Category: Read This Book

Read This Book: YOLK by Mary H.K. Choi

Post author By Tirzah Price
Post date March 11, 2021

Sponsored by What’s Mine and Yours, the new novel from Naima Coster.

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! From the author of Halsey Street, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family—and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships. A North Carolina community rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the next twenty years.

Welcome to Read This Book, a newsletter where I recommend one book that I think you absolutely must read. The books will vary across genre and age category to include new releases, backlist titles, and classics. If you’re ready to explode your TBR, buckle up!

Today’s pick is the third book by someone who’s rapidly becoming a new favorite author, and a great YA/adult crossover book for anyone who loves family and coming-of-age stories with an emotional edge.

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

Content warning: disordered eating, cancer

Jayne and June couldn’t be more different, despite the fact that they’re only a few years apart and each escaped their small Texas town for New York City as soon as they both graduated. Jayne is in college, struggling with disordered eating, ignoring phone calls from her family, and rooming with a guy who isn’t treating her well. June is a hedge fund manager, a high achiever making gobs of money who still calls their mom regularly. When June shows up one day and reveals that she’s got cancer, the sisters find their entire lives overturned as they’re forced to confront a complicated history.

This is Choi’s third novel, and what I like about her writing is that it’s very interior, intelligent, snarky, and a bit of a gut punch. She writes lost characters, characters trying their best, characters hurting and persevering, and characters just fumbling about as they figure things out so well. Although technically YA, this book features a 20 and a 23-year-old, so it’s solidly in that crossover range and I think it’ll appeal to fans of books about millennial angst (although these characters might be more Gen Z, I don’t know, generations are confusing).

This book is so great because even when the sisters are being extremely antagonistic towards one another, you can tell how much they still care for each other…even though they might have a hard time expressing it. One big selling point of this book is that things get seriously complicated when Jayne learns that despite being wealthy, June doesn’t have health insurance and has to use Jayne’s in order to get surgery. But the insurance fraud is just a tiny part of this messy and beautiful story as Jayne sorts through her anger and fear, and both sisters work through how they were shaped by a complicated childhood in order to learn how to best care for each other.

I think that this is a great book to read if you ever feel like life is too lonely or too complicated to figure out, and it’s heartbreakingly real and just a bit romantic!

Bonus: Get this hardcover. Trust me, the book’s design is worth it!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

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[3/10] Read This Book: HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE by Kellye Garrett

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date March 9, 2021

Sponsored by The Salt Fields by Stacy D. Flood.

On the day that Minister Peters boards a train from South Carolina heading north, he has nothing left but ghosts: the ghost of his murdered wife, the ghost of his drowned daughter, the ghosts of his father and his grandmother and the people who disappeared from his town without trace or explanation. In the cramped car, Minister finds himself in close quarters with three passengers also joining the exodus from the South—people seeking a new life, whose motives, declared or otherwise, will change Minister’s life with devastating consequences.

Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend a book you should add to your TBR, STAT! I stan variety in all things, and my book recommendations will be no exception. These must-read books will span genres and age groups. There will be new releases, oldie but goldies from the backlist, and the classics you may have missed in high school. Oh my! If you’re ready to diversify your books, then LEGGO!!

Although I don’t read them often, I love a good mystery. For as long as I can remember, I could never resist a whodunit story. When I was a young gal, I couldn’t get enough Nancy Drew. As an adult, I don’t have a favorite mystery writer or detective, but it is still one of my favorite genres to read. Today, I’m recommending one of the more recent mysteries I’ve read. What makes this book so special is that I discovered it through Book Riot. That’s right! I took one of our many quizzes to find my next read, and said quiz put this fabulous book on my radar.

Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett

Semi-famous, mega-broke actress Dayna Anderson doesn’t plan on solving a murder, but the $15,000 cash reward will help Dayna get back on her feet and save her parents’ home. What starts as simply solving a hit-and-run turns into a full-blown investigation. As Dayna learns more about the victim’s life, she becomes more concerned with finding the killer than collecting the reward money. When Dayna gets closer to connecting the dots, she finds herself in the killer’s cross hairs.

One of the best aspects of Hollywood Homicide was the main character being a Black woman! As an out-of-work actress turned amateur detective, Dayna Anderson is totally relatable. I actually enjoyed how Dayna and all the other characters interacted with one another. Dayna was Lucy to her BFF Sienna’s Ethel. Even when they were in some serious danger, the book still managed to get a few chuckles out of me. Dayna and Aubrey worked well as strangers (and slight adversaries) who actually work well together to solve the crime. I also enjoyed the romance vibes between Dayna and Omari.

Despite a couple of murders, Hollywood Homicide is kind of a romp of a read. Garrett isn’t shy about letting the reader know how people in the story died, but it wasn’t very gruesome in my opinion. If you enjoy a good mystery, but want to avoid the graphic blood and gore, then Hollywood Homicide is the must-read book for you. Also, if the end of the book leaves you wanting more, then I have even more good news for you! Hollywood Homicide is the first book of the Detective by Day series! Happy reading, bookish sleuths.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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[3/8] Read This Book: SWING TIME by Zadie Smith

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date March 8, 2021

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

Two young brown girls dream of being dancers, but Tracey is the one with all the talent. The other girl is full of ideas. As children, they share a close but complicated relationship that abruptly ends in their early 20s. Moving from London to West Africa, Swing Time is a story about music, friendship, and how our roots shape and bind us.

I have complicated feelings about Swing Time. Although Zadie Smith has quite the way with words, and Swing Time was well written, when I got to the end of the book, I was unsatisfied. I needed more. I wanted more of the story. I could have definitely used Swing Time 2: Electric Boogaloo. I wanted to know what the narrator did with the rest of her life. How does her friendship with Tracey fare?

What makes Swing Time such a must-read book is the story is one of the most original I have read in recent years. I haven’t read anything like it, and I’m not sure I ever will again. Swing Time touches on race, gender, relationships, power dynamics, sex, and class, but it doesn’t feel heavy-handed or preachy. It was also interesting to read a book with a woman narrator who is kind of unlikeable. She is not a bad person, but as a reader, I generally felt unsympathetic toward almost every situation in which she found herself. I actually found that refreshing. It’s not often I read about a woman who isn’t written to be charming or lovable. Reading Swing Time made me more interested in reading stories with similar types of characters.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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Read This Book: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Post author By Tirzah Price
Post date March 4, 2021

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Galadriel, El for short, is a student at the Scholomance, a high school for magical teens from all over the world that exists in a liminal space controlled by magic, without any human teachers, that no one can escape…except through the graduation hall once they’ve completed their education. But the graduation hall is also full of monsters, so commencement is a literal fight to the death in order to get out, and those monsters are constantly attacking the school and trying to find a way inside. Sounds like a nightmare? Well, it’s actually marginally safer for teens inside than it is outside, and at least in the Scholomance they have access to an education that will help them survive.

I immediately was drawn to El, a prickly junior of Welsh-Indian descent who is better equipped than most to survive this particular high school experience–but no one else is aware of that. She’s got some major power, but the consequence of using that power is that she can’t stop. She’d literally destroy everyone and anyone around her if she unleashed her true force. But El has no desire to go all evil villain on anyone and she’s been fostering a plan to make it through to graduation that includes not making friends unless she can help it. But when Orion Lake, the junior class golden boy, inadvertently saves her life one too many times, El has had enough. She tells him to knock it off, and that prompts him to try and befriend her. But Orion Lake making friends with the weird girl no one talks to seriously upsets the delicate social balance at the Scholomance, and soon people are asking questions about the effect of Orion’s savior complex…like what does it mean for the very hungry monsters who haven’t had a good meal in a long time?

I loved the snarky, sarcastic tone of this book, and how it dumps the reader headfirst into the action and the story. I will be the first to admit that technique might not be every reader’s favorite, but it reminded me a lot of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine (one of my favorite vampire stories ever), and of course, Gideon the Ninth. This book isn’t a tome, but it’s full of action, fascinating world building, and really amazing character growth. Novik also tackles the idea of a chosen one in an interesting way: Orion Lake is doing a great thing by saving so many people…but it has some pretty dark unintended consequences that force everyone in the book to pay attention and step up. I loved El’s commentary, her frustration with Orion’s lack of self-preservation, and prickly realization that she’s going to have to open up to people if everyone’s going to make it out alive. I won’t say too much more because the joy in this book is discovering what’s happening for yourself, but suffice to say I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel, The Last Graduate, which drops in May!

Note: I know it sounds YA, but the book was actually published as adult. Either way, I think it’s super enjoyable for both adult and teen audiences!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

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[3/3] Read This Book: SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL by Patricia MacLachlan

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date March 2, 2021

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Told through the point of view of Anna Witting, Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of how Sarah Wheaton moved from Maine to the American Midwest in response to an ad for a wife and mother. Anna’s younger brother Caleb is excited about the prospect of a new mother, but memories of their mother who died giving birth to Caleb make Anna apprehensive.

What I enjoyed most about Sarah, Plain and Tall was not only the plain, straightforward story, but also how it touched upon the death of a parent at a young age and the introduction of a stepparent. It was understandable to a young reader while not being too simplified for an adult reader. I also liked reading a story where there wasn’t overt hostility between Sarah and the children. Yes, Anna still has memories of her mother who died while giving birth to her brother Caleb, but she still seems somewhat open to the possibility of a new mother in Sarah. I also enjoyed Sarah as a whole. Although she eagerly answered the call for a mail-order bride, which on its face seems anti-feminist, Sarah gave me feminist hero vibes through her many interactions with Jacob from insisting on wearing overalls to riding horses. I loved to ~~see~~ hear it.

If you are looking for a heartwarming, but short comfort read, then Sarah, Plain and Tall is a good choice. In just a few short chapters, not only will you fall in love with the Witting family, you will absolutely adore this current version of the family. By the end of the book, you’ll be wishing for more. Lucky for us, MacLachlan was kind enough to add four more books to the series.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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[3/1] Read This Book: EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date March 1, 2021

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Around 30, Elizabeth Gilbert was already going through a midlife crisis. She had everything a woman is expected to want: husband, house, career, but instead of finding fulfillment, Elizabeth was consumed with anxiety. After going through divorce, depression, and a failed rebound relationship, Elizabeth decides to take the radical step of leaving everything behind to find out who she really is and what she really wants.

In full disclosure, Eat Pray Love is one of those books I was excited to read, but it didn’t live up to my high expectations. However, I will never regret reading it. Although I read this book long after the hype around it was gone, I understand why it inspired so many people to go on their own journey of self-exploration around the world. Who wouldn’t want to escape the everyday rat race of life to find peace through hours of meditation or eat the best pizza and pasta in the world?

Despite being annoyed by Gilbert’s self-centered nature, I cannot deny her witty, funny, and engaging writing. Whenever I felt like I was at my wit’s end with her antics, she would win me over with another observation and anecdote that made me chuckle or smile. It’s been a few years since I’ve read Eat Pray Love, but sometimes I find myself thinking about it. Most of the time, I think about the pizza that was so good, it’s almost worth dying for.

If you are like me and prefer to read books once everyone stops talking about them then I invite you to read Eat Pray Love. If it does nothing else, it may inspire you to finally take that solo trip to find yourself.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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Read This Book: The Less People Know About Us by Axton Betz-Hamilton

Post author By Tirzah Price
Post date February 25, 2021

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton

Axton Betz-Hamilton grew up in rural Indiana in the 1990s. After her grandfather died when she was 10, her family began to notice their mail going missing. What started off as annoying but seemingly innocuous became more sinister when their utilities would get shut off for nonpayment…and then the strange bills started showing up. Someone had stolen her parents’ identities, and no one seemed to know who might be at fault, or how the thief kept obtaining personal information. Axton spent the second half of her childhood living in a family clouded by suspicion because the only logical conclusion was that someone close to them must be the thief. As a result, they began to withdraw from friends and family, and became suspicious of everyone. The claustrophobic environment was too much for Axton, but when she escaped to college, she discovered something horrifying–her own identity had also been stolen, and her credit was wrecked, going back to when she was a child. She became determined to find the truth.

I feel like I read this memoir holding my breath. Betz-Hamilton does a brilliant job demonstrating that identity theft is not a victimless crime, starting out with the paranoia that she and her parents experienced, and detailing the financial and emotional effects of a ruined credit score and constant paranoia. She mines the depths of her family’s distress and anxiety and shows how that shaped her childhood and the adult she would become. The events of this book began before identity theft was seen as the threat it is now, and people who found themselves victims of this crime often found themselves helpless, with nowhere to turn. That had a tremendous effect on Axton, and when she realizes the extent of the fraud, she becomes extremely motivated to research the crime. The chapters devoted to her becoming an identity theft expert and investigating her own case are both vindicating and fascinating, but it’s the shocking reveal about who was really behind the theft that readers will remember most from this book. It’s a revelation that leaves Axton shocked and revisiting every moment in her past to see events in a completely different light, and those moments of reckoning are equally powerful. Ultimately, this memoir is engrossing, well-written, and measured, and it demonstrates how a nonviolent crime can have devastating effects on people’s lives.

If you’re intrigued by this story and this is the first time you’re hearing about it, I advise not Googling the author or looking up the author’s episode on Criminal unless you want some major spoilers! If you listened to the podcast, I highly recommend this book for its in-depth and fascinating look at Axton’s life, and the aftermath of her discovery.

Happy reading!
Tirzah

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[2/24] Read This Book: THE WEDDING DATE by Jasmine Guillory

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date February 23, 2021

Sponsored by Saga Press, publisher of THE RUSSIAN CAGE.

Charlaine Harris, the New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, is back with an all-new alternate history thriller, The Russian Cage (on sale Feb. 23). This new book in her Gunnie Rose series gives readers everything they adore from Charlaine Harris—romance, thrills, supernatural—and takes Lizbeth Rose, her “sharp-as-nails, can-do heroine,” on a new adventure from the American west to the Holy Russian Empire.

Did you know February is National Wedding Month? Although the most popular months for weddings are June, August, and September, most proposals occur between Christmas and New Year’s Day, which leads to February becoming the most popular time for wedding planning. Also, thanks to Valentine’s Day, February 14th is a popular day for both proposals and weddings.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Drew Nicols is still sans a plus one for his ex-girlfriend’s wedding where he also happens to be a groomsman. Then, on a chance encounter in an elevator, he finds the perfect solution in Alexa Monroe who agrees to be Drew’s wedding date for the weekend. Following the wedding, they both go their separate ways. Drew returns to his life as a pediatric surgeon in Los Angeles, and Alexa heads back to Berkeley where she works as the mayor’s chief of staff. However, after having more fun than they both expected, Drew and Alexa can’t stop thinking of one another.

The Wedding Date was one of the first books I read during the first big COVID-19 quarantine. This delightful rom-com helped take my mind off of the uncertainty and panic I was feeling during that time. Like all of the romantic comedies I’ve read recently, I had a hard time putting down this book, and I finished it in almost record time. If you are looking for the standard rom-com fare with the cute boy meets girl meet cute, then this book is a must-read for you, too.

I instantly loved Alexa and Drew’s connection. Even though the agreement was just the one date, I knew there would be more to this love story. Plus, I just wanted these two kids to work out as soon as they were flirting in the elevator. Since this is a literary rom-com, I was sure Alexa and Drew would be together in the end, but there were plenty of expected (and a few unexpected) bumps along the way. By the time I finished The Wedding Date, I knew I wanted to read more of Jasmine Guillory. With a debut novel that checks all of my romantic comedy boxes, I became an instant fan, so be prepared for more Guillory reading recommendations in the future!

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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[2/22] Read This Book: LITTLE LEADERS: BOLD WOMEN IN BLACK HISTORY by Vashti Harrison

Post author By Katisha Smith
Post date February 22, 2021

Sponsored by Crimson Lake Road by Victor Methos.

Sometimes death imitates art. When a killer inspired by a series of grisly paintings terrorizes a rural community outside of Las Vegas, retiring prosecutor Jessica Yardley is the only one who can catch him. But in order to track him down, she’ll need to turn to her ex-husband… a serial killer, who’s now on death row. By the time Jessica realizes that pursuing this case is a deadly mistake, it’s too late to turn back. Can she catch the killer, or will she become his next masterpiece?

It’s the last week of Black History Month and the perfect time to share another must-read children’s book that will delight readers of all ages. Well, I have found a book that is both beautiful and informative.

Little Leaders Bold Women in Black History Book Cover

Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison

Featuring 40 trailblazing Black women in American history, Little Leaders shares their stories of breaking boundaries and achieving despite adversity. Along with adorable illustrations, both iconic and lesser-known figures in Black History from abolitionist Sojourner Truth to filmmaker Julie Dash, are immortalized for their bold actions and contributions. Although the leaders in this book are little, their big actions are sure to inspire future generations.

Even though Harrison highlighted 40 amazing Black women, she ended the book with a few honorable mentions of several trailblazing Black American women including Madam C.J. Walker, the first woman in America to become a self-made millionaire, Dorothy Height who played a pivotal (yet often overlooked) role in the Civil Rights Movement, and the Willams sisters who transformed modern day tennis.

Little Leaders has plenty of familiar faces like Harriet Tubman, Ella Fitzgerald, Oprah, and Octavia Butler. What I enjoyed most (besides the heart-warming illustrations) was being able to learn more about some familiar faces as well as discovering trailblazers from all facets of American culture, like Rebecca Crumpler who was the first Black American woman to become a physician or Alice Ball who developed the most effective treatment of leprosy in the 20th century. You may know Misty Copeland, but do you know Raven Wilkinson? She was the first Black woman to be a full-time dancer in a major classical ballet company. Wilkinson even danced until the age of 50, which is almost unheard of in the world of dance!

Reading this book delighted the little Black girl in me. It’s a book I wished was available when I was a kid. I can’t imagine the bigger dreams I could have dreamed after reading about these women who looked like me. Little Leaders is essential reading for young Black girls. It will show them anything is possible for them. It is also essential reading for everyone else. It is time for all of these women to become household names.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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Red This Book: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Post author By Tirzah Price
Post date February 18, 2021

Sponsored by Scout Press and Dark Horses, the astonishing debut novel from Susan Mihalic.

15-year-old Roan Montgomery trains under the laser focus of her father, but she’s come to realize that their relationship goes dangerously beyond that of rider and coach, or daughter and overprotective parent–and she’s ready for it to stop. But to save herself, will she have to sacrifice her dreams? In the tradition of My Dark Vanessa or My Absolute Darling, Dark Horses is a searing, stunning novel not to be missed.

Today I have a pick that was recommended to me by multiple readers when I was still working in the library, and I am so glad they all ganged up on me until I read it!

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I read Unwind back when I was a teen (it was the first dystopian YA I remember reading and I was enthralled), but hadn’t picked up a new Shusterman book until no fewer than five different teens at my library insisted I read this, and it blew me away. It’s set a couple hundred years into the future, where death has been defeated. Modern technology has not only found a solution to aging (anyone at any time can “reset” themselves to age 25), but they can reliably bring back anyone from death, provided your body and brain aren’t completely destroyed. To compensate for the fact that death no longer controls the population, the Scythedom is founded. Scythes are humans who are revered and feared because they choose people at random to die a humane death. Rowan and Citra are two teens who have just been chosen as Scythe apprentices, but only one of them can ascend to the role of a Scythe. What they don’t know is that they’re about to be sucked into an epic struggle within Scythedom that will change their world forever.

I love a great premise, and not only is Shusterman’s world convincing and fascinating, but the plot he’s come up with for his two teen protagonists is riveting. As teenagers who have never had to comprehend their own mortality, their training mainly consists of lots of philosophy lessons (Scythes take a professional name and always choose from the great thinkers of history), and understanding what it means to be an empathetic human being, which provides plenty of moments for insight, but in a really engaging way. Of course, not all Scythes are noble, as readers see this “perfect” solution becomes inevitably twisted by corrupt Scythes who are grabbing power, unchecked, at an alarming rate. Rowan and Citra start out as competitors, but as forces beyond their control attempt to use them and pit them against their mentor, they find ways to team up and rebel against the system. The writing is smart and darkly funny–the perfect tone for a book about death, honestly–and the plot had some truly amazing twists that kept me hooked. This is a high concept book that will make you think, but in a fun way, I promise.

And I might as well advise you to just pick up the sequels, Thunderhead and The Toll. You’ll want them!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

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