Hi all! Hope you're weathering our continued quarantine in good health and high spirits. In some ways, quarantine has been good for my mind and spirit. In other ways, it's been really really tough (but nowhere near as tough as it has been for others). But that's another post for another time. For right now...books!

I managed to squeeze seven books in this month, despite the fact that my reading mojo has been a bit low, and it's been a bit difficult for me to concentrate. The solution for getting more things in (for me personally, YMMV) was to read a number of novellas and shorter books that didn't require too much brain power to digest. It seems to have worked, though I'm still FIVE BOOKS behind on my Goodreads yearly goal.

This month also included my very first book in Japanese, which was probably written for four year olds and had about ten pages of text, but I was quite proud of myself for getting through it (even though I still needed a dictionary for some words - ha!!).

Anyway, here were my favorites for the month! Let me know what you've been reading in the comments!




If Beale Street Could Talk - James Baldwin
Baldwin is able to write about the most hideous, ugly and brutal things in gorgeous prose. The book details the struggle of a young pregnant woman whose partner has been falsely accused of rape and incarcerated.  Despite the depressing narrative, there's a lot of hope and determination and resilience in this book. A must read.




Who Killed Buster Sparkle - John W. Bateman
This is a delightful Southern Gothic(ish) mystery about a drag queen named Peaches who befriends the ghost of a black man (named Buster Sparkle) who is trying to figure out who murdered him. I mean...if that doesn't get you curious, I don't know what will. This is the perfect book to read during this anxious time. It's funny, and it's about people from wildly different backgrounds who are trying to understand one another. It's also about allowing people to be who they are, sticking up for what you believe in and defending those you love. Plus it's laugh out loud funny!


Other books read: To Be Taught, If Fortunate - Chambers; Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation - Butler; The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe - Johnson; Hammers on Bone - Khaw; White Bear Black Bear - Taro.