Books Are My People Weekly Newsletter
out today, paperback releases and more!
Let Me Help You Discover Books You Might Not Otherwise Read! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.
Dear Reader,
It’s been almost two weeks since the terrible fires broke out in Los Angeles and forever changed so many people’s lives.
I consider myself very lucky to have had a pre-planned trip to Toronto in advance of my fifteen-year-old’s hockey tournament, which got me out of town and away from all of the chaos there. Living in a disaster zone is just beyond an assault to one’s nervous system. Everyone’s on edge. And the smoke mixed with my asthma is challenging. My parents were evacuated to my sister’s place in L.A. and, after a week without power, the city restored it Saturday evening!
The moment I get home, I am committed to helping friends and our community pick up the pieces of our charred city. These fires affect so many more people than the resident’s whose homes were burned and it’s going to take a long time to rebuild. Members, I am working on a piece about my experience and will share it as soon as I’m done writing.
The scope of the devastation is just all too much for me to comprehend.
I read for many reason, to learn new things, to challenge myself, to learn about other points of view, but in this moment, when I find I am able to concentrate, I’m reading for comfort.
Member’s Corner: February will be an Independent Reading Month. March will be a Book to Film adaptation month. (TBD) April and May will be a Read with Me month (TBD) Please be sure and vote here for our next Book to Film read / watch by Thursday!
As I mentioned last week, I was unable to record a new podcast due to having to leave my home because of the fires in Los Angeles, but this is a great time to catch up on previous episodes! Click here to listen.
I am currently giving away one copy of Homeseeking by Karissa Chen. You can read more about it below. Click here to learn how to enter. This giveaway will close on January 29th and I will reach out to the winner on January 30th. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only.
Out Today:
(I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)
We Do Not Part by Han Kang (I want to read this SO badly!)
From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024: the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter in Korean history. From the author of The Vegetarian, which I read and loved.
*A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner
For fans of the film Crazy / Beautiful but set in NYC: There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986: avoid her mother's depression-fueled rages, and lose her virginity before she starts college in the fall. She can fit in, kind of, with enough alcohol and prescription drugs stolen from her parents' medicine cabinet.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Need more dragons and romance in your life? The Third book in The Empyrean Series: After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there's no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves--her dragons, her family, her home, and him.
Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove
In the mood for a Chicago detective Novel: At rock bottom following her daughter's death, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr's father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. And too many young women have disappeared from the rez.
Three Wild Dogs (And the Truth) by Markus Zusak
Fans of dog memoirs, rejoice! The author of The Book Thief shares stories of the adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs--a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.
Paperback Releases:
*Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn
Coral is the first person to discover the body of her brother, Jay, in the wake of his suicide. There's no note, only a drably furnished bachelor pad in Long Beach, California, and a cell phone with a handful of numbers in it. Coral pockets the phone. And then she starts responding to texts as her dead brother.
*Family Family by Laurie Frankel
India Allwood has gone from awkward sixteen-year-old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero. She wants everyone to know there's more to her family than pain and regret. So she does something you should never do -- she tells a journalist the truth. Soon she's at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from the press and the paparazzi, from protesters on the right and advocates on the left. Her twin ten-year-olds know they need help - and who better to call than family? But that's where it gets really messy because India's not just an adoptive mother...
The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
The Bullet Swallower follows a Mexican bandido as he sets off for Texas to rob a train, only to encounter a mysterious figure who has come, finally, to collect a cosmic debt generations in the making.
The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past.
The best way you can support this newsletter is to click on the books above and purchase them through my Bookshop.org affiliate store. A portion of your spending goes to independent bookstores! A win-win-win! (You win, I win, indie bookstores win!)
ART SHARE:
I had a fun time drawing some stills from Netflix’s Ripley, thanks to a session hosted by
and . It doesn’t really look like Andrew Scott, but I had fun using a limited palette from a black and white still.Books Are My People: A Podcast Companion Newsletter
(click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast.)
And, if you haven't yet, the greatest gift would be to rate my show, wherever you listen!
I'm so glad you did the Ripley session. I wanted to share the Ripley info you created for the book club. Maybe we can create a drawing session that combines your knowledge about a book ( maybe a book-to-movie adaptation?) and the author, my knowledge of the actors' love lives, and Charlotte can do all her knowledge on drawing and painting. what do you think?
Had so much fun with you!
Thanks for your weekly update.
Happy you enjoyed the Ripley Session