This was a like more than a love for me, probably at least partially because of my slumpy state (I hadn‘t finished a book in almost a month!! 😱 Just work interfering, but still.) Three things I did love about this were (many of) the characters, all things library/librarian, and the Midwest setting.

I‘ve received some really amazing ARCs and bookmail lately. (Now if only I could find the time to read them! 😆) This one‘s at the top of my list! Sounds fantastic, and the book itself is a very lovely object - such a pretty cover and surprisingly heavyweight for its size. Looking forward to starting it soon (and/or seeing reviews of it here)!

I‘ve read three journalist-who-grew-up-Evangelical nonfiction titles in the past six months, but this is the first by a woman (yay, finally!). I enjoyed it and think the subtitle “Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church” fits well, because this book considers all of those things in relatively few pages and therefore doesn‘t have space to dig super deeply into any (and this may just stand out to me more because I do ⬇️

The hype is to be believed re: this one - just extraordinarily good. And Dominic Hoffman‘s audiobook narration is brilliant (thanks to #LibroFM for the ALC!). I‘m tempted to listen to it again right now and curious about the experience of it in print, too.

Was slumping a bit so shopped my own shelves. This was great! My second Dermansky and I liked it at least as much as the first. I‘m still unsettled by the almost total lack of contractions (and Litsy confirms that I was whining about this with The Red Car, too! 😆). But I did just google it this time and learned a bit about why she doesn‘t use them, which soothed me. I did a hybrid read of this + the (excellent, full cast)
audio.

Lovely surprise bookmail! Been meaning to read this one for so long. One of my kids keeps carrying it around the house because he can‘t stop admiring the baby mammoth‘s cuteness. ❤️ Thanks, @RiverheadBooks !

Thanks for the tag, @monalyisha ! At first I misread the prompt as “your 3 favorite” and thought “An impossible task!” bc I love so much nonfiction. But really it says “3 of your favorite,” so that‘s easy! 😁 Here are three that spring to mind:
- If You Want to Write - I‘ve reread this multiple times, but I think it‘s time for another reread since all I remember is that it's lovely and inspiring,
- The Sum of Us - One of the best and most

I‘ll admit that I picked this one up for the Lando of it all, but what an interesting man/life! He had a fascinating, art- and culture-immersed youth in NYC (and more than once referred to himself and his peers being part of the “Black bourgeoisie”), followed by far more accomplishments on the stage and screen than I‘d realized. He‘s very intellectually engaged and shares a lot about his (complicated and sometimes almost contradictory) ⬇️

Delightful, funny, super-quick read. Loved Zimmerman‘s voice on the page and narrating the audio (available on hoopla). Hope he writes more books!

Really excellent essay collection! Wasn‘t familiar with Jenn Jackson but am an instant fan of theirs after reading this. Super accessible and engaging introduction to some important Black feminists and their work, with references to many others, connected beautifully to Jackson‘s own fascinating personal and professional experiences. Great author-narrated audio, too. Definitely one I will be sharing with/recommending to students!

Just fantastic! Fascinating exploration of identity, growing up Vietnamese American, navigating tough family times, finding oneself in books/music/subcultures. Wonderfully written and narrated by Tran. I really loved it from start to finish. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thought this was really great! My first Everett. Biting, disturbing, but with characters I cared about. Probably should have chosen The Trees from @Deblovestoread ‘s #AuldLangSpine list, but of course I couldn‘t resist this one because of the movie. But I absolutely hope to read The Trees and other Everett titles soon. EXCELLENT audio narration by Sean Crisden.

This was lovely and another total win from @Deblovestoread ‘s epic #AuldLangSpine list. I wondered a bit at the ending and enjoyed the thoughts about it and more that Keegan shared in this brief Q&A (with schoolchildren! How sweet.): https://www.juliangirdham.com/blog/claire-keegan-on-foster

I had picked up and put this one down a while back for reasons I couldn‘t remember, so I was intrigued to retry based on @Deblovestoread ‘s #AuldLangSpine list. I ended up thinking it was quite good. I liked the writing, and after getting off of my “I don‘t want to hear the backstory of the murderer” high horse, I just went with the flow of the story and in the end appreciated each part of it. Thanks for the great pick, Deb!

New opportunities in my teaching career have been interfering with the blissful January of full immersion in @Deblovestoread 's #AuldLangSpine list that I‘d anticipated! 😝 However, I did already make time to read this and am so glad! Fantastic. I‘m not sure what I was expecting but this was far different and better than that. I especially loved the science-y bits about the mutations and some of the family stories. Thanks, Deb! 🦈❤️

I enjoyed these experts‘ take on how to talk about race, racism, and various identity- and diversity-related issues. I was impressed by how they embrace the idea that we can all change and grow, suggesting that a “calling in” rather than a “calling out” approach can often be most effective (while also acknowledging that this approach will not work for everyone or always be appropriate). Great tips and a solid grounding in social science research.

It was a lovely year of reading, made all the lovelier by sharing it with each of you! Happy New Year to all, and may 2024 bring many good books and happy moments! ❤️💚🍾📚 #Top23of23

The perfect sweet and salty treat if you‘re still in a Christmasy mood! Really funny, and I especially adored all of the discussion of Midwestern food culture and his family‘s particular Italian-influenced version of it. The audiobook was fantastic, but I had to find the ebook (on hoopla!) to see the photos and illustrations. ❤️💚

In love with this list, @Deblovestoread ‘s reading taste, and @monalyisha ‘s keen ability to match readers for #AuldLangSpine ! The checked ones I‘ve read and loved, and I plan to get to a good number of the rest in January, and maybe all of them throughout the year. This is so much fun already! 😁

Oh @JamieArc - thank you for this incredibly thoughtful and lovely gift!! I wish the picture did it more justice (stuck in my gift-wrapping cave, which explains both the lighting and the lateness!), but the paper and card were so special and the book is just perfection. And local mint chocolates 😍, and I gasped when I saw the caramels, which appear to be from a shop in the small-town WI area where I grew up! 😮🥰 Merry Christmas!! ❤️

Been binging holiday content, and of the books included this has easily been my favorite so far! So funny and charming and great on audio. I have not read any Janice Hallett before, which is perhaps ill-advised because this does seem to contain plenty of spoilers for The Appeal…but oh well, still might go back and read that if it‘s anywhere near as delightful as this!

Delighted to receive this #JolabokaflodSwap package from the lovely @JamieArc today! Can‘t wait for Sunday.

I really loved this! If music and particular songs are meaningful to you, I highly recommend this. I‘m not an active follower/fan of Wilco or Jeff Tweedy. Most of what I know about him comes from stories told by Nick Offerman about their friendship and adventures. But I was completely charmed by Tweedy's writing voice and his laidback narration of this one and will 100% be checking out his previous books.

Great! Thoughtful analysis of LGBTQIA+ community & identity, funny, and I was charmed by personal connections (author is from WI like me; lives in the small MN town where I went to college, where her husband is the first trans man to hold office in MN outside of the Twin Cities area; a bar in my current hometown of San Diego is featured). Cool how each chapter focused on a city and its bar(s) while weaving in elements of memoir/personal history.

Just sent this #JolabokaflodSwap package off on its coast-to-coast journey! 🎄📚🍫

If you, like me, appreciate Tim Alberta‘s journalism in The Atlantic or on TV news, I think you‘ll be riveted by this. It‘s a far-reaching analysis of the influence of Evangelical institutions/personalities on politics (and vice versa). Alberta‘s a Christian and his late dad was a prominent pastor, so it‘s insider-y. I was a bit 😳 seeing it was over 18 hrs on audio, but it was so engaging that I inhaled in just a couple of days (at 2.0 speed).

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 ⬇️