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One’s mid-to-late 20s are often a time of massive upheaval. Relationships end, careers change, major moves happen, and with all of this sometimes comes a complete redefinition of one’s sense of self. The three new books in this week’s book club are all about women who have to face that redefinition in various ways, each changing something about her self-concept or life trajectory. Something may be lost in the process, and that loss can be significant, but something is always gained in return.
<em>When Katie Met Cassidy</em>
“Today’s closing was with a group of lawyers representing Falcon Capital. Falcon fucking Capital. Hedge funds loved to give themselves names that implemented intimidating animals, names like Lion Management or Tiger Fund. Katie swore if she ever started a fund, she’d go against type with something like Lemur Partners or Sleeping Sloth LLC. Or, in homage to her home state’s favorite backyard game, Cornhole Capital. You’d think someone might appreciate the humor in naming a fund as such, but Katie’s experience so far was that finance guys — and most of them were guys — lacked a sense of humor. They were too busy counting their money…In other words, it was safe to assume no one in the boardroom today would even crack a smile if Katie explained that she was sorry but her suit was rumpled because her life had imploded over the weekend and her ex-fiancé refused to give up custody of the one item she’d ever bought on HSN that meant shit to her.”
<em>The Lost For Words Bookshop</em>
“It’s good to be reminded that the world is full of stories that are, potentially, at least as painful as yours.” With her tattooed skin and dyed-black hair, Loveday Cardew is a bit of an anomaly in the English city of York. The 25-year-old semi-recluse, somewhat ironically, has a career in customer service. She actually likes working in the used bookshop, though, as she far prefers books to people, and Archie the owner’s good points outweigh his flaws three to one. She has her routine: cereal and a banana twice a day, because she likes breakfast best, going through the donations to find interesting things left within the pages, picking up obscure facts and definitions from walking through the stacks, and chastising people who fold down book corners instead of finding absolutely anything else for a bookmark. This is all about to change, however, when a terrible secret from her past is revealed.
<em>Tango Lessons</em>
This memoir details the author’s journey through growth and autonomy via lessons in the only dance that is structured but completely improvised. Flaherty initially took tango lessons when she was 16 on a semester abroad in Argentina, where she learned about the concept of being “danced” — dancing without steering, leading while following. Spending the first six years of her life with an unstable and drug-addicted birth mother had left her with trust and body issues. After dating a string of men without chemistry, passion, or even a willingness to touch her, Meghan finds herself, a decade later and after another trip to Buenos Aires, in New York City, taking a new set of initially disappointing dance classes.
