Quarantine Reads, Part 1

Current Read: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Current Listen: Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story by Jacob Tobia

Why hello there, fellow quarantine humans! Like everyone else, I have spent the past week and a half...adjusting. With varying degrees of success. As a teacher, being without my kids last week was really hard. My husband is a pharmacist and still working, so I've been home alone more than I'd like. But I've been reading and listening A LOT. I think I'm going to try to do an update every week or so, since I've been finishing a book every day or two. Here's what I've gotten up to so far.

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

This is my book club's black history month pick. I loved The Underground Railroad, so I was interested to see if I liked his take on a more modern story. The Nickel Boys is a fictionalized account of a real school, Dozier School. It chronicles the trauma that hundreds of black boys experienced and how it impacts one former "student" throughout his life. It was so, so beautifully written, as I've come to expect from Colson Whitehead. It was incredibly dark, though, and I don't know if I can recommend it if you're looking for something lighter for quarantine.

Click here to read more about Dozier School. 

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

This is the sequel to Skyward, my first ever Sanderson. It's not typical Sanderson, though. This series is YA sci-fi when he normally writes adult high fantasy. But the characters are likable, the story is unique, the writing and the world-building are top notch. This is the story of Spensa, the descendant of a group of humans who crash landed on the planet Detritus. She longs to join the planet's air force to help defeat the alien race keeping them prisoner. The sequel introduced new planets, new alien races, and fun new plot twists.

Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee

This was SUCH a fun little book. It came up as an Audible daily deal, and I picked it up based on its good reviews on Goodreads. Of the 52 women written about, I had heard of 3 of them. Considering how many books like this I've read, that's quite an achievement. Mackenzi Lee writes with wit and intelligence, and it's definitely the most diverse book of its kind. Highly recommend.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

This is book 5 of the Mortal Instruments series and book 8 in the order that Cassandra Clare recommends on her website. I was told by several people who have read them all not to binge them, so I pick one up every 6 months of so. At this point in the story, which involves demon hunters and vampires and werewolves and warlocks and ALL THAT FUN STUFF, it's less about the plot and more about the romances for me. But the romances are SO GOOD that I keep coming back.

Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

This was another sequel, to the book Openly Straight. I thought the first book was just slightly above average (I didn't like the main character much), but on the last day that our library was open I found the sequel on the shelves and decided to give it a go. I liked this one MUCH better. It was from a different character's perspective, and was a very cute gay boy romance that also dealt with issues of gender fluidity and classism while still being fluffy and fun. I will read more Bill Konigsberg.

Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

I am not a Food Network person. I love fine dining, but I wouldn't call it an interest or a hobby. This one intrigued me, though, since I saw it nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award. Onwuachi is cocky almost to the point of arrogance, but based on his life story that's almost admirable. He literally went from selling candy bars on the New York subway to being on Top Chef, and he's only a year older than me. What I found most interesting were his experiences with racism and microaggressions in fine dining kitchens, as well as his attempts to create opportunities for other chefs of color. He narrates the audiobook as well, which is always a plus for me with a memoir.

That's it so far. What have you been reading during quarantine? Is there a particular genre that's helping you with the covid-19 blues? What else have you been doing to pass the time? For now, that's all she read!