My Year of Rest and Relaxation | 
I am overcome by awe, not because she looks like Reva, and I think it's her, almost exactly her, and not because Reva and I had been friends, or because I'll never see her again, but because she is beautiful. There she is, a human being, diving into the unknown, and she is wide awake.
panI don‘t know WTF this was or even what it was supposed to be. As far as I can tell, it‘s just the unnamed MC acting like a privileged little twatwaffle. Literally nothing happens beyond her trying to drug herself into oblivion so that she doesn‘t have to deal with life. I would‘ve bailed if not for #pop24.
#fanofthepan
#bookspinbingo - got a second bingo!
#pop24 - book in which a character sleeps for more than 24 hours
bailed⭐️⭐️ I tried… I tried SO hard to love this book, but bailed more than halfway through. ?
A novel about a woman who takes a year to “rest and relax” to cope with the loss of her parents by abusing sedatives. The blasé nature of the main character made it so challenging for me to hold on. Maybe one I‘ll come back to if I‘m feeling uninspired?
pickSet in a 12 month period before 9/11 this is the story of an entitled attractive young woman who has suffered 2 bereavements of parents + is struggling in her day to day life including her job in a v exclusive art gallery. She goes into an isolation fuelled by prescription drugs, caffeine, + video watching. A biting satire of New york Society and addiction to drugs this was both an unpleasant but compulsive read + I am still thinking abt it.
Dad‘s cancer and treatment has been a bit harder and more stressful than I thought it would be, so I haven‘t felt like diving into many new audiobooks. I‘ve just needed some comfort in my ears. These are five favorites I‘ve relistened to. Still reading audiobooks just not many new ones. 🤷🏻♀️
so-soMaybe it‘s just me, but this gave me [non-violent] American Psycho vibes. It had the same increasingly erratic narrative, and had a similar satirical commentary structure (AP on the yuppy culture of the 80s, this on the “quick fix” pill obsession of the 90s). But unlike AP (which gave me actual nightmares), I was so bored by the end of this.
pickI understand how this book isn't for everyone, but I thought it was extremely readable and pretty brilliant.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Loved this book…But, please, do not try this at home! 🤣
I‘m currently in the middle of 4 books…All interesting, but too heavy at times, so I picked this up last night because the curiosity was killing me (people either love or hate this book), and so far I‘m loving it!…Mainly because it‘s so ridiculous 😂😂
pickObsessed. Flew through it, and a great reminder to just tune out when needed (also maybe not to mix prescription drugs lol)
pick4/5 ⭐️
L'assurdo racconto di una ragazza ferita che decide di isolarsi per un anno intero per poter rinascere
Very relatable 🙄
bailedI couldn't stand this book. Initially I appreciated some of the dark humor it then it just became tedious and unbelievable that someone consuming the drugs the main character was, all in the effort to sleep 24/7, never had a medical emergency. I was reminded the first few pages in of Ignatius Riley from Confederacy of Dunces but then it nosedived into boring, repetive scenes. The ending was ridiculous and felt lazy.
pickThe narrator experiences the loss of both her parents while in college. She never had close relationships with either parent. Her lack of feelings, and the void of pleasant memories sets her on a mission to heavily sedate herself into a year long slumber. She hopes to wake up as a new person, and view her life as something worth living. The unnamed protagonist was cold, but hilarious. I really enjoyed this bleak novel, and couldn‘t put it down.
I started this one on my lunch break today! So far, so good! Im loving the dry sense of humor.
pickTrough the whole book I had this manic urge to keep reading and I think Otessa will be my new obsession for 2023! It was bold and brutal read.
pickI can understand the poor reactions to this book, but I personally loved it. I think it‘s useful to reflect on our reactions to such a female protagonist as this, what does our reaction to her say about ourselves? Why are we uncomfortable with a woman having an existential crisis, how is her reception by readers different than, say, the protagonist in The Stranger? Anyway, food for thought,TLDR: I‘m a sucker for a cold hearted bitch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pan⭐⭐
Nope!! This was not for me and my taste.. I liked the author's writing style but all the characters were insufferable, especially the unnamed protagonist!!
It's a yes. Though it took me longer than I expected to finish it. I had read so much praise for this book that maybe, I expected more.
Last month I did not finish a single book, but I did pour a significant amount of time in to Animal Crossing New Horizons!!! September will be a new month with new #bookspin and #doublebookspin numbers! #bookjournal (I realize that you can not see the list very well🫠🫠🫠)
pickInteresting... I found it hard at times as her sense of betrayal and lack of attachments is so intense.
I liked hearing her back story through her sleep.
so-soenjoyed it but didn‘t love 💕 it - perhaps would have loved it more in my 20s still a worthwhile read to see what all the fuss is about 😆
so-so“Rejection, I have found, can be the only antidote to delusion.”
- 3.25 ⭐️
picki think if i read this faster i would‘ve enjoyed it more but i left the book at my work for 6 months
whoopi goldberg is mommy
pickThis book was honestly so dark and hilarious. Loved the morbid oddity of it all. Really disliked the ending though - did not feel in line with the tone of the book at all. Full review www.anushareflects.com
so-so• TBR since July 11, 2018
Yay! This is my last TBR book from 2018. Now, on to my 2019 TBR (plus current books, of course).
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a 2018 novel by American author Ottessa Moshfegh. Moshfegh's second novel, it is set in New York City in 2000 and 2001 and follows an unnamed protagonist as she gradually escalates her use of prescription medications in an attempt to sleep for an entire year.
Epigraph from:
My Year of Rest and Relaxation: A Novel
by Ottessa Moshfegh
pickSuch a beautiful satire! I appreciated the dark humour, the honesty, the realism, the reflections and inner life of this narcissistic heroine, and most of all, the artistic connotations of an act of rebirth and renaissance through sleep.
So many names of drugs I've never heard of and hopefully never will again, and I'm still not convinced a human being can survive after mixing these pills and these doses :))
Sleep felt productive. Something was getting sorted out. I knew in my heart - this was, perhaps, the only thing my heart knew back then - that when I'd slept enough, I'd be okay. I'd be renewed, reborn. I would be a whole new person, every one of my cells regenerated enough times that the old cells were just distant, foggy memories. My past life would be but a dream, and I could start over without regrets.
unlikable character but related to her…#audiophile #readinggoals #readingtherapy
pickUnlikable because the character is privileged and able to act out her depression fantasy of sleeping for a year. It‘s a good read filled with some dark humor.
pickoh to be in a self induced coma (jk that‘s not the takeaway i got from this book). i really liked it though i can see how pretentious it is.
panI did not enjoy this book. The title and the premise seemed so intriguing at first, but I was sadly disappointed. The characters in this book are so unlikable, which in and of itself is not a bad thing at all, but the way they were written was bordering a parody with how unrealistic it is. It's like they were unlikable just for the sake of being unlikable, particularly the female characters. Also, the conclusion felt incomplete and unfulfilling.
Thank you so much @MaleficentBookDragon 🎁 I‘m really looking forward to this book and the large bag of dark chocolate will be the perfect accompaniment! The snowman card is also adorable. Thank you also for all the work you do running this swap #Jolabokaflodswap
1. Literary fiction - Ottessa Moshfegh immediately came to mind. Love the tagged book! #autobuy
2. I DNF 3ish books a month. I‘ve got no time for things I‘m not enjoying, but I try to at least read 1/3 before I bail.
3. Patience and my church family
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs
pickI love this so much. Though it probably should‘ve been, it never felt boring. I really do love books about mentally ill women. That last line!!!!!! I‘ve got to get back into reading now that I‘m settled into school. Thankfully, I‘m distracted enough now not to be profoundly self-reflective because of this.
I wish I could read My Year of Rest and Relaxation for the first time again.
Having a trash chute was one of my favorite things about my building. It made me feel important, like I was participating in the world. My trash mixed with the trash of others. The things I touched touched things other people had touched. I was contributing. I was connecting.
so-sofemale American Psycho to the point that it has to be intentional. rich, disaffected, benzo-addicted youth obsessed with videotapes. they even go to the same nightclub, tunnel.
we‘re supposed to think she‘s gonna get stuffed, right? there's all this false foreshadowing. then a Ghost World ending where the protagonist comes out of a sarcastic haze to admire her friend making an effort at life -- "beautiful."
mushy for nihilistic filth.
3 stars
pickA book that I am glad I read. I don‘t know what else to say.
The Dr. is …. Not right. “Here, have some samples.” 😳😱
pickFinished this one a few days ago. It was quite unusual, but I enjoyed it! Had to know how it would end and stayed up late to finish it. I could have continued reading about the main character for much longer. 4⭐️
