Monthly rundown vol. 14

I tried a new title, but it just sounded weird

Hello! I’m writing this on my couch while drinking some ginger tea. I’m currently obsessed with ginger tea, especially when I get to make it with my little tea leaf infuser that a dear friend gave me. It’s a comforting evening ritual (or sometimes afternoon ritual on the weekends), and the only thing that might change once the weather heats up is that I’ll make it iced (iced ginger tea with honey and lemon is basically the best summer drink unless you’re going alcoholic, and then you can’t beat a really good margarita).

I’ve passed the three quarters mark on my current work in progress, and that finish line is looking really good. My goal is to get a solid draft done before summer, have some beta readers look at it in the summer and do any necessary re-writes so I can submit it to my publisher by end of summer/early fall. Of course, life has a way of laughing at my timelines, but it’s good to have goals, right? I can’t wait to introduce readers to Nora and Zander. They are so fun, and I love them.

Now on to some reviews!

How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key. This memoir was brutal, funny, heartbreaking and hopeful. The elevator pitch is essentially the story of a man whose wife cheated on him, but that summation feels reductive and two dimensional, because it’s about so much more than that. It’s also a story about community, faith, hope, grief, mental health, family, love. It’s engrossing and really well written. (obvious trigger warning for infidelity)

The Delaney Bennetts by Desiree R. Kannel is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in the 1990s at a historically black university. I loved the setting, and thought the author did a good job of honoring the original story, but also making her characters and their issues fresh and unique. Full disclosure: it took me a little while to get into it because Pride and Prejudice is my least favorite Jane Austen novel, but once I did I had to find out how Lizzie and Darcy made it to their happy ending. 

Long Lost by Jacqueline West. This is the latest of my middle grade reads, and it was phenomenal. It’s by the author of The Shadows, which I mentioned previously, and it’s another slightly creepy, mystery-adventure. Long Lost is a story-within-a-story about a disappearance, a somewhat unfriendly small town, and two sisters whose relationship is going through some growing pains. I highly recommend for readers of all ages. 

It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway by Elisabeth Passarella. Funny, poignant book of essays about home and belonging. There’s a throughline about the drama the author and her family went through buying an apartment in New York City that is absolutely engrossing. This was a nice book to dip in and out of over several months. 

In regard to series reads, I finished Glass Houses by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache) and The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman (Invisible Library), both highly enjoyable reads.

Podcasts.

Shout out to my friend Mel who introduced me to the podcast 60 Songs that Explain the 90s. Each episode is a deep dive on a specific song/band/musician from the 1990s. The episodes cover a wide range of styles and genres, and are fascinating and entertaining. I skip episodes that I’m not really interested in, and will admit occasionally the host gets a little rambly and sidetracked. But if you enjoy nerding out on music, it's worth a listen. It’s also prompted me to rediscover some of the music from my youth, and that has been absolutely delightful. 

You Are a Storyteller This podcast was recommended to me by my friend Doc (who, it occurs to me, is one of my creative mentors in addition to being a great friend. I’ve only listened to a few episodes so far, but it is already blowing my mind. It’s both inspiring and practical, with some of the most insightful conversations on storytelling that I’ve heard in a long time. It’s primarily focused on writing, but the content would apply to various artistic mediums. I’m really loving it.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!