Such a Fun Age

Author: Kiley Reid
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019
Pages: 336
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves and each other.

Review: I've seen this book mentioned a lot in my online reading clubs/pages, and surprised to see it was published in 2019. How did I not hear of this sooner. I loved this book because the characters felt real to me, and people I felt like could know in my own life. The ending was especially satisfying.

Fly Girl

Author: Ann Hood
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company Inc., 2022
Pages: 288
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: In 1978, in the tailwind of the golden age of air travel, flight attendants were the epitome of glamor and sophistication. Fresh out of a college and hungry to experience the world - and maybe, one day, write about it - Ann Hood joined their ranks. After a grueling job search, Hood survived TWA's rigorous Breech Training Academy and learned to evacuate seven kinds of aircraft, deliver a baby, mix proper cocktails, administer oxygen, and stay calm no matter what the situation.

In the air, Hood found both the adventure she'd dreamt of and the unexpected realities of life on the job. She carved chateaubriand in the first-class cabin and dined in front of the pyramids in Cairo, fended off passengers' advances and found romance on layovers in London and Lisbon, and walked more than a million miles in high heels. She flew through the start of deregulation, an oil crisis, massive furloughs, and a labor strike.

As the airline industry changed around her, Hood began to write - even drafting snatches of her first novel from the jump-seat. She reveals how the job empowered her, despite its roots in sexist standards.

Review: Fly Girl is a contender for my favorite book of the year. Written by a former flight attendant, I related so well to this book.

When I was little, and sometimes even now, I look up a plane and wonder where it came from and where it's going (although the Flight Radar app answers those burning questions). Even before I took my very first flight as a senior in high school I thought that being a flight attendant would be glamorous and exciting. I would still love to travel the world, and I still like to fly.

Well-written, entertaining, informative, and fun. In a way I feel like this book was written just for me. Loved it.