I am raising money to purchase books for my classroom, including several by Jason Reynolds—a student favorite! Please consider donating and use code LIFTOFF to have your donation matched! I teach wonderful kids and would love to get even more books into their hands. 📚🙏🏻 https://tinyurl.com/BeeneReads

This book is full of rich, loaded language and striking images. A tricky but rewarding read, and one I plan to revisit—I feel that Jazz is meant to be read multiple times and carefully. I have read that Morrison felt Jazz was her best work. I like Beloved and Song of Solomon best but am still impressed with what she has accomplished here. As always is the case in reading Morrison, these characters will haunt me for a while.

My recently finished Morrison (Home) and book mail! My Toni Morrison obsession is now leading me to authors that she admired—Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Cade Bambara. The Clint Smith I have just been meaning to get for a while. Few things are as exciting as a package full of books!

Another masterpiece by Morrison. As always, the writing here is superb. The way she describes people, places, and items is unusual but also just right. In this one there is a twist but it is so masterfully done that you don‘t even know to anticipate it.

Some very powerful writing in this—a stunning first page as well. I felt, though, that the connection between Jeanette and Ana was a bit unfinished. My favorite part was Dolores‘ chapter—I would love to read an entire book on her alone!

A beautiful collection of stories about girls and women making sense of a world that can at times be cruel, beautiful, underwhelming, and bizarre by turns. My favorite story of the bunch was "The Isabel Fish," though all were moving. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So much great book mail!

Finished this tonight but I'm not really a fan. I love true crime but it seems hard to find someone who pulls it off well. The memoir mixed with the murder story seemed intriguing, but by the end, it felt forced. The book is unhelpfully repetitive at times, and sometimes the writing can be overly dramatic, though this is admittedly a heavy subject. ⭐️⭐️

A= An Everlasting Meal
P= Persuasion
R= Rebecca
I= I Capture the Castle
L= Like Water for Chocolate

Well, I might have added a couple of extras this month. 😂😂 Here's my referral link if you want to give Book of the Month Club a go. It's great fun and a real steal on new hardcovers! https://www.mybotm.com/d26d65fb12498

Perhaps the most bizarre book I've ever read, in a really good way. Memorable characters, entertaining, absorbing..at times characters are revolting, but always complicated and intriguing. A wonderful read! I do wish that the ending would have shown us Miranda reading the note (no spoilers..) and reacting. Ending was abrupt but fitting, I'm sure. In short, loved it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just finished this short novel. It was beautifully written and felt more like poetry to me than prose. Interestingly, it was told in a collective we, which made it hard to connect to any one character (there aren't characters in the traditional sense) but it did make for a unique reading experience that spoke to a collective, cultural experience. Lots of trauma here that culminates in the horrific internment of Japanese Americans. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Today's book haul! Also got an amazing cat puzzle and have been working on that with a friend for four hours. 😂

Jane Eyre has been a favorite book for a decade now, so it's about time I got around to this one, yeah?

A wonderful true crime book that covers the overwhelming and heinous murders (many, many, many murders) of the Osage Native Americans for the oil money they inherited (after being forced onto land that the gov't thought was barren and didn't realize was oil rich). A heartbreaking and missing piece of history that I'm glad Grann has brought to our attention. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I started this ages ago, flew through it, and then set it down in the last chapter, not wanting it to end. I finally did finish it and what a treat. Adler has had me craving olives for months now. She writes about the simplest of food with sensual elegance. A wonderful read that I'm sure I'll come back to over and over. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finished this this morning. Interesting close study of a man who wanted nothing more than to not be studied (lots of negatives there!). I really enjoyed the author's research on the traditions and histories of hermits especially. Really quick but enjoyable read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved this book. The circus aspects and bits of mermaid mythology were so vivid. I loved the intricate connections that string together so beautifully in the end. Wonderful read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How can anyone not love BOTM club?! It's my favorite subscription service. I almost always add the extra title to my box for $9.99, but it's a steal! 😜 And a mini coloring book and pencils to boot? I'm in love. ❤ Referral link: https://www.mybotm.com/d26d65fb12498

An excellent book, complete with underhanded comments, steam punk elements, and memorable characters. I can't wait to read the rest in the series, as well as Carriger's adult novels as well, which I hear are excellent. Also, a chance to "debut" ? my new cat, Cashew, who is much scandalized that I woke him from his nap to serve as a prop for my book!

Josh and I put together this porch swing last night, so now I'm reading and swinging and getting ready for the library's Tuesday Night Book Club!

Cute, quaint, touching, funny--a nice break from all of the social commentary, food memoir, and dark fiction that I typically turn to. Something about reading children's lit always takes me back to visiting public and school libraries and relishing all the lovely things there. Funny, true to life children and a feisty old lady--the best kind of characters. =) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really liked this piece. It explores everyday racism against Asian Americans and how it effects people (especially children) on a personal level. I love the side story with the monkey deity, though I was confused by one of the storylines. Great book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was pretty good. It kept me reading and I finished it fairly fast. I liked many of the supporting characters, but I felt that the murder solving plot was abandoned about halfway through, and Grace (the main character) was a bit flat, as was her doctor (the other main chacacter), Thornhollow. Not a terrible story but it lacked depth.

#Allisnotlost @Liberty Since I started my job as teen librarian, I've been terribly absent from Litsy. Now that I'm checking books out at work instead of buying as many, I end up returning the book before I've posted! 😭 But I see that cat stickers are a thing now... How can I pass up the opportunity to shrink and hide cat stickers? Also, this book is lovely. A medication on cooking resourcefully. ❤❤

Quick, cool read. Looking forward to the next volume!

Happy birthday, KV. 😊

SQUIRREL!!!!! #patronus

This book was just great. Loved the fan fiction/ fantasy elements, the love story, and the little bits and details that took me back to first year at college. The writing and the reading (I did an audiobook version) were both fabulous. Read it!

Reading Cinder in my favorite Walmart sleepwear purchase--breakfast food nightie. 😂 Page turner thus far!

This was so excellent. Listened to it on audiobook, read by the author. She is so funny and full of energy and fabulous. An excellent listen/read. =)

Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved this. As others have said, it feels very much like having a conversation at someone's kitchen table. The author is funny, honest, and cozy. A wonderful read. I already have the second (More Home Cooking) from the library! Digging in today. 😉☕️🍗🍳🍆

No dog-shaming here! Really loving this book so far. I just applied to teach at a community college and am hoping I get the job--this would be the perfect example for exploratory research writing!

Loved this so much. I probably laughed twenty times in the first chapter, where West recounts all of the fat "role models" she had growing up. Wonderful, wonderful book on body acceptance, feminism, abortion, and women speaking up and out. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

OMG. Just received my first ever ARC. Thanks, Doubleday! Can't wait to start this. I've heard a lot about it via podcasts already. 😊

Just received my Book of the Month Club! Can't wait to start Shrill, and I loveeeee this postcard! If you want to try BOTM, use my referral link. It's awesome book Mail on a regular basis. 😎 https://www.bookofthemonth.com/referCode/?referCode=d26d65fb12498

Starting a mystery by reading light at night. Fitting, yes? 🕵🏽

First time in the graduate student carrel at UNH (only a few days from graduation, so I guess it's better to use it late than never...😊) This book has already made me nearly sick (decomposition chapter...you've been warned) but Roach has such a fabulous narrative voice and great humor! Loving it!

Just started audiobooking this this morning. I've heard only good things; so far, a great story with a likable narrator. =)

Got a ring pop and this enticing book from Book of the Month Club! Follow my link and use promo code REFER50 for 50% off a three month subscription! It's super cool--judges will curate selections and you get to pick from those. =) https://www.bookofthemonth.com/referCode/?referCode=d26d65fb12498

From Book of the Month club (my new FAVORITE subscription service). Follow my link and use promo code REFER50 for 50% off a three month subscription! It's super cool--judges will curate selections and you get to pick from those. =) https://www.bookofthemonth.com/referCode/?referCode=d26d65fb12498

Tea party themed book club meeting today!

I just applied for a teen librarian position so I'm brushing up on my YA! So far I'm really enjoying this one. Takes me back to my days of hardcore crushing ❤️

Shout out to snapchat for making all of my book covers come alive. 😂😂 Can't wait to start this! Loved loved loved the movie. Sure that this will be even better. =)

Wonderful! Made me feel like I was back home around the kitchen table, listening to all the ladies in my family talk about their love lives and gossip. Very quick read and very fun--I laughed out loud several times. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved it. So sensual, in terms of both food and sex. Loved the angle of Paris in the 1930's from the eyes of a Vietnamese chef in Gertrude Stein's household. Great for thinking about colonialism and its impact on gender (whose agency are we sacrificing for our own?). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just bought some books in the Boston airport 😎

A LOT to take in. Lots of good things--examples of men being tender to & caring for one another; honesty about a grief that can't be "fixed"; great character development & writing. Certainly a hard read, though, & I understand critiques about it being voyeuristic. Still, an important book.⭐⭐️️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Honestly not looking forward to another trauma theory book (soooo ready to graduate and read what I want; one more month!), but my Shakespeare love mug is soothing my soul. 😌

From Book of the Month club (my new FAVORITE subscription service). Follow my link and use promo code REFER50 for 50% off a three month subscription! It's super cool--judges will curate selections and you get to pick from those. =) https://www.bookofthemonth.com/referCode/?referCode=d26d65fb12498