Show Us Your Books January 2021

sweatshirt from Harriett's Bookshop

New year, new books, same Amerikkka. Until we confront white supremacy, it will continue dragging us all to hell with it. In June, I shared some books that have helped me understand and confront white supremacy in the systems we live in, and how those systems have manifested within myself. I've read more since. At this point after the white supremacist violent insurrection a the Capitol last week, if you cannot see that two Americas exist, I don't know what is going to help you, including a book. I do know that if the godchild of David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, can come to recognize and understand the harm of white supremacy, so can I, and so can you. If you think too much is made of race and want to brush all this shit off and distance yourself from it as a white person so you don't have to see how it has poisoned everything from the root from the start and continues to do so by design, maybe read his book. This is a book linkup. This commentary is not political. It's about human beings and white supremacy. Even literature and how it is presented to us is defined by white supremacy. You can't avoid confronting it. Well, you can. White people can avoid confronting it and nothing will happen to us. But the world will crumble around us if we continue to choose whiteness over everything. The country is already crumbling. 

Here's what I've been reading since the last linkup. Books with an asterisk were read in December 2020.

Engrossing Reads

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins - This was darkly funny and had a great pace. I tore through it. There were two separate stories that were woven into one and I enjoyed this read a lot. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Breathe Your Last (Detective Josie Quinn #10) by Lisa Regan - I am continually impressed with the quality of the Josie books given the speed in which they're turned out. I like the stories almost equally, and at 10 in, the same as I liked the first.  Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Death in the Family (Shana Merchant #1) by Tessa Wegert - I tore through this book despite there being a whole heck of a lot of suspension of belief required. The main character does (or doesn't do) shit that just would not fly literally anywhere in the real world. But I liked it and the way it was built. I got this off of an Instagram recommendation.  Kindle e-book, own

The Dead Season (Shana Merchant #2) by Tessa Wegert* - See above. Kindle e-book, own

Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie* - Like all well done short stories, I was pissed off reading this because it was not at the least the length of a novella. Kindle e-book, own

Passed the Time Just Fine

The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph - Quite a few things were written so plainly in this, I hope it gets through to someone who might have struggled in the past. If you have a kid in high school or mature in middle school, consider co-reading this with them. hardcover, own, purchased from Harriett's

F*ckface: And Other Stories by Leah Hampton - Nice collection of shorties from a favorite setting: Appalachia. Short stories are not my favorite format of lit so it’s always nice to enjoy them. Hardcover, own, purchased from shore indie 

Possession by Katie Lowe - Another book in the Sadie/true crime podcast story within a story vein and the one I've liked the least. It is literally just fine. There was a lot in the book that didn't need to be in there and it felt muddled. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Troubles in Paradise (Paradise 3) by Elin Hilderbrand - I have read the previous two in the series in late January or February, where transporting myself to island life in my head seems most desirable. In these largely non-travel days transporting myself to anywhere seems desirable. I didn't wait long into January for this one - it was the book I started on New Year's Day (same as Nadine) - and that was just as well because it was more about wrapping up loose ends and less about island life. It's fine. It was a good run. Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

And of course my google dives on private schools in Canada, Mato & Hash, and Montreal Weights - Articles and research belong in reading too!

Not Worth It

My Sister's Husband by Nicola Marsh - This was a train wreck, and not in a good way. Kindle, own

Keep Her Safe by K.A. Tucker - I probably should have DNF this. The story was good but the pacing was off and it killed my vibe for a while. OCNJ library hardcover

The Restaurant by Pamela M. Kelley - This was an it's not you, it's me scenario. Also a good for you, not for me scenario. Also a wrong book at the wrong time scenario. I might try the next in the series in the summer. OCNJ library paperback

Did Not Finish

n/a. 

Linkup Guidelines:

This link up is the second Tuesday of every month. The next linkup is Tuesday, January 14, 2021. 

1. Visit and comment with both of your hosts, Jana & me, and check in with as many in our reading circle as you can - give some love to the later linker uppers! 
2. Link back to us in your blog post - if you want the button you can get it from that link

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