Really enjoyed this memoir! Great writing and excellent pop culture analysis, including a response to the “What do we do about art made by problematic people?“ question that spoke to me more than Monsters by Claire Dederer did. (A note re: the audio version on Hoopla - I wonder if the wrong file was uploaded, as it had a decent number of errors/stops and restarts, etc. that I can't imagine were meant for the final product. 😳)

I enjoyed this, perhaps buoyed by being back in the Hunger Games world/low expectations/interest in the movie. I love Santino Fontana as a narrator but this was maybe not my favorite of his performances - his portrayal of female characters didn't always hit for me, and I (unreasonably) wanted him to sing all of the song lyrics he narrated, simply bc I knew he could. 🤣 (Granted some likely didn't have melodies yet, but still.)

My library system hosted a fun book sale crawl today! I failed in getting my passport stamped at each branch, but I succeeded in scoring this sweet haul. Some new to me; some I‘ve loved but didn‘t own; and a couple (Matrix and Nickel Boys) that I loved, own, and am eager to pass on to other readers/area Little Free Libraries. Even better than this haul was seeing the enthusiasm for the event - lots of teen/young adult friend groups shopping! 😍

I loved this as much as I figured I would! Such a witty and fun overview of some of the women pioneers of dark and spooky fiction, and it definitely introduced me to a few I‘d never heard of but now want to read, like Pauline E. Hopkins, Margery Lawrence, and Dorothy Macardle. Loved how it recommended specific works and similar contemporary titles/authors for each profiled author, too. Thanks again to @wen4blu for this excellent #AHRS gift!

I can rarely resist an “I grew up super conservative Evangelical/Christian and am now unpacking that” memoir, and this is a worthwhile addition to the canon. Wasn‘t familiar with Ward until his face kept popping up on the CNN.com front page last week, but I‘m glad it did because this was interesting. He is still very Christian but not okay with the political standpoints/activities of his faith communities of origin. Ward‘s ⬇️⬇️

This was incredible! I loved everything about it, including maybe my favorite use of ghosts in a story ever. It's long but also thrilling so it flies by even as it's breaking your heart. FINALLY have read my first Tananarive Due and am eager to explore her backlist bc she's so brilliant (including on social media). I really enjoyed the audio narration, too.

I've never read Carrie and don't read a ton of YA, but I like Tiffany D. Jackson and really liked this! A good, compelling story with multidimensional characters told in an interesting way. I loved how it invites the reader to consider all kinds of biases and assumptions (including their own!). And though at times I felt I could do without the teen romance, in the end I actually quite appreciated how it fit into the story.

@wen4blu !! Thank you so much for this perfect #AHRS gift! I couldn‘t love it more. So excited to own the tagged book! The monogram bookmark is fantastic and the candy from your local shop was so thoughtful/is really delicious (lovely chocolate, and also the candy corn is notably better than your average candy corn! 😁). And OMG re: the Chiltern Frankenstein edition - it is SO gorgeous and special. 😍😍😍 Thanks again and have a great Halloween!

Aww. This was sad! But great on audio and an interesting/good choice of narrator in (white) Michelle Williams. I remember the very first time I went to a bar in my college town after turning 21 and I heard “Baby One More Time” on the radio and said “Ooh, this song is good - who is this?” and a friend was surprised I hadn‘t yet heard of the hot new young artist Britney Spears, haha. I‘ll always wish her well and hope good things come her way.

My #AllHallowsReadSwap package is on its way! 🎃📚🍫🌴➡️🤠 #ARHS

Lucky me to receive this box from a swap buddy from years ago! Thanks in advance, @wen4blu ! 📚🎃🖤🧡 #AllHallowsReadSwap #AHRS

Just barely a pick for me. Either I‘m not the right reader for this one or the past week has been too heartbreaking and heavy and overloaded with news consumption for me to become immersed in this story. (It‘s definitely the latter but maybe the former, too.) I may try more Kiersten White in the future as I find her personal story compelling: https://religionnews.com/2023/10/05/kiersten-white-bestselling-novelist-explains...

I thought this was great! The library setting, creepy/disturbed/delightfully detestable main character, interesting side characters and relationships, and engaging audio narration made this a very effective mini-slump buster for me. The ending...was what it was. But overall this was a fun read that flew by fast, which suited me fine (even though I would have enjoyed more time with Margo! 😬).

Always fun when a book on your wishlist pops up in your neighborhood Little Free Library! I feel like this will come in handy in those (many) moments when I don‘t really need a recipe but could use a little inspiration re: using up something in my fridge/garden/pantry.

I am not a highlighter of fiction, but I highlighted like crazy in this one! The writing and ideas (esp. around gender, and religion, too) were just that good. I paired this with the audio, which was a great experience. For my other thoughts, just see the previous review by @Megabooks - I agree with every word! 😁 (Thanks again to @RiverheadBooks for the ARC!)

Really liked this oft-recommended super-quick read and definitely agree that going in knowing very little is a plus! Not sure whether Valente‘s backlist titles are in my wheelhouse, but I did enjoy her writing enough to consider exploring them.

If I hadn‘t already started reading this, I certainly would have done so after this interview! ❤️ https://www.npr.org/2023/09/15/1196977059/nprs-book-of-the-day-draft-09-15-2023

I agree with the many who call this a must-read. Such a beautifully crafted history of that horrific day. The part of the book that inspired the title (what was happening on Air Force One) was the least interesting to me, though I still appreciated learning more about that. What affected me most were the memories shared by survivors, loved ones, bystanders in NY/DC area/PA, and everyday Americans (especially the kids!).

Devon Price is such a wonderful thinker and writer. I loved his book Laziness Does Not Exist, and I really liked this, too. A good introduction to some big, complex topics, like the pressures and harms autistic/neurodivergent people can experience when hiding their authentic selves in the often ableist world, and how authenticity is riskier for folks who are also part of marginalized groups based on their race, gender identity, etc.

This was a compelling read/listen. Blakinger‘s personal story is intense, trauma-filled, and privilege-aware, and it merits a content warning/quick check of The StoryGraph or similar if you avoid certain topics. Her writing is fantastic, and I‘ve recently enjoyed following her on social media due to her deep commitment to raising awareness about/promoting change within the incarceration system.

Lots to get excited about here, including new titles by faves of mine like Yossy Arefi, Molly Baz, and Amy Thielen! 😍😋🎉

https://www.foodandwine.com/new-fall-cookbooks-2023-7963904

Loved this! Could the author have gone even deeper? Sure, but it was also great as is. An ideal quick slumpbuster or (as it was for me) audio distraction during busy/stressful times.

Is my neighborhood Little Free Library trying to tell me something? Have not been keeping up with #AuthorAMonth very well lately, to my chagrin bc it‘s so fun. I‘ve wanted to read Rushdie for ages, too.

This was silly, clever, full of fun facts, and bursting with stereotypes. Enjoyed it! It reminded me that despite having been some version of what Phillips calls a “Coastie” for nearly 25 years, I‘ve certainly retained a lot of Midwestern speech patterns and behaviors. A favorite of the author‘s translations: “‘That's different!‘ - What in the ever-loving f*ck? Your [opinion/attire/home decor] is so actively displeasing to me ⬇️

I love R. Eric Thomas, and I loved this even more than his first collection. I LOLed a bunch during this audiobook and found it to be a basically perfect listening experience. His narration is exceptional, which I suppose it would be because he‘s a professional storyteller (via The Moth, theater, etc. in addition to his writing).

A very enjoyable audiobook! I liked the thrilling survival tale, scientific and spiritual whale musings, often-poetic writing, and horror-y gross body stuff. But I found the complicated father-son/family story most compelling. And the Monterey setting meant a lot to me, having lived there for years. 🐋🌊💙

I love Ann Patchett and have been anticipating this greatly, but after starting I wondered if it would be too charming and sweet for me. It was not (it *was* charming and sweet, but also complex and a bit juicy), and I loved it. Obviously the Meryl narration was bliss.

This was dark and sad and full of characters making sketchy decisions. I liked it! It was a page-turner for me. Part of it might have been that I read it while my kids and I had COVID (mild cases, thankfully, but ugggh, we avoided it for so long! Oh well.), as the horrors of Fuller‘s pandemic make our pandemic feel less bad. Looking forward to what‘s sure to be an interesting #CampLitsy discussion. 😆

I never wanted to read this, and I don't know why! I really liked Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising, and I LOVE full cast audiobooks. Maybe it was whatever the opposite of FOMO is...FOJI (fear of joining in 😆)? Extreme hype can turn me off sometimes. Anyway, I gave the audio a try, mostly because I wanted to try the show, and I loved it. Stellar voice performances made for a fully enjoyable and immersive audio experience.

Absolutely loved this. I was riveted by the story, which was a heartbreaker but also full of sweetness and humor. Sometimes the way in which characters were described (esp. around disability) was pretty jarring, but it did feel reflective of the era they were living in. Didn‘t want my time with this book to end, but happily I have a whole bunch of McBride‘s backlist to get to (had only read Deacon King Kong)!

I loved this gorgeously written family story that considers the complexities of Hawaiian history/culture/identity and the significance of hula to all of that. Beautiful audio narration, too. (A note for the #CampLitsy23 crew: I didn‘t read any reviews/info about the author until finishing. Turns out that some of the social media dialogue around this book connects to themes we were discussing re: Yellowface in really interesting ways…)

Fantastic must-read book if you want to better understand the crack epidemic/War on Drugs - something I thought I understood pretty well, but I still learned a ton from this. Very well-written, and the inclusion of stories of people who experienced the epidemic firsthand made this truly special and incredibly impactful. (Even the acknowledgments were moving!)

This is the best book about hot dogs + pandemic-era road trip memoir that‘s deeply political and has tons of swears that you will ever read. 🤣 🌭 I enjoyed it.

This is a very good book and an excellent audio production but was also a tough read that took me a while to get through. All of the violence and darkness and sadism + the just-barely-beyond-our-current-reality of it all, I suppose. Loved the footnotes (I'm a weird fan of footnotes in audiobooks). The best thing about this book, IMO, is how it emphasizes the humanity of/generates empathy for people who have done/keep doing terrible things.

Exciting #bookmail ! #TheFutureIsHere (Thanks, #SimonBooks !) I loved The Power, and the description of this one certainly intrigues.

Great topic, and Dederer is a wonderful writer (and a likable audio narrator). But I‘m going to have to sit with her ideas for a while. Some I don‘t know that I agree with from an ethical perspective (and feel a bit like rationalizations). Others feel spot-on, sometimes uncomfortably so. Certainly a thought-provoking read that has me considering my own choices and judgments re: “problematic faves.”

I try to read with the #CampLitsy23 schedule (stopping halfway before the first discussion), but that was NOT possible with this one. Absolutely fantastic. Have not read a novel that addresses implicit bias and white privilege/fragility so brilliantly. Which would be enough to make me love it, but it‘s also a page-turner and takes on a bunch of other things (publishing, bookish social media, cancel culture) in similarly smart fashion.

I liked this a lot! Great writing, very funny, plenty of bittersweet growing-up stories. The author‘s audio narration was a bit deadpan in a way that I really enjoyed. Not quite as light as I'd assumed it might be based on the (fun and awesome) cover, but all the better for it.

Such a fascinating look at an acclaimed chef and how he was shaped by his experiences as a Mexican immigrant to the US/deportee. It covers many good and bad times that came before and after his success and taught me lots about the history of/modern trends in Mexican cuisine, agriculture, fine dining, even mezcal. There‘s also a fun cameo that will delight any fellow lovers of Top Chef. Nice narration on the audio, too, though it ⬇️

This was daaaaaark! So so dark. But as riveting and un-press-pausable as S.A. Cosby‘s other books (all so amazing on audio). Absolutely loved the prominence of religion in this, and law enforcement culture, and of course his always spot-on observations about race. I think this is my favorite of his books yet!

I thought this was fantastic! Didn‘t know much about it when requesting the ARC, other than that she cowrote The Sun Does Shine, which I loved. Ended up feeling really connected to her story, esp. bc it took place in Santa Cruz during a time period when I was living there too as a young mom with two little boys around her youngest son‘s age. (I wonder if our paths ever crossed?) She‘s an incredible writer, and this book has so much to say about ⬇️

Will save further comment for the #CampLitsy23 convos this weekend, but I really liked this (from start to finish! Was into the characters/setting/tone/writing right away, and in general plot/action are just unnecessary but fun bonuses for me as a reader. 😁).

Was slow to react when I heard “UPS!” shouted outside my door, assuming it was yet another thing for my husband‘s new fishing boat (a lovely and awesome boat, but still 😆). Instead I found an unexpected package from Penguin, and upon opening and seeing these two beautiful ARCs I gasped. 😍😍😍😍😍

Enjoyed this one quite a bit. The writing was smart and I liked the messages that were woven into the story. I really loved the speculative elements - so much so that I would have been fine with chaptersful more of them! But it was also just enough as is. Now I'm wondering if I need to add more twisty speculative stuff to my summer TBR...

This was really great! Ocampo is an academic, and this book presents some of his important sociological research findings. But it's not dry or dense at all! It's super readable, full of firsthand stories that depict the shared identities and experiences of his research subjects AND the range of unique growing up/coming out journeys taken. I love that he includes some personal reflections, too. I wish more scholars would write this way!

I don‘t read much in this genre (gritty mafia crime fiction, I guess?), but I just love Don Winslow‘s writing. Over-the-top and pageturner-y, but also full of characters that I quickly care about, no matter their (always many) questionable choices. That Winslow‘s a local author for me brings bonus joy, as do the local settings in this book. Sad for us but happy for him that he‘s retiring, and I‘ll savor the anticipation of Book 3 coming next year.

Such a sweet adaptation with lovely interpretations of the characters and especially the settings. Also reminds me that I still haven‘t tried the Netflix show!

This very detailed account of the author's privilege-fueled rise within an MLM was kind of a rough listen for me! I did appreciate her candor, and I liked the connections to larger social and systemic issues. (Discussion of MLMs during the pandemic was crazy and really interesting.) I would have preferred much more of the commentary/analysis and less of the memoir/plentiful workplace drama & dish that didn‘t work for me on a number of levels.

Great collection! I love the range of voices, styles, and topics included - so many absolute gems both in message and artwork (like the pages shown here!). Must get a print copy to casually leave around the house for my autistic teen to happen upon. ❤️

Add me to the list of Samantha Irby fans who bought this for the cover but just *had* to read via audiobook. (I‘ve enjoyed flipping through the print after listening, though, as it‘s full of all-caps emphases, unclickable links, bursts of exclamation points, and other fun flourishes.) Loved this as I have loved each of her other books. No matter the topic, she is just very funny. Book posed by the garden gate that my husband has tried ⬇️