by Elissa Sussman

First, I was drawn to the book cover. The graphic, modern look with hints of what the story will involve was such a fun change of pace.

Second, the main character is a writer, a journalist and I’m down with any character that is in the writing and publishing world.

Third, TikTok/Urban Outfitters thinks it’s a cool book. (Which is why I read The Song of Achilles a few years ago and that book was SO good.)

Funny You Should Ask alternates between the present day and a flash back to 10 years prior with pieces of journalism sprinkled in. The characters are complex in a simple way, relatable and easy to love.

The journalist is Chani Horowitz and she gets a big break interview of actor Gabe Parker. As always when there’s a male actor/celebrity main character I picture Theo James. They meet for lunch, he brings his puppy and then Chani is swept along a whirlwind weekend of premiers, clubs and house parties. Her connection with Gabe feels real and substantial but the classic “but he’s a celebrity what could he see in me” story plays out in her head.

Her initial interview launches Chani’s career as a celebrity profile writer and solidifies Gabe’s role as a leading man. Then ten years later she is divorced from her longterm author boyfriend-turned-husband and back in LA. He’s divorced from his actress/model costar and back from rehab.

Gabe has stared in a remake of The Philadelphia Story and to help get his public image back on track his PR team reaches out to Chani to do another profile.

She developed feelings for Gabe during their first weekend together doing The Profile and she doesn’t know if it was one sided or if he felt it too. Part of her motivation for doing the follow-up is to figure out if it was all in her head or not.

Chapter by chapter we learn more about their first weekend together and the events of the intervening decade. We get to see these two reconnect and figure out if there’s a future for them as they figure it out for themselves.