Hooray, It’s Time for New Books!

If I had to tell you what the music I love says about me, it would say I am a very eclectic person. Which tracks, LOL. This is a fascinating book that will tell you what your music says about you! What kind of music, tempos, and instruments you like says a lot about your brain. And the author is the perfect person to explain it to you. Susan Rogers is an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience. But before that, she was a successful musical engineer who worked with such artists as Prince and Barenaked Ladies! I never get tired of brain books, because we still know so little about how they work, and every little thing we learn fascinates me to no end.

Backlist bump: The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross

I cannot believe it has already been a year since I was recommending you pick up Mark Oshiro’s middle grade debut The Insiders. It was such a good book! Now he’s back with speculative adventure. This time, we follow — wait for it — David Bravo, who is struggling in school. After a particularly bad day, he wishes he could do it over. And POOF! A magical dog appears to help him make his wish come true. But how many tries does it take to get something just right? David will learn that maybe just letting things happen is the best decision. But also, did I mention the magical dog??!

Backlist bump: The Insiders by Mark Oshiro

And last, but not least, I am recommending this charming YA romcom. I enjoyed Sass’s debut a couple of years ago, which was an queer YA thriller. And I thought this was a delight. It’s a Cinderella-type story about a young boy named — wait for it again! — Micah Summers. He’s been lucky at a lot of things, but not love. He keeps an Instagram account of sketches of imaginary boys he’s like to date, but so far, Micah has been too shy to ask anyone out. That all changes when he meets a cute boy on a train, who leaves behind his jacket. Convinced that finding the jacket’s owner will bring him true love, Micah and his friends set off on an adventure across Chicago. But what if finding true love isn’t like a fairy tale?

Backlist bump: What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

This week, I am reading The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo and The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino. Outside of books, I am excited that Jeopardy is starting up again! And the song stuck in my head is “Righteously” by Lucinda Williams. I’m also into listening to music from the 1980s while I play WoW and I started a playlist — you can listen here! And here is your weekly cat picture: If you don’t shut your dresser drawers in this house, you’re going to end up with clothes covered in cat hair. Er, once you first remove said cat.