Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

Alternating between Then and Now, Funny You Should Ask follows Chani Horowitz, a writer assigned to profile Gabe Parker, an actor who’s been tapped to star in the next James Bond movie. Chani spends a weekend with Gabe that includes attending a movie premiere, and delivers a profile that leaves readers with a big question about the 2 of them and also propels Chani’s writing career. Shortly after that weekend, Chani feels deeply slighted with how things unfolded. Now, a decade later, at the request of Gabe’s PR team, Chani agreed to write a follow up piece. The 2 reunite and there is a lot to catch up on. Throughout the story, in both timeframes, Chani felt very angsty for a grown woman — While everyone has doubts at least occasionally, I had a hard time believing someone who has established a decade+ career in professional writing, would stay so defensive and insecure for so long. Interspersed between the Then and Now(s) are articles from publications about Gabe’s career and love life, along with posts from Chani’s blog. For the first 70 pages I was hooked, but Funny You Should Ask lost its steam. I think both characters could have treated each other better. While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I hoped to, it was an easy read.