I wasn‘t the first woman to be slapped with a scarlet letter, and I know I won‘t be the last.

Silly girl, tables are for eating😬🤓📚

My holds came in…picking up No More Tears wasn‘t planned, but it was on the new release shelf, which I had to look at. Dark, informative stuff I want to get into.

We each control the amount of love we have in our lives. Because at any time, no matter what‘s going on, we can choose to give it.

I felt like this was an informative memoir. The author shares her experience as a single mom who escaped an abusive relationship--dreams of being a writer.  Going to school for it while working (cleaning houses) and struggling to house and feed her and her young daughter, with very little support, and lots of stigma...more so, when she was facing another unplanned pregnancy.  We‘re always told ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, get⬇️

I loved this movie—the visuals have stayed with me through the years. The book is very similar but feels even darker. All fairytales are cautionary in some way. This one is no different…we would do well to remember the lesson from this story in our current times.

One hold, one newly discovered.

My husband made this accurate AI picture of us today🤣
He often comes home only to find me at the library behind our house🤓📚, or walking back with more books😬

I love food writing and food memoirs. I didn‘t know what ‘cellar rat‘ meant before reading this book. My knowledge about wine is limited, but I enjoy cooking with it and like to have a glass sometimes. Here, the author shares her entire journey within the restaurant world, from beginning to end. Revealing layers of rampant abuse, it made me wonder about all the places I‘ve eaten, and will eat in. Food industry workers don‘t get the⬇️

I loved this book. Chef Jose Andres founded World Central Kitchen, a pretty amazing thing. He briefly talks about how his work in the culinary world began, shares a few simple recipes, and gives good life advice. Each chapter has stories of food, and towards the end he speaks about his experiences serving food in current times of war. Our world is full of many problems, but food is one thing that brings all of humanity together. The chef ⬇️

Latest library checkouts…I‘m so behind! I have 4 stacks total (2 different libraries)😬🤓📚

It‘s never too early or too late to change the recipe and fix our broken world.

Hot meals are magical. In a disaster or war, they feed your stomach and your soul. Cooking food transforms the ingredients and the way we feel when we eat them. A hot meal tells you that somebody cares.

An old book made it into an EATER email…Happy Pride!!! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈. Link: https://www.eater.com/24180337/gay-cookbook-lou-rand-hogan

We need to stop the bullshit and be much, much smarter. Because the recipes of the past have not been good enough. New recipes must be written. New ingredients must be brought to the table. New ways of thinking must be embraced. If we don‘t dramatically change what we do, and how we do it, we are wasting our time. Poverty and hunger will worsen in a world with a climate is in crisis. We need to learn from the great successes and the great⬇️

Cooks perform magic by taking raw ingredients, preparing them in the way they want, lighting a fire, and conjuring up a meal that is flavorful, warm, and nourishing. You put everything in a pot, some water and ingredients, and after love and time and heat and warmth, you end up with a dish. Cooking in a terra-cotta pot is the closest thing in a kitchen to becoming a mother. All the ingredients grew together in a pot that bears life.

To asses your own value—to determine whether you were worthy by the metrics determined by a restaurant—you had to set aside everything else. You didn‘t have to be a good person to be good at restaurant work. You didn‘t have to be nice, or forgiving, or ethical, or kind. You only had to be willing to show up and dig into the work that was before you, even if that work was brutal and unfair and traumatic and mean. You did this all, much of the⤵️

Expect the dominoes to start falling quickly in other states. A lot of books will be gone, and others will never even get the chance for a place on the shelf.

Link to read the article: https://bookriot.com/little-vs-llano-county-fifth-circuit/

🔥📚🆘

Cellar rat is the colloquial term used in the industry to describe the people who spend time stocking the wine cellar. It was where my wine education officially began. 🍷🍇🥂

I didn‘t expect this book to be so small. But it certainly packs a punch. Rather than a brief history of the serviceberry tree, the author, who is Indigenous, uses it as an example for how we can and why we should, move away from a capitalist economy, and into a heart centered one. This is called a ‘gift economy‘. In a world not ruled by greed, there is only the cycle of caring, giving, receiving, and giving again. There is more than enough⬇️

I felt like this was a solid, well put together about the history and evolution of American bookshops. Did you know Benjamin Franklin had a bookshop? Did you know there was once a fascist bookshop in LA, that sold and promoted propaganda? This book is full of interesting facts. It shows how the ways in which we get books have changed over time—from street books, to indie stores, to big corporations, to billionaires like Amazon‘s Bezos. ⬇️

Regenerative economies that reciprocate the gift are the only path forward. To replenish the possibility of mutual flourishing, for birds and berries and people, we need an economy that shares the gifts of the Earth, following the lead of our oldest teachers, the plants. They invite us all into the circle to give our human gifts in return for all we are given. How will we answer?

The Indigenous philosophy of the gift economy, based in our responsibility to pass on those gifts, has no tolerance for creating artificial scarcity through hoarding. In fact, the “monster” in Potawatomi culture is Windigo, who suffers from the illness of taking too much and sharing too little. It is a cannibal, whose hunger is never sated, eating through the world. Windigo thanking jeopardizes the survival of the community by incentivizing⬇️

The author has done again, what she did in Weyward. Weaving the lives and stories of women in different time periods who are all connected to each other, though unknowingly—through grief, abuse at the hands of men, death, magic, and bloodlines. This time, through siren song. A haunting story, though not as quite dark as I‘d like.

My library check outs this morning.

I went in there to turn in 2 from last weekend, and to grab another (Junie) that has been missing from the shelf from the library behind my house. I couldn‘t resist grabbing a few more🤣 (especially, The Serviceberry🪾🫐‘, which I‘ve been dying to read!) 🤓📚

I don‘t want to give anything away but the end of this book (plot line not explained until the last pages) left me with a very Elon Musk type feel, which I was not expecting when I first picked it up. With that being said, FUCK Musk and ‘DODGE‘. Salute that, motherfucker!

First time making/having Shakshuka! Sliced avocado 🥑 went nicely with it.

The ongoing fight between Trump and higher education requires mental gymnastics. NYT reports on the latest from Harvard, link to listen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736?i=1000710408661

Meet the author of one of the books recently challenged and heard at SCOTUS, ‘Pride Puppy‘, in this episode.

Spoiler alert: it‘s not a ‘grooming‘ book🙄

Link to listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/boom-lawyered/id1282116646?i=1000710415889

I have her book on pre-order💜

Link to listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/repros-fight-back/id1327397412?i=100071011...

My library check outs today. They didn‘t even need my card for my account ID, that‘s how often I‘m in there🤣🤓📚

I adore this book! Two guys are secretly in love with each other, but one of them is undocumented…their relationship is tested when an abuser decides to step in and make it all about her.
I seriously hope to see this adapted onto the big screen! 🇲🇽 🏳️‍🌈 And also, fuck ICE.

The majority of this memoir takes place very close to the area I grew up in. SC has not changed all that much from the time it was published, in regard to race, class, equity, equality. We don‘t even have a hate crime law, because the Republican dominated state legislature refuses to pass it. The Confederate Flag flies at the Statehouse once a year, Charleston Confederates meet to defend a statue each Sunday morning on the battery. The ⬇️

The hospice I volunteer for had stacks of these guides in the office. Good, basic information for what the last weeks and hours of life can look and sound like. The signs can be scary if you don‘t know what to expect. Great info to have at the next death cafe!

This is the first book I‘ve read about adoption. It isn‘t something I know a lot about, so I wanted to educate myself. I have two friends who are part of the adoption world—one who was adopted, the other faced two forced pregnancies which ended in placement and lots of trauma. As a clinic escort, I have heard every argument for adoption. As someone who grew up in a fundamentalist, white, evangelical, heteronormative household, I have ⬇️

Library checkouts today! Gorgeous covers😍

I didn‘t want to read this book but I decided to do it to see what Vance had to say before he sold his soul. I‘ve read about many other experiences from people of color and didn‘t think I would find anything remarkable here; I didn‘t. Vance had a rough childhood and adolescence which he is very open about in this memoir, but it doesn‘t justify the monstrous policies he now supports or the vile thing he has become. Maybe I‘m wrong, but I think⤵️

I loved this book. I understand why some people have a hard time with magical realism but it worked perfectly for this story, and I absolutely loved that Harriet Tubman makes an appearance.
When Hiram discovers his gift and decides to make his exit from a life of enslavement, he uses it to help others. A story of courage, resilience, and finding the magic within the self. I can‘t wait for the screen adaptation!

In this book, the author goes deep into the history of interracial relationships during the days of enslavement in America, to try to make sense of what still lurks in the present. It has everything to do with misogynoir and the deep stain of slavery. Worth a read.

I think we all think about the end of the world or ourselves, if only briefly, at least once a day. We imagine how it will happen—quick, painful? With warning, time to prepare and make final rounds? We consume film, literature, and headlines that talk about it—because we love it. We think we will get the time off from work, lose our worries, lose our financial debts, our jury duties. If we lose these things, will we also lose our sense of⬇️

The second half of the title for this book is misleading. Yes, a white woman brought down DC Stephenson—a man with strong roots in the KKK…but not in the way you think. If I say more, I‘ll give it away. Remember: privilege.

This book moved me in ways I didn‘t expect and brought up a lot of my own trauma to the surface. It is one of the best books I‘ve ever read, and so important to read. The author describes heavy domestic violence and multiple levels of abuse that occurred when he was growing up. Only after digging deep into his family‘s history could he find the reason why it occurred and what had to be done to finally break the cycle.

I have no idea how to explain what this book series is about, but I can list the themes! Stunning art that will stay with me forever is what compelled me to pick it up to begin with. Don‘t expect the screen adaptation to be good, because you‘ll be disappointed. Themes: death, grief, pagan lore, incarnation, the soul, plagues, bonds of love. Some elements of the story made me wonder if the author was referencing Alzheimer‘s.

I hesitated to read this at first, because I‘m not into romance. I like it dark. But I decided to give this a go, and I‘m glad I did. Nora works in the death industry but can‘t accept death in any other capacity. What happens when you fall in love with the ultimate death doula? A cute book with bits of grim humor, but also hard truths. Excellent for a death cafe discussion!

The author lays bare the years of struggle she faced without a real and accurate diagnosis of the unrest in her brain that stole her life: schizophrenia. She went through hell…writing and publishing this memoir was an act of courage. Our ills may be a part of us, but they don‘t define who we are.

I can‘t even begin to say how much I loved this book. It isn‘t just about food, but how it brings us together, especially during times of grieving. It is also about memory, and how what we smell, taste, and prepare burrow in the deepest places of our souls. In this memoir, the author tells the story her father wanted her to tell. In the darkest times, the memory of something to eat was always there. Highly recommend!

This small book is a profound memoir about grief, how we allow ourselves to feel…and how we don‘t.
Written gently but deeply. Recommended.

14 more check outs today…
And I am so behind on reviews! 181 pages left in The Water Dance, then I can tackle this stack!

Books given to me today by a fellow book nerd 📚🩶