August 6, 2022

Goodreads Update August '22 pt.1

This is quite a bit later than I normally like to post it. It would have been the July Goodreads Update pt. 2, but I couldn't get it done, so I'm making it a very early August update.

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - This romance is set in the 1960s when Elizabeth Zott suffers from gender stereotyping and misogyny in the lab. Then she becomes a star on a cooking show, because cooking is just chemistry. She takes the opportunity to teach women about science while she's teaching them to cook.

The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick - Liv is a single mother of two who lands an awesome job as maid for her favorite reclusive authors.

How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo - "The politics and ethics of reading." Yes please.

The Pink Hotel by Liska Jacobs - This is a thriller in which a newlywed couple is staying at a fancy hotel in Los Angeles when wildfires break out and the city and the hotel becomes chaos.

Calling For a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah - This is about a young Native man who is seeing all the injustice and hardship his family faces and is trying to find a place for himself in the world.

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty - More native stories. Also about what it means to be Native in the 21st century.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - All I know is this is a retelling of David Copperfield set in the Appalachias. Also, it's by Barbara Kingsolver.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - Enough people finally told me how fabulous this is that I went ahead and added it. It's 3 timelines woven around a single manuscript.

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin - I went to a bookstore near my work that I'd never been to. I bought this book and then I obviously had to add to my to-read list. It's the second in the Broken Earth Series.

A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee - Ok. We'll see. I'm kind of getting over the cooking/baking romance thing.

The Dating Dare by Jayci Lee - I see. So apparently, I thought this sounded good so I put the first in the series on my list first. Now I don't know why I thought this sounded good.

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan - Nora writes romance screenplays. When her husband takes off, she turns her own story into a blockbuster movie script. And her husband will be played by the sexiest man alive. AND it will be shot at her house.

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery - Ok. This is not my usual fare. It's part of a genre I call "women's fiction". Mostly they take place on a beach, feature women and their relationships, and are pretty predictable. Something about this one made me add it to the list. We'll see.

Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan - Whelan is a famous audiobook narrator. So she wrote a romance about audiobook narrators. Sounds unique, so I added it.

Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation by Maud Newton - Newton's family has a bunch of quirky characters. Her own father is a racist whose father married 13 times. Her mother performs exorcisms in their house. Maud decided to go spelunking in her family's history to figure out how they got to her.

Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Luarence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century by Stephen Galloway - I don't know. Seems like a good time.

Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith - This is a graphic novel about these 4 women and the day they set aside regularly to wash and care for their hair.

Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews - I can't decide if this is a thriller or what. Florence wants to be a famous writer, Maud Dixon. She gets hired as assistant to a famously anonymous writer who gives her many pointers even though she's kind of a bitch. On a trip to Morocco for research, Maud dies and Florence wonders if she can step into her shoes.

Undistracted: Capture Your Puprose Rediscover Your Joy by Bob Goff - Goff is a Christian writer that is a favourite of many of my friends. This one looks interesting. I guess I'll give him a shot.

And there it is! I will probably not do another Goodreads Update until the end of August unless I go hog wild and add a bunch of books before that.