I've passed on reading Tessa Bailey books because they just didn't seem like they'd be for me, but the "inspired by Schitt's Creek" finally got me to pick one up. And discover that it wasn't really for me. But it's definitely inspired by Alexis from Schitt's Creek — no false advertising there — so if you're looking for that, you won't be disappointed (unless, like me, you realllllly miss the quirky goodness of Schitt's Creek, which isn't really represented here).

Also as advertised — it's definitely a grumpy-sunshine pairing, in which the bearded, grumpy, set-in-his-ways fishing boat captain demonstrates a mix of alpha-caretaker tropes and respect for autonomy and independence. Alexis... sorry... Piper also has an okay growth arc. The crisis/drama points in the plot are kind of over the top, which I don't always mind, and required some choices that I didn't think were consistent with the characters making them, which I always find disappointing. There's plenty of steamy-to-sizzling sexy times (that occasionally venture beyond vanilla). The supporting cast is a little bland with a couple of exceptions: Piper's sister is actually pretty great, and is set up for an interesting relationship with a local sailor for the next book. Which is why I went ahead and picked up that ARC when it was offered (Hook, Line, and Sinker), only to find that I liked it better than this one but it still wasn't for me. *shrugs*

With the heart of a teacher, the eye of a poet, and the mind of a researcher, Clint Smith teases apart and weaves together the threads of history, nostalgia, place, and memory to tell a powerful story — not of slavery's distant past, but of a legacy that lives and breathes among us.

Smith visits, personally and through interviews and primary sources, the Whitney Plantation and the maximum-security Angola Prison in his home state of Louisiana, Jefferson's Monticello Plantation and Blandford Cemetery's thousands of fallen Confederate soldiers in Virginia, a Juneteenth celebration in Galveston (Texas), the site of the second largest slave market in the U.S. (right in downtown Manhattan), Gorée Island and the Door of No Return in Senegal, the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C., and countless other sites and that inform the narrative but aren't specifically featured. What comes together is more than a well-curated tour. It's a generous, gracious, engaging, intensely personal yet scholarly exploration. The descriptive writing is lyrical and poignant without being overwrought, the interviews reveal both a courage and a kindness, and the research is perceptive and fair-minded. It's difficult material presented in an accessible, approachable way—one of the least intimidating but most profoundly affecting books on history and slavery that I have ever read.

Excellent on audio. I was a little afraid that a memoir in the form of an advice column would feel a little too gimmicky, but John Paul Brammer is so clearly a master of the form that it instead feels surprisingly authentic and thoughtful. The book is a little uneven in tone, but such is life. He delves into the highs, lows, ridiculous hilarity, and excruciating pain of his formative years as a bullied, overweight, closeted gay Mexican-American in a small town in Oklahoma. And he examines his personal and professional life of simultaneously piecing together an understanding and expression of his sexuality and a self-supporting writing career. It's a quick read with an emotional and insightful impact.

Content notes: fatphobia, bullying, homophobia, racism, suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, disordered eating, descriptions of sex and pornography, nuanced sexual assault, toxic relationships, first-generation immigrant life

My thanks to Libro.fm for an audiobook ARC.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a good white person of liberal leanings must be in want of a Black friend."

And with that satirical, skewering start, Ben Philippe writes his way right into my heart. And then batters and bruises it with an astonishingly candid, generously vulnerable memoir about the "quirks and maybe light trauma of having been the Black friend in white spaces" all his life.

"Light trauma." Good lord…

Yes, this is as witty-sarcastic as you'd expect. Both goofily humorous and bitingly so. A blend that I love. (And it's steeped in writerly humor, which I also love. He calls a group of Karens by their proper collective noun, for example — a Privilege of Karens.) But it's not the humor I'll remember. In fact, a few weeks have passed between my reading the book and my writing this review — rewriting, actually, because the web form I was lazily composing in ate my first attempt. I don't really remember the zingers and wit, except that they were there and I appreciated them. I do remember Ben's unique perspective (as a Haitian Canadian New Yorker in academia), nerdy joy, ubiquitous fear, and carefully controlled anger that is unleashed precisely once in a spectacularly chilling fantasy scene of war and terror. There's nothing light about the trauma that Black people in America encounter.

(Note: If the chilling fantasy terror scene rattles you — that's probably good. Maybe sit with that feeling of fear and anger for a few moments. Let it deepen your empathy. But do your due diligence, too. Consider it in context and seek out interviews with the author to help you understand it. Other content notes: strong language, physical punishment of a child, absent father, frank description of sex with brief mention of a partner's rape fantasy, microaggressions)

I'm a fan of Luvvie's online presence, her now-famous TED talk, and her first book, so I had high expectations for this one. In it, she takes on a common enemy of personal progress — that plays-dirty voice in your head called "fear." Using common sense and uncommon wit, therapy-style wisdom, the inspiration of her Nigerian grandmother, and her own lived experience, Luvvie shows you how to side-eye the fear right out of your head so you can put action to intention and live your best life.

Unfortunately, it all fell just a little short for me. Luvvie's perspective and certainly her relationship with and the inspiration she draws from her grandmother are unique and powerful but the overall messaging here felt fairly basic and the content felt a little stretched and repetitive. Your mileage may vary, of course. This is the kind of book for which previous experience and exposure are key. I could definitely see it being a great graduation gift or be a powerful boost for a young professional.

This is a reading review, not a recipe-testing review, but dang if this isn't a fun cookbook to read! Artistic, puntastic, instructive — it captures the author's fun, quirky voice and style in a way that enhances rather than detracts from the clarity or usefulness of the recipes and directions. As a pie lover who doesn't always have the sweetest sweet tooth, I also loooooove the inclusion of so many savory recipes!

One content note: Casual use of "crazy" and "insane," particularly in the introductory text, which may be hurtful to some readers.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but it felt like reading an expanded PowerPoint presentation. The points seemed very basic and some of the tips were too general to be helpful. Better citations, more substance, and more examples would have been a substantial improvement.

This book. I'm not even sure how to review it except to say that it should be required reading for every white person in America. It should be in every high school, every college freshman seminar, every DMV waiting room, every laundromat... Reading it was like that feeling of catching something on the edge of your field of vision, getting distracted, looking away, catching it again, and then finally bringing it into focus. The writing is a little repetitive — necessarily so — and yet I plan to read it again in a few months. And then probably again. And again.

A thoroughly lovely introduction or reintroduction to 25 nature writers with gorgeous design elements throughout!

Kathryn Aalto's running narrative sets the perfect tone for the short prose, poetry, and essay excerpts shared from each writer. I can see "Writing Wild" featured on a coffee table, in college coursework, as a nonfiction book club pick, as a travel/nature-related gift, and ― most assuredly ― as a refreshing volume to dip in and out of during a quarantine when you desperately need an expansion of perspective and a mental ramble in unreachable fields. What a breath of fresh air!

I particularly appreciated the further reading sections and how they're thoughtfully themed and grouped after each writer. They transform this into a bibliographic resource that features far more than the 25 writers who are officially profiled. I'm not sure any reader could make it through this volume without adding several new writers or titles to their TBR lists!

My thanks to #NetGalley and Timber Press for a digital ARC of #WritingWild.