Spring Fling
The word of the month for me has been burnout. With the one year anniversary of entering quarantine and the one year anniversary of when I was diagnosed COVID-19 both having occurred earlier this month- it’s all been a lot. A lot that I didn’t spend the year processing, and frankly don’t know when I will. I know that I am not alone in this and that many reading can relate. Beyond these anniversaries, I have been overwhelmed with the constant need to be productive, to do my job well, to read for bookstagram. But on the other side of this, we have hope. It’s hard not to be hopeful and excited when sunny days are back and I’m seeing my loved ones get vaccinated. It’s the perfect silver lining.
What Have I Been Reading?
I’ve read a lot this month (remember my reading slump of February? It’s over!). But now I feel like I read so much, I need to relax with some comfort reads. Yesterday I woke up early and reread Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating and it was the perfect palate cleanser. Let’s get into the new books I read:
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel: This is such a must read. I was struck by how real it all was- the depiction of immigration, being a mixed status family, and having your life changed in so many ways by trying to achieve a dream. 5 stars
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert: Unfortunately, this is the final book in the Brown Sisters trilogy, but it was well worth the wait. Eve and Jacob are so fun and watching them go from enemies to lovers was a treat. 5 stars
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa: This book was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. It is so beautifully written and rich with detail and I learned so much. Reading the protagonist’s story of her life as a refugee in the Middle East as she lives through the Palestinian struggle was incredibly moving. 4.5 stars
One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite: Wow this book! It tells the story of Kezi Smith, a teen social justice activist who was killed after attending a rally. We follow her sister and friends struggling to make sense of her life, but also go back in time to her ancestors living in the Jim Crow south. The book asks the question: “why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed”? What does it mean to be “one of the good ones”? 4 stars
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (Out 5/18): I loved this romance by the dynamic duo. I have not enjoyed their last three books so I did not have a lot of hope for this story, but it blew me away. Enemies to lovers? Check. A cool new dating app? Check. Steamy? Check. 4.5 stars
Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth by Warsan Shire: I had started this collection years ago but hadn’t finished it. It is nice to go back to poems when you have changed in so many ways. The poems in this collection are both disturbing and beautiful. The kind that will stay with you long after you finish reading them. 3 stars
Disability Visibility edited by Alice Wong: The book club pick for those on Patreon, this was my only audiobook of the month. It is also my new automatic recommendation. We live in a world made by and for able bodies people, and a lot of us go through life without ever considering how difficult it is to be disabled in this world. This collection contains essays from a wide ranged of disabled folx, who tell their stories themselves. It is incredibly intersectional- different races and ethnicities, a multitude of disabilities, gender identities, and more are represented. My only issue is I don’t recommend the audiobook- it is all read by one person and I felt that in a book that represents so many different identities, it would have been nice to include different narrators. But still, 5 stars.
A Few Links:
Have you registered for the State of Bookstagram town hall yet? I am so excited and proud of this event. We have been working really hard behind the scenes and I am looking forward to this conversation. Bookstagrammers, fellow readers, authors, and publishers will all be present and part of the conversation.
This article from the NYT claims that BookTok (the corner of TikTok for books) is the prime social media platform for selling books for publishers.
My Persian Grandmother Reviews My Favorite Brands
Did you get tickets for The 2nd Annual National Antiracist Book Festival? I am moderating a panel (“On a New America” with Heather McGhee and Eddie S. Glaude if you’d like to attend it!)
I just bought this cookbook and I cannot wait to make basically everything in it!
Anti-Asian Violence Resources: I know this isn’t trending as much on social media this week but Anti-Asian Violence is still happening all over the country and we all need to do what we can to combat it.
See you in April,
Sarah
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