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,
Wouldn’t it be a mean April Fool’s joke if I didn’t send out the newsletter? I would never. I can’t believe it’s April! What the wha? April is a seriously busy book release month, so I will have lots of books to share with you. Is anyone doing anything fun over spring break? Tell me so that I can live vicariously through you!
Podcast News: I had a blast having Kristen Arnett on my Books Are My People podcast to talk about her amazing, recently published novel, STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE, which asks the question, what happens when a lesbian birthday party clown in Orlando wants to take her clowning to the next level? Listen to find out what coulrophobia means and whether or not I suffer from it. Want to trademark a clown face? Kristen will tell you how.
Click here to find out how to win a copy of STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE. This giveaway will close on April 16th. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only.
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.
Member Corner:
Missed our February Meetup? Here is the replay!
March: Book to Film Month:
April / May Women’s Hotel - It begins today! We’re reading and discussing WOMEN’S HOTEL by Daniel M. Lavery, which has been compared to Lessons in Chemistry and the TV series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
This book is historical fiction that takes place in one of New York City’s women’s hotels in the 1960’s. Through vignettes, we get to know the people who work there and the women who call the Beidermeier home.
Through bi-weekly videos, we’ll explore the role and history of Women’s Hotels, sense of community and other aspects of this novel.
At the end of the 8 weeks, we will meet over zoom to discuss the novel.
Upgrade to become a paying member on my Substack to join and gain access to our reading schedule and the first lecture, discussion and summary video.
June: Independent reading month: read whatever you’d like! We’ll gather over zoom at the end of the month to discuss.
The best way you can support this newsletter is to click on the books below 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!)
Books Are My People: A Podcast Companion Newsletter (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)
Sweetbitter meets The Bear: Family Reservations by Liza Palmer - A powerful mother. Three daughters. And a fast-paced, cutthroat culinary legacy up for grabs in a darkly witty novel about a family on the edge by the bestselling author of The Nobodies.
Family dysfunction in France: The Usual Desire to Kill by Camilla Barnes - This wry, propulsive story about a singularly eccentric family and the sibling rivalry, generational divides, and long-buried secrets that shape them, is a glorious debut novel from a seasoned playwright with immense empathy and a flair for dialogue.
A long-distance romance: Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez - A playful yet deeply emotional romance where one date is all it takes for two people to know they're perfect for each other . . . until one of them moves 2,000 miles away the next day.
The Office meets Six Feet Under: I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney - Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live and after too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company's system has him listed as dead. And the company can't fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living.
Literary memoir: Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno - Neige Sinno was seven years old when her stepfather started sexually abusing her. At 19, she decided to break the silence that is so common in all cultures around sexual violence. This led to a public trial and prison for her stepfather and Sinno started a new life in Mexico. Her account is woven together with a close reading of literary works by Vladimir Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, Christine Angot, and Virginie Despentes among others.
*Paperback releases Out Today: (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read.)
*Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
This humorous and moving novel follows the life of a female chemist in the 1960’s who deals with science, tragedy and her rise to fame as the host of a televised cooking show.
*A Short Walk Through A Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke
A young girl learns that she will die if she doesn’t keep moving, so she embarks on the walk of a lifetime.
*Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
*The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all.
*The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez - When writer, Alma, inherits a small plot of land in the Dominican Republic, her homeland, she has the beautiful idea of turning it into a place to bury her untold stories--literally. She creates a graveyard for the manuscript drafts and the characters whose lives she tried and failed to bring to life and who still haunt her. Alma wants her characters to rest in peace. But they have other ideas.
I’m on a sink-painting kick! Do my friends think it’s weird that I take photos of their kitchen sinks when I come over? Maybe. Here’s a friend’s sink that I decided to make green.
Share with me what you’re reading below!
I’m very excited for a new Abbey Jimenez! I’ve binged all available audiobooks and have this one on the wait-list. I started reading The Women’s Hotel the other day and it’s not quite reading how I imagined, at least to start.