Good July 4th thoughts, I think. ❤️‍🩹

Another wonderful, informative graphic novel from George Takei and his talented team. Like They Called Us Enemy, this is a hard read at times due to personal and historical challenges he covers, but it‘s also full of his dearness and humor. I learned new things about his activism and political career. This is a powerful portrayal of the inhumanity of forcing people to hide who they are (one that shouldn‘t be so relevant today).

Due to an especially busy and draining spring semester, I didn't read nearly as much from @monalyisha ‘s #AuldLangSpine list as I would have liked in January/the first half of 2025. Hoping to make up for that in the second! This was so lovely. 💚 Many standout essays, and even though it‘s summer where I am, somehow the winter ones resonated most strongly, I think because of the moral winter we‘re living through right now. 😞

Really enjoyed this! Strong historical parallels, great MC and some memorable supporting ones, and I loved the Montana and SF settings. Plus I appreciated the writing and the audio narration as much as (even more than?) any of these.

This was great! There‘s a lot going on - the pandemic, social media influencing, communal living, a MAGA sister, sometimes spicy polyamory, many goats, generational differences re: social justice work, kooky TV adaptations, critiques of capitalism, and plenty of hilarious hijinks. And of course Alison Bechdel makes it all work with her brilliant writing and drawing.

An uplifting and inspiring read for today, especially when paired with the really well-produced audiobook. #Juneteenth

I had a mountain of grading to do tonight when my reluctant reader came into my office wanting to sit and read to me all 600+ names of the animals in this (ADORABLY illustrated!) book. The choice was clear. 🤷‍♀️

Pure magic! This book brought me so much joy during an over-the-top busy week and was the perfect thing to pull me away from the over-the-top awful daily news. I might love this as much as Rabbit Cake (though RC is due a reread). I fell hard for these characters (Pancakes the most but all the rest, too) and will never tire of Hartnett‘s blend of whimsy, tenderness, and just the right amount of darkness. A (maybe THE) fave of the year for sure.

Another pick from Marcy Dermansky for me! I set this one aside for a bit after not quite loving the beginning/premise but grew to really like it. Themes of motherhood, privilege, greed, and wanting run deep beneath the surface silliness of some aspects of the story (and I ended up enjoying the silliness, too).

I adored this. The characters and their messiness and growth, the Midwest setting, and so much sweetness and humor (alongside plenty of complex issues, painful moments, and emotional depth that felt really authentic) made this such a joy to read. Even when a few plot turns strained credulity, I quickly came around to loving those choices made by St. James (whose work I've appreciated since her A.V. Club days!). Fantastic audio, too.

Unintentionally color-coordinated birthday impromptu Dollar Tree book haul! (Truest birthday wish: more time and bandwidth for reading them/enjoying all of my bookish pastimes! 🙃)

Wow, 9 years!! 😮 It‘s such a gift to connect with you all here. This joyful space has been there for us through some very interesting times, hasn‘t it? Looking forward to many more happy moments here!

Thought I should get this off the ol' TBR before checking out Wild Dark Shore. WOW - fantastic. Emotionally engaging, deep in its themes/messages, and riveting in a would‘ve-stayed-up-'til-3-AM-to-finish-if-my-body-let-me sort of way. A top read of 2025 so far for sure.

Adored this and found it a perfect and much-needed escape from reality! I especially loved that Linda Holmes narrated the audio version herself. My favorite of her three novels so far!

Thinking I may need to shift to books that are about escaping our current reality, as I keep reading the opposite and it‘s heavy. 🙃 But this is a good one, by a well-known sociologist (still doing vital work in her mid-eighties!) and based on ethnographic research where she deeply studies and truly listens to those whom we might perceive as voting against their own interests. A powerful takeaway is Hochschild‘s assertion that many (who ⬇️

This is a really accessible yet info-packed read that I'd certainly recommend to anyone hoping to learn more about the history of White Christian Nationalism (which I wish wasn't yet again/still/[endlessly?!] such an urgent social problem, but here we are 🙃). Jemar Tisby is excellent wherever he writes/presents his ideas, including his Substack (jemartisby.substack.com). He narrates the audio beautifully, too.

While it took me a second to get into this one, I ended up finding it a really affecting read and one that tells an important story about the impact of incarceration on partners, families, and communities. I enjoyed Harris's writing (especially in the latter 50-75%) and thought she did a great job of blending memoir and sociological analysis (one of my favorite things to find in nonfiction).

So grateful that horrible and heartbreaking January is over! 😫 A bright spot in mine, though, was listening to this, which is every bit as wise and inspiring as you would imagine. I really liked the structure and how it blended memoir, reflection, and stories of other brave folks. The audio was beautifully narrated by the author. Reading this soothed me and made me more hopeful.

I was so bummed to not finish this in time during #CampLitsy and therefore was thrilled to see it on @monalyisha‘s #AuldLangSpine list; will now have to go back and read the discussion that I missed! I found this very emotionally engaging, and the writing had me vividly picturing characters, setting, and scenes throughout. Have the film rights to this been purchased? 🤔 Would be great on screen.

Liked this one a lot! Though it pleased me perfectly well as a quirky, maybe-unlikable-but-also-relatable characters + marriage/family story, I thought it was also sneakily deep in its engagement with social issues, including race, culture, and politics.

Another gem found in a neighborhood #LittleFreeLibrary ! I‘d never even heard of this one, but if Everett writes it I will read it. Grateful today to be outside in the currently fresh air in San Diego, even as I‘m feeling so much sadness for our northern neighbors, including some good friends who lost family homes. 💔

What a very good book to start any year with (and this year in particular). So glad that @monalyisha added this 2024 reread of hers as a bonus to her #AuldLangSpine list! It found it delightful and comforting and really liked May‘s writing. Parts about night waking, hibernating, and singing were among my faves, and I loved the interludes about animals, insects, and birds. Great on audio but I look forward to a reread in print someday.

Fun #LittleFreeLibrary find in my neighborhood! Somehow I‘ve never heard of this book before, but it sounds right up my alley. The other picture is for @monalyisha , who asked me to share a photo of some scallop shell ornaments my husband and I made many years ago when we lived more in her neck of the woods. (An abalone one made it into the shot too; those are the best because the holes come naturally pre-drilled! 😄)

Very glad to have fit in this brilliant pick from @Deblovestoread ‘s #AuldLangSpine list! It was a brutal listen in some ways, between the violence, racism, painfully still relevant political references, and the constant use of the n word. Yet it was also really funny and clever and absorbing. And of course it was, because Everett wrote it. My third of his books this year and I can‘t wait to keep going.

Beyond excited to dig into the amazing @monalyisha 's #AuldLangSpine list in the new year! I've read (and largely loved) 6.5 (didn't finish Bear during #CampLitsy due to time, not disinterest!), including the tagged, which I read because it was on @Deblovestoread 's #AuldLangSpine list for 2024! 🦈❤️ Quite a few others were already on my TBR. Feeling lucky with these titles to choose from!

I loved this GBBO-inspired book so much!! The PERFECT cozy holiday read for me (it doesn‘t exclusively take place around the holidays, but the Christmas bits were great). Plentiful and detailed recipe descriptions and such a sweet story in all the ways. Great audio narration, too.

I‘m dreadfully late in posting about but extremely grateful for receiving this much longed-for book!!! 😍😍😍 I‘m a huge fan of Julia Turshen and can‘t wait to read this one cover to cover and then probably make practically every recipe in it because they will all be simple and delicious. Thank you SO much for your generosity, Danielle, and I hope you had a lovely Jokabokaflod!!! #JolabokaflodSwap

I've submitted grades for all the classes I teach (🎉 🥳 💃) and so am thrilled to be shifting focus to all things Christmas, festive, and fun!! One thing that buoyed me during these last few busy weeks was reading this fantastic pick from @Deblovestoread 's #AuldLangSpine list!!! It was so very good. I don't know what I thought this book was about, but it was nothing like what it really was about. A truly lovely read. Thanks, Deb!! ❤️

Received and sent my #JolabokaflodSwap packages over the past few days. This swap is such a blessedly reliable joybringer! Thanks as always to @MaleficentBookDragon . 💚❤️

Adored this and would put it right up there with the (many) other Erdrich books I've loved. Totally invested in the characters, loved the setting (time and place), and her writing just works for me every time.
This would absolutely have made my #AuldLangSpine list had I not finished it the day after filling out the form, @monalyisha !!

I love Clint Smith‘s writing. This includes some of his keen and straightforward social analysis, always with an eye on historical context. But also a lot of sweetness about young fatherhood.

One of the most meaningful, empowering, and visionary books I‘ve read in some time. It was in part a call to action re: 2016, so it‘s….super relevant. Valarie Kaur is an important voice for right now, and always. Looking forward to reading her recently published book soon (tagged in comment ⬇️).

I‘ve always liked Ina. I enjoyed watching a feminist perspective inform her personal and professional growth. But this is a light pick for me. I think I just wasn‘t the right reader for this book, at least not in this moment in time/history.
Further thoughts in spoiler comment below! Not spoilers per se, but I wouldn‘t want to mar anyone's experience of escaping into this one, as the food (and many other) aspects are delightful!

This was a shockingly perfect escapist read for me over the weekend! Enjoyed it so much more than The Plot. Something about spending time with the unhinged female protagonist, perhaps...

This one exceeded my expectations! Liked it a lot. My review would echo pretty much everything @ImperfectCJ recently posted about it, including that I've never seen a single episode of One Tree Hill (but now I'm kind of contemplating it as an age-inappropriate comfort bingewatch...??). I also relate to elements of the author's Christian upbringing and her Broadway musical nerdery.

Finally finished a book after completing ZERO (😭) in October, mostly due to work and also consuming so much news. Still very busy at work, but I‘ll have more time for books since I‘ll be avoiding the news for the next few weeks/months/years…😭😭😭
Anyway, this was great! My first Chuck Wendig, had to try due to the apple theme. So many hours on audio, but I was engaged throughout. Got super invested in the characters! I‘ll read more from him.

Doing so little reading lately thanks to so much working! 😣 But this lovely bookmail from Mariner certainly makes me hope some free time magically appears soon!! 😍

I‘m listening to Colored Television right now (so far so good!) and realized I didn't review this one, which I read earlier this month. I loved it! Instantly a fan of Senna's writing. I even enjoyed the ending, which I understand many didn‘t. Fun to have a new beloved author (who's married to another new beloved author 😁).

Still deciding how I feel about this one! Certainly thought-provoking, and I loved the characters and many aspects of the story/ending. What I can say for sure is that I really enjoyed Alam‘s writing, as I did in Leave the World Behind, and I‘m hopeful to check out his backlist.

Also was delighted to see @Sara_Planz featured in a Riverhead email about this book! ❤️

Highly recommend this newish release by one of the most effective public scholars in my field (sociology) right now. Calarco went somewhat viral a few years ago with her quote “Other countries have social safety nets; the U.S. has women.” This book expands on that and features great analysis and insights from extensive research/in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of American women. It‘s SO readable, too. (And it happens ⬇️

Great read with many standout journalistic pieces about true crime as a part of culture. Loved the audio, very well-narrated by Xe Sands, but needed my own copy for highlighting. Worth reading just for Rabia Chaudry‘s smart introduction, which includes gems like this: “I have found nothing more effective than popular true crime media to both educate myself and others about systemic injustices and challenge our own deeply held misperceptions.”

A beautifully written memoir about the often challenging younger years of a gay man who had an unstable upbringing (financial and otherwise) in Appalachia, attended an Ivy League school, and navigated a really fraught relationship with his mom. I read via audio and am sorry he didn‘t do the narration, because I bet he would‘ve been brilliant.
(He was wonderful on @kdwinchester ‘s Read Appalachia podcast!)

One of our neighborhood library branches dubbed (by me) The Branch with THE Best Books for Purchase Selection living up to its name once again. ($5 total.)

FANTASTIC book - absolutely one of my faves of the year so far. A brilliant and open-hearted perspective on grammar and how it relates to culture/context, and super educational-yet-fun! I now know I'm a “wordie” — someone who loves words and grammar rules but also kind of loves breaking the rules and viewing them as flexible and dynamic (as opposed to a “grammando“ [self-defining! 🤣], which I tended toward when I was younger). ❤️

I thought this was outstanding. Incredibly readable and so respectful of the humanity and complexity of its subjects. Valuable in its demonstration not only of how people fall into conspiracy belief systems, but also of the vital importance of strengthening our empathy skills — and our mental health support structures/resources.

Another thoughtful addition to the escape-from-Christian-patriarchy memoir canon (generously sent to me by Eerdmans Publishing). And the first one I‘ve read that‘s partially set in Hawaii, which was super interesting! Lots to admire about West‘s writing, and the print book itself is lovely — gorgeous textured cover and surprisingly heavyweight in a pleasant way despite being under 250 pages.

Great book! 😬

Hype-deserving, for sure! Loved the mystery and setting, but more than that loved the female characters and how their experiences, though constrained in a few times and places, were so expansive in what they conveyed about being a woman. Excited for Liz Moore and about the well-earned praise she's already getting for this!

I will always read and love Anne Lamott. This one was delightfully all over the place, as is her way, and, as is also her way, full of humor and honest self-reflection (including about her foibles and mistakes) and nuanced thoughts on religion that make me revisit my own baggage and rethink my related assumptions.

Loved this!! So funny and clever, pulls no punches yet heartwarming and hopeful (if idealistically so). It‘s also full of compassion and recognizes the humanity of and forces that shaped each and every character (and their culture). Great January LaVoy narration, too. 🩵