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 was a very busy birthday week for my freshly minted sixteen-year-old. We had a nice family dinner, he went to Clippers game where there was a President Obama sighting, he had a backyard birthday party with a bunch of friends, a hockey scrimmage and then his end of year hockey party which we hosted. And in the middle of all of this, my dad had a procedure. He’s now home recuperating. To say I’m a tad tired is an understatement! Clearly I didn’t get much reading done last week.
Podcast News: Click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast.
Traci Thomas of The Stacks (
here on Substack) joined my latest episode of Books Are My People. We chat about some of her favorite author interviews, how she manages her reading time and, she even spills the tea regarding what kind of tea Regina Porter sent her after their interview!There’s also a guest recommendation from Will Bardenwerper, author of HOMESTAND: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America.
And I’ve sprinkled recommendations throughout from willing participants at the Culver City Book Festival. Thanks to all of the attendees who let me record them!
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:
We are reading and watching The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead in March. I’m really eager to read this novel and watch the movie. Upgrade your membership and join us!
April / May Members already know what we will be reading. I’ll be sending an announcement out this week to everyone announcing our next pick!
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
Out Today: (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read.)
From the author of Swamplandia!: The Antidote by Karen Russell - A gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.
Poetry from the Danish author of The Copenhagen Trilogy (which I highly recommend!): There Lives A Young Girl In Me Who Will Not Die by Tove Ditlevsen - A startling and darkly funny volume of selected poetry, the first to be translated into English.
An epistolary novel: *Kate & Frida by Kim Fay - This novel follows the surprising friendship between two young women in 1990s Seattle and Paris, illuminating the power of books to change our lives.
A humorous whodunnit: Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley -Date night goes off the rails in this hilariously insightful take on midlife and marriage when one unhappy couple find themselves at the heart of a crime in progress.
*Fun, suspense about an ex-Pat in the U.K. All The Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman - Florence hates her son’s schoolmate Alfie, who mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and her son becomes the prime suspect and Florence will do anything to protect him, even though she doesn’t quite posses the skills to figure out who really abducted Alfie.
For fans of Sliding Doors: Goddess Complex by Sanjena Sathian- A biting examination of millennial adulthood, the often fraught conversations around fertility and reproduction, and the painful quest to forge an identity.
Short stories from the author of Detransition, Baby: Stag Dance by Torrey Peters- In this collection of one novel and three stories, bestselling author Torrey Peters’s keen eye for the rough edges of community and desire push the limits of trans writing.
No Fault by Haley Mlotek An intimate and candid account of one of the most romantic and revolutionary of relationships: divorce.
Paperback Releases:
*The Limits by Nell Freudenberger - A French biologist in Tahiti obsessed with saving Polynesia’s imperiled coral reefs sends her teenage daughter to live with her ex-husband in New York just as COVID sends her and her stepmother together into near total isolation.
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkle -Longlisted for the Booker Prize, a novel about the radical intimacy of physical competition
Parasol Against the Axe by Helen Oyeyemi - The Czech capital is a living thing—one that can let you in or spit you out.
*The Morningside by Tea Obreht - The Morningside is a novel about the stories we tell—and the stories we refuse to tell—to make sense of where we came from and who we hope we might become.
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr - Clayton Stumper, abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists. When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune.
I am very slowly (emphasis on slowly) photographing all of the works of art I made to sell at the Culver City Festival and getting them up on my Esty shop. One down, about thirty-nine more to go! I will list them as I photograph them. This one is 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches and each piece comes in an 11 x 14 white matting, so all you have to do is pop it in an 11 x 14-inch frame!
Each piece is an original acrylic mono print. I will also have a few works of collage art.
Share with me what you’re reading below!
Thank you for all the book recommendations, and I have to listen to your latest episode.
I also know how much time it takes to add work to an Etsy store. Looking forward to seeing your pieces in there, though! Especially your beautiful collages.