Lighter Fare and 5 Mother's Day Reads
Plus I'm sharing some podcast news and a few books to add to your preorder list
Hey, readers!
Happy Mother’s Day! I know this holiday can be difficult for people for a variety of reasons and our current quarantined condition certainly can’t be making that easier. But it’s always wonderful to celebrate love and connection, and I hope all the moms, soon-to-be-moms, hope-to-be-moms, serve-as-moms, children-of-moms and all others can enjoy a wonderfully happy and hope-filled day. I’m feeling lucky that I’m going to get to see my own mom (from a safe distance in my backyard) today!
As for reading, the first few weeks of May are always a weird time for my bookish life. I can taste the summer reading season in the air, but I actually have a lot of work to get through before the school year is officially over. The grading load has increased, as has the emotional burden of saying goodbye to students without getting to see them. But thinking about all of the books I’m going to tackle once my hours are truly free is keeping me going!
Novel Pairings podcast news.
Speaking of summer reading, this Tuesday, we’re announcing the summer line-up for Novel Pairings! If you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, Novel Pairings is my podcast project with my friend Chelsey. Every other week, we talk about one classic book and then share 6 contemporary books that feature similar themes, characters, or ideas to make the classics relevant and to help you find even more books to read! While the episodes are fully designed so that you don’t have to have read the classic to enjoy listening, we know that a lot of our listeners have enjoyed picking a couple books and reading along. In that spirit, we’re announcing the summer classics this week so if you’d like to read along, you’ll have plenty of time! Make sure you’re subscribed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts to be the first to find out which six classics we’re tackling this summer. And if you have listened and enjoyed Novel Pairings, please tell your reader friends about our podcast or rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It makes a big difference in helping new listeners find us!
This week in books.
This week I read…
Beach Read by Emily Henry. Beach Read was my March Book of the Month pick and I really loved it. It’s a romance about two authors and former college rivals who find themselves living next door to one another in a small resort town in Michigan. Augustus is the author of two critically acclaimed works of literary fiction and January writes best-selling romance novels. Both are experiencing major writers block so they agree to a deal: she’ll attempt to write a serious literary work and he’ll pen a romance (complete with a happily ever after). The meta-commentary about genre and authorship is wonderful, as is the romance itself. To me, this felt like a romance that could also easily be shelved in the contemporary fiction section of your bookstore because the love story isn’t necessarily the primary focus. The book also deals with ambition, self-discovery, grief, and a suicide cult (yes, you read that right), and over all is one of those sweet, enjoyable books that avoids being too fluffy. Beach Read is not officially out until May 19th, but you can still add it to your BOTM box as an extra if you want to get it sooner!
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner. This is another great book to pretend to pack in your beach bag this summer. Big Summer is ridiculous in the very best way. And it’s a tough one for me to review because you’re best served going into it totally blind. It’s fun and absurd and surprising. Jennifer Weiner is going to WORK to dispel all the preconceptions you have about her books and then hand you back a few as a parting favor. The novel follows Daphne, a plus-size influencer living in NYC, who’s invited to be the maid-of-honor in her best frenemy’s wedding. Drue Cavanaugh is rich, beautiful, and powerful. A few years ago she utterly humiliated Daphne and while Daphne has bravely picked up the pieces, she and Drue didn’t speak until this wedding invitation. From there, Big Summer is just one crazy ride. I read this book in pretty much a single day and stayed up to 2am to find out what would happen. It’s a perfect pandemic book because it’s frothy and gossipy and includes enough intrigue to keep you turning pages. I think a LOT of readers are going to love picking this up! (I do have some complicated thoughts on the ending but can’t share without giving things away. But email me if you read it and want to hear them.) As a side note, I’m really glad I read Beach Read right before this one because it gave me a lot to think about with the categorization of romance and women’s fiction. That was a very interesting lens to use when approaching this book!
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (out June 2nd). After reading her debut novel The Mothers, Bennett instantly became a must-read author for me and her sophomore book did not disappoint. In fact, this is this best 2020 release I’ve read this year. The Vanishing Half follows two 16-year-old twins, Stella and Desiree, who flee the close-knit Black community where they’ve been raised to experience the broader world. One twin ends up back in that very community while the other vanishes again, passing as white and leaving her sister and her past behind. The book then expands across decades to tell the story of how Stella and Desiree are forever linked even when they’re apart. This book was nothing short of spectacular. The story is riveting and suspenseful, and Bennett manages to impart a sense of impending doom and the possibility of hope throughout the entire story. Her writing is arresting, and I kept stopping to reread particularly sparkling sentences. Mostly, I was blown away how Bennett tells such a singular and specific story that unpacks so much about race in America as well as the innate human desire for acceptance and belonging. This is a must-read and I highly recommending preordering it right now. Preorder on Amazon | Preorder on Bookshop
Beloved by Toni Morrison. No matter how many times I read Beloved it remains breathtaking and miraculous. I reread this for an upcoming episode of Novel Pairings (dropping May 19th) so I’ll save my thoughts for the show, but if you haven’t read this masterpiece yet, it needs to go on your reading list.
Now I’m reading…
The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg. I’m almost finished listening to this true crime story on audio. It’s been interesting and engaging, but not the riveting read I was hoping for. I do like how Copley Eisenberg offers a nuanced depiction of Appalachia, including her own experiences working at a camp there.
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. I haven’t actually started this one yet, but it’s absolutely going to be my next listen on Libro.fm*. I’ve read a lot of reviews from immigrants and children of immigrants who’ve said they’ve never seen their experience captured so authentically in a book. I’m very much looking forward to reading this one.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik. After a few false starts on books I just couldn’t get into, I decided I wanted something totally different from everything else I’ve read recently. It’s been awhile since I picked up a fantasy book and I’m really enjoying the world and characters Novik builds in this one.
*Use this link to get three Libro.fm audiobooks for the price of one!
Five books to read this Mother’s Day.
The exploration of motherhood in literature is an endlessly interesting topic to me. Here are five of my favorite books that depict mothers in all their complexity.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. For an overbearing and downright embarrassing mom who really does want the best for her girls.
Motherhood by Sheila Heiti. For a woman who’s ambivalent about becoming a mother and an intricate exploration of the pros and cons of having a child.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. For a depiction of many types of mothers and non-mothers and an authentic understanding of the bonds between teens.
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. For a motherless teen girl on the verge of motherhood herself trying to figure out what it all means.
The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero. For an exploration of the lengths a mother and undocumented immigrant will go to protect her children and give them a life of opportunity.
Bookish reading.
Various celebs are taking turns reading a chapter from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on the Wizarding World website, and it’s, well, magical.
Colson Whitehead won his second Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his outstanding novel The Nickel Boys. Check out all the winners here.
This past week was Teacher Appreciation Week and the NYT Books section celebrated by asking authors about the best books recommended to them by their teachers.
I didn’t know there was an archivist cataloging all the ways men’s scents are described in romance novels, but now I do and learning about this project was a fascinating journey.
Here are a few more Mother’s Day reading recommendations from authors including Jennifer Weiner and Delia Owens.
I enjoyed this article about reading whatever you feel like during quarantine. That’s certainly been my philosophy the last couple months.
The Hard Sell: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
I recently revisited The Joy Luck Club for an episode of Novel Pairings, and I can honestly say that I enjoy this book more with each reading. Because there are so many characters to fall in love with and stories to connect with, there’s something new to be gained with each reading.
Depicting the lives of four Chinese immigrants and their American-born daughters, this book explores motherhood, childhood, immigration, cultural clashes, loss, and friendship in an intricately woven collection of short stories. The Joy Luck Club is brilliant in that it can be read as individual stories or as a single novel, and when taken all together, these stories offer so much hope and redemption. Tan manages to give every character immense depth and a distinct voice, while still creating a cohesive collection.
What I particularly love about this book beyond its brilliant structure is the variety of relationships between women it provides. Not only does it explore mother-daughter relationships, but it also beautifully depicts a decades-long female friendship, while still acknowledging the hurt and jealousy that can arise between women. If you haven’t read this classic, now is a great time to pick it up, but even if you have experienced it already, you certainly won’t regret a second visit.
Purchase on Amazon | Purchase on Bookshop | Listen to the Novel Pairings Episode
Thanks to everyone who emailed me last weekend about the new wrap-up format! I’ll be keeping that format for my end-of-the-month newsletters, and will probably be experimenting with some other ideas as well. As always, I greatly appreciate any and all feedback on what you’d like to see here!
Happy Mother’s Day and happy reading!
Sara