*Born Naughty: My Childhood in China by Jin Wang, Tony Johnston, and Anisi Baigude
Young Adult
*Break to You by Neal Shusterman, Debra Young, and Michelle Knowlden Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
Grownup Fiction
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin The Measure by Nikki Erlick But How Are You, Really by Ella Dawson Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton Honey by Isabel Banta A Winter in New York by Josie Silver Need Blind Ambition by Kevin T. Myers The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
With a decades-spanning plot and two instances where I gasped “No!” this was pretty much my perfect read.
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Sometimes the dial on historical fiction is turned too much to the side where we establish scene by naming songs and describing clothes and hairstyles. That was the case here. While Frankie’s story resonated with me, I kept getting pulled out of it by too many historical details that didn’t add anything to the plot.
Young Nonfiction
*Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire by Paula Yoo
Grownup Nonfiction
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae
Being the reader I was and am, I made sure to stock my growing-up trunk with important books from my childhood and adolescence. In no particular order:
I was given this Little House set when I was still a baby, so I got the yellow box edition. My friends who had their own set usually had the blue box edition. I liked the yellow one better. But then the next iteration was a nice gingham theme. I would have gone for that one too.
You can see that these books were read many times. First they were read to me, then I read them on my own, then I read them every summer. Sometimes I started at the end and ended at Little House in the Big Woods. When that happened, Mary regained her sight, rather than lost it.
My friend Cindy had a tiny book called the Paper Bag Princess, and I loved it so much (despite being in high school and thus “too old” for it) that she made me my own copy one Christmas.
She had fun adding the commentary on the back, which she adapted from actual blurbs on books in her possession. “Now a spectacular film from Orion!!” cracks me up.
My favorite Little Golden Book to read at my Grandparents’ house. It was originally my Aunt Carol’s book, and the paper dolls aspects had been lost years before I found it. I looked for my own copy for years before finding one in the toy store in Seaside during this trip. I did not include the book in my chronicle of the trip, and I have no idea why as it had been a decades-long quest. Anyhow, this was the original one.
Oh, Alice. This book, so many feelings. It was fun to listen to the series of episodes the podcast “You’re Wrong About” did, starting with Go Ask Alice Part 1. I also read Rick Emerson’s Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries, so it’s been a big year for Go Ask Alice.
This might have been my entry into Chris Crutcher. I loved how the descriptions of cross country running made me want to be a runner.
I read a lot of Cynthia Voigt, but these two made the cut. This is a loose sequel to Jackaroo, and I didn’t know how to pronounce the main character’s name Birle, so I stopped in a jewelry store in the mall and asked. Because we didn’t have the internet to pronounce things for us back then.
And here’s Jackaroo. My historical fiction preferences are quite clear.
When I watched the film The Princess Bride I had no idea there was a book! When I found this, I loved it so much I read it aloud to my family.
Fannie Flagg was a favorite author once the movie version Fried Green Tomatoes was released, and I read the book. But the description of the Miss America pageant in this book was hilarious, so I went with Daisy Fay over Fried Green Tomatoes.
Who the heck wouldn’t count the Outsiders as an important book from their youth? Probably kids now, as I’ve recently reread it and found it a bit stiff. But I sure loved it then. I also like this cover. It’s very of its time.
This is the book in my collection I find most cringeworthy. I really, really, really liked it though when it was released. At least my bodice ripper entry has a classy cover on it.
Here’s the book that probably no one has heard of. I loved the New York City immigrant 1940s experience. And it was also really sad. This one, I’m holding onto. Will I read it again? Maaaaaayyybeeee? What if it’s not that good?
A book I always thought of as a good companion to this one, though contemporary, was Walk Through Cold Fire by Cin Forshay-Lunsford. It’s too bad I didn’t track down a copy for the trunk as they seem to be scarce. There are currently three copies available on Thriftbooks and the prices range from $112 to $129. I’ll keep my eye peeled for it to turn up somewhere for a normal price.
I was a huge fan of The Secret Garden, but A Little Princess has always been my favorite Frances Hodgson Burnett book. And one MUST read the version with Tasha Tudor illustrations.
More historical fiction. This one took place in Hungary, pre-WWI.
And this sequel took place during the war. I’m pretty sure my mother read these as a child, and thus they came into my life. Good choices.
And another classic. I read this book several times, both as assignment and on my own.
And that’s the tour of my books. I hadn’t realized how few would be contemporary. Really just Running Loose. I’m a diehard historical fiction fan and have been since I was a child.
*Shark Teethby Sherri Winston *Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams *Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar
*Next Stop by Debbie Fong
I wouldn’t mind going on this kind of tour.
Young Adult
The Atlas of Us by Kristin Dwyer
The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram
Where is Jackson finding so many t-shirts with tags in them? My shirts have had the tag info screen printed in them for years.
Grownup Fiction
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray Delilah Green Doesn’t Careby Ashley Herring Blake
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
Face blindness was a thing in YA literature a few years ago. In a standard grownup romance novel, it makes for an interesting plot. The villain was a little too uniformly evil, though.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Somewhat of a difficult read due to the everyday sexism, but also very entertaining in the rejection of that sexism.
I tried hitting my eggs with a knife rather than cracking them on the counter or the bowl and found it a good technique.
Little Free Library find.
Grownup Nonfiction
Rethinking Diabetes: What Science Reveals About Diet, Insulin, and Successful Treatments by Gary Taubes Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars by Richard K. Bernstein Sugarless: A 7-Step Plan to Uncover Hidden Sugars, Curb Your Cravings, and Conquer Your Addiction by Nicole M. Avena (strangely not listed on Goodreads…) Keto QuickStart A Beginner’s Guide to A Whole-foods Ketogenic Diet by Diane Sanfilippo
*Ahoy! by Sophie Blackall *The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker
Middle Grade
*Kyra, Just for Today by Sara Zarr
No matter the protagonist, Sara Zarr writes them so you root for them and also want to give them a big hug. It was also interesting to see how holding together the household and being A+ in that category meant that she had trouble keeping up in school.
*The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
Nice job writing about 1999 and providing a sci-fi twist. I love Entrada Kelly’s characterization.
*The Wrong Way Home by Kate O’Shaughnessy
It’s an age-appropriate book about a member of a cult! The story traces Fern’s attempts to get back to the cult, the place she has been the happiest, and also her evolving thoughts about life outside the cult. There’s also an idyllic California beach town and people who help Fern and her mother adjust to their new lives.
Young Adult
*Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson and Ekua Holmes *Icarus by K. Ancrum Wide Awake Now by David Levithan
Young Nonfiction
*American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky by Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein *My Antarctica: True Adventures in the Land of Mummified Seals, Space Robots, and So Much More by G. Neri and Corban Wilkin
Grownup Fiction
Joan Is Okay by Weike Wang Chemistry by Weike Wang The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
The Partner Track by Helen Wan
Hoo-boy do I dislike the law office culture on display in this novel. Wan kept me reading through my dislike with a well-formed main character to root for.
Grownup Nonfiction
The 2-Hour Job Search: Using Technology to Get the Right Job Faster by Steve Dalton
Breaks the scary task of networking down to efficient and manageable tasks.
The Job Closer: Time-Saving Techniques for Acing Resumes, Interviews, Negotiations, and More by Steve Dalton
The companion to the 2-Hour Job Search, this book also got me to stop obsessing over resumes (strive for error-free—no one really reads them all the way through) and cover letters (he gives a framework) and made updating my LinkedIn profile a breeze. He also discusses how to interview, how to negotiate, and how to get off to a great start at your new company.
Dalton’s two books are making my job search less of a herculean task.
Beyond Getting By: The Financial Diet’s Guide to Abundant and Intentional Living by Holly Trantham and Lauren Ver Hage
This wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I’m looking for a process to decide who to donate money to as well as something to help me understand the tradeoff of increasing my retirement contributions another percentage point annually given my current percentage.
While this didn’t meet my needs, it was full of good information and written in a breezy style. I suspect that the 32 hour workweek won’t be widely adopted in my working lifetime as it has at the Financial Diet, but it would be nice.
Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by Ellen Jovin
A good book for the room in your house where you spend time intermittently and need something you can pick up and put down. The grammar information was good, and the writing about grammar was engaging, but I found eventually found repetitive setup of each vignette tedious. Her descriptions of the people visiting the grammar table were particularly annoying annoying after a while.
*Alterations by Ray Xu *Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
*Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu
Just the right amount of middle-grade creepy. (Which is my top threshold for creepy.) I was feeling “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Were you?
Young Adult
*Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline *Conditions of a Heart by Bethany Mangle *Wrath Becomes Her by Aden Polydoros *Louder Than Hunger by John Schu Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schreiber *There Goes the Neighborhood by Jade Adia
Young Nonfiction
*Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku by Curtis Manley and Jennifer K. Mann
*The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions by Giselle Clarkson
This is my kind of tiny-detail science book.
Grownup Fiction
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Grownup Nonfiction
Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson
Probably not compelling at all if you aren’t familiar with Go Ask Alice. Incredibly gripping if you are familiar.
*Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues: The Extraordinary Life of James Baldwin by Michelle Meadows and Jamiel Law *My Block Looks Like by Janelle Harper and Frank Morrison
Middle Grade
*We Still Belong by Christine Day *Not So Shyby Noa Nimrodi *Eagle Drums by Nasugraq Rainey Hopson *The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla *The House of the Lost on the Cape by Sachiko Kashiwaba, Avery Fischer Udagawa (Translation), Yukiko Saito (Illustrations) *Between Two Brothers by Crystal Allen
*The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman by Mari Lowe
Really gets into those lonely middle school feelings. Cover art gripe: the girls are wearing roller skates, not rollerblades.
*The Jake Show by Joshua S. Levy
I really felt for Jake; it’s tough to be saddled with parents whose vision of their child doesn’t take into account the child’s vision. I needed to suspend my disbelief for a major plot point, but a great read overall.
Young Adult
Shut Up, This Is Serious by Carolina Ixta *Pardalita by Joana Estrela; Lyn Miller-Lachmann (Translator) *In Limbo by Deb J.J. Lee *Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey by Edel Rodriguez
*Going Bicoastalby Dahlia Adler
Two different romances in one novel? Yes, please!
*Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian
Stories of three young men (sneaky historical fiction: two are from prior decades.) Period details were solid, including the contemporary ones. Also good: the journeys of the characters.
Young Nonfiction
*She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller by Traci Sorell *Log Life by Amy Hevron *Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava by Gary Golio and E.B. Lewis
*Benita and the Night Creatures by Mariana Llanos *Rock Your Mocs by Laurel Goodluck and Madelyn Goodnight *Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck and Jonathan Nelson *Hanukkah Upside Down by Elissa Brent Weissman and Omer Hoffmann *Fox Has a Problem by Corey R. Tabor *Henry, Like Always by Jenn Bailey and Mika Song *Later, When I’m Big by Bette Westera and Laura Watkinson (Translator) *Not He or She, I’m Me by A. M. Wild and Kah Yangni *Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language by Joanna Que, Charina Marquez, Fran Alvarez (Illustrator), and Karen Llagas (Translator)
*A Letter for Bob by Kim Rogers and Jonathan Nelson
Oh man, I can remember every single time the old family car was traded in for the new family car.
*How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee by Carole Boston Weatherford and Frank Morrison
Rage-inducing re: spelling bee, and I felt such a sense of loss reading that Cox spent her working life as a domestic employee. Such a waste.
Middle Grade
*Something Like Home by Andrea Beatriz Arango *Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford *Ruby Lost and Found by Christina Li *Cross My Heart and Never Lie by Nora Dåsnes and translated by Matt Bagguley *A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer
Young Adult
*The Collectors edited by A.S. King *Salt the Water by Candice Iloh *Fire from the Sky by Moa Backe Åstot and Eva Apelqvist (Translation) *Forever Is Now by Mariama J. Lockington *I’d Rather Burn Than Bloomby Shannon C.F. Rogers
*Stars in Their Eyes: A Graphic Novel by Jessica Walton and Aśka
I found the hip mother and her relationship with her child incredibly grating. No teenager is that much of a comedy team with their mom. And about sixty percent of the story was incredibly artificial conversations written to fill in backstory for the reader. Also annoying: not using the names of the copious pop culture references. We know what is being discussed when a character references Bader and the Duke. So just use Vader and Luke.
The graphic part of the graphic novel did a great job conveying what it’s like to navigate a con with a prosthetic leg.
*The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption by Shannon Gibney
It’s early, but I’m betting this is the youth media award winner that is the most literary fiction-ish.
*Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings
Centers the story around the neurodivergent kids.
*The Long Run by James Acker
I’m a sucker for teenagers exploring outside their boxes, so this book warmed the cockles of my heart.
Children’s Nonfiction
*Jovita Wore Pants by Aida Salazar and Molly Mendoza *Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series by Traci Sorell and Arigon Starr
*Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes by Traci N. Todd and Shannon Wright
Without picture book biographies, how many fewer interesting people would I not know about?
Today I found my aunt’s reading list from many decades ago, when she was 13. I checked to see if we had any crossover and on the second page, she read Carney’s House Party, which I read in June of 2015. I bet we both enjoyed it.
Just for fun, here are some links the the first few books.
*Read for Librarian Book Group. Favorites are bolded.
Picture Books
*A Walk in the Woodsby Nikki Grimes, Jerry Pinkney, Brian Pinkney *Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior by Carole Lindstrom and Bridget George *The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung and Hanna Cha *The Artivist by Nikkolas Smith *Afikomen by Tziporah Cohen and Yaara Eshet
Chapter Books
*The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo and Julie Morstad
Young Adult Fiction
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
One of my reading quirks is that I find song lyrics rendered in novels incredibly cringey. I usually skip them, though I couldn’t do that for this story because there is a lot of singing that advances the plot.
Unnecessary Drama by Nina Kenwood
Sometimes an overly anxious main character makes for an overly anxious reading experience. Kenwood is great at constructing awkward and funny scenes that kept me chortling.
Children of Ragnarok by Cinda Williams Chima
This book has been the best part of my January. I could have used an ending that was an ending (even if another book is coming) but otherwise this was an adventure of the best sort. The world building was just right, and I loved Reigann’s practicality throughout.
This Town is On Fire by Pamela Harris
Harris captured that point in friendship where the friendship has died, but the residual feelings are still swirling around.
And now, because I’m me, the following things didn’t work for me. I didn’t understand the band/dance team setup. Is the band not a marching band? Wouldn’t they do a halftime marching band show at the football game? Also, it seems weird to start the halftime dance routine in the stands because the home team audience can’t see what’s going on in the stands next to them very well. Then the dancers and the band transition to the field to finish the routine. But again, this isn’t marching band?
Also, perhaps in rural Virginia bowling is still popular, but anywhere else, the bowling alley owners seem to do their best to stay in business, rather than roll in the dough.
This Winter by Alice Oseman
I’ll Tell You No Lies by Amanda McCrena
*Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest
Grownup Fiction
One Day I Shall Astonish the Worldby Nina Stibbe
A furious torrent of words. I understood why her stepdaughter covered her ears upon first meeting. Like enjoying tea with a very chatty and long winded companion.
Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
It’s a book about the girlfriend and friend of a band that had a record deal once upon a time, and it is entirely uninterested in the music of the band or anything to do with the recording industry. The kind of detailed writing about the minutia of life that I love. Plus a double homicide.
A great Little Free Library find!
Young Nonfiction
*How Old is a Whale?: Animal Life Spans from the Mayfly to the Immortal Jellyfish by Lily Murray and Jesse Hodgson *Good Books for Bad Children: The Genius of Ursula Nordstrom by Beth Kephart and Chloe Bristol *Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust by Elisa Boxer and Amy June Bates
Grownup Nonfiction
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
January 22, 2024: “Typical First Year Professor” is still a great essay. Gay spent a lot of time laminating the state of women’s access to birth control and abortion. Things are much worse now.
The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland by Alex Wright and the Imagineers
