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!)
Hello from New York City! I am here on a cultural adventure: seeing four shows, visiting museums, painting in the park and meeting up with friends. Last week was an emotional roller coaster and even though this trip will be go, go, go, I’m excited to decompress a bit. I don’t think I’ll get that much reading done, but I have two books with me - one of them is a library book, which feels high stakes, I’m so worried I’m going to lose it.
Let Me Help You Discover Books You Might Not Otherwise Read!
Out Today: (I’ve starred the ones I’ve read)
I’ve Tried Being Nice by Ann Leary
Essays written with humor and candor about a people pleaser who has spent her life trying, and often failing, to be nice.
key words: essays
*Ambition Monster by Jennifer Romolini
When Jennifer Romolini reaches success, she travels the world giving speeches on making it. But behind the Cinderella story is a powder keg waiting to explode. I feel like we’re so often told what success means, rather than figuring it out for ourselves. Romolini also explores how childhood experiences shaped her inner drive and need to “succeed.”
key words: memoir, women in business, workaholism
Across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation, Charles watches the life he might have had unfold. The river divides him from his neighbor, Elizabeth, and the rest of the tribal community and it’s a secret that Charles is no longer willing to keep.
key words: literary, family, secrets, Native American literature
Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter
Hazel and Evie are sisters with different paths. Hazel, ten years older, is adrift and Evie came of age online, having gone viral at the age of five. When Evie goes missing it’s up to Hazel to untangle the threads of truth.
key words: influencers, mystery, sisters, suspense
*All the Summers In Between by Brooke Lea Foster
Two estranged friends, wealthy Margot and local girl Thea, reconnect in the Hamptons in the 60’s where an unspeakable incident occurs. A second timeline follows them in the 70’s where the past catches up with them.
key words: historical fiction, the Hamptons, friendship, secrets
A Cage Went in Search of a Bird by Tommy Orange et al
What happens when Kafka’s idiosyncratic imagination meets some of the greatest literary minds writing in English across the globe today? Find out in this anthology of brand-new Kafka-inspired short stories by prizewinning, bestselling writers.
key words: anthology, satire
The Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan
George, a Hungarian immigrant, works as a studio hack writing monster movies in 1950’s Hollywood, navigating the McCarthy-era studio system. When he is offered a writing residency in Malibu to write about politics, new types of real-life monsters emerge.
key words: LGBTQ, post WW II, historical fiction, postwar American decadence, art
It’s 1987 and as the only Black person in Swift River, Diamond is tired of standing out and being teased about her weight. When she received a letter from a relative, key elements of her deceased father’s life are uncovered, including two generations of African American women she never knew existed.
key words: literature, family, secrets, coming of age
Paperback Releases:
*Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
Part of the Harlem saga trilogy, a powerful and hugely entertaining novel starring Harlem in the 1970’s.
What if the murder you had to solve was your own? When Lou, a happily married mother, is brought back to life by a governmental project, she is grateful for this second chance, but who in the world killed her?
Lewis and Wren are newlyweds dealing with a deteriorating situation when Lewis learns that he has a condition that is transforming him into a great white shark. This is a speculative story that’s a really beautiful meditation on love and grief.
A slim book about the thoughts of a lonely, lovable, queer mountain lion living near the Hollywood sign.
A sweeping, evocative novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family’s inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories.
*How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
The lives of two librarians become dangerously intertwined in this razor-sharp exploration of human nature and the lure of artistic obsession. No one knows that Margo, a librarian, used to be a nurse connected to a string of premature deaths. But when Patricia, a failed novelist with a keen eye for observation is hired at the library, for how long will Margo’s secrets remain hidden? This is such a fun suspense novel, especially perfect for book lovers.
Online Writing, Reading and Art Events This Week (three things I love!)
I know this section is usually full, but it’s a low bandwidth week for me and I won’t have the time to attend any classes or seminars, so I’m just going to leave you with the following:
My friend
has a summer of eleven AMAZING classes! Pick and choose the ones you want to take or take them all and save. They are totally affordable and totally worth it. Learn more here.
Also, a quick shoutout to
who will be painting mushroom at her art hang party this week. I will have to catch the replay. I love painting mushrooms! Is it because my husband hates eating them? Click here to watch the live session on Thursday at 4 pm PT.
One little painting from
‘s art hang party last week: animals and master painting mashups. This is gouache and neocolor.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
(click here to listen to the most recent episode of my book recommendation podcast.)
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Have fun in NYC! I also hate eating mushrooms but they sure are fun to draw! See you in the replay 🤭🤗💖✨
Fire Exit and Swift river sound so good!