I listened to this quick Audible original while I did some weekend cleaning - it's a contemporary romance with two narrators. It all starts when an advice columnist receives a question from one person at a company and accidentally replies to the other.
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In poking around I discovered that what the male narrator looks like is a big mystery - his voice is awfully familiar to me and I have some guesses....

Two young women start out in an intense relationship that ends quickly, sending each into her own exploration of her roots and identity. One goes to Georgia (the country) and the other to Germany on a Jewish genocide type trip. The entire novel has a floating quality too it as there is a lot happening internally and emotions are high whether it's relationship drama or painful history, and the narration alternates between Willa and Hesper

Are all holiday romances set in the UK? Here is another, with young war widow Kate barely making ends meet. In her crap job selling Christmas trees for a department store, she meets a man she remembers from previous years, but this year he looks alone and sad. #romantsy

I kept hearing this novel described as "lesbian necromancers in space." That isn't inaccurate but space is a backdrop, necromancy is central, but there is also a locked-room murder mystery, houses with a contest between necromancers, and one unforgettable kick-ass heroine named Gideon. Oh and it is funny and pithy. If you need a book to mix it up or break up reading ennui, this is probably the one! Glad I gave it another chance.

I'd love to include you in my Best of 2019 episode. Deadline December 14 (the post should answer most FAQ.)

http://readingenvy.blogspot.com/2019/11/submit-your-best-read-of-2019.html

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 173: Expecting a Lot from a Book.
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Jenny was happy to welcome Sarah Tittle in person to chat books we have read and liked recently. We found our way to a few unintentional themes of female empowerment and radicalism, with a little reader's memory lane of one Nicholson Baker.
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https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy173

I went looking for books from the Tournament of Books 2020 longlist in Hoopla and landed on The Night Swimmers is audio. There really isn't much here, a story of a teenaged boy intrigued with a woman living nearby and they both swim at night. But nothing really happens. These chapters alternate with even less interesting chapters from the narrator in his present day that just sound like they're probably the author in his real life.

Two twenty somethings move into a shared house in an area of London they would never be able to afford otherwise and develop a friendship on long walks through the city. Definitely a holiday read for fans of friends to lovers romance!
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I guess this came out earlier in the fall but it seemed better for the first day of December. I had a copy from the publisher.

Total: 20 books, but 2 are over 500 pages and only one below four stars!

Audiobook: 3
eBook: 6
Print: 11

Library copy: 5
Personal copy: 6
Review copy: 9

Asia 2019: 2
Non-fiction November: 11
Tournament of Books 2020: 2
TBR-Explode: 2

I've been poking around Kindle deals and eARCs and Hoopla books for cozy holiday reads. Would you listen to a bonus podcast episode that gives an overview?
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Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage features Esme, a redheaded food stylist in her 30s living in London until she loses her job and relationship in one bad day. She retreats and finds a way to reinvent herself, and it's super cozy ....

While arguably not my usual genre, I was enjoying this epic fantasy novel with feminist undertones for the first 500 pages or so. I think in books like these, the ending should be the payoff but it was in pulling the pieces together where I started to lose interest. It might just be me; ymmv.

Memoir 11 for Nonfiction November and this is a captivating read! I had to keep reminding myself it was a true story, about the author's mother who embarks on an affair with her husband's best friend but drags her daughter into it. It's also about mothers and daughters, waspy Cape Cod culture, and finding your own path. If you go to the beach anytime soon, this is the book to take with you!

I started Mockingbird because it was on my TBR from 2010, and somehow thought it was a detective novel of sorts. Wrong! It starts with a robot in a robot-dominant landscape who is unable to end his life, and brings in a human who has taught himself to read, something humans no longer do. Then he meets a woman who isn't on the mind-altering drugs.... Very readable and engaging!

After reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I was curious to learn more about the Hmong people and "The Secret War." This memoir chronicles the Yang family's escape from Laos into a refugee camp in Thailand (where the author was born) to resettlement in Minnesota. The contrast in cultures and values was stark as the parents as the family tried to make the United States home, even if it's not where the ancestors are buried. ⤵️

After discussing Sing Unburied Sing with a group, some seemed to have more insight after reading Jesmyn Ward's memoir and made me want to read it too. It isn't easy going - chapters alternate between her life and the stories of five men in her family/community that died within a period of five years. Highly recommended for story and craft. Memoir 9 of #nonfictionnovember

After hearing great things about this book by my friend Karen and then seeing it on the longlist for the Tournament of Books, I decided to try this one in audio. It was a great decision, what a fun read (I even liked the satire, a rarity for me.) Different actors read different stories, sometimes in teams.⤵️

My first read from the new Tournament of Books 2020 long list is a book recommended by a Houston-based previous podcast guest, Elizabeth. Each story in this book takes place in a different Houston neighborhood and includes all sorts of characters (and lots of drugs.) I was impressed by how quickly Bryan Washington can develop characters and give the reader deep insights into their lives.

This slim book about leaving Tunisia amidst personal and terrorist violence is also a reflection on memory and family, with frequent connections to music, film, and literature. It forced me to slow down and be with Fellous in her view of the sea, in her head and ears, and in feeling how much you can love a place yet want to leave it. Memoir 8 of #nonfictionnovember

Reading Envy Podcast 172: The It Book of NYC.
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Jenny welcomes Jon Laubinger of the Film Baby Film Podcast back to the Reading Envy Pub for a chat on books, the multimedia versions they connect to, and more. If you're not that interested in award chatter, jump ahead to 15:15.

https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy172

This was a reread for me, in preparation for our first round of Jesmyn Ward book club at work. I found it even more moving the second time around and look forward to our discussion.

I can't tell you much I wanted to love this book. I was hoping for Crazy Rich Asians does Thanksgiving. But it's so bad! And all the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are positive! The author writes uncomfortably about people who are clearly Chinese (she refers to people in very generic words like "Asian" while using very specific names for people and foods?) But also she didn't edit this well, restating reveals that had already been revealed...⤵️

I could not get past 25% on this one. I feel I should share my bails more often because otherwise it seems like I think all books are good. Chef Sanchez surely has an interesting story but he doesn't know which parts matter, which parts to give more detail on, and how to structure a narrative. If he used a ghost writer that person should be fired. He repeats stuff we already know while glossing over stories that sounded interesting, if only.

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 171: Foodie Recommendations

Jenny asks a guest to do a foodie recommendations episode - just in time for the holidays!

We cover a range of types of books - cookbooks, essays, memoir - and have a few titles from the backlist to recommend as well. The second season of the Skillet podcast goes live the same day this episode, so I hope you'll give both a listen!

https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy171

A story through the decades following the lives of two sisters, Jo and Bethie (just possibly a little shout-out to Little Women). I love how Jennifer Weiner captures the lives of these women, lots of gray instead of black and white, decisions made for other people instead of the self, complex decisions made through the years and their ramifications.

Readers who enjoyed The Secret History might enjoy Black Diamond Fall, a mystery of sorts based on two real stories from Middlebury College. The story centers around a student's disappearance in the snow, and a relationship he had with an older man (who went skiing in Utah during the same time) comes to light.

Samra Habib, artist and activist, did not to sacrifice her identity as a Muslim when she came out. This is her story of her journey and how she found community. I found it uplifting!

And this is memoir 7 of my #nonfictionnovember reading project!

Add this to your snow day reading lists! A retelling of Beauty and the Beast where Rowan is traded for her father's life to the Huntress.

Memoir 6 of my #nonfictionnovember project - this one was a book on my #tbrexplode list for the month so I found the audio in hoopla. .
It was the first time I could hear Anthony's voice since his death. Some of the sections in this book feel even more spot on nine years later about food and restaurant trends; some of it hasn't aged as well. But it definitely demonstrates a maturity and clear understanding of his place in the order of things.⤵️

I wanted to read this after some students in Georgia burned the author's books after she spoke there. I'd say there's a bit of shared thematic content between this group of essays and her novel, Make Your Home Among Strangers, but this is a quick read and moves farther into the present. Not surprisingly, the Georgia incident is not the first time she's had to deal with white tears at a college when she has been brought there for the campus read.

If I bought books for my sister for Christmas, does it matter if I read them before wrapping? 🙋👾🐎😁🤫

This is memoir 4 of my #nonfictionnovember memoir project. Unfollow chronicles Megan Phelps' journey out of the Westboro Baptist Church, notorious for anti-gay protests and general awfulness. ⤵️

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 170: Permission to Read with Joshua Greer
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Joshua Greer has known Jenny since he worked for her in the music library as a new college student, and since then has gone on to become a librarian. We chat books we‘ve read recently, and what happens when you give yourself permission to read.

https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy170

Memoir 3 of my #nonfictionnovember reading frenzy. Can you believe I put off reading this one because I thought it was about running? Instead Ondaatje uses a few visits to Sri Lanka in the 1970s to take a trip down memory lane, with stories from his family told interlaced with poetry. ⤵️

Memoir 2 for #nonfictionnovember and this one is also available in #hoopla! Cute art and very honest examination of eir identity, without trying to make it universal. I loved that even though Maia grew up in a hippie community, e was still going through a lot of the journey mentally first before confiding with friends or family.
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#booksof2019 #bookstagram #igreads

This memoir is an excellent capture of grappling with genderqueer identity. I've marked a bunch of places that resonate with experiences friends of mine have had, but I've never seen in articulated so well. It's a quick read and very worth reading. It comes out November 15, 2019 - I was sent a copy from the publisher.

I'm seeing how many memoirs I can read for Non-Fiction November - this is the first!

It's baaaaaaack

My only 5-star read in October was Girl, Woman, Other but most of the rest are solid 4-star reads. Follow the link in my profile to be my friend in Goodreads, where I post all reviews.
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Books Read: 23

Audiobooks: 1
eBooks: 15
Print: 7

Library copy: 3
Personal copy: 4
Review copy: 16

Asia 2019 goal: 2
TBR Explode project: 3

This is the fourth in a series of books I have not read otherwise, featuring the mother of one of the previous characters as she accompanies her daughter on a work trip to England. Vivian is a woman of color in her 50s and she's not expecting to find love but meets the Queen of England's personal secretary and sparks fly.⤵️

A story about a man, his relationship, and his failing bank account, told completely in lists. It's a fun concept and I think the author thinks in lists, so this was a natural approach for him.

In my reading experience, I found it a bit tedious; it didn't read as quickly as I was in the mood for. The main character is a bit unlikeable and just needs to tell his wife about the finances, and she wouldn't spend $212 on a purse!

The Deep by Rivers Solomon is in conversation with a song by William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes and performed by Daveed Diggs.

Mercreatures descended from enslaved women murdered and thrown overboard when they were pregnant live in communities on the ocean floor, with the ability to connect telepathically. Yetu is the historian and bears the weight of the collective memory, and the story starts in the days up to the annual Remembering.

At it's heart, this is a novel about the relationship between a brother and sister. But also physics, and time, and energy. It was first published in 1987 and I added it to by to-be-read list in 2010.

I listened to this in audio, read by Frances McDormand. Tales of the City was originally published in 1978 (the year I was born) and it focuses on a cast of characters all linked in some way to a landlady in San Francisco (near where I was born.)

"I come from a long line of restauranteurs, from a family whose roots were made of gravy and whose blood ran hot with pimentón." I enjoyed Kwame's memoir (and he's still very young and has many successes and breathless leaps ahead of him.) I had no idea how varied his experiences were and how much he had done even before Top Chef. I hope to eat in one of his restaurants eventually, especially if he stays in DC.

At 29, Yancey Stirling is unmarried and is facing a lifetime of mundane conversations with her controlling family, who want her to be the butt of their jokes but don't think activities like reading or daydreaming are appropriate. So she takes her life into her own hands! A little pre-world war I feminist empowerment from the author of Anne of Green Gables.

Another title from my #tbrexplode project that I was enjoying enough to finish.

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 169: Simulacrum with Jon Sealy.
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Jenny sits down in the Reading Envy Pub with author and publisher Jon Sealy. After we talk about the state of publishing and Jon's current projects, we also discuss books we've read and liked recently. Some books are just better in audio, some are necessarily dark, while others clear away the gloom.
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https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy169

Await Your Reply had been on my TBR since 2009. When I tried it, I decided to keep reading. It has the feeling of his more recent book, Ill Will, in the sense that you know something is going on that you don't know yet but not what it is. The characters seem to be searching for missing people in their lives, definitely a theme of identity, created and stolen.

"I come from a long line of restauranteurs, from a family whose roots were made of gravy and whose blood ran hot with pimentón."

This was an interesting read because I've read Kai Cheng Thom's work and was blown away by her in previous years. This essay collection pulls back the curtain to the trauma that accompanies fame whether that comes from the work or being a SJW on the internet (self-declared, since I think of this as a negative term), questions the assumed safety inherit in queer communities, and proposes a few approaches of restorative justice moving forward.

A brief novel that starts with a 16 year old putting on a dress that should have been worn by her mother, but wasn't, and the story unfolds from there. This is an author I've always meant to try! I liked how complex her characters are and how their relationships shift in subtle ways. Do you have a favorite Woodson?
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The book came out September 17, 2019 and I did have an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley

Kameron Hurley has this incredible ability to occupy the spaces known to the science fiction canon but somehow occupy them subversively.

*Elephants and Corpses* could live in the universe of Altered Carbon but with a twist.
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*The Plague Givers* deals with a fallout of a relationship that might have the power to destroy the world.

*Tumbledown* features a paraplegic warrior on a frozen planet.