The Reading Room

If Oprah says to read a book

If Oprah says to read a book…

Many of Oprah’s picks have been some of my favorites over the years, here’s a few:

Cane River The Poisonwood Bible Hidden Valley Road Caste Becoming

So when The Sweetness of Water popped up I looked it up and immediately put it on hold! It’s also on Obama’s summer reading list!

Here’s a brief summary: With candor and sympathy, debut novelist Nathan Harris creates an unforgettable cast of characters, depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstruction. Equal parts beauty and terror, as gripping as it is moving, The Sweetness of Water is an epic whose grandeur locates humanity and love amid the most harrowing circumstances.

Libby for the win

Libby for the win…

I was having some serious fomo on this one but fortunately the audio became available super quickly

Summary: It is a perfect July morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”–the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.

The Book of Harlan

Starting my third McFadden book…

Sugar was a book in my readtolearn series and it sparked something in a group of us. Once we finished we knew we needed to read the follow up book, The Bitter Earth. Well, spoiler alert, we loved that one as well so we decided to just continue reading her amazing backlist. Next up is The Book of Harlan.

Summary - During World War II, two African American musicians are captured by the Nazis in Paris and imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Book Review

Baby, everybo got their own reasons for doing things they do in life.

Brief summary: The novel opens when a young prostitute comes to Bigelow, Arkansas, to start over, far from her haunting past. Sugar moves next door to Pearl, who is still grieving for the daughter who was murdered fifteen years before. Over sweet-potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming both women’s lives–and the life of an entire town.

The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan

Happy Pub Day to The Arsonists’ City…

“A house divided cannot stand.”

This is first and foremost a generational famaily saga BUT with Hala Alyan writing it it becomes something more…something unique and special. Alyan knows how to write characters that resonate and leap off the page. What amazes me about her writing (she also did this in Salt Houses) is she allows her characters to drive the plot with insight on geographical and political issues in a way that anyone can understand.

The Shell Seekers

A 997 page book not long enough…

The size of this book was daunting as hell at first. Once I got to the last 100 pages I was dreading its ending.

A summary that doesn’t even begin to describe it but you shouldn’t read a longer one: Against the backdrop of an elegant Cornwall mansion before World War II and a vast continent-spanning canvas during the turbulent war years, this envolving story tells of an extraordinary young woman’s coming of age, coming to grips with love and sadness, and in every sense of the term, coming home…

Book Review

Brief summary: Shuggie Bain is an incredibly powerful and challenging debut novel of love, loss, and perseverance that brings light to struggle and inspires a hope for something more. As a fictional account of Stuarts own childhood in 80s Glasgow, it brings an emotional and fearsome reality to life and it will break your heart over and over.

This book felt like a mix between Angela’s Ashes meets A Little Life. Yes, those are two pretty sorrowful books and Shuggie is equally as sorrowful. I highly recommend reading with a group, it was so nice to be able to discuss the many feelings that this book makes you feel (mainly anger and sadness) with the #read group. I had to read in shorter bursts to counterbalance the sadness. I threw it down, I shed tears on its pages, and I stared at the cover (when I was listening to the audio). It is truly a remarkable story. Shuggie is one of those characters we hold in our hearts long after setting the book down.

Book Review

Summary: Vanessa Price is a 28-year-old YouTube star who travels the world using her platform to raise money and awareness for ALS. With a 50% chance that she has inherited the disease, shes determined to live her best life now because she may not make it to age 30. But her adventures are cut short when her half-sister drops off Vanessas infant niece, Grace, at her door and never comes back, catapulting Vanessa into the role of mother figure overnight. Vanessas neighbor, the sexy and successful lawyer Adrian Copeland, is a workaholic with little time for a personal lifeuntil an earsplitting four a.m. meltdown from Grace brings him to Vanessas door with an offer of help. Vanessa and Adrians meet-cute develops into a steadfast friendship and eventually a slow-burn romance.

I Was a Guest on the Unabridged Podcast

Back in May 2020, I had the loveliest conversation with Ashley, Jen, and Sara on the Unabridged Podcast — one of my favorite book podcasts, full stop. We talked about something I care deeply about: the power of building a reading community online, and what happens when books become a bridge between people who might never have found each other otherwise.

What we talked about

I found bookstagram in 2018, about six months after my second child was born, when I was looking for a way to connect with other readers beyond my immediate circle. What I didn’t expect was how much it would change the way I read — not just what I read, but how I engage with books.

Book Review

…that land’s my home. That land’s my deepest wish, my wildest dream, the only prayer and the only temple I’m ever gonna need.

This sums up Frank Starlight perfectly.

Frank Starlight has long settled into a quiet life working his remote farm, but his contemplative existence comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of Emmy, who has committed a desperate act so she and her child can escape a harrowing life of violence.