So, I'm back at blogging, as you may have seen if you've been around over these past couple of weeks. I'm trying out a new format of short little micro posts. I want to get the word out about some of the amazing kids' books coming out, but I honestly don't have the time or bandwidth to write booktalks and longer reviews right now. We'll see how this goes.
You know this blog highlights kidlit, but I have also read some fantastic adult books over the past few months, too. I have been listening up a storm thanks to libro.fm's librarian review copy program. Publishers provide new release and advance downloadable audiobooks free to librarians through this program. It's easy to sign up if you are an ALA member and there are new selections - both adult and youth titles - each month. (This is not a sponsored post - I just want to make sure you know about it!)
If you're looking for adult book recommendations, I would hand you any of these. I didn't read all of them on audiobook, but most of them.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2020. 432 pages. This super cute and funny British romcom was a phenomenal listen that had me grinning as I walked around my neighborhood listening to it. Luc, the reluctantly famous son of a rock star, has landed in the tabloids once too many times for his employer and must improve his image or lose his job. So he makes a deal with friend of a friend Oliver - they'll fake a relationship and stay in the public eye enough to fix Luc's reputation and Luc will accompany Oliver on some of his social obligations. But you know how this trope goes, right? The audio is fantastic, fully voiced by Joe Jameson who does all the accents for the quirky supporting characters in Luc's life. It's funny and feel-good and all the action happens offscreen, so if Red, White, and Royal Blue made you blush too hard, this is a great choice.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. Orbit, 2020. 448 pages. Urban fantasy is not always my jam, but this one was getting So Much Love at the #MidLibFaves twitter roundup of librarian favorites that I had to check it out and I loved it. New York City is in the process of being born and facing an otherworldly evil that threatens its very existence unless the five avatars - one representing each of its five boroughs - can find each other and figure out how to fight back. I absolutely loved all the characters and the intriguing world-building. Audiobook narrator Robin Miles really brings the story to life with her fully voiced performance. She had me hooked from the scene where our first avatar runs across a busy New York highway.
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan. Doubleday, 2020. 336 pages. I'm a huge fan of Crazy Rich Asians (book series and movie!), so I was really excited to see this coming out. It's got a surprisingly low rating on GoodReads, but I actually really enjoyed it. It's a play on A Room with a View and stars an endearing protagonist Lucie Churchill who has a disastrous fling with the sexy George Zhao on the lush island of Capri in Italy, thanking her lucky stars that she will never have to see him again... until of course years later their paths do cross again. I loved the opulent Capri setting in the first half of the book and it was just a fun book to sink into while I was on a week of vacation this summer. The descriptions of fashion, luxury apartments, and five-star food made for excellent armchair travel, especially enjoyable right now since we can't go anywhere or do anything.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Riverhead Books, 2020. 352 pages. This beautiful novel explores the lives of light-skinned African American twin sisters who run away from their small Louisiana town at age sixteen and what happens when one of the twins leaves and starts passing for white. This is a book that has a lot to say about family and race and presenting yourself to the world in the way that you want to be seen, and what that means for where you come from and who you are. The multi-decade historical setting and family dynamics of the story really reminded me of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and I think readers of that book would really enjoy this one, as well.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. Knopf, September 2020. 288 pages. This is a moving portrait of an immigrant family torn apart by addiction, a novel that puts faces on the opioid crisis and examines what it means to have faith and to love. I devoured this novel and I especially loved Gifty's story of her gradual loss of faith. I recognized so many moments as adolescent Gifty began to question the religion that had always been so important to her. This is a great pick for readers of women in science or searing family stories.
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. Little, Brown and Company, 2020. 304 pages. I devoured this wonderful historical novel, set over the course of three days in Dublin during the 1918 flu pandemic. Although it's set 100 years ago, it's eerily reminiscent of things happening today during this global pandemic and publication was pushed up several months to get this ready during these tumultuous times. Nurse Julia Powers finds herself on her own, running the Maternity Fever ward for expectant mothers with the flu, but luckily she's not without help. A brand new volunteer assistant shows up and quickly begins learning the ropes. Together, the two of them will face birth, death, and begin to realize what makes life worth living. It reads like the best episode of Call the Midwife ever and it's perfect for readers of medical stories.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. Quirk Books, 2020. 408 pages. I loved, loved, loved this funny, gory novel about a book club in Charlestown, SC that takes on a neighborhood vampire. Set in the 1990s, it's Steel Magnolias meets Anne Rice and such an enjoyable read with memorable characters and a giggle for every shudder. I listened to the audiobook, expertly narrated and fully voiced by the indomitable Bahni Turpin. This was a perfect summer read and a great distraction. It's my first Grady Hendrix, but it won't be my last.