It‘s not Coronavirus keeping us in today but rain. *sigh*

I didn‘t want to like this book—I‘d read a brief negative review that turned me off, so I was looking for reasons to disdain Saint X. A white woman writing in the voice of Black Caribbean characters rubbed the wrong way, truth be told. But in the end, I enjoyed this book, and it appears the author anticipated such disdain, because the book ends with an annotated bibliography of sorts, describing the research she did for this book.

I was laughing throughout this whole book but I also felt wierd... Samantha Irby is so self-deprecating. I guess humor gets us through the tough stuff. I don‘t know how I‘m supposed to feel about this book.

My sister warned me not to read this book in public because I‘d look like a crazy person laughing to myself. She wasn‘t wrong but I can‘t help myself.

I hope to see this author again while I‘m at the conference because I have QUESTIONS! Though the book could probably have used another pass with an editor, I could not put it down and I read it all in one go. ETA: I saw the author again who assured me that she is working on a Part 2! Phew.

Met the author of this book today at the San Francisco Writer‘s Conference, and it sounded intriguing, so I snatched up the only copy at the conference bookstore.

Exhibiting at the San Francisco Writer‘s Conference and killing time between rushes; seems like a good time as any to start a new book!

This was an ARC I found in a used bookstore, so I‘m giving it some grace. I liked the storytelling in this one, and was just generally interested to learn more about Nigerian society and culture.

So depressing. I was hoping for more narrative but it‘s just a litany of statistics and “my friend says...”-type of anecdotes. Then, she tried to wrap it up neatly by advising gen x women to practice “self-care” and just let it go.

If you, like me, know little and understandd even less, about the Venezuelan crisis, you will not come away with a greater understanding of the underpinnings of the crisis but you will certainly be attuned to the impact on Venezuelan society. Karina Sainz Borgo‘s spare writing style still manages to be incredibly vivid, and your heart will beat faster as the end comes nearer. Read the full review at http://therealnani.com

This is no light read and it‘s scary but it needs to be read. It‘s Rachel Maddow, so I assume she‘s preaching to the choir. All I know is that I‘m getting our passports in order and keeping some cold, hard cash stashed away. Just in case. It‘s surreal to read this while the impeachment trial is unfolding. Maddow offers some glimmers of hope but will it be enough?

This book is depressing as hell! LOL But I guess I feel validated by the reams of statistics showing that my mess of a life is not TOTALLY my fault.

It seems that I‘ve been reading every book except the ones on this list. 😬 Time to clear out my list! I‘m doing a tech Shabbat, a la #TiffanyShlain so I should be able to make headway!

I have a special place in my heart for sibling books, because I have so many of them... I couldn‘t sleep and read this book in one go. If you‘ve ever grappled with the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies, this is the book for you.

Funny story. Over the holiday, on my way out of the library, I spied this book in the Best Sellers section and decided to grab it. I came home and promptly forgot about it! Then, I got this email and realized I hadn‘t seen the book anywhere in the house. I did some digging around to find that it had migrated somehow to a hiding place under the bookshelf. 😬 Fortunately (or not?), I couldn‘t sleep last night and finished the book in one go. ✌️

My first Susan Orlean book, though I‘ve read her essays in The New Yorker. I completely nerded out in this book—the history of libraries is FASCINATING. The central theme of the book is the fire that destroyed the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986, an intriguing story in and of itself. Susan Orlean deftly blends library history and crime reporting in this book.

Started in Dec 2019, finished in the wee hours of 2020. Beautiful book. Why is Ann Patchett so good at what she does?

A, A, gingerbread man, B, walnut?!, because it‘s summer time in Australia!, B, C, True, C, B, A, D, A, B #wintergames #thefilthyanimals

An exciting retelling of Rumpleskiltskin, set in some Slavic kingdom where winter and summer fight a battle for survival, bringing together three unlikely allies to restore balance in the universe. A perfect story for Chanukah, if you ask me! I wish this was a series...

My sister is on an epic road trip across the country and when she hit Nashville, she sent me these goodies from The Book Shop. ✌️

Getting a print ARC is gold but getting some swag with it is even better! #celadonreads #readsaintx

Honestly, Blueberry needs to stay in their lane! #wintergames #thefilthyanimals

Making potato latkes is a real PITA and to be honest, Trader Joe‘s does it better than me, so I‘m skipping the #sharedholidayrecipe and going for these. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #wintergames #thefilthyanimals

I hardly ever make phone calls but I had to call in and report my kid‘s absence from school! I would like to know who has a text from before 2018?! #thefilthyanimals #wintergames

I would love to go home for Christmas! Being across the country from my family kinda blows, especially at this time of year. 😭 #thefilthyanimals #wintergames

A perfect #holidayread for our interfaith household, plus one of my kids is named Stella! #thefilthyanimals #wintergames

This book was too short! 😩 I read it while stuck in epic Thanksgiving traffic, and really wished I had Book 2. This book reminded me why I like police procedurals, and Eve Ronin is a great character.

First holiday rom com of the year! #wintergames #thefilthyanimals #festivephotochallenge

Some months, I don‘t want any of the books offered in First Reads but this month, I had a hard time choosing!

#wintergames Some of these were hard to choose!

1. At least 30. 2. I think two books a month, but I don‘t remember! 3. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. 4. Hibernating! Cozying up and not feeling compelled to be busy all the time. #wintergames

Riddle me this: why can I read a Kindle in the car without getting sick but not an actual book? 🤔

Confession: I‘m a huge Alice Hoffman fan but I‘ve never read Practical Magic, just seen the movie. 🙈 When the ebook came up on BookBub, I decided to rectify that wrong!

Went to Joshua Tree for a couple of days, and in keeping with recent habit, picked up local literature as a “souvenir.”

So well-written, so heartbreaking. Highly recommend this insight into what it means to be an immigrant in America.

I heard a knock at the door the other day and opened it to find the postman dropping this package off at my door! Thanks HarperVia for sending me these titles! HarperVia is a new imprint from @HarperCollins for international titles.

Had an amazing time with Alice Hoffman last night, who came to speak at Kepler‘s Books in Menlo Park. If you have not read her new book, which launched to NYT Best Seller Status, go read it now!

Such a Fun Age would almost be a comedy of errors if the whole situation wasn‘t so pathetic. Overall, I enjoyed this book--it gives the genre a little meatiness and moves away somewhat from the coziness that the chick lit genre seems to embody--almost like when everyone's favorite sitcom decides to “take a risk“ and tackle a pressing social issue of the day. Read the full review at https://www.therealnani.com/such-fun-age/

Won a copy of Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid in a giveaway from @HarperCollins Good so far but I have some thoughts...

Just realized this is due tomorrow!! Yikes!!! Guess I‘ll be binging tonight... I had planned to read this to participate in Rachel Cargle‘s Loveland Hall lecture but didn‘t get the book in time. It wasn‘t in any of the libraries by me and I had to request it from a university library.

As I write this, I‘m not sure if this is a Pick or a So-So. I did read it in one sitting because the story went quickly. I guess I just never know how to feel about poor white people making it a point to show that they REALLY don‘t have that much privilege. How much of her ability to climb out of poverty is a result of white privilege is a question that bugged me at the end. The rest of it, I already knew from Nickle and Dimed.

Guilty as charged... (reviewing this one for Losethecape.com)

Reading at the elementary school movie night is totally normal, right?

My library has a Lucky Day shelf, and this is the second time I‘ve gotten lucky!

#littlefreelibrary score 🙌🏼

Texts I send my sister. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Another day, another park, another book. When my kids were very small, I looked forward to the day I could sit and read my book while they played instead of helping them up stairs and down slides, and making sure they didn‘t throw themselves off the play structure. Comes quicker than you think!

A beautiful, beautiful book. Like Suzanne says, a memoir written without memory but she takes up the challenge gracefully and the end result is a moving homage to her family, and to her childhood.

Really glad I was able to convince my kids that the air conditioned library is a better place to hang out than the skate park on this disgustingly hot day. 🥵