Books Are My People Weekly Newsletter
out today, paperback releases and more!
Books Are My People: A Podcast Companion Newsletter
Dear Reader,
I just got back from THE BEST weekend in San Diego, where I attended an art workshop hosted by Peggi Kroll Roberts. It was such a great group of people, I collaged my heart out AND, spent the time in between workshops attending so many fun events around the city. I’m home and happy and exhausted and inspired.
Art / Book Event:
This Wednesday at 10 am PT, I will be hosting a FREE online meetup to draw or paint book covers and share book recommendations. If you don’t want to make art, you can just come for the books! Register using this luma link : https://lu.ma/72qkvsv8
As long as you register, even if you can’t make it, you’ll receive the recording as well as a PDF of all of the books discussed.
Feel free to share with people you think may be interested.
As always, the zoom will end with a book giveaway. Anyone with a US mailing address is eligible.
Podcast News:
You can 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’s Corner:
April / May Women’s Hotel - Happening now!
June: Independent Reading Month: read whatever you’d like! We’ll gather over zoom at the end of the month to discuss.
July: Book to Film Adaptation - It’s happening! I recently received confirmation from Amazon Prime that We Were Liars is releasing in June, which will coordinated perfectly with a July read and watch.
August / September: Read With Me: to be announced soon!
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!) Let Me Help You Discover New Books! (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read) I’m confident readers of all stripes will find their next read in this newsletter, where there’s something for everyone! You can learn more about me by visiting my introductory post here.
Today’s New Releases: (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)
From the Author of *Nothing to See Here: Run For The Hills by Kevin Wilson - An unexpected road trip across America brings a family together. Wilson masters in writing family dysfunction.
mothering and trauma: *Sleep by Honor Jones - Every parent exists inside of two families simultaneously - the one she was born into, and the one she has made. The book alternated between ten-year-old Margaret negotiating her family and, thirty-five-year-old Margaret seeing her past in a new light now that she’s a parent.
therapy gone wrong: Happiness Forever by Adelaide Faith
Sylvie is happy only when she’s in therapy. This is because Sylvie is in love with her therapist.When the therapist starts to prepare Sylvie for the terrible fact that all treatment has to come to an end, Sylvie can’t stop herself from imagining sleeping in her car parked outside the therapist’s house. That won’t work. She has to be brave.
Cli-fy Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan - A transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for—two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready to leave.
a literary powerhouse: Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong - One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to transform Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community on the brink.
8 generations of a Black family are visited by the devil: The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne - Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the spirit of her dead sister as her only companion. Desperate to survive the hell that awaits her at their destination, Yetunde finds help in an unexpected form--the Devil himself. The Devil, seeking a way to reenter the pearly gates of heaven, decides to prove himself to an indifferent God by protecting Yetunde and granting her a piece of his supernatural power. In return, Yetunde makes an incredible sacrifice that extends far beyond Yetnde’s mortal lifespan.
His last book was turned into the musical Hamilton! Mark Twain by Ron Chernow This biography illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature.
Paperback Releases:
*This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud - A historical, sweeping novel that spans seven decades from 1940 to 2010, focusing on an Algerian family and the aftermath of World War Two.
*Liars by Sarah Manguso - Jane wrestles with being a wife to an equally ambitious creative. As Jane’s career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her.
*All Fours by Miranda July - A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.
Here is one of the many collage pieces I worked on last weekend. I’ll share more over Instagram this week.
Excited about any other books coming out today? Let me know in the comments below!