The Library

Read/Reading or just Love (Adult), in brief:

• Orbital, Samantha Harvey (2024 Booker Prize winner, as you know–riveting, she is a genius)
• Heartwood, Amity Gaige (I loved ‘Sea Wife’, so looking forward to this read)
• The Ministry of Time, Kailane Bradley 
• Pony Confidential, Christina Lynch (a must-read according to my older sister and if my older sister likes it, then read)
• Black Woods, Blue Sky, Eowyn Ivey (maybe don’t choose the bear here)
• Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield (breathtaking–sorry for pun)
• This Must Be The Place, Maggie O’Farrell (see my post)
• Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell (last chapter will stay with me forever–you, too? Movie pending)
• Becoming, Michelle Obama (bookshelf staple)
• I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy 
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette? Maria Semple (bookshelf staple)
• Euphoria, Lily King (instant favorite/bookshelf staple)
• The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny (do not read LP/Gamache mysteries on an empty stomach because: 3 Pines bistro)
• Surfacing, Kathleen Jamie (impossible to read just 1 Jamie after reading 1 Jamie)
• The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson (nightstand staple)

Recently read/reading/love (MG/YA), in brief:

• The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo (you already know all about this amazing novel in verse–I am once again late to the party) YA
• Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell  MG
• Lightfall, Tim Probert. Am late to the Probert party. MG, graphic novel, not-to-miss series
• Hide and Seeker, and Nightmare King, Daka Hermon (lessons in suspense) MG
• Love is for Losers, Wibke Brueggemann (VERSE) YA
• Valley of Lost Secrets, Lesly Parr (beautiful, realistic storytelling, WW2) MG 
• The House with Chicken Legs, Sophie Anderson MG 
• The Last Whale, Chris Vick MG
• The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, Mary Averling–Mary weaves classic fairytales into a contemporary-ish thread. MG
• The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, Adrianna Cuevas MG
• Isabel in Bloom, Mae Respicio (beautiful and timely and important novel-in-verse) YA
• The Midnight War Of Mateo Martinez, Robin Yardi (writing magic) MG
• Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech 
• The Penderwicks  Jeanne Birdsall’s Tedx Talk
• Re-reading the Earthsea series, Ursula K. LeGuin, because my teen is reading the books.
• Everything Rebecca Stead
• Everything Jacqueline Woodson
• Everything Laurie Halse Anderson
• Everything Ellen Hopkins
• Everything Cornelia Funke
• Everything Kathryn Fitzmaurice (RIP my lovely, wonderful mentor) A Diamond in the Desert should be a staple in elementary school libraries
• Everything Gary D. Schmidt
• Everything Sally Rogan
• Everything Pullman
• Zilpha Keatley Snyder, my go-to author when I was growing up (besides C.S. Lewis).

Poetry

• RIP Mary Oliver. you helped so much.
• The Language of Fractions, Nicelle Davis (Nicelle’s work is smart, quirky, crafty and she’s a high desert dweller, like me–love her)
• Hearts Forged in Resistance, Chella Courington (everything Chella writes resonates)
• frank: sonnets, Diane Seuss (Diane is a powerhouse)
• Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open Diane Seuss (title poem breaks me every time I read it)
• Life on Mars, Tracy K. Smith (brilliance)
• Blud, Rachel McKibbens (must read)
• Stag’s Leap, Sharon Olds
• Glass Town, Lisa Russ Spaar (forever-fav)
• Everything Louise Mathias
• Everything Nicky Beer (especially ‘The Octopus Game’)
• Everything Amy Gerstler
• Everything Terence Hayes
• Sarah Hannah (RIP–please read her books–she was destined for greatness, IS great, forever. Tears.)

Music

• Became a Swiftie in 2023 because my sisters attended the L.A. Eras Tour and sent me videos. 1989 my fav Taylor Swift album
• Maggie Rogers
• Haim
• Sophie Tucker (Ah woo!)
• First Aid Kit
• Brandi Carlile (known to wake up in night with The Joke percolating my brain)
• The Chicks and Courtyard Hounds
• Neko Case (This Tornado Loves You)
• MC Yogi (Elephant Power)
• Brian Eno (selections from airport, Apollo, installations played most mornings)
• Everything Indigo Girls (follow on Facebook)
• Almost everything Bjork
• Elbow (especially take off and landing of everything good)
• U2 my forever band, especially Unforgettable Fire, released when my sis and I were experiencing hard times before more hard times. We listened to this album on a turntable with back then state-of-the-art speakers in her living room MANY evenings, talking, working things out, examining our shared past. U2 was never background music, though–Unforgettable Fire spurred us to conclusions and also offered bandages we ran with.

Podcasts

Wiser Than Me, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Gaslit Nation, Andrea Chalupa
Shannon Watts
Katie Phang