Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it: There are sooooooo many books out today that I want to read. Someone please—PLEASE—make a machine that stops time so I can use it and catch up on my reading. I don’t need it to freeze everyone in place, just to keep time from moving forward. Is that too much to ask? But truly, today is an embarrassment of riches. At the very top of my list of new releases for this week to acquire are Brother Alive by Zain Khalid, Harry Sylvester Bird by Chinelo Okparanta, Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress, and How Maya Got Fierce by Sona Charaipotra.
And on this week’s episode of All the Books! Vanessa and I were very silly and still managed to discuss the best books we read for this week and more, including Our Wives Under the Sea (my favorite book of the year!), Crying in the Bathroom, and What Moves the Dead. And now, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: AHHH MY TBR! Here are today’s contestants.
The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by CJ Hauser
This is a smart, fabulous collection of essays that was born out of the title essay. Several years ago, Hauser wrote an essay that went viral about how she called off her wedding and instead went to Texas to study whooping cranes. She published a novel shortly after that, which I really enjoyed, and now she’s written several more essays about her life after the events of that essay. She details all the things she does for herself, as she works to figure out what it is that she wants, and what it’s like to look for love in the age of the internet. It’s a funny, honest book, and is great for fans of Mary Laura Philpott and Jami Attenberg.
Backlist bump: Family of Origin by CJ Hauser
Bet on It by Jodie Slaughter
This is a fun romance about two twenty-somethings who try to make a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement, based on a bingo card. Walker is back in Georgia to help his grandmother until she gets better, which includes filling in for her at bingo. Aja is surprised to learn her new bingo partner is the man of her dreams she saw in Piggly Wiggly earlier. But it doesn’t take long for them to complicate their relationship by actually speaking to one another. And then there’s the bingo card sex arrangement. Can they keep it just friends, or will their emotions get the best of them? (CW for chemical use and abuse, anxiety disorders, mental illness, and child abuse.)
Backlist bump: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot Book 2) by Becky Chambers
This is a self-care recommendation: If you want to read something lovely, something that is gentle on your brain and soul, then pick up this series. It’s about a tea monk and a robot who travel together, wondering about life. The robots of the world had left the humans centuries ago, making a new life for themselves in the woods. And then one day a robot ventured back out to see how the humans were doing, and met a tea monk. And from there, a friendship and road trip were born! Seriously, this series will lower your blood pressure, it’s so nice.
Backlist bump: A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot Book 1) by Becky Chambers
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
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This week: I am reading Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones and Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin, Aneesa Abbas Higgins (translator). Outside of books, I have been working on adding titles from my library into my card catalog. I am already on my third pen and have used about 800 index cards so far. And still a lonnnnnng way to go! The song stuck in my head is “Whiskey in the Jar” by Metallica. And here is your weekly cat picture: Farrokh is taking full advantage of the fact that a drawer was left open. Zevon is like, “What is happening down there?” Also, if you want to see something funny, visit my Instagram to witness Zevon punch Baby Yoda’s lights out.
Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! – XO, Liberty ❤️