by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
There are 41 days left in 2024, which means I'm doing some real reflection on what I still hope to read this year. As is typical of me, my list is all over the place, but I thought I'd share some of the books that I'm going to try to fit in between now and the end of the year.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes's Games Untold (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Why it's on this list: Barnes hasn't set a foot wrong for me yet, so I'm excited to read this collection that's set in the world of The Inheritance Games; at this point, I'm determined to read every book she has written and every book she'll write.
Synopsis: "Romance, luxury, and secrets abound in this thrilling new collection that take readers deeper into the world of the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games series
"There is nothing frivolous about the way a Hawthorne man loves.
"An amnesiac playboy and the woman with every reason to hate him. A daredevil, his favorite heiress, and three nights in Prague. An unlikely pairing between a cowboy and a goth. Four brothers with an inescapable bond, strengthened by the family they chose, in a house of wonders that promises to always deliver one more secret.
"Discover their stories of love and loss, power, puzzles, and life-and-death secrets in this mind-blowingly romantic collection that proves that when you love the way Hawthornes love, there is no going back."
Louise Erdrich's Birchbark House (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Why it's on my list: It's part of one of my challenges, Decolonize Your Bookshelf Reading Journey 2024, in the category "Indigenous Children's Book." Also: Louise Erdrich. (I hope to read The Mighty Red, too.)
Synopsis: "This is the first installment in an essential nine-book series chronicling one hundred years in the life of one Ojibwe family and includes charming interior black-and-white artwork done by the author.
"She was named Omakakiins, or Little Frog, because her first step was a hop.
"Omakakiins and her family live on an island in Lake Superior. Though there are growing numbers of white people encroaching on their land, life continues much as it always has.
"But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever--but that will eventually lead Omakakiins to discover her calling.
"By turns moving and humorous, this novel is a breathtaking tour de force by a gifted writer."
Jessica Machado's Local: A Memoir (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Why it's on my list: It's part of one of my challenges, Decolonize Your Bookshelf Reading Journey 2024, in the category "Nonfiction by a Hawaiian Author."
Synopsis: "A powerful, lush memoir about a Hawaiian woman who ran away from paradise to discover who she is and where she belongs.
"Born and raised in Hawai'i by a father whose ancestors are indigenous to the land and a mother from the American South, Jessica Machado wrestles with what it means to be 'local.' Feeling separate from the history and tenets of Hawaiian culture that have been buried under the continental imports of malls and MTV, Jessica often sees her homeland reflected back to her from the tourist perspective--as an uncomplicated paradise. Her existence, however, feels far from that ideal. Balancing her parents' divorce, an ailing mother, and growing anxiety, Jessica rebels. She moves to Los Angeles, convinced she'll leave her complicated family behind and define herself. Instead, her isolation only becomes more severe, and her dying mother follows her to California. For Jessica, the only way to escape is a reckless downward spiral.
"Interwoven with a rich and nuanced exploration of Hawaiian history and traditions, Local is a personal and moving narrative about family, grief, and reconnecting to the land she tried to leave behind."
Mai Phan Que Nguyen's Dust Child (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Why it's on the list: This one helps me with the IG #clearyourshelfchallenge category, "A book with trees or leaves on the cover."
Synopsis: "In 1969, sisters Trang and Quỳnh, desperate to help their parents pay off debts, leave their rural village to work in a bar in Sài Gòn. Once in the big city, the young girls learn how to drink and flirt (and more) with American GIs in return for money.
"Decades later, an American veteran, Dan, returns to Việt Nam with his wife, Linda, hoping to find a way to heal from his PTSD; instead, secrets he thought he had buried surface and threaten his marriage. At the same time, Phong--the son of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman--embarks on a search to find both his parents and a way out of Việt Nam to a better life in the United States for himself, his wife Bình, and his children.
"Past and present converge as these characters come together to confront decisions made during a time of war--decisions that reverberate throughout one another's lives and ultimately allow them and find common ground across race, generation, culture, and language. Immersive, moving, and lyrical, Dust Child tells an unforgettable story of how those who inherited tragedy can redefine their destinies with hard-earned wisdom, compassion, courage, and joy."
José Olivarez's Citizen Illegal (Bookshop.org)
Why it's on this list: It's part of one of my challenges, Decolonize Your Bookshelf Reading Journey 2024, in the category "Nonfiction Book by an Indie Author."
Synopsis: "In this stunning debut, poet José Olivarez explores the stories, contradictions, joys, and sorrows that embody life in the spaces between Mexico and America. He paints vivid portraits of good kids, bad kids, families clinging to hope, life after the steel mills, gentrifying barrios, and everything in between. Drawing on the rich traditions of Latinx and Chicago writers like Sandra Cisneros and Gwendolyn Brooks, Olivarez creates a home out of life in the in-between. Combining wry humor with potent emotional force, Olivarez takes on complex issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and immigration using an everyday language that invites the reader in. Olivarez has a unique voice that makes him a poet to watch."
Amor Towles's Table for Two: Fictions (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Why it's on this list: I finally read Rules of Civility earlier this year, and Table for Two would make me a Towles completionist. I also know that there's a Rules of Civility-related novella in the collection, so I want to read it while I still remember the novel.
Synopsis: "Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.
"The New York stories, most of which take place around the year 2000, consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages.
"In Towles's novel Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September 1938 with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, 'Eve in Hollywood' describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself--and others--in a noirish tale that takes us through the movie sets, bungalows, and dive bars of Los Angeles.
"Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles's canon of stylish and transporting fiction."
Javier Zamora's Solito (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Why it's on this list: It's part of one of my challenges, Decolonize Your Bookshelf Reading Journey 2024, in the category "Refugee Memoir." The audiobook would also fit the Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge category, "Audiobook read by the author."
Synopsis: "Trip. My parents started using that word about a year ago--'one day, you'll take a trip to be with us. Like an adventure.'
"Javier Zamora's adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a 'coyote' hired to lead them to safety, Javier expects his trip to last two short weeks.
"At nine years old, all Javier can imagine is rushing into his parents' arms, snuggling in bed between them, and living under the same roof again. He cannot foresee the perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions that await him; nor can he know that those two weeks will expand into two life-altering months alongside fellow migrants who will come to encircle him like an unexpected family.
"A memoir as gripping as it is moving, Solito provides an immediate and intimate account not only of a treacherous and near-impossible journey, but also of the miraculous kindness and love delivered at the most unexpected moments. Solito is Javier Zamora's story, but it's also the story of millions of others who had no choice but to leave home."
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
Loving what you see here? Please comment below (scroll ALL the way down to comment), share this post using the social media buttons below (scroll down for those as well!), and find us on social media to share your thoughts!
Want to support Unabridged?
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
We are proud to partner with Bookshop.org and have a curated Unabridged store as well as affiliate links. We're also honored to be a partner with Libro.fm and proudly use affiliate links to support them and independent bookstores.
Comments