Happy Monday, friends! It’s the Monday I’ve been waiting for: I just have two days of work this week and then I’m off for a glorious 13 days. I am so excited! Mom and I leave on Wednesday afternoon for our trip to Niagara Falls. I’ll have a post up on Wednesday but after that, this blog will be quiet until Monday, June 20th. I’ll be back with some reading updates and trip recaps!
Last week, I finished two books and really liked them both:
Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett (★★★★☆)
Michael Bennett is a former defensive end who played most of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. He’s now retired, but he wrote this book in 2018 when he was still an active NFL player. This book covers a wide range of topics, from Colin Kaepernick to the way the NFL doesn’t take care of its players to women’s rights to the time he was a victim of police violence and aggression. The writing is clunky at times and sometimes an essay would jump from one thought to another with little cohesion. Still, I gave this book four stars because it was incredibly impactful and I am really astonished at the way Michael Bennett was willing to be so open and honest, not just about his struggles but about how he feels about the NFL. I love watching pro football, but I can’t lie that there’s a part of me that always feels guilty that I do because the NFL has a ton of issues—the way it treats its players, the fact that it’s 2022 and there still have never been any Black owners of any team (!!!), the way Colin Kaepernick has been black-listed from the league for taking a knee during the national anthem despite being a great QB… I could go on. I support anyone’s decision to take a knee because the military does not fight for our right to stand for the anthem. They fight for the right for us to have the freedom to stand when we want or kneel if that’s what we want to do to make a statement.
Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly (★★★★★)
I loved, loved, loved, this sweet queer romance, which took place on the set of a cooking reality TV show. Dahlia has entered the competition on a whim, needing something different in her life after her divorce. London has entered the competition because they want to use the prize money ($100,000) to build a charity for LQBTQ+ youths. London has recently come out as nonbinary and not everyone in their life (or everyone on the reality show) is supportive. This is the first novel of any kind that I’ve read with a nonbinary main character and I just loved the representation. I loved London so much; while they were steadfast in what they believed about themselves, they had a strong vulnerability about the way others reacted to them. I also loved the dichotomies of Dahlia and London’s personalities; where Dahlia is bubbly and personable, London is grumpy and quiet. They made such a sweet pair, and their love story was one of my favorites. I also love any book set on a reality TV show, and this one truly delivered.
What I’m Reading This Week (& on Vacation)
I thought I’d take you guys through what I’m reading now and what I’m taking with me on vacation. This won’t be a vacation where I’ll get a ton of reading done (likely just on the plane), but I still like to bring a ton of options (thank god for Kindles!) so I have enough reading material at my fingertips.
- The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane (print) – I’m about 200 pages into this YA story set at a summer camp for “troubled youths.” I’m pretty positive I’ll finish it before Wednesday.
- Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (e-book) – I have this romance queued up to start while I’m on vacation, which is Penelope and Colin’s story. Shonda Rhimes announced that their story is going to be the focus of season 3 of Bridgerton and I am so excited for that!
- The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (e-book) – In between pages of my romance, I’ll start this novel that got a lot of buzz last year. It seems to get mixed reviews from my trusted sources, so I’m going in with low expectations.
- Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis (e-book) – Just in case I zoom through Romancing Mister Bridgerton, I have this romance downloaded to my Kindle to read.
- Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier (print) – This is my “in case of emergency” book that I’m bringing on my trip. I am 99% sure I will not get around to it, but just in case I hate The Plot, I’m packing this as a backup.
What are you reading?
Romancing Mister Bridgerton is a fabulous book. I hope you love it as much as I do.
I loved The Plot! But you may need to give it some time because it’s a book within a book novel. Canada Amber started it and was kind of bored and I said to stick with it and then once she got further into it, she loved it.
I finished “While Paris Slept” over the weekend which is a book I read with Kyria. I really enjoyed it and liked that it was a different kind of WWII novel. it was more focused on time after the war and the aftermath of decisions. Now I am reading “How the Word is Passed” for book club. It is so good! I kind of wish I owned the book so I could read it more slowly, though! Like ideally one chapter every couple of days (he visits 8 monuments/locations and talks about the history and the problematic way they are presented to the public).
Have a wonderful time on your trip! I am so excited for you!
That queer romance sounds so good!
WAIT PENELOPE AND COLIN GET TOGETHER? 😉
I am reading the second Scythe book 🙂