First Quarter Reading Roundup
Hello, Hungry Readers,
Here's some of the books I read and enjoyed this first quarter that I hadn't yet mentioned. Bookshop links included.
Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender - I confess I started reading this one night when I couldn't sleep and then just powered straight through. It is a book about two actors set to star in a rom-com. It is a book about two actors who are asked to fake date. It is a book about two actors struggling with public perception and personal trauma. And I just adored it. Content notes: addiction, homophobia, bad parents, sexual assault, discussion of childhood trauma.
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - I often say I don't like the sci-fi's that are just about politics and this book made a liar out of me. An ambassador to the larger empire has died and now a new ambassador has arrived, and must navigate things, but the secret tech that gives her access to the old ambassador's memories is malfunctioning. It is all politics and the navigation thereof, and I found it fascinating.
Content notes: racism
What You are Looking For is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama -
I enjoyed this very sweet book about folks consulting a librarian who, based on their request gave them the book they didn't know they needed and a felted object.
Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stevens - This middle grade comic has a teen discovering she is of werewolf kind, and her mother trying to navigate the best way for them to stay safe.
Content note: deceased parent
The Many Assassinations of Samir the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri - I listened to the audio of this, and found that it just felt like sitting at a campfire and being told the most ridiculous story that sounded possibly half true. But it was funny, ridiculous, and poignant in equal measure. Set along the Silk Road, Monkey tells how he came to be the indentured servant of salesman Samir, and the many things that happen along their travels.
Three Holidays and A Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapeley - This book is set in 2000, which alwasy feels odd when a book starts in an airport, but the timeframe is to line up Christmas, Hannukah, and Ramadan. It is a very cute stranded in a small Canadian town that is of course filming a holiday rom-com, because snow made the plane land early and various wedding and other hijinx ensue book.
Have you read any of these?