The Reading Room

Good Dirt

“Words have power. So does the absence of words. Sometimes, when people choose not to speak, their silence can block out the sun.”

I think I may have loved this one more than Black Cake

Summary - Good Dirt is an engrossing epic that explores how intergenerational trauma shapes and complicates family legacies and bonds.

I had read a lot of reviews that mentioned the jumping around being a negative thing but don’t let that mislead you into not reading this gem. There is jumping BUT each jump follows one family through history so there is purpose and it all falls together beautifully in the end.

Antidote

“It’s rarely the truth itself that people can’t accept. It’s now they feel about it.”

A modern day Grapes of Wrath, but better or unique?

Summary - A Dust Bowl-era novel set in the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, that explores themes of memory, community, and the consequences of forgetting history, with a cast of characters including a “Prairie Witch,” a wheat farmer, and a photographer whose camera reveals glimpses through time.

Road to Tender Hearts

Where do I even start…

Summary - A darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crushbringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death.

The first few chapters are dark, like really dark and had I not read Harnett’s other books I may have just DNFd right then. But, because I had, I figured I’d attempt to get past the crazy setup, I also usually enjoy the road trip aspect in books so I was hopeful.

Dead Against Her

What an unexpected wild ride!

The first 20 or so percent I was unsure…a lot of the plot was getting bogged down with excessive details, so much so I had considered DNFing.

Summary - When Christa joins a tour group heading deep into the snowy expanse of the Rocky Mountains, shes hopeful this will be her chance to put the ghosts of her past to rest. But when a bitterly cold snowstorm sweeps the region, the small group is forced to take shelter in an abandoned hunting cabin. Despite the uncomfortably claustrophobic quarters and rapidly dropping temperature, Christa believes theyll be safe as they wait out the storm…

The Heart of Winter

I adored this book // Thank you @prh for an advanced listening copy.

Summary - The extraordinary new novel by Jonathan Evison, about a married couple in their golden years, from when they met across big ups, deep downs, and survive-it-all, opposites-attract love.

I love stories that showcase a marriage through the years and in this case, seventy.

I don’t know exactly why I love these types of books so much – probably because I didn’t grow up seeing what long and healthy marriages look like, none of my grandparents stayed married and both of my parents have been married multiple times.

Being Caribou

Surprise December FIVE STAR book…

Summary - What began as a wildlife research project became much more as the author and his wife learn to hear the earth, pay attention to their dreams and slowly change, beyond their expectations, into being caribou. Both gripping adventure and stark portrayal of an Arctic cosystem threatened by oil development.

Karsten Heuer, a wildlife biologist and his newlywed wife and filmmaker, Leanne Allison embarked on a five month journey to track and follow the caribou. Why? To try to save them from the greed of lobbyists trying to begin oil production on land meant for conservation. What they experienced truly changed who they were and let me tell you, I never would have thought a book about caribou would ever move me the way this one did.

Book of Longings

Does this photo seem strange…

It is from June 2020, when I first attempted to read Book of Longings. Flash forward to the day after the election and it didn’t take for a second time. One week later it finally stuck and I finished it!

Summary - A not-so-religious reimagining of Jesus’ life that beautifully tackles the question: What if he had a feminist wife?

Sounds pretty great, right??

Buuuut I ended up not loving it. The plot sounded so strong but to me, using Jesus as a character was more of a ploy to shock potential readers into reading it. Jesus wasn’t in much of the book and I never connected to the main character, Ana Maybe it was still a timing thing or maybe this just wasn’t a book for me.

Cleopatra Frankenstein

Another LitFic win…

“But the people who did get that love, they grew up to be different from us. More secure. Maybe theyre not as shiny or successful as you and I feel we have to be. But its not because theyre not interesting. They just dont feel they have to do the tap dance, you know? They dont have to prove themselves all the time to be loved. Because they always were.”

In An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day…

For many Indigenous peoples, Columbus Day is a controversial holiday. This is because Columbus is viewed not as a discoverer, but rather as a colonizer. His arrival led to the forceful taking of land and set the stage for widespread death and loss of Indigenous ways of life.

In 1990, South Dakota currently the state with the third-largest population of Native Americans in the U.S. became the first state to officially recognize Native Americans Day, commonly referred to as Indigenous Peoples Day in other parts of the country.

2025 Read to Learn Book List

Here are the 2025 Read to Learn books!

After months and months of research, narrowing down, choosing, searching for the best deals these are the books I’ve chosen:

January - The Anxious Generation examines the rising levels of anxiety and depression among young people.

February - Everyone Who is Gone is Here is an epic, heartbreaking, and deeply reported history of the disastrous humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

March - Water Always Wins is a compelling exploration into the fundamental force shaping our planet and our lives: water.