Welcome to the future (book clubbing in 2015)!

Happy 2015! Are you pumped? Are you ready? Have you made all sorts of resolutions? Have they already started falling through? No worries! It’s the new year!

Except, isn't it funny, the new year looks like the one just passed, plus or minus a few inches of frost. (Have you seen the latest weather reports for Montreal? It's colder here than on Mars, people.)

And since the more things change, the more they stay the same, why not kick off the blog-year with a book recommendation. "WHAT HAS SHE BEEN READING??" the masses fall over themselves to ask. Calm down, I'll tell you!

*Technically* the first book I squint-read (because sometimes your glasses are way in your bag and you just don't give a fuck about getting them are too enthralled by the written word to move) in 2015 was The Most of Nora Ephron, but I'm reluctant to crown it my First Book of the Year because, well, I was finishing it, not starting. My stubborn honor system (read: weirdo OCD) is to blame, you see.

Thus, I designated Green Girl by Kate Zambreno to be my first.

And wouldn't you know it? This book is omfg so good.

Let me admit something right up top and risk revealing my sometimes superficial nature: I didn’t know what this book was about when I bought it. Sometimes stars align and, in the same week, Kelly Oxford AND Lena Dunham post instagram photos of the same book. THIS book. After patting myself on the back for such clear mental/social media acuity (aka IG creeping like a pro), I figured it must be worth a read.

So far (200/275 pages in), I figured right.

If your literary bag includes stories about youngish, confused girls who appear to run from or dodge their personal issues, then Green Girl is worth your time. Things are pretty dark, critical (largely by way of the characters' lipsticked-yet-hollow posturing), and narrated by a character of ambiguous origin/identity (I have two hunches).

Sometimes the story reads like stream of consciousness as it delves into the emotional and psychological well-being of its leading lady. (Before eyes start rolling, TRUST ME, I couldn't/wouldn't read anything too lofty/hyper-cerebral, so don't let that last phrase turn you off.) It's also a fast read (I'm reluctant to call it an easy one), so bonus. Overall, I'm real pleased.