Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

"My heart!" I yelled, then crawled up the stairs and curled up next to Bianca. "My heart... This book..." I rolled around on the floor while she finished writing a paper.

No, I wasn't overreacting.

This book broke my heart.

I usually love Gillian Flynn's stories for their plots, but I love Dark Places for its characters.

I'm glad Libby doesn't overcome her obstacles to become anyone's savior. I'm glad she wasn't somehow immune to mental illness after losing her entire family. I'm glad she's not likable, and I'm glad I like her anyway.

I'm also consistently impressed with Flynn's ability to describe things. I've already pulled some particularly good sentences from Gone Girl, and Dark Places, too, is full of "wow, I would never think to describe it that way but you're totally right" moments. Here's what I mean:

"That he took them out to some farm area and performed... acts that are associated with ritualistic Devil worship." He said those words--Ritualistic Devil Worship--the way people who don't know cars repeat what the mechanic said: It's a broken fuel pump."

Flynn doesn't go into this much detail about everything, but when she wants you to experience the story a certain way... man does she do a good job of including concise, specific details.

Lyle isn't just some nerd. He's a guy who "leans out from behind [Libby] like a squirrel." A guy who, when drinking a sweet cocktail, makes a "whoo! noise like it had been whiskey."  He's a guy who still watches bad TV with Libby when he no longer needs her. And if he wasn't these things, I wouldn't like him as much. I wouldn't like any of them as much.

Flynn's excellent characterization is why I didn't see the end coming. And it's also why I was writhing on the floor in front of my friend.

After all, an action-driven story can make your heart race, but only a character-driven story can break it.

//Find me on goodreads//

True Whit, by Whitney Port

I'm not quite sure who wrote Whitney Port's book, True Whit, because it has no traces of the sensible, charming person I remember from The Hills. The book as a whole is sloppily put together (there are lots of blurry/pixelated photos), and reads like a Seventeen magazine from 2004.

(photo via alamodeappraisal)

And it has nothing to do with the recycled fashion advice. What bothered me most about this book was its lack of depth.

I know, I know. "Grishma, it's a fashion book, are you really expecting depth?!"

Yes. Because unless you go to fashion shows like it's your job and report on them regularly like actual writers at fashion magazines, you're not going to be sharing any advice women haven't already heard. And that's okay! Because what you can offer--what only you can offer--are your stories. Stories about how clothes make you feel, why you like certain styles over others, about what fashion means to you. Don't just tell me that a colorful, patterned skirt goes well with your white blouse. Tell me about why you wanted to stand out at the office party you wore this outfit to. Tell me about how paranoid you were that you'd spill on your white blouse so you only drank clear liquids. Tell me more than just a pairing of clothes.

There are so many fashion books out there, that you have to really know clothes to write a good "how to dress" book. Whitney Port isn't a fashion expert (yet), and I hope that someday she writes a book with a stronger voice.

Until then, here are my top picks for fashion books:

1. Style, by Lauren Conrad: Great advice about choosing and maintaining clothes. She knows what she's talking about.

2. The Truth About Style, by Stacy London: Filled with meaningful stories, this is less of a "how-to" book and more of a "why should you care about clothes" book. She invites 9 women to share their stories (and helps them find clothes they feel confident in), and her empathy and humor is so charming that book was a really enjoyable read.

3. Style, by Kate Spade: The book has ingenious color palettes. I learned that certain colors I wouldn't intuitively combine actually look great together.