WHAT KIND OF WOMAN: Kate Baer Grateful for women who are creative and brave to write and share their world with strangers. Some of Kate’s poems were beautiful and made me smile. Some were hard to read, too close to home. There is a wide range of joy, melancholy, grief and truth in her words and I appreciate that she was open to feeling everything. SUCH A FUN AGE: Kiley Reid This was really, really good, I couldn’t put it down. Emira, a 25 year old black woman, is the victim of a racially charged incident while babysitting for an affluent white family. The relationship between Emira her boss Alix “after” the fact changes, and the whole story is super nuanced and well written.I’M NOT DYING WITH YOU TONIGHT: Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones A high school football game fight turns into citywide riots. This story follows Lena, a black girl, and Campbell, a white girl, as they reluctantly team up to get themselves to a safe place. Written from each of their perspectives, this book brings to light the differences that black and white teens see and experience, and how they each might respond in tense racial situations. Their friendship grows as the girls realize they are each both more capable than they originally thought of each other. I read this in a day, couldn’t put it down.
WE ARE THE LUCKIEST: Laura McKowen An honest and raw look into Laura’s personal struggle with alcoholism, with such encouragement along the way, for those searching to also leave it behind. Though it centers on alcohol, I believe this could be a book for any type of addictions as Laura shares mindsets and life principles that could resonate with anything that has become an addiction in life. I was in a season of considering quitting alcohol, and this book was helpful to me.THE VANISHING HALF: Brit Bennett This felt like the most talked about book of the year. I found it slow at the beginning, but eventually really picked up and was so worth the read. Twin sisters born into a light-skinned all-black Southern town, go their separate ways to live their adult lives. One stays in town, living as she always had. One leaves town and lives while white-passing. The differences in their lives, personalities and secrets are a must-read. BAKED WITH LOVE:Peggy Jaeger This was a continuation of the New Hampshire sister series. Maureen has always had a thing for Lucas, but never to confidence to tell him. I enjoyed baker Maureen’s point of view and learning more about her story. I feel like the main male lead, Lucas, had a few toxic traits that needed to be addressed (like the ‘grabbing Maureen’s arm when he wanted her attention’ thing… that didn’t sit right with me). But overall it was a solid love story.
