This is a pick for the Olive stories, which, as ever, I really enjoyed. I appreciated the chance to learn what came next for her. Olive is still cranky and often insufferable, but she also still has interesting, complicated flaws, and she still sometimes learns and grows. A couple of the Olive-adjacent stories felt heavy-handed and were just so-so for me, but overall I was happy to be back in Crosby, Maine. 🍂

This fella brought me some much appreciated joy today. Meet “Alex Jr.” - my kiddo made him at school and excitedly gifted to me. My Alex (Sr.?) wears similar glasses, though they aren‘t bedazzled. 😎 My day has otherwise been dominated by fighting off the cold bug that had my other kid miserable for the past few days, and by way too much insanity in the national news (that letter!! 😳🤪🤬😭). Moments of reading the tagged have helped, too.

Oh, how I love taking my car to the (located-two-blocks-from-the-beach) mechanic. 🌊📚☀️

This was EXACTLY the book I needed to get over the hump of a stress-infused, news-oversaturated week. I loved it. It‘s been years since I‘ve read an Augusten Burroughs book, but this makes me consider going back to catch up on the ones I‘ve missed. He‘s hilarious, his writing is smart and engaging, and, bonus, he‘s a witch! (The witchy parts were my favorite by far.) 🧙‍♂️🖤

If you‘ve read She Said, hearing more from Rowena Chiu feels like a really big deal. I highly recommend her concise, insightful, and heartbreaking essay (and, of course, still highly recommend the tagged). https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/opinion/sunday/harvey-weinstein-rowena-chiu.h...

Such a good, satisfying read. Wonderful (as expected) writing, and I loved the characters and how their development was entwined over many years with the larger-than-life house. I have a pretty elaborate picture of the house in my mind thanks to Patchett‘s mastery of descriptive prose - rich with detail but never boring. The audiobook performance by Tom Hanks was extremely Tom Hanksian, so I loved it, too.

One of our smallest nearby library branches reliably has one of the best ongoing book sales. Pretty pleased with my haul from the 5 for $1 rack. 📚❤️

Litsy beloveds: for my sanity, please tell me to stop endlessly streaming news during every free moment and start listening to this instead!! 🤦‍♀️ #morebookslesscnn #dyingtoreadthis

Listening to this author-narrated audiobook was a complete joy, especially when paired with reading the recipes in the e-book version. I was appalled to see that, according to Goodreads, I‘ve never read any of her other books (though I think I may have read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in the decades before GR, when I [ugh!] didn‘t keep any record of my reading). Guess I‘m lucky to have many Maya Angelou books ahead of me. ❤️

I am very far from the first person to say so on Litsy or elsewhere, but this really feels like an essential read. No matter how compassionate or progressive or woke we white people might think we are, we all often behave in ways that perpetuate racial inequality. DiAngelo provides great tips for ditching our defensiveness, confronting our ingrained racist thought and behavior patterns, and for actively striving to be antiracist.

Trying to follow my mug‘s instructions on this foggy and temporarily quiet Sunday morning. And FINALLY digging into this book, which has been on my TBR and bookshelf for years.

I loved this moving, interestingly constructed story about growing up in the U.S. in an immigrant family. Tunde was a wonderful main character, and I learned a lot from his struggle to negotiate belonging, relationships, and identity as a first generation Nigerian-American. My only complaint is that I wanted to spend more time with pretty much all of the characters.

Terrific behind-the-scenes look at some highly impactful journalism. Loved the authors‘ transparency about so many parts of their process. The writing is, of course, great. Nice to hear more from some of the women who were harassed or assaulted by Harvey Weinstein, from Christine Blasey Ford, and from other women with well-known #metoo stories. Makes me want to shout “Real journalism is so important!!” from the rooftops even more than usual.

I was impressed by this intense, sometimes wild, often relatable story of female friendship and its complex, emotionally rich characters who make some big bad decisions yet plenty of good ones along the way. Great Julia Whelan narration, too. Love this quote: “It was not possible to rescue anyone, she knew by now, but you could recognize her. You could see what she showed you, flinch and keep looking, let her find in your own face the truth.”

I really, truly loved this. I‘m grateful for the chance to learn more about Gilead, and I liked the new protagonists and found their arcs satisfying. And I would read thousands more pages written in Aunt Lydia‘s voice (and then happily devour them all over again on audio if Ann Dowd was narrating) - she‘s a problematic character, to be sure, but a fascinating one. A solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from this definitely biased Atwood fanwoman. 😁❤️

I was a little surprised to find these hot new titles still on the shelf at one of my nearby military base libraries this afternoon (but sadly only a little surprised - they are decidedly [gasp] feminist 😛). But I was happy to snap them up! I‘m halfway through The Testaments on audio, but I‘ve been wanting to see some name spellings/experience it in print. And I heard a compelling interview with the authors of the tagged on Fresh Air.

Proud of my fellow library patrons (because even though I recommended this one in Overdrive many months ago I was still number 14 on the hold list) and my county library system (for ordering plenty of copies, apparently)! I‘ve just started it, and already I‘m in love with Ann Dowd‘s part of the narration. 💙💚💙💚💙💚

Squeezed in one more reread (via this paperback + audiobook) before the big day tomorrow. Still chilling, still the finest writing, and still my favorite. #testamentsprep

This was wonderful. I just love The Handmaid‘s Tale so much and will take all the (Mother Margaret-approved) versions of it I can get. This one features stunning artwork and thought-provoking visual interpretations. It did feel a little white, especially after the Hulu adaptation, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Big thanks again to @Jilly6183 for including this in my #summersantagoespostal box. ❤️ #testamentsprep

The overwhelming violence in Chicago is often examined from a structural point of view - as well it should be, because it‘s tied to so many complicated systemic issues. But sometimes that reduces the individuals affected to stereotypes (like victim, perpetrator, gang member, witness) that don‘t reflect that complexity. This book tells many Chicagoans‘ rich, multilayered stories with great empathy - super valuable data for changemakers.

It‘s been quite some time since I‘ve been this excited about an upcoming book release. (Handmaid‘s Tale is my all-time favorite.) My phone appropriately recognized that this NPR review was breaking, notification-worthy news. 😁 https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/755868251/the-testaments-takes-us-back-to-gilead-...

I loved this audiobook. The writing was beautiful, and listening to Davis‘s gentle, clear, potent voice was almost like meditating. Everything she wrote seems even more meaningful when conveyed through her (seriously, unusually wonderful, especially for an author) narration. I thought the balance between personal reflections, stories about her indomitable mother, and historical data about Detroit and its Numbers culture was perfect.

A solid adventure memoir. Heinerth has had many fascinating and harrowing experiences as a cave diver, and I loved how attentive she was to the prevalence of sexism and gender inequality in her field. Her personality and approach to risk and fear are SO different from my own, and I feel like I understand the adventurer mindset a bit better after reading this. The prose wasn‘t my favorite, but overall I found it a good, interesting read.

I‘m really moved by Kendi‘s clear framework and specific language for understanding racism, and by his argument for a laser focus on changing and preventing racist policies. It‘s not good enough to claim to be, or even strive to be, “not racist” - Kendi discusses the many times he‘s confronted his own racist ideas and beliefs. His definition of “antiracist” is powerful, optimistic, and action-oriented, and I hope it catches on in a big way.

On a brief getaway from our California home to another California location, reading about yet another part of California, where we previously lived. Guess I‘m stuck in an endless California loop - could be worse! ☀️ 🐝 💛

I was really looking forward to this but didn‘t end up loving it. For me the style mostly outweighed the substance, but I could imagine it resonating more with other readers. At least the cover consistently made me happy whenever I opened Libby. 😄

I‘ve been slumping hard for a solid week (unusual for me in the Litsy era!). Started and stopped so many books that would normally hold my attention. And then came Olive. I really loved this. Lucy Barton was so-so for me; Anything Is Possible I liked more. But this is my favorite Strout yet. ❤️

Has anyone read this (or any other books by the author)? The related Netflix docuseries is very 😳!!

This is well-done - funny, frank, and charming. It just wasn‘t quite for me. I could identify with many of her experiences, but overall her tone and themes didn‘t speak to me. I could see this being a strong pick for others, though.

As a very experienced workplace outsider (only partly by choice 😬), I‘m REALLY looking forward to diving into this one! #bookmail #librarything #earlyreviewers

I love TV, and because I like loving TV, I‘m sometimes tired of TV criticism. But I don‘t tire of Emily Nussbaum. I mostly know her from her smart and entertaining tweets, so these pieces were new to me, and I enjoyed every one. Her critiques are well-grounded in cultural context and never feel nitpicky. And her love of TV, and her firm belief that it should be respected as an artistic medium, always shine through.

VERY happy to have found this 🤬 presumed-lost book! Our library system replaced fines with hold/checkout/renewal blocking at overdue Day 1 (WAY more painful, and therefore effective, than fines for me! 😭😜). So I was highly motivated to find this, esp. when told it‘d be $36 to replace. Thanks to one of surprisingly many online lists of places to find lost library books, I FINALLY found this after hours of searching over several days. 🤦‍♀️🥳💃🏆

Like so many of you have said, this is sweet, funny, and the best. 💜💜💜

I feel like I‘ve been on the library hold list for this FOREVER, and still I‘m #13! Well, no more waiting, thanks to this deal. (I do prefer print cookbooks, but e-cookbooks at least deliver the recipes. And I happily pay for the Eat Your Books service, which allows you to search all of your cookbooks easily - well worth a few bucks a month, as it makes me use my cookbooks, whatever their format, so much more!)

Fully enjoyed this one. Super charming, lots of lovable characters, many authentic Minnesota/Midwest touches, and a very fun focus on beer and brewing - and pie! But mostly beer. I will continue to read anything J. Ryan Stradal writes. 🍺🥧🍺

Just started this and am loving Judith Ivey‘s narration!! I often seek out fiction set in my native Midwest, but audio versions can be hit or miss for me, mostly bc I really want the narrator to pull off a believable Midwest accent. Ivey is nailing it. And the text is off to a great start in the authenticity dept, too - a character described something she clearly didn‘t like as “kinda different” - my (non-Midwesterner) husband and I (cont.) ⬇️⬇️

EXCELLENT. I can‘t quite figure out how Whitehead makes his characters feel so alive with so few words. I‘ve only read his Underground Railroad before this, but I‘ll go back and read his earlier works now. This felt extremely timely, even though little of it took place in the modern era of its opening pages. Upon finishing this audiobook, I immediately went back and listened to the last 5-6 chapters again - a first for me, I think! ❤️

Joining the club and gushing over this exceptionally pretty bookmail. ✨💙 And after reading the first paragraph of the prologue (a musing about parenthood that rings way too true for me), I‘m hooked. Thanks, @WilliamMorrowBooks !

This book is great. Really hilarious, informative, empowering - just great. I was finally compelled to try it after seeing it on the Local Authors shelf at the library, had no idea Altman lives here in San Diego. Love her voice, written and speaking - the audio was terrific. The sheltered, decade-or-two younger me would have found this very TMI, but now I find it JtRAoI (just the right amount of information. There must be a better acronym 😂).

Just lucked into one of my best Little Free Library finds ever. 😍🥐😋 And certainly the heaviest...Dorie‘s cookbooks are superchunks!

Hooray!! This was my fourth (I think?) #24in48, but my first time reaching 24 hours!! 🥳🎉🍾💃 I leaned heavily on audiobooks, because kids, and stayed up way past my mom/aspiring old lady bedtime two nights in a row. And so much coffee. 😛 Feels good to achieve that goal, and as always it was so great to share in the readathon fun with you all! ❤️❤️❤️

Scrambling to make it to 24 hours after a trip to our Central Library, because when you have the chance to meet DJ Lance, you must act. My kiddo has been a fan since toddlerhood, so he was over the moon. 🧡🧡🧡#yogabbagabba #sdcc #djlancedjlancedjlancerock #24in48

Really enjoyed this funny, feminist novel about figuring out what it means to be a woman in a body in the world. Food, cooking, and eating factor into this process for the main character in many interesting ways. There‘s fumbling and trauma and complicated relationships, but also growing and empowerment and humor (all of which are captured in a great moment about asking for a sandwich that made me shout “Yesssss, girl!!” 😂). Book 3 of #24in48.

Sitting down with a coffee refill, this forever-on-the-TBR selection, and a big sense of optimism that I might actually make it to 24 hours for the first time!! 😬🤞#24in48

OMG. Not sure a 25-hour audiobook about my state‘s water crisis and its relationship to systemic agricultural craziness was the perfect choice for #24in48...😳😂 (I did listen at 1.75 speed, but still!) It was really good, though. Excellent writing, and I loved the memoir elements. I may not be able to eat an almond again without a pang of guilt, but I‘m certainly glad I read this. (Next up for the readathon - ANYthing light and fun!! 😛)

Finished my first #24in48 book, and it was a GREAT one. Despite her relative youth, Madden has a complicated personal and family history and has been through a LOT of stuff. She writes about all of it brilliantly. I am very much hoping for a Part 2, because it‘s clear she has much more story to tell.

Time for takeout fish tacos on the deck! 🌮🌮
#24in48
#stillreading
#audiotacos

As in everyday life, about 75% of my #24in48 reading will probably be done via audiobook. Thanks to my four library systems (two local and two military) and trusty apps (Libby, Overdrive, and RBdigital), I always have more great books checked out than I‘ll ever have time to finish. Doing a little #audiopeachpicking in the backyard this morning. 🍑😋🎧 #hour12audiobookschallenge

Up and at ‘em this beautiful #24in48 morning! (No heat wave here in San Diego...😬 - sending cool vibes to you, melting friends!) Kids are fed and I‘m on the way to being suitably caffeinated. For the Hour 6 challenge: I love SFF, though I don‘t read as much of it as I‘d like. But it‘s my #1 path to bookish bonding with my 14-year-old. We‘re reading this one together at bedtime these days. 🚀🧪🔮🐉

Up past my bedtime, but this book makes it easy to stay awake! So good so far. ✨ #24in48