Book Guide: It's 2020. Stay Home and Crack Open A Book
In a not-too-terrible turn of events a la the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve been reading a ton. I haven’t done a book post since last September, so before it becomes completely unmanageable to recount everything I’ve read to you since then, I figured it was time to give you a roundup of what I’ve been reading. Especially if you, too, are trying to lose yourself in books.
But first a quick note about the links you’ll find here. In past book posts, I linked to each book’s Amazon page. However, in my day-to-day, I generally try to shop local whenever I can. Watching small businesses in my community struggle during this pandemic has renewed my commitment to support my local bookstores. To that end, I am linking each of these books to its Bookshop.org page. You can also shop my favorites on my affiliate page here! Through Bookshop.org, you can choose your own local independent bookseller and they will receive the funds from your purchase. And if you don’t have one you love, Bookshop.org spreads the revenue evenly amongst member indie bookshops. I strongly recommend buying the following books from your own beloved local store and if that’s not possible, Bookshop it.
by Dr. Stacy Sims & Selene Yeager
Roar
by Dr. Stacy Sims and Selene Yeager
My friend and fellow endo warrior Tracy came to one of our Baltimore Flow meetups last year with this book in tow. Another thing Tracy and I have in common is we are both runners, so I greedily eyed this book and flipped through it before ordering it as soon as the meeting ended. While Roar is not specifically geared toward women with endo, it is about how female reproductive hormones affect athletic performance and what that means for training and nutrition. Although Dr. Sims largely works with elite athletes (unlike this guy), I still learned a TON about what could be holding me back from performing my best and what could propel me forward. Like for instance, no one tells you how that delicious Gu that tastes like chocolate icing and is supposed to give you a boost could also be giving you runner’s shits. Dr. Sims explains why and offers so much more.
by Iris Kerin Orbuch & Amy Stein
Beating Endo
by Dr. Iris Orbuch and Amy Stein, DPT
It would be cool if I could tell you that the minute I was diagnosed with endometriosis, my doctors taught me all of the information I impart to you here and on Instagram, but the reality is I didn’t learn (and unlearn) most of the truth about endo until I met Dr. Orbuch for my second endometriosis surgery. Now, a couple years later, along with Amy Stein, a pelvic floor physical therapy expert, all of this knowledge is available in a book. I recommend it to everyone who has endo or thinks they may have endo, not just for the way it outlines the latest evidence about endo but even more so for the whole-human approach, giving people with endo the tools they need to do more to manage their endo than simply getting surgery.
by Jia Tolentino
Trick Mirror
by Jia Tolentino
I don’t think any other writing makes me feel the way a Jia Tolentino essay makes me feel — which is to say amused, challenged, intrigued, and existential…all at once? The way she thinks about modern-day feminism, the internet, social media, reality TV, and our lives is unlike anything I see anywhere else. Tolentino’s “reflections on self-delusion” are thought-provoking and deeply intellectual without being dry or boring. Let her take you through her thoughts on female literary characters — it’s a JOURNEY, and one you won’t regret going on.
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
After all that nonfiction, I was in the mood for a good novel, and Daisy Jones was popping up everywhere. I hadn’t read any of Jenkins Reid’s books before and I wasn’t sure this was the best choice, since I thought maybe I should rely on one of my old favorite fiction authors, but I gobbled this one up. It’s written as if you’re reading the transcript of a documentary about a legendary rock band in the 70s. It’s twisty but realistic, and I had a hard time putting it down. Definitely looking forward to the Amazon Prime miniseries take on this one!
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Since I loved Daisy Jones, next I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo next, intrigued by the title and the cover. To call this book a romance doesn’t quite do it justice. Yes, it’s a romance, but it’s also a beautiful story that takes you back to the Hollywood’s Golden Age, following the seven marriages of bombshell movie star Evelyn Hugo. The plot is interwoven into a present-day story as Hugo gives an exclusive interview to a young journalist. And of course, the rights for this one were picked up to be made into a television series as well. I can’t wait!
by A.J. Finn
The Woman in the Window
by A.J. Finn
I kept seeing The Woman in the Window appearing all over the place also, so I picked this one up next (apparently ALSO soon to be a movie). This one is a psychological thriller and HOLY SHIT, I never saw the twist coming. An agoraphobic psychotherapist spends her days watching her neighbors from her window, and inevitably witnesses something she wishes she hadn’t. This was another one that was nearly impossible to put down, and it’s probably the best thriller I’ve read in ages.
Roomies
Dating You, Hating You
Twice in a Blue Moon
My Favorite Half-Night Stand
by Christina Lauren
Ah yes, this Christina Lauren binge brought to you by the beginning of pandemic and my desire for purely enjoyable, easy escapism in the form of these modern romance novels. I don’t know how the Christina Lauren writing duo does it, but their stories and characters are all quite different from each other, and these books are not just easy entertainment, they’re genuinely funny and sweet too. Of these, my favorite is Roomies, a story about a 20-something New Yorker stuck in a “what am I doing with my life” rut who falls for a subway busker, who also happens to be in immigrant living in NYC without proper documentation. AND I’ve heard this one is set to become a movie as well. Do I have good taste or what?
by Tana French
In the Woods
by Tana French
Another name that kept coming across my radar was Tana French. After my romance binge, I wanted something a little deeper but still fictional. French’s first novel, a crime thriller set in Dublin fit the bill. (Plus, when I am finished reading the series, you know I’ll be tuning into “The Dublin Murders” on Netflix, because of course.) I’m so impressed by writers like French who take a crack at a first novel and churn out something like In the Woods. Not only was the plot twisty, suspenseful, and unpredictable, the writing was rich and beautiful in contrast to the darkness. I’ll definitely be continuing the Dublin Murder Squad series in the near future.
by Jenny Lee
Anna K.
by Jenny Lee
The reason I didn’t read the Dublin Murder Squad series straight through is because at this point in the pandemic, I learned via Instagram that my favorite local bookstore Greedy Reads had put together a curated book bag offering. I e-mailed the GR geniuses three books I loved and my mood, and in a week I received a contactless delivery of four fresh books in a crisp GR tote. This remains one of the highlights of this whole quarantine experience and I strongly recommend you treat yourself in this way. Receiving these books put me in an amazing mood and the books have been fantastic. The first one I read was Anna K., a YA novel written by TV writer Jenny Lee. It’s a retelling of one of my favorite classics, Anna Karenina, but with astoundingly wealthy teen characters living in modern-day NYC. The story is still dark but this read was also fun and entertaining, the exact kind of escapism I needed.
by Samantha Irby
Wow, No Thank You
by Samantha Irby
When Samantha Irby’s new book of essays, Wow, No Thank You, came out, I paused on my book bag reads to gobble it up. I am a long-time Irby fan, and I so enjoy her essays. This latest offering was no exception. She continues to strike such a unique balance of relatability, tenderness, and absolute hilarity somehow with a heavy dose of toilet humor (my favorite brand). I cannot count the number of times Scott asks me what I’m reading when I’m reading Irby and he hears me laughing to the point of tears, and I read most of the essay “Lesbian Bed Death” out loud to him because it hit so close to home even though we are not in fact lesbians…just 30-somethings.
by Leila Slimani
Adéle
by Leila Slimani
After finishing Wow, No Thank You, I returned to my Greedy Reads book bag and picked up Adéle, a translation of a French novel originally titled In the Garden of the Ogre. TBH, I don’t know what to make of that original title or frankly, the story. I can’t quite say I liked it, but I did rip through it and the writing was beautiful. As it happens, it reminds me of a book I loathed, Madame Bovary, which I read in college in a class that had “modernity” in the title and was also the class for which I read (and enjoyed) Anna Karenina. I have no idea why one miserable female character is more appealing to me than another, but Adéle fell into the Bovary category for me. She is 35, has a 3-year-old son, a doctor husband, a job in journalism, and a nice apartment in Paris. But she doesn’t really seem to like her son or husband, hates work, and is basically bored with everything, fueling a raging sex addiction, even though — you guessed it — she’s not super into sex either.
by Laila Lalami
The Other Americans
by Laila Lalami
The third book I read from my curated bag was The Other Americans, a story about a collection of Americans of different backgrounds whose lives intersect after a hit-and-run leaves a Moroccan immigrant dead outside of his diner. There is his family, including the main character, his jazz musician daughter Nora who finds herself working through multiple family secrets in the wake of her father’s death; the female African American detective who is rapidly learning about her own son as she investigates the hit-and-run; the undocumented immigrant who witnessed the crime but is afraid to come forward; and Nora’s friend Jeremy, an Iraq war veteran coping with PTSD, among others. Although the characters seem separated by their backgrounds, the events bring them together for an interesting story that both is and isn’t about the realities of modern American life.
by Lori Gottlieb
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
by Lori Gottlieb
I’ve heard Lori Gottlieb on multiple podcasts and every time I hear her, I remember that I want to read her book, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone. I heard her again as I was wrapping up The Other Americans, so I finally moved Maybe You Should Talk to Someone to the top of my list, and I am so glad I did. If there was ever a time to be thinking about mental health, it’s now. I am a big proponent of therapy, and I think if we all went for a good starter period and then checked in from time to time (you know, like the same way you do with your dentist), we’d all be a lot better off. In this book, Gottlieb tells stories about her own work as a therapist interwoven by stories about her own journey in therapy after her boyfriend blindsides her by breaking up with her. Parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny, and other parts are so tender and moving, they’ll make you cry. This one is awesome.
by Colson Whitehead
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
I had not read Whitehead’s earlier novel, The Underground Railroad, but after The Nickel Boys won its Pulitzer this year and I was hearing rave reviews from everywhere, I included this one in my #blackoutbestsellerlist order. Holy shit. The writing is gorgeous even though the story is gruesome and devastating, following a young Black boy named Elwood Curtis who is mistakenly sent to the Nickel Academy, a juvenile reformatory in Florida in the 1960s. He is bright, idealistic, and maintains a strong sense of morals, and it’s gutting to watch him learn that the world around him does not adhere to those morals. This is a book that forces you to face the ugliness of American history and is so relevant as we take a harder look at what criminal “justice” is in America.
by Aminatou Sow and Anne Friedman
Big Friendship
by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
I have listened to every episode of “Call Your Girlfriend,” so naturally I preordered and eagerly anticipated Amina and Ann’s book. They examine their own friendship within the larger context of what it means to have friends be among the most important people in your lives. Our culture puts romantic relationships on a pedestal, and family relationships are extensively examined both in research and pop culture. But so many of us count friends as family, and I am so delighted Amina and Ann gave friendship its due with a whole book dedicated to it. They discuss different facets of friendship and the work it takes to stay in one when things get rough. I so value my friendships; they are among the most important relationships in my life and I am so excited my favorite podcasters value friendship as much as I do and are putting that out in the world.
by Michelle Obama
Becoming
by Michelle Obama
Everyone who raved about the former first lady’s memoir (which was a LOT of people) all said how amazing it was on audiobook, and since I felt like I needed a break from podcasts and had just learned about the Enoch Pratt Library’s participation with the Libby app, I downloaded the app and started listening to my first audiobook. I could not have picked a better one. Truthfully, I didn’t know much about Michelle Obama outside of the fact that she has great arms, did some awesome work in the White House, and seems classy as hell. OF COURSE, it was so motivating and inspiring just in the first part alone, in which she discusses her own upbringing and journey through college into the beginning of her career. I related so hard to this perfectionist overachiever, and then I swooned so hard when she recounts meeting Barack and falling in love. Of course there were pangs when I think about how far we’ve slid backward as a country, especially when she recounts her feelings during the 2016 election, but all in all, this was so comforting and uplifting to listen to in the apocalypse that is 2020.
by Ijeoma Oluo
So You Want to Talk About Race
by Ijeoma Oluo
I had heard Oluo on podcasts in the past and had this on my TBR list for quite some time, and in the wake of the uprising following the death of George Floyd, I decided to make this one my next audio “read.” Everything about this book makes it a must-read. I found myself literally shouting “yes! yes!” at certain points, making mental notes about how I could have made better antiracist arguments in the past and how I will in the future. So You Want to Talk About Race is in many ways academic, but it’s not dry; in fact, it’s super approachable and not without a few chuckles, despite its difficult subject matter. If you are also interested in further developing your vocabulary and understanding of American systemic racism (and how we work toward dismantling it), read this one stat.
by Jesmyn Ward
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
When Sing, Unburied, Sing came out a couple years ago, I saw it popping up on a lot of people’s feeds, so I wrote it down to read. I also included this one in my #blackoutbestseller order, and I finished it a few nights ago. I know I’ve said “beautiful writing” in this post probably half a dozen times now, but OMG, writing does not get more beautiful than this, even though it is another book that forces you to face the hard truths of America’s racist past and present. It follows the story of a poor black family in Mississippi who are facing the impending death of their matriarch and grieving the death of another family member years before. It examines the scars left by an unjust criminal justice system as well as the nature of different relationships, different ways of grieving, and different ways of loving. It was creepy, touching, suspenseful, and gutwrenching all at once.
What are you reading while you #stayathome?
xo,
S
