“The romantic comedy I wish would come to my multiplex…”

Library readers share their favorite books  – the ones they spend 10 minutes enthusing over, until you agree to read them too.

 

 

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Reviewed by Nico

 

My job requires me to spend a lot of time online, and I’m guessing most people at work are in the same boat. One of the joys in my day is looking at my inbox and seeing a new missive from one of my good friends.  I don’t get many long letters in my apartment’s mailbox, but at least once a day, I know that I can expect to hear from the desk of one of these ladies.  For better or for worse, when I’m old, this will probably be some of my most treasured correspondence.

The same is true of two of the three main characters in Rainbow Rowell’s debut novel, Attachments. Beth and Jennifer are reporters in 1999 and their newspaper has just barely decided that it will allow its employees to use personal email. In between writing their articles these two friends send emails back and forth to each other discussing love, terrible bridesmaids dresses and what they might eat for dinner. They write to each other even after the newspaper warns that it is going to be monitoring all electronic communication and flagging anything they consider questionable. Beth and Jennifer don’t think they’re out of order, so the emails keep flying.

Of course, it’s all well and good to say as a company that you’re going to be monitoring emails. But, at Jennifer and Beth’s paper, this means that a program searches for words it thinks unsavory and then all those emails get thrown in a folder waiting for someone to read each one… Enter Lincoln, who has the honor of taking on this task.  This was not what Lincoln had in mind when he applied for an IT position – he’d be much happier doing just about anything except creepily reading the personal thoughts of these writers, who seem like nice people actually. And instead of turning in Beth and Jennifer as flagrant email offenders, he finds himself waiting for the next installment of their correspondence.

Attachments was the romantic comedy that I’d been wishing would come to my multiplex. It’s smart, funny and the characters all feel like people that you wouldn’t mind sharing a cubicle wall with. As you read Jennifer and Beth’s emails, you’ll feel just like Lincoln, wishing that you were in on the conversation with these two vibrant women.

 

Nico is one of our Young Adult librarians, with a taste for all things pop culture.