The Library

Read/Reading/& Nightstand Staples (Adult):

• The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Beth Brower
• The Correspondent, Virginia Evans
• Orbital, Samantha Harvey (2024 Booker Prize winner, as you know–riveting, she is a genius)
• Heartwood, Amity Gaige 
• The Ministry of Time, Kailane Bradley 
• This Must Be The Place, Maggie O’Farrell (see my post)
• Becoming, Michelle Obama (staple)
• I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy (let’s def keep looking at the seedy side of Hollywood) 
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette? Maria Semple (staple)
• Euphoria, Lily King (staple)
• Surfacing, Kathleen Jamie (impossible to read just 1 Jamie after reading 1 Jamie)
• The Soul of an Octopus, Sy Montgomery (staple)
• The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson (staple)

Recently read/reading/love (MG/YA):

• Strangeworlds Travel Agency, L.D. Lapinski
• Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons, Abi Elphinstone (magical creatures)
• In Your Light, Annalie Grainger
• Lightfall, A Place Between, Tim Probert (final book in this gorgeous series)
• The Book of Boy, Catherine Gilbert Murdock (I am late to this Medieval party)
• The Inquisitor’s Tale, Adam Gidwitz (late to this Medieval party too)
• The Bletchley Riddle, Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin
• Synch, Ellen Hopkins (do not miss reading)
• The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo (you already know all about this amazing novel in verse–I am once again late to the party) 
• Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell
• Hide and Seeker, and Nightmare King, Daka Hermon (lessons in MG suspense) 
• Love is for Losers, Wibke Brueggemann 
• Valley of Lost Secrets, Lesly Parr (beautiful, realistic storytelling, WW2)  
• Orphans of the Tide, Struan Murphy (Bath novelist winner)
• The Last Whale, Chris Vick 
• The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, Mary Averling (Mary weaves classic fairytales into a contemporary-ish thread). 
• Ruby Hollow, Sharon Creech (how was I so late to this gem)
• 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
• 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, and she’s a high desert dweller, like me–love her)
• Hearts Forged in Resistance, Chella Courington (everything Chella writes resonates)
• Everything Diane Seuss
• Everything Louise Mathias
• Everything Nicky Beer (especially ‘The Octopus Game’)
• Everything Amy Gerstler
• Everything Terence Hayes
• Sarah Hannah (RIP) 

Music

• Became a Swiftie in 2023 because my sisters attended the L.A. Eras Tour and sent me videos. 
• Maggie Rogers
• Haim (was fortunate to see them live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl)
• Sophie Tucker (Ah woo!)
• First Aid Kit
• Brandi Carlile (known to wake up in night with The Joke on repeat in my brain)
• The Chicks & Courtyard Hounds
• Neko Case (Esp. This Tornado Loves You)
• MC Yogi (Elephant Power)
• Everything Indigo Girls (follow on Facebook)
• Almost everything Bjork
• Elbow 
• U2 my forever band

Podcasts

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