Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Best of the Bunch (March 2021)

Best of the Bunch header

Today I'm sharing the best book I read in March.

Of the 10 books I read this month, I had two 5-star reads:

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

Both are frequently recommended for a reason, but I'm going to go with the one I would recommend the most broadly as my Best of the Bunch!


I know I'm late to the party here, but How to Be an Antiracist deserves all the hype it's received. Kendi has packed an immense amount of valuable material into only a few hundred pages, and he's made it both readable and relevant to a wide variety of readers. Perhaps most importantly, Kendi isn't just remixing and repackaging other works on racism. In some cases, he directly challenges popular antiracist narratives and pushes back against using imprecise phrases like "institutional racism." He isn't just addressing white people, and he isn't wasting time assuming how the reader is feeling about what he's sharing and trying to talk them through that. He lays out facts in the clearest way possible, provides evidence for what does and doesn't work for making a difference, and zeroes in on where people should direct their time and energy. I will join the chorus of voices highly recommending this book.

What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Sea of Tranquility, The Left Hand of Darkness, V for Vendetta, and Paradise Lost
Five years ago I was reading: Under the Banner of Heaven, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and A People's History of the United States
Ten years ago I was reading: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

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Monday, March 22, 2021

Ten Funny Book Titles


I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic turned out to be a little challenging! Just because a book is funny doesn't mean the title will be funny, and some titles could be funny on a different kind of book. Here are ten titles of books I've read that I think are clever or funny on their own.
1. The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe
2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
3. How to Be Successful without Hurting Men's Feelings by Sarah Cooper
4. I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse? by Suzy Becker
5. Lapsing into a Comma by Bill Walsh
6. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
7. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
8. Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki
9. Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco
10. Why Do Men Have Nipples? by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg

What are some funny titles of books you've read?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Yes No Maybe So, V for Vendetta, and Paradise Lost
Five years ago I was reading: Cold Sassy Tree, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Spark Joy, and A People's History of the United States
Ten years ago I was reading: Committed

Monday, March 15, 2021

Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR


I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

I finished all the books on my winter TBR list, which included several that I really loved! For spring, there are TONS of new releases coming out that I'm excited about, and I'm hoping I can find time for all of them as I go back to work.
1. The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
I haven't been listening to this podcast long but I do enjoy John Green's thoughts, and now that it's a book of essays that I'll get in audiobook format read by him, it'll basically be like binge-listening to the podcast!
2. Broken by Jenny Lawson
Lawson's other books have had me crying with laughter, so I was very excited to see she was coming out with a new one. I just have to be careful when and where I listen to this because with Let's Pretend This Never Happened I got weird looks bursting out laughing while on a walk!
3. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
I just recently listened to the first three books in the Wayfarers series, so I'm ready to continue the series when the next book comes out this spring.
4. Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli
I love Becky Albertalli so of course I'm going to read what she comes out with next!
5. On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
I saw this book was coming out soon, and it seemed like a good opportunity to dive deeper into the history before and after Juneteenth, especially as I have a goal to read about race in America this year.
6. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Like almost everyone else, I loved Red, White & Royal Blue and am happy to join the hype for her next book!
7. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
Amid all the new releases, I am also continuing with my goal of reading the Miss Marple books in order, and this one is up next.
8. The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary
O'Leary is another author whose books I just picked up in the past year after hearing about them for a while, and I enjoyed them enough that I put a hold on her upcoming release.
9. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Unlike most of this list, this book isn't a 2021 publication, but it was published in the last five years and I've been wanting to get around to it for a while. I loved her writing in Daughter of Smoke & Bone and my issues with that book were specific to its unique plot, so I'm hoping this one lands for me.
10. Sure, I'll Be Your Black Friend by Ben Philippe
This one looks like it has a fun, conversational tone, and it's a different spin on reading about race in America; I've mostly focused on histories and modern anti-racist books, but this one is a memoir that also provides outsiders an inside look at Black culture.

What do you plan to read this spring?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Red, White & Royal Blue and Paradise Lost
Five years ago I was reading: Cold Sassy Tree, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Book of Mormon, and Borders / La Frontera
Ten years ago I was reading: Committed

What I've Been Reading Lately (Quick Lit)

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit to bring you some short and sweet reviews of what I've read in the past month. For longer reviews, you can always find me on Goodreads.

Maternity leave is continuing to aid my reading life, though it will sadly be coming to an end soon (though I am very excited to see my coworkers again). Here's everything I've finished this past month!

Do Better: Spiritual Activism for Fighting and Healing from White Supremacy by Rachel Ricketts: Ricketts lays bare the realities of racism through statistics and stories and helps guide the reader through introspective exercises to equip themselves to do the work of racial justice. Unfortunately, I found some of the messaging and terminology muddled and I don't think the book offers a clear way forward.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: This was just as fantastic as everyone had told me it would be. Chambers has nailed it all: the sci-fi world-building, the found family, the high-tension climax, the balance between "there's a way out of every bad situation" and "everyone isn't unscathed in the end." I immediately picked up the rest of the series.

Precious Little Sleep: The Complete Baby Sleep Guide for Modern Parents by Alexis Dubief: This was a reread and it continues to be my go-to recommendation for new parents; I found it immensely helpful for planning our approach to sleep with this baby. So far all of her advice has been spot-on and easy to follow!

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater: I quite enjoyed this reread myself, but my 6-year-old thought it was a little boring. I thought it was fun to see the silly ways they adapted to having penguins in their home. My son had a hard time caring about the logistics of caring for the penguins or the family's money problems. Glad we tried it anyway!

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers: This sequel has quite a different tone from the original, though it takes place in the same universe. Told through two very different stories, this is a quiet book about learning to be human. At times I felt the stories dragged, but I found the ending to be both sweet and satisfying.

They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie: This includes many of my least favorite elements of Christie's books, and certain aspects of the plot didn't make sense either. On the plus side, I did enjoy figuring out the whole mystery myself for once!

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers: Very different than the first two Wayfarers books, here Chambers has imagined what it would involve for humans to leave behind Earth completely and why people might still be aboard the homesteaders generations later. I liked the characters and the themes, but without much of a plot it couldn't always hold my attention.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi:
This book deserves all the hype it's received. Kendi has packed an immense amount of valuable material into only a few hundred pages, and he's made it both readable and relevant to a wide variety of readers. It's incredibly valuable for providing a roadmap forward, which so many books in this realm don't do.

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole: This is a sweet romance novella that made for a quick read. I enjoyed the story and the characters, even if the plot structure required that one character keep something a secret longer than made sense.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow: This was an immersive fantasy story with excellent narration on audio. There's magic, mystery, action, and heartache, and it's also a reflection of the problems with the white capitalist patriarchy. Some parts of the plot didn't always make sense, but on the whole I liked it.

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: There's a lot of solid content in here, lines or passages that I think succinctly get at the need for a feminist consciousness, particularly when raising children. It's unfortunately quite heteronormative and cisnormative, though, and in general I didn't find anything new or surprising here.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl: My 6-year-old got a bit bored at points, but on the whole he really liked this. As for me, I have found Dahl's books less charming and more disturbing as I've gotten older, and this was the first read-aloud with my son where I skipped over some problematic bits as I went.

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Red, White & Royal Blue and Paradise Lost
Five years ago I was reading: Cold Sassy Tree, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Book of Mormon, and Borders / La Frontera
Ten years ago I was reading: Committed

Monday, March 8, 2021

Ten Books I Cleaned Off My TBR List


I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week is a Spring Cleaning freebie. A while back I majorly cut down my original, capped to-read list to only the books I want to prioritize reading and moved everything else to the more expansive "might want to read" list. Here are ten that I relocated, which can mostly be summarized as "books by white dudes that sounded boring or with a limited/problematic perspective."
1. The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin
2. The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse
3. I, Claudius by Robert Graves
4. Little Princes by Conor Grennan
5. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
6. The Magus by John Fowles
7. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
8. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
9. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
10. Shōgun by James Clavell

What do you think? Should I reconsider any of these that you personally loved?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids and Children of Blood and Bone
Five years ago I was reading: The Rise and Fall of the Bible, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, The Book of Mormon, and Borders / La Frontera
Ten years ago I was reading: Water for Elephants