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.
Episode #120 of Books Are My People is here with Roxana Robinson, author of Leaving.
As promised on my podcast, here is a photo of our nine-year-old dog, Dingo, who got her lower jaw stuck in a hollowed out dog treat bone. This is on the way to the ER vet. You can listen to the podcast for the full story.
Happening this week:
Please note: Because my Read with Me series is happening in February, there will be no Thursday posts this month. Thursday posts will resume next week!
Online Writing, Reading and Art Events This Week (three things I love!)
Starting Tuesday, February 27th: my favorite art instructor,
begins two great classes: Portraits in Acrylics and a Virtual Art Retreat. Each class lasts four weeks and meets multiple times a week. You will receive a recording of the classes. Click here to learn more. It’s not too late to join!Tuesday, February 27th at 5pm PT
A Virtual Evening With V and Michael Cunningham. Sign up here.
Wednesday, February 28th at 5pm PT: Free Virtual Write-In with Bess Carnan. Click here to learn more.
February 29th at 7 PM Jai Chakrabarti in conversation with Rachel Hall. Click here to get tickets.
Beth over at
has a free “Hugs Drawing Session” on Thursday February 29th at 3 pm PT. Sign up here.
Thursday, February 29th at 4 PM pt Art Hang Party on Youtube.
will be drawing underwater seascapes. This is a chill way to spend a Thursday afternoon arting.
What’s Coming Up For Paying Subscribers:
February: Our culminating zoom will take place on March 4th at noon PT. Yesterday, I sent out a link to sign up and I’ll send out another reminder on Friday. Yes, there will be a bookish giveaway!
March: We’ll be reading The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee and watching The Expats series on Prime and talking about them on a zoom at the end of March. Read the book. Watch the show. Do both. Do neither!
We will also be voting in March on what book we will be reading in May for Read With Me.
April: RYOB (read your own book) and we’ll talk about it over zoom at the end of the month.
Out Today:
(I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)
Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley
Disarmingly witty and poignant, Sloane Crosley's memoir explores multiple kinds of loss following the death of her closest friend.
key words: memoir, friendship, love, death, mentors
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Extending his constellation of narratives into the past and future, Tommy Orange traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through three generations of a family in a story that is by turns shattering and wondrous.
key words: historical fiction, three generations, Native-American history
Green Dot by Madeleine Gray
At twenty-four, Hera is a clump of unmet potential. When she meets Arthur, a middle-aged journalist and soon finds herself falling into an all-consuming affair with him. She is coming apart with want and loving every second of it! Well, except for the tiny hiccup that Arthur has a wife--and that she has no idea Hera exists.
key words: humor, twenty-something, affair
*Piglet by Lottie Hazell
Piglet, cookbook editor with an unfortunate nickname from childhood, is about to get married to Kit. When Kit confesses a horrible betrayal two weeks before they're set to be married, Piglet finds herself suddenly...hungry. An elegant, razor-sharp debut about women's ambitions and appetites--and the truth about having it all.
key words: relationships, wedding, food, friendship, family
The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
From the author of We Cast A Shadow (which I loved!) a gripping historical novel about a spirited girl who joins a sisterhood working to undermine the Confederates.
key words: historical novel, New Orleans, mother-daughter, freedom
*After Annie by Anna Quindlen
When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life.
key words: literary, grief, family
*The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes
A story of love, madness, sisterly devotion, and control, about the two beloved daughters of renowned 1700s English painter Thomas Gainsborough, who struggle to live up to the perfect image the world so admired in their portraits.
key words: artist, sisters, mental health
In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
Longlisted for the Booker Prize, an astonishing novel about a young microbiologist investigating an unfathomable deep vent in the ocean floor, leading her on a journey that will encompass the full trajectory of the cosmos and the passage of a single human life.
key words: literary, science fiction, space exploration
Normal Women by Philippa Gregory
The #1 New York Times bestselling historical novelist delivers her magnum opus--a landmark work of feminist nonfiction that radically redefines our understanding of the extraordinary roles ordinary women played throughout British history
key words: nonfiction, women, history, LGBTQIA+, Great Britain
Paperback Releases:
*American Mermaid by Julia Langbein
Broke English teacher Penelope Schleeman is as surprised as anyone when her feminist, eco-warrior novel American Mermaid becomes a best-seller. But when Hollywood insists she convert her fierce, androgynous protagonist into to a teen sex object in a clamshell bra, strange things start to happen. Is Penelope losing her mind, or has her fictional mermaid come to life, enacting revenge against society's limited view of what a woman can and should be?
You asked for more mono prints, so here is another one! This one has an accompanying writing piece about the fact that everywhere I look there are men with restless leg syndrome. What up with that? Is Los Angeles just full of restless men? I am working on these studies for my hundred day project.
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.
Thanks for mentioning ART HANG PARTY! 🤗💖✨
Also I started watching the Expats show - I LOVE Hong Kong, I think it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve travelled to so the set design has me, but I can’t seem to really get into the first episode… is it worth it to keep watching?
Thanks so much for sharing about the session! We're starting this one with a quick writing activity. I can't wait to hear what you think about it! 😁