Books Are My People Weekly Newsletter
out today, paperback releases and more!
Welcome to my weekly book recommendation newsletter. You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here. Please consider purchasing recommended books through my Bookshop.org affiliate links. It’s a great way to support the show and an ethical way to support your local bookstore. (You can even buy books I don’t link in my shop!)
This week’s newsletter is brought to you by The Year We Danced by Stephen E. Smith
Covering topics such as starting college, becoming a newcomer to the South, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War, the year author Stephen E. Smith covers in The Year We Danced: A Memoir was anything but uneventful, both for Stephen personally and for the world at large. While Stephen first turned to the nostalgia of his past looking for comfort, he was instead hit with the shocking reality that the past is rarely quite what we remember it to be. In this vivid and humorous exploration into his freshman year, 1965-66, at Elon College in North Carolina, he relives the events—good and bad—that shaped his own coming-of-age in the 1960s.
Check out The Year We Danced by Stephen E. Smith
Books Are My People Podcast #125 is out featuring Michelle Tea - author, activist and editor of Sluts: Anthology. Michelle is also the creator or Drag Queen Story Hour in San Francisco, which now takes place in libraries around the world!
Listen wherever you catch your pods or click here.
INSTAGRAM LIVE: I will be going live with Amy from The Perks of Being A Book Lover Podcast on Wednesday, May 8th at 9 am where we will be sharing a favorite read from April. You can access my Instagram here.
GIVEAWAY: We’re approaching the tail end of my The Women by Kristin Hannah, giveaway, an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided. Click here to be taken to may Instagram post where you can read the rules and enter. This giveaway will close on May 9th. Open to U.S. Mailing addresses only.
Some of you requested a photo of my bookshelves after reading this article in Apartmentguide.com. Click here to read the article in its entirety. So here it is! This is just the fiction side. And do you see my dog’s little ear poking through on the bottom left? Up top are short story collections by color, plays and art books (I realize that’s not fiction.) Then, fiction by color. The bottom shelf is young adult novels. Maybe one day, I’ll snap a photo of the entire room. But if you ever see me in a video or on an Instagram live, this is my backdrop.
Our May Read With Me series began yesterday. It’s not too late to sign up! Paying subscribers have received their first video and the discussion page is open!
Sign up by upgrading your membership.
Let Me Help You Discover Books You Might Not Otherwise Read!
Out Today:
*The Skunks by Fiona Warnick
Isabel, out of college and unmoored takes one of many jobs housesitting for family friends and observes three skunks who change her outlook on life.
Readalike: Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett
key words: coming-of-age, quick read, observational
See: Loss. See Also: Love by Yukiko Tominaga
A tender, slyly comical and shamelessly honest debut novel following a Japanese widow raising her son between worlds with the help of her Jewish mother-in-law as she wrestles with grief, loss, and--strangest of all--joy.
key words: single mom, San Francisco, widow, resilience
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor
In 1938, a dead whale washes ashore on the remote Welsh island, changing the small town.
key words: literary fiction, community, Wales
An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children by Jamaica Kincaid and Kara Walker
In this witty, deeply original book, the renowned novelist Jamaica Kincaid offers an ABC of the plants that define our world and reveals the often brutal history behind them, alongside Kara Walker, one of America's greatest visual artists who illustrates each entry with provocative, brilliant, enthralling, many-layered watercolors.
key words: plants, art, history
Liquid, Fragile, Perishable by Carolyn Kuebler
May has arrived in the tiny hamlet of Glenville, Vermont, bringing with it currents of rejuvenation and rebirth. For 3 families, though, the year ahead will prove to be a roller coaster of life-changing events, promises, and tragedies.
Read Alike: Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
key words: three generations, Vermont, interlocking stories
*The Heirloom by Jessie Rosen
Panic sets in when Shea's boyfriend, John, proposes with an heirloom ring. Yes is her answer, but she sets out on a mission to ensure the ring contains forever energy. With the help of her long-suffering big sister and a nosy journalist eager for a big story, Shea embarks on a journey that takes her from Los Angeles and New York to Italy and Portugal.
key words: proposal, Italy, fate, travel
The Vacation Rental by Katie Sise
When Georgia and her family head to the Connecticut shore to relax and reconnect they leave their home to strangers, Anna, George and Tom, an entangled trio. As the weeks wear on, Georgia and Anna discover that the pleasures of escape are as difficult to trust in as the comforts of home. And neither one can shake the feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong.
key words: suspense, summer, psychological thriller
Rebel Girl by Kathleen Hanna
An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of 90’s punk bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.
key words: memoir, punk rock, Beastie Boys
Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski
When a young woman dies at a house party her tight-knit community is shaken. Told through the eyes of ten local women.
key words: Massachusetts, tragedy, grief, literary, poverty
The Most Famous Girl in the World by Iman Hariri-Kia
It's been two years since Rose--a first-generation Middle Eastern American, functional trainwreck --wrote the investigative article that exposed Poppy as a socialite grifter, leading to a sensationalized trial that landed Poppy in jail. Now that she’s out, Rose is on alert and ready to expose her once again.
key words: satire, camp, humor
Bad Seed: stories by Gabriel Carle
A vibrant debut short story collection depicting the disillusionment that comes with being young and queer in Puerto Rico.
key words: short fiction, identity
First Love by Lilly Dancyger
Each essay in this incisive collection is grounded in a close female friendship in Dancyger's life, reaching outward to dissect cultural assumptions about identity and desire, and the many ways women create space for each other in a world that wants us small.
key words: female friendship, essays
The Lady Waiting by Magdalena Zyzak
Billed as The White Lotus meets The Talented Mr. Ripley, this high-spirited novel features a stolen Vermeer, a Polish transplant in LA, and the charismatic couple who seduce her into a misguided international heist.
key words: Los Angeles, art, heist
Paperback Releases :
There are so many paperback releases this week! Click on the links to learn more about each book.
*Rouge by Mona Awad - a dark, mysterious exploration of beauty and mother/ daughter secrets.
*Happiness Falls by Angie Kim - a page-turner mystery - a father is dead and his non-verbal child is the only witness.
*Death Valley by Melissa Broder - a woman takes time alone to write as her father is in the ICU and in Joshua Tree, she enters a cactus that lets her revisit her past.
*The Guest by Emma Cline - a character-driven novel about a summer grifter.
*Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur - a family summer beach saga.
Online Writing, Reading and Art Events This Week (three things I love!)
Writing Events:
Wednesday, May 8th at 4 PM PT Revision Tips
Thursday, May 9th at 4:30 PM PT Bringing Characters to Life
Reading Events:
Tuesday, May 7th at 4:15 PM PT: Viet Thanh Nguyen and Minnie Phan for SIMONE
Thursday, May 9th at 12:00 PM PT: Mona Awad, author of Rouge
Art Events:
The month of May: sign up for
‘s Virtual Art Retreat - a four-week online painting course that will take you around the world. If you can’t make the lives, don’t worry, they’re all recorded. I’ve taken many of these classes and always learn so much. Learn more here.
May 8th - 19th Nest Fest a free virtual art retreat where you can learn about different mediums. Click here to sign up!
Tuesday, May 7th at 11 am PT Odd Orange is hosting a free drawing zoom. Link provided if you sign up for her newsletter here. This week’s theme is statues.
Thursday, May 9th at 4 pm PT Art Hang Party with
This week’s theme is pets! Access the art hang party for free here.
I enjoyed a lovely zoom meetup with some new friends from the Santa Fe art retreat I went on a few weeks ago. We shared images from our trip and painted together. For this piece, I began with a black gelli print and then used neocolors to fill in the negative space, leaving the crow black. I love how textured it looks.
I hope you all have a wonderfully bookish week! Any new releases out today that you’re excited to share? Leave me a comment!
Like what you read? You can buy me a coffee!
Books Are My People: A Podcast Companion Newsletter
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I'm Jennifer Caloyeras and I love books. And I love sharing books! I even love writing books. And making books! And teaching people how to write books! This post contains affiliate links to my Bookshop.org shop which not only supports me, but independent bookstores as well. Please consider purchasing books through these links as a way of supporting Books Are My People.
Loved the podcast with Michelle Tea. What a rock star!
Ah! Your bookshelf! 😍 Thanks for highlight ART HANG PARTY! This week is going to be too cute 🤗💖✨