to go. They settle into a mutually beneficial relationship where Shiraha hides from the world (AKA his family) in Keiko's apartment and she uses him as a shield with friends and family who think this is a step towards "normal" for Keiko. 

Under pressure from Shiraha, Keiko quits her job at Smile Mart. Then she falls into a depression without the routine of work. While she's on her way to an interview, she is drawn into a different convenience store and starts putting order to everything that's in disarray. 

"The voice of the convenience store won't stop flowing through me. I was born to hear this voice." (page 161)

She calls off her interview and embraces her existence as a convenience store worker. 

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Sarah's listening!

Thing I looked up:

POP ads (page 117, 119) - Japanese pop culture and commercial advertising ("POP ads" or CMs - commercial messages) are famous for their high-energy, quirky, and surreal crossover styles. I suspect the one at Smile Mart is more of hand made ad? 

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Elisabeth has coordinated her nail polish to the book cover! 

Lines of note:

I hadn't added a teabag since I didn't really feel any need to drink flavored water. (page 88)

Anyone else snort laugh at this? 

"I'm sorry, but there's no way I'll ever be able to get it up with you, Furukura."

"Get it up? Um, what has that got to do with marriage? Marriage is a matter of paperwork, an erection is a physiological phenomenon." (page 92)

MORE SNORT LAUGHING.

"Will you ever be cured, Keiko...?" ..."I simply can't take it anymore. How can we make you normal? How much longer must I put up with this?" (page 131)

Ouch. 

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Jacquie and her daughter's cat are enjoying the book by the fireplace!

Questions to ponder:

1) Everyone's reaction to Keiko's involvement with Shiraha is positive - congratulating her, telling her she's normal. How did you feel about these reactions? Are they rooted in care for Keiko or is it a desire for societal conformity?

2) Do you think people have to hit certain life milestones - jobs/careers, marriage, kids, owning a home, etc. - to be successful? 

3) Why did Keiko take Shiraha for tea? Why did she invite him to stay with her? Do you understand her motivations? 

4) What do you think will become of Keiko? Will her family support her decision to find work again in a convenience store? Is this a happy ending? 

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Homework for you: Drop me a line with your favorite quote/moment from the book. We can vote on the Best Of next week. 

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Upcoming CBBC schedule:
Monday, 11/2 - Wrap-up

Tell NGS What To Do: An Occasional Series

A couple of years ago, I wrote an appeal for help in my life and I learned about Dove body scrub from Kim and it has been life changing (also, we bought a water softener), so I'm appealing to the blogoverse for more help. As per usual, this starts with rather lighthearted, easy questions and then I will hit you with a tough one at the end, so just beware.

1) As some of you may know, whenever I exercise at home, I burn a candle. My current candle is almost at the end of its life. FEAR NOT. Costco to the rescue. For some crazy low amount of money, I was able to procure a package of 4 11-ounce candles in the following flavors scents: cherry grove & plum; forest moss & cypress; coast redwood & fog; and blue mist & sea. What should my next candle be?! 

2) I'm not reading my physical book, so I'm going to DNF it. I hope to have some time over the weekend to read, so what should I read next? The Vegetarian, The Tainted Cup, or After the Eclipse? I bought a copy of The Vegetarian when I thought it was going to win the CBBC vote and I do want to read it. The person who suggested The Tainted Cup to me said it was Sherlock Holmes but FANTASY. I didn't even know I wanted that until it was described to me. After the Eclipse is a wildcard for me. It's a memoir about a daughter whose mother was murdered and the aftermath of that terrible event. I don't know. Tell me what to read.

3) Do you remember how my mom lived on a tiny house on my sister and brother-in-law's property? And that tiny house was next to a tiny house that my brother-in-law's mother lived in? If not, that's okay. Here's a picture of the tiny houses - the photo is from 2025 and I assume they still mostly look like this. 

My sister and her MIL did not get along. I wrote this in 2022 and, as of my mother's death in August of 2025, the two of them were still not speaking. I don't know what has happened in the last year because my mom isn't around to give me the hot goss anymore and my sister doesn't talk to me. Listen, I am not someone who goes around talking about my grief and how much I miss my mother, but MAN DO I MISS HER FILLING ME IN ON THE DRAMAZZZZ.

My brother-in-law's mother died this past week. I found out via Facebook. 

I'm going to send a sympathy card. 

The question is: do I address the sympathy card just to my BIL or do I also include my sister? My sister and I don't really talk to each other and she basically despised her MIL. BUT. If my sister wrote a sympathy card to my husband and didn't mention me, my feelings would be hurt. I'm trying to do a nice thing with this card, not cause hurt feelings or marital strife. However, my sister might interpret me adding her name as being snarky (which - fair - I am a snarky bitch, but I am not usually passive aggressive re: dead and dying relatives) because I know how much she didn't like this woman. 

This is really impossible for you to answer, I guess. The dynamics here are impossible to untangle. My husband and I spent a good hour hashing it out over dinner on Thursday night and the card is just sitting on the table because I'm unable to make a decision. 

What would you do? 

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Non-advice reminder: If you want to send me a photo of your CBBC, please sent it to me before noonish on Sunday so I can include in the week two roundup. 

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Sound off and tell me what to do!!

CBWC October 2026: Week 3

It's Cool Bloggers Walking Club (CBWC) time! Hosted by Elisabeth, we're trying for ten minutes of intentional movement every day.

Friday, October 16 - 38 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes after work, and 12 minutes before bed. It is now officially fall like in terms of weather and I promise not to whine more about the weather, but I'm officially wearing jackets and hats and occasional gloves. Hannah is wearing a glorious fur coat. 

Saturday, October 17 - Forty-six minutes this morning, but most of that was Hannah and I trying to do two blocks after she got scared because of the damn duck hunters and their shots. She gets scared and pulls really hard, so when she does that, I turn her around and we go back and forth in circles until she stops pulling. I know it sounds really mean to do training when she's scared like that, but she's going to hurt herself (or me) someday when she yanks. We went for a much more relaxing 20 minute walk with Dr. BB after lunch. 

Dr. BB and I went to a corn maze later that night (doing a corn maze at night is an experience you should all experience at least once in your lifetime) and then Hannah and I went out for another ten minutes before bed. 

She's looking at Dr. BB here. 

Sunday, October 18 - Forty-one minutes this morning, mainly playing around off leash. We did 15 minutes in the afternoon, but Hannah did her business and wanted to head inside, so I didn't force her outside longer. Truth be told, at least a third of that afternoon "walk" was just Hannah laying down chewing on a stick, so maybe I shouldn't even record it here. 

Check out this late season dahlia (?), holding out even after an overnight frost. Flower experts, correct me if I'm wrong on the flower name. 

Monday, October 19 - Forty minutes this morning. It was dark, the leaves were rustling, and someone was not as brave as she has been in the past. We did another 35 minutes after work and ten minutes around the block before bed.

Tuesday, October 20 - Forty minutes this morning, 30 minutes after work, and 13 minutes to get around the block tonight. Why did it take us so long to get around the block, you ask? If both of us are focused, we can do that walk in seven minutes. It takes twice as long if someone stops to stare at every single person who walks by, gets in or out of their car, or makes a pizza delivery. Woe unto any delivery person on our street. 

Wednesday, October 21 - Half an hour this morning. I left work early today to get home to take Hannah for an extra long walk because it was in the 60s  and I don't know how many more of these days we're going to get. Unfortunately, for me, Hannah mostly wanted to chew sticks and roll around in the grass on that "walk." We did a twenty minute walk before bed, too.

Can you see Hannah? Do you love how unbothered she is by this giant inflatable?

Thursday, October 22 - We did 45 minutes this morning, a half hour after work, and a ten minute meander around the block before bed. I know you're all dying for a weather update: It was in the 40s this morning, in the 70s this afternoon, and in the 50s before bed. It was sunny today. Yes, we are regularly doing 30 degree shifts in temps over the day and I have to admit that my bad leg is NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.

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Are there any late blooming flowers near you? Did I identify that flower correctly? 

Voyagers by Meg Charlton

I have recently started listening to two new-to-me bookish podcasts on the recommendations of various blog readers - From the Front Porch and Currently Reading. I have tried these podcasts in the past and have not made it past the introductions (I am not predisposed to enjoy people who claim to be a "full-time CEO" or "a homeschooling mom") but I have been able to ignore my red flags so far. Voyagers by Meg Charlton is a book that came to me via an episode of From the Front Porch. 

In this debut novel from Meg Charlton, we are introduced to Alex and Ana. When they were six, they went missing for thirty-six hours and when they were found, mostly unharmed, their description of what happened to them sounded an awful lot like an alien abduction. We move ahead in time, Alex and Ana have grown up and grown apart. Alex is a gay lawyer living in New York who has disavowed his alien abduction past and Ana runs retreats for experiencers of alien contact. When the Signal, a radio transmission pulsing from across the universe and getting closer and closer to Earth, starts disrupting aircraft and satellites, Alex and Ana meet up again. 

Have you ever thought that an author had two distinct ideas and then someone convinced them to mash up both of those ideas into a book? Like, did Charlton have an idea of two kids going missing and their narrative when they got back was so unreliable no one ever figured out what happened to them? And then she had this second idea about the Signal and what would happen if society slowly started to collapse? And then she smushed them into one book where you don't really get an answer about either storyline? 

I found this book to be such a page turner. I wanted to know what happened to Ana and Alex when they were six. I wanted to know what the Signal was going to do to the planet. But I am not entirely sold on how well these two stories worked together. I thought the writing was observational, the ideas interesting and unique, and I want to read more from this author.

4/5 stars

Lines of note:

Anyway, living through various crises, personal and global - COVID, 9/11, the death of both our parents - had inured me to catastrophe. Worlds ended all the time, didn't they? And yet the world persisted. (page 90)
I just...this hit home for me. I have lived through all of this, too, and I'm just not sure that I have it in me to get hepped up about things like I did twenty-five years ago. 

I didn't feel like an adult. I felt like I was regressing further with every swipe my siblings took at each other. (page 103)
Man, if you ever see me around my sister, you'll know exactly what I was like when I was fifteen.

"Do you have someone to stay with, if there is a lockdown?"
"Myself."
"I know but..." She bit her lip. "I just hate to think of you all alone in your apartment if something happens."
I resented this. I was the only one of my siblings not straight, not married, not a parent, and I could sense sometimes, from all of them, that this worried them. It wasn't conscious or cruel, but there was a baseline assumption that I was lonely, and I found that offensive. I was lonely, of course, if not for the reasons they imagined. (page 108)
Since we're reading Convenience Store Woman, I kept comparing Keiko to Alex here. He's mostly fine, but people are pretty convinced he isn't. Social norms in the US are different than in Japan, but they're still there. 

He turned to look at me with an air of such pure, uncut boredom that it seemed impossible to imagine we were on the verge of apocalypse. This reaction is, I've discovered, more common than people assume. There is a vast silent majority of indifference. Even I, anxious to my core, can understand this. These days, things both awful and extraordinary seemed to happen all the time, and most people didn't give a shit. (page 209)
My students are so apathetic. And I sort of get it, but not really. When I was their age, I was full of rage and wanted to change things. My students can't even tell me some element in pop culture they enjoy. I ask them to recommend me a song, a book, a television show, or a movie, and about half of them write N/A. JUST WRITE SOMETHING. 

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If aliens invaded tomorrow, what would you being doing today?