Half Empty

I was feeling sooo optimistic just a few weeks ago. Cases were shrinking, athletes were on their way to the Olympics, the eviction moratorium was extended, libraries were opening their doors to patrons. This week, feeling more glass half empty, all I wanted to do was eat delicious vegan ice cream from this place and read books about reality tv hopefuls, has been sitcom actors, and vengeful creative writing students.

Synopses (now, that’s a fun word) below provided by Kirkus Reviews. 

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall

“In this delicious romantic comedy, a British home baker must win a televised cooking competition and navigate her competitors' distractingly good looks to provide a better life for herself and her daughter.”

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

“The children, Grant and Maisie, are 6 and 9, respectively, spending the summer with their Uncle Patrick, or GUP as they call him: Gay Uncle Patrick.”

We Wish You Luck by Caroline Zancan

“Two crafty graduate students plot their revenge when a famous novelist abuses her power.”

 

New Fiction

In a perfect world, my Google calendar would not only keep track of dentist appointments, baseball practices, and birthdays, but it would also remind me of new book releases. Instead, I usually find out my favorite author has a new book by stumbling across it on my library’s Lucky Day shelf or perhaps seeing a post on Instagram.

I’ve posted about these authors before (click on the author’s name to see a previous post), so I will happily add my name to the hold queue for these.

 

Colson Whitehead

Harlem Shuffle (September)

Anthony Doerr

Cloud Cuckoo Land (September)

Liane Moriarty

Apples Never Fall (September)

Miriam Toews

Fight Night (October)

Louise Erdrich

The Sentence (November)

Need ideas for keeping track of new releases? Check out this helpful article from Book Riot.

Curated

 If I’m scrolling through social media, I rarely play videos. However, I always make an exception for Emmymade.  She’s, in a word, watchable. I’m not superfan enough to know her backstory, but I imagined someone like her when reading Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave.

When this novel opens, Sunshine Mackenzie, host of a viral cooking show, is negotiating a Food Network contract and book deal. However, when someone reveals that her carefully “curated” persona is all a fake, she loses not only her fans, but her job and husband. She reluctantly returns home to a sister who begrudgingly lets her sleep on the sofa. Her niece and a friendly fisherman help her find her way back to forming authentic relationships.

The idea of a crafting a persona came up again in the next book I happened to pick up, Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig. She is, in a word, readable.

“I’m pretty sure I spent more time and energy into curating my profile than any other online dating citizen,” writes Taussig in one of the opening essays. Taussig writes about the complications of people wanting to be kind, and her just wanting to be left alone. For example, she says that explaining to a stranger how to assemble her wheelchair from the front seat of her car takes much longer than if she does it herself, as she has thousands of times. In “Feminist Pool Party” she describes how the feeling of being left out at elementary school slumber parties carries over into her colleagues commiserating over #metoo moments. Many of her essays address the need for accommodations, not just because it will help those who need it, but innovations have the potential of helping everyone. She gives the example of curb breaks which accommodate not only wheelchairs, but makes life easier for street vendors, parents with strollers, or a traveler with a rolling suitcase. With humor and a forthright writing style, Taussig is advocating for change in a world that is, for the most part, oblivious to the need.  

Less scrolling, and more listening, perhaps?