Tag: books

(I wasn’t paying attention and some July books snuck onto this list.)

*book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*Fireworks by Matthew Burgess and Catia Chien
*Mistaco: A Tale of Tragedy y Tortillas by Eliza Kinkz
*Hurricane by Jason Chin
*Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan
*Faith Takes the Train by Kesi Augustine and Mokshini
*Pilgrim Codex by Vivian Mansour and Emmanuel Valtierra

Middle Grade

*Halfway to Somewhere by José Pimienta
*Speak Up, Santiago! by Julio Anta and Gabi Mendez

Young Adult

*The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
The Beautiful Maddening by Shea Ernshaw

Grownup Fiction

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

Young Nonfiction

*Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Quest with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert by Sara Andrea Fajardo

Grownup Nonfiction

The Art of Dressing Curves: The Best-Kept Secrets of a Fashion Stylist by Susan Moses

Another book with too much talk of problem areas. It also covers a much fancier class of clothing than I wear. Apparently the art involves a lot of shapewear which, given that my qualifying clothing question is “Do the men have to do this?” is not something I am interested in.

That said, a lot of interesting information and resources. And if you are interested in shapewear, this is the book for you.

The Wardrobe Wakeup: Your Guide to Looking Fabulous at Any Age by Lois Joy Johnson

Whoo-boy did I hate this. It was incredibly prescriptive (I will continue to wear long skirts, thank you) and incredibly self-congratulatory, which is a thing that drives me crazy about baby boomers. There was some lip service to looking good no matter your weight, but every woman featured in this was tiny in that way that means endless salads and no pasta.

The Curated Closet: A Simple System for Discovering Your Personal Style and Building Your Dream Wardrobe by Anuschka Rees

I’m not so sure about this being a simple system, but it does seem to be a solid one for slowly building your style. No mention of problem areas.

The Ultimate Book of Outfit Formulas: A Stylish Solution to What Should I Wear? by Alison Lumbatis

Lumbatis is much more of a fan of wearing gray than I am, and the clothing was a little more informal than I would choose for work, but there was some good inspiration in the shoe department.

How to Get Dressed: A Costume Designer’s Secrets for Making Your Clothes Look, Fit, and Feel Amazing by Alison Freer

This is a book to buy and keep on your reference shelf. There is no mention of problem areas, Freer comes out hard against shapewear (and for granny panties), and she’s full of tips and tricks. I’m not on board with all her laundry instructions, but it’s good to know they are there should I ever have a change of heart. And it contains the most extensive list of stain removal methods that I’ve ever read.

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford
Ahead of the Curve: Learn to Fit and Sew Amazing Clothes for Your Curves by Jenny Rushmore
The Re:Fashion Wardrobe: Sew Your Own Stylish, Sustainable Clothes by Portia Lawrie
Radical Sewing: Pattern-Free, Sustainable Fashions for All Bodies by Kate B. Weiss
Postdiabetic: An Easy-to-Follow 9-Week Guide to Reversing Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes by Eric Edmeades and Rubén Ruiz

*Book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*The Peanut Man by Carmen Agra Deedy and Raúl Colón
*Raven’s Ribbons by Tasha Spillett and Daniel Ramirez
*Good Golden Sun by Brendan Wenzel
*Papilio by Ben Clanton, Andy Chou Musser, and Corey R. Tabor
*Our Lake by Angie Kang

Young Adult

Amelia, If Only by Becky Albertalli
*Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
*All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
*Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray

Grownup Fiction

The Only Black Girl in the Room by Alex Travis
Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Sandwich by Catherine Newman

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

Not nearly as dramatic (or stocked with horrible people) as the Netflix series but enjoyable on its own and as part of a series.

Young Nonfiction

*Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming

Grownup Nonfiction

Closet Smarts: Flatter Your Figure with the Clothes You Already Have by Emily Neill

A bit too many references to “problem areas” for my taste, but I did like the format of skipping the shape/fruit body typing and instead discussing different areas like what works with square shoulders/round shoulders.

2006 Emily Neill was not a fan of what would eventually become the skinny jean. I wonder if she came around when it became ubiquitous.

*Book group selection | Bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi and Monica Arnaldo
*To See an Owl by Matthew Cordell
*When I Hear Spirituals by Cheryl Willis Hudson and London Ladd

Middle Grade

*When Sally O’Malley Discovered the Sea by Karen Cushman

Young Adult

Ryan and Avery by David Levithan

True Life in Uncanny Valley by Deb Caletti

Enjoyable, and it also felt like it contained two books worth of plot and themes.

Grownup Fiction

Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday

Young Nonfiction

*Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson and Brian Rea

*Book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*A Little Like Magic by Sarah Kurpiel
*Abuelo, the Sea, and Me by Ismée Amiel Williams and Tatiana Gardel
*Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer by Quartez Harris and Gordon C James
*Joyful Song: A Naming Story by Lesléa Newman and Susan Gal
*Monster Hands by Karen Kane, Dion MBD, and Jonaz McMillan
*Marley’s Pride by Joëlle Retener and Deann Wiley
*Okchundang Candy by Jung-soon Go and Aerin Park
*And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life in Stories by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Daniel Minter

Middle Grade

*Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling
*Clairboyance by Kristiana Kahakauwila
*Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller
*Mountain Upside Down by Sara Ryan
*One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome
*Chickenpox by Remy Lai
*The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout, and Sammy Savos

Young Adult

*Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia
*On the Bright Side by Anna Sortino
*Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier
*Chronically Dolores by Maya Van Wagenen

Young Nonfiction

*My Presentation Today is about the Anaconda by Bibi Dumon Tak and Annemarie van Haeringen
*What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice by
Jay Leslie and Loveis Wise

Grownup Nonfiction

The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman
Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title by Leslie Gray Streeter

Grownup Fiction

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester

*book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Book

*The Dream Catcher by Marcelo Verdad
*Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers and Rebecca Lee Kunz
*Aloha Everything by Kaylin Melia George and Mae Waite
*An Etrog from Across the Sea by Deborah Bodin Cohen, Kerry M. Olitzky, and Stacey Dressen McQueen

Early Reader

*Vacation: Three-and-a-Half Stories by Ame Dyckman and Mark Teague

Middle Grade

*Continental Drifter by Kathy MacLeod
*Popcorn by Rob Harrell
*Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy
*Lunar Boy by Jacinta Wibowo and Jessica Wibowo
*Just Shy of Ordinary by A.J. Sass
*Black Star by Kwame Alexander
*Johnny, the Sea, and Me by Melba Escobar, Elizabeth Builes, and Sara Lissa Paulson

Young Adult

Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson
*Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham
*Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley, Casio Ribeiro, Nikki Fox, and Micah Myers
*Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield
*Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa
*Night Owls by A.R. Vishny
*Trajectory by Cambria Gordon

Young Nonfiction

Information Now: A Graphic Guide to Student Research by Matt Upson, Colin Michael Hall, and Kevin Cannon
*Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso and Rudy Gutierrez
*Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills by Billy Mills, Donna Janell Bowman, and S.D. Nelson
*Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle and Jason Chin
*John the Skeleton by Triinu Laan and Marja-Liisa Plats
*Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller by Breanna J. McDaniel and April Harrison
*Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan’s Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants by Norman H. Finkelstein and Vesper Stamper
*Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King by Coretta Scott King and Ekua Holmes
*Home by Isabelle Simler and Vineet Lal

*book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*Just What to Do by Kyle Lukoff and Hala Tahboub

Young Adult

6 Times We Almost Kissed [and One Time We Did] by Tess Sharpe
*The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin
*Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho
The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

After Life by Gayle Forman

For whatever reason, Forman is at her best when death is involved. A slim book with bits that mesh perfectly.

Grownup Fiction

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Goldenseal by Maria Hummel
A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand

The Strangers on Montagu Street by Karen White

It remains to be seen if the cardboard nature of the characters will outweigh the fun ghost stories and if I will finish this series.

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

I marvel at how many points of view Hilderbrand managed while never making the story seem jumbled.

Youth Nonfiction

*The Painter and the President: Gilbert Stuart’s Brush with George Washington by Sarah Albee and Stacy Innerst

Grownup Nonfiction

Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Body and Mind in Minutes by Jennifer Taitz
Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American Documents by Alexandra Petri
Black Friend: Essays by Ziwe

The Strip: Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream by Stefan Al

Good thesis, and Sefan Al really won the lottery with the cover. So stylish.

Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal by Samantha Dion Baker

Given that the author is a graphic designer, artist, and has studied typography at Cooper Union, I’d call this “pretty” rather than “inspiring.” There’s no way any sketch journal I kept would come close to looking like hers. There also not much how-to other than “draw every day” (which is good advice).

Brothers by Alex Van Halen

This memoir is clear about one topic: Alex Van Halen really misses his brother. Written in a conversational style (or perhaps dictated and very lightly edited), this book provides insights into the Van Halen brothers (Ed, and Al, apparently) upbringing and their time in one of the greatest bands on the planet. It is not a cradle to grave account, things mostly drift off around the time David Lee Roth leaves the band. But to hear about the scrappy up-and-coming Van Halen, this is your book.

Perspective in Action: Creative Exercises for Depicting Spatial Representation from the Renaissance to the Digital Age by David Chelsea

Chelsea lives in Portland, and on page 97 you can see the Keller Auditorium and the Keller Fountain in a equrectangular panorama. Plus, there are some Benson Bubblers. There are some good instructions too, but first I must master one, two, and three-point perspective.

* Book Group Selection | Bolded Means Favorite

Slow month! It’s partially because as the end of the year approaches, I tend to not finish books. I think I was reading five on 12/31? Then I finished four of them on 1/1. Logging things on Goodreads caused this situation. I like to have credit for reading the books in the same year I read the books.

Young Adult

*The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman

Grownup Fiction

Shadow Child by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto
North Woods by Daniel Mason

Young Nonfiction

*Homebody by Theo Parish

Grownup Nonfiction

Green Money: How to Reduce Waste, Build Wealth, and Create a Better Future for All by Kara Perez
488 Rules for Life by Kitty Flanagan

My Year in Books

Goodreads reports that I read 224 books in 2024. They also reported that my top-read categories were picture and middle grade books. This is directly due to the focus of librarian book group this past year as one of our members was on notables. I’m hoping to read more grownup fiction in 2025.

* book group selection | bolded means favorite

Picture Books

*Noodles on a Bicycle by Kyo Maclear and Gracey Zhang
*We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America by Joanna Ho and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya
*Built to Last by Minh Lê and Dan Santat
*Mama in the Moon by Doreen Cronin and Brian Cronin
*My Daddy Is a Cowboy: A Picture Book by Stephanie Seales and C. G. Esperanza

*The First Week of School by Drew Beckmeyer

To me, this felt like a subpar self-published Kindle book. But the rest of book group really enjoyed it.

Middle Grade

*How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger
*Island of Whispers by Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett
*Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better by Mylisa Larsen
*Tree. Table. Book. by Lois Lowry
*Puzzled: A Memoir about Growing Up with OCD by Pan Cooke

*The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon

This was great escapist reading after November 5. It’s also a sneaky historical fiction.

Young Adult

*Pearl by Sherri L. Smith and Christine Norrie
*Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldivar
*The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb

*When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson

Alas, slog city. And I was looking forward to it.

Young Nonfiction

*Thomas Jefferson’s Battle for Science: Bias, Truth, and a Mighty Moose! by Beth Anderson and Jeremy Holmes
*Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games by Samuel Sattin and Steenz
*Narwhal: Unicorn of the Arctic by Candace Fleming and Deena So’Oteh

Grownup Fiction

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
The Girl On Legare Street by Karen White

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

The thing I want to gush about is a spoiler, so I won’t. But know that I am gushing!

Hiroshima in the Morning by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto

I found this through Pearl, by Sherri L. Smith and Christine Norrie. It’s an engrossing memoir of time spent in a foreign environment, strain on a marriage, and choices the USA made in the early 2000s.

Skin & Bones by Renée Watson

Watson crams so much into this novel. And yet it never feels crammed.

Grownup Nonfiction

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

One Week in January: New Paintings for an Old Diary by Carson Ellis

This is a very niche book, but I’m the niche, so I loved it. Like Ellis, I also moved to Portland in the early 2000s. Like Ellis, I made friends, ate bagels, and did things. It was fun to notice the subtle nuances that her eight days of journal entries caught, like checking your email and being disappointed when there wasn’t any.

This is a great time capsule view of being mostly unencumbered, creative, and looking for a place in the world.