Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books on My Fall TBR

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish shareable, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

Let's get two things straight, right off the top: I am three days deep into the flu, and I am a proud mood reader, who is absolutely terrible at following a TBR plan. 

If there's anything I can guarantee you right now, it's that 1. There is only a negligible chance that I will recall even a single selection that makes it onto this list by the time I emerge from my Robitussin haze come morning, and 2. There was only a snowball's chance in Florida that I will actually manage to follow this plan to begin with. 

That being said... isn't planning out a TBR kind of fun? 

It's the same reason I make huge To-Do Lists for the Fall season, or big ol' themed posters that hang up in our kitchen during Advent. Because sometimes, it's nice to daydream about all of the cute seasonal things you want to do, while you're trapped in the rushing torrent of a schedule that cares naught for your whims. By the time you actually manage to drag your flannel-bedecked compatriots to the pumpkin patch for an apple cider doughnut, or drop off that meticulously-wrapped package to the family Secret Santa gift exchange, you'll be glad you did it, of course... so much so that you're more than willing to overlook the eight or nine checkmarks on your list that didn't get completed in time. 

So to be honest, if I manage to finish even one title off of this list, I'll be pleased. Because it will mean I indulged in a read that makes best use of the advantages of the Fall season... and because it means I will not have died from the flu. 

(I'm not dying, I'm just very peeved. It's my personal guardian angel's way of striking me down after complaining so hard about the marathon traveling I was compelled to do for the past month or so. "Oh, multiple air plane flights, ferry trips, and numerous hours in a car have you feeling worn out? Then it's time to sleep, idiot."

Trust me, from the bottom of my soul, I'd rather be reading.) 

Fall Vibes

because some reads just conjure up those "I'm wearing a sweater, there's apple cider in the Crockpot, it smells like rain outside and it's getting dark at 5pm now" vibes

1. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

Listen, my college-aged younger brother inhales books like he's Kirby, which means he travels through his library holds at a blistering pace I simply cannot match... but because he tends towards reads by people like Brandon Sanderson, I don't take it too personally. 

Until, of course, he started coming for my English Major cred, and now I have to put up some stalwart defense to retain my title of Nerd Supreme of the family, by trying to read or reread at least one work of Classic fiction a quarter. Because otherwise it's hand to hand combat, and the kid is built like a truck. 

2. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon

To be honest, I haven't read this book since my Freshman Year of college, and being that that was now eleven years ago (*insert gagging noise here*), I feel confident enough to say I remember almost nothing of the specifics, just that I really like it, and found it to be very atmospheric. 

However, I still possess its sequel, and I wouldn't be happy removing one from my shelves without at least consulting the other first. Besides, how many times do you think to yourself, "Man, I wish I could read this book for the first time again." Now, I pretty much can! 

3. The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin

Sometimes, we've just got to call a spade a spade: this book has leaves on the cover, and they're the same colors your kindergarten teacher would choose for Fall leaves, and sometimes, we just don't have to think that hard about things, okay? 

Besides, I feel like the vibe of "mysterious fortune teller informs a group of siblings of the ways they all eventually die" feels kind of October-y. 

Spooky Season

because my family goes all out for Halloween in the decor department, and heaven help me if I leave something out of theme on the coffee table

4. A Dowry of Blood, S. T. Gibson

This particular read gained some rave reviews on that bedeviled clock app last year, and the resulting hype spilled over to Instagram, including the posts of some people I really like and trust. So I took a gamble and picked up a copy for myself at the Barnes and Noble Hardcover Sale in late December last year, and it's been sitting on my shelves ever since, waiting for October reading. 

Because, vampires! Blood! Fangtastic fun! 

5. How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix

So my family is obsessed with this kind of sleeper Syfy show Surreal Estate, which was somehow miraculously brought back from the dead (cancelled) to gain a second season, which will be premiering in a few weeks. It's about a real estate firm that specializes in the sale of haunted houses, and it's one of the best scripted shows on TV I've seen in recent memory. I have been informed that this book is literally nothing like the completely unrelated show, but the similarities are too fun not to mention, and I will do just about anything to make sure this show does not get cancelled again. 

But also, various members of my family are very into Grady Hendrix, and even though I'm not exactly a Thriller fan, I've been informed that this one is fun enough that I'm willing to take one for the team. I think it only took me two or three days to finish Final Girls Support Group, so at least it should be quick. 

6. Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3), Libba Bray

I am a Libba Bray fan - one of the many bookshelf holdovers from my adolescence - and I was actually on track with reading The Diviners series as they came out... until the third one. And then it just kind of sat on my shelf for a little bit. And then aforementioned brother asked if I had anything to read, and I recommended these, and he, again, blew through them like a wolf and a house made of dandelion fuzz, and finished the whole series without me while I wasn't paying attention. 

And yes, it's been three years since that last one in the series was published. I'm still trying to knock out that third. But being that these books really ARE that spooky, I'm going to need all the lights in the house on when I do it. 

Just for Me, Just Because

sometimes, you've got to just do some things not because they're aesthetic, or because they're on-theme, but because your brother will yell at you if you don't

7. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Alanna #3), Tamora Pierce

Okay, sorry to bring up my brother again - actually, you know, by this time, you should be used to it - but when the then-teenaged kid came to me when Covid locked down the libraries and asked if I had anything new for him to read, I handed him my stacks of Tamora Pierce with a nonchalant "Meh, I don't know if these are really your speed." Smash cut to him outpacing me in pretty much every kind of trivia, having read each of the Tortall series multiple times. 

You can imagine how much it smarted when he then turned to me, and asked if I really hadn't read any of the Alanna books before. (To be fair, my Tortallan introduction was completed somewhat laughably out of order). So I'm trying to get through the Alanna books - in a boxed set he bought me - by the end of the year, so I can finally stop feeling the eyes of my little brother boring into the back of my head. 

8. Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6), Martha Wells

Your honor, I would like the record to show that I read them first. Me! Not my brother, not my Dad. I was the one who brought Murderbot into this family, but it's not my fault my family members have the laser focus of machinery themselves. Some of us like to read from multiple genres and not simply blast our way through an entire series, mind you. 

So yes, it's taken me some time, but I'm very much still on track. And at least this one is another novella; that novel of #5 was good, but Science Fiction can really burn you out in large quantities. So I'm taking my time. 

9. The Art of Eating In, Cathy Erway

Okay, so this is really a kind of placeholder for any number of Food Writing selections I might whimsically whisk off of my shelves come November. 

Preparation for Thanksgiving in this household starts in early October, and is treated like a one-day event in the same way that the Olympics are just like Field Day at the local elementary school. I like leafing though a Cookbook or an engrossing Culinary Memoir when all of the couches are haphazardly Jenga-stacked next to the TV, to make way for the three long serving tables we use in the Family Room. And of course, I need something cool to fill in the commercial gaps when we're watching the Parade. 

10. Rule of Wolves (King of Scars #2), Leigh Bardugo

So, Netflix's Shadow and Bone Season Two came out in mid-March, right? And I pretty much immediately read a spoiler that said you really should have read all the way through Rule of Wolves before attempting the new season. But my schedule was full-out blockaded until the first week of May was over, and I only had a few weeks to read before Summer Reading Book Bingoes started up on June 1st, and my attentions were required elsewhere through the end of August....

Now we're finally into September, and during a chance conversation with my brother (I know, I know) he revealed that he hasn't watched any part of Season Two, either... because he's been waiting for me. 

Buddy, I promise, we're making it through Season Two before December. 

Just... give me a little time, okay? I might still be in bed, recovering from this damn flu. 

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!

I Read Five Romance Novels in Five Days (And I Still Didn't Get a Bingo)

It may be September now, but around this time last month, I was in the process of slowly losing my mind. 

A week-and-a-half on vacation was yielding its way towards one last run at freedom, before prep for a double-header of flights down to LA and ferry rides to Roche Harbor, two weekends in a row. Temperatures were dropping, thoughts of Summer were plummeting sharply without any sort of mercy, and I was facing an abrupt, vicious ending to those lazy sunshine days, by somehow being forced onto a slalom course of social engagements, family expectations, and packed luggage, without poles. 

Now I'm still here, slowly losing my mind, on the other side; my personal distress has resolved itself into a defeated state of exhaustion. My sleep schedule, digestive system, and extroversion threshold are completely wrecked, and for every meeting that gets added to my calendar, another month is taken off of my life. The only trips I plan on taking for the foreseeable future are to Costco; the only pictures I want to post to Instagram are of my cat. 

And yet, we must press on. 

While I was busy covering my ears, with Summer's swan song blaring through the open windows, I decided that I really should hurry up with the whole Reading Challenge thing. Unwilling to sacrifice so much of my season without even a bingo to show for it, I decided to spend a week powering through, with the project goal of finishing at least three before I left for vacation. 

I ended up reading six books total across the course of one week, and five Romances specifically, over five days. 

So while I'm still sucking down water to recuperate from the dehydration caused by persistent, unregulated stress, I figured I might as well send off some reviews. If I end up dying from prolonged social exposure - by being forced to leave my house, and into unforgiving environmental conditions that wore on my psyche - at least you'll have something to remember me by. 

You can't always talk about a Romance without dishing on a few important plot points, so heads up: here thar be spoilers. 

SPL Bingo Square: "Audiobook or EBook"

Ripped Bodice Romance Square: "Kissing for Science" 

(note: I don't really think this matches this square, based on the narrative; I simply saw someone else who had marked it as this choice and thought, "Well, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me," and moved on. I mean, there are equations on the cover!)

The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang 

A math whiz with Asperger's seeks to "cure" her aversions to a sexual relationship, by hiring on a pro to help navigate her through the basics... but gets more experience than she bargained for, when she falls for real. Will this illogical pair find a way to make their love last in the real world, or is the outcome just too improbable? 

This particular Romance feels like it comes unilaterally recommended across the internet fandom for Romance in general. Its sequel gets high praise, too, for its heart, humor, and #OwnVoices perspective (but from what I understand, the third in the series doesn't so much). Romances with an autistic heroine are unfortunately few and far between; same for an Asian-American couple as main characters. The fact that the novel is also well-written makes for what should be an obvious draw: as romances happen with people belonging to these communities out in the real world, shouldn't they also be lovingly rendered on paper? 

Ironically enough, the reason I didn't quite like this novel was because of how unrealistic it was. Yes, she was autistic... but also came from absurd wealth, is obsessed with performing a high paying skill in a lucrative field, owns a nice house and drives a Tesla, is abundantly remarked upon being beautiful and petite, and occasionally becomes so consumed by work, she just forgets to eat. He, on the other hand, is an escort... but also a gifted tailor and aspiring fashion designer, who drives a motorcycle, is very accomplished in martial arts, and is so good looking, that it is regularly commented on in the context of how other people respond to his beauty. It was like all of those other desirable factors were there to somehow, for some reason, make up for the fact of her being autistic, or him being a sex worker. You don't have to be dripping with wealth or carved from marble to be worthy of respect and love. 

I also really didn't love the very patriarchal bullshit present in his eventual courtship of her, at the end. Stalking, sending lavish gifts in a public space, continuing to show up to her place of work, getting jealous about the other men in her life... very deeply strange, especially when stood up against an undesirable rival who also refused to take no for an answer. 

I can totally get why people liked it... it just wasn't for me. 

Two and a half stars. 

SPL Bingo Square: "Recommended by an Independent Bookstore"

Ripped Bodice Bingo Square: "Vigilante S#!t"

The Duchess Deal, Tessa Dare

A seamstress trying to collect on payment for a wedding dress, sewn for a bride who never made it to the altar, is propositioned by a disfigured duke: quietly marry him, and bear a male heir, and she will be taken care of for the rest of her life. However, it becomes clear that there is more going on with the Duke of Ashbury than his gruff and straightforward demeanor would suggest... and that Emma is unlikely to follow his orders without testing his limits, too. 

I am a huge fan of Tessa Dare, and have read numerous other titles of hers, to varying degrees of success. She will forever be one of the first ever authors in the Romance category I really became a fan of, when I first started reading them back in 2018, and so carries that estimation whenever I encounter her newer material. I really enjoyed Books #2 and #3 of this series, but have been saving #1 for a rainy day, being that it is generally the favorite amongst them as determined by fans. 

Well, maybe not a rainy day... but what about a sunny, late-August one? After all, The Ripped Bodice Book Bingo Card had an "Alliterative Title" square, as well as the one I ended up choosing. Being that the Ripped Bodice itself is an independent bookstore, I felt it was more than appropriate to use on both cards. 

This selection from the series was generally enjoyable, but it was just that something kept me hanging back from falling all the way in love with it. The banter was funny and consistent, the side characters were a lot of fun, and it was silly and campy in the way that Dare writes very well. 

Maybe that was the problem? It felt too much like Dare's other works, and her other foibles I've encountered in my extensive readings of her work already. The dynamics and general conceit were over-the-top unbelievable, the sex scenes felt repetitive and weirdly male-gaze-y, the repeated misunderstandings between characters required just a little too much mental contortion to make fit. By the time it got to the reveal of a "real" wedding ring at the end - a ruby, cut into the shape of a heart, set into a gold band - it all felt almost juvenile.

Maybe I've finally outgrown one of the first Romance authors I really fell in love with in the first place? 

Three and a half stars. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo: "Swimming"

Him, Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Four summers ago, Wes made the biggest mistake of his life, by pushing Jamie too far during a friendly bet at hockey camp. The two haven't spoken since. When a chance run-in during a tournament in their senior year of college inspires a reconnection, they find themselves sharing a bunkroom at the same place they trained as teenagers. Maybe they can go back to the way things used to be... or even something better, if one of them can just manage to break the ice. 

What on earth is it about Gay Hockey Romances Written by Dual Authors that manages to so easily reinvigorate my faith in the Romance genre as a whole? As not a gay man, nor a hockey enthusiast (or even a sports fan, in general), nor someone who generally enjoys co-author situations, I really shouldn't have such strong feelings about these kinds of books... but somehow, both Him and Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn's Goalie Interference have easily become some of my favorite Romance reads ever, let alone from the past year. 

Each was an incredibly caring and nuanced portrayal of a relationship forged in a subculture that isn't always welcoming, and has rigid structures around perspectives of masculinity and patriarchal values. They depict two people genuinely learning how to care for each other in a not-always-comfortable environment, with other kinds of people and relationship dynamics to consider, and social expectations about how they can and should behave. They call into discussion issues around greater topics, like class, family values, and more. 

And yeah, they're pretty steamy. Really great heart, but absolutely scorching heat. These are very much still Romance novels, after all. 

What sets Him apart is that it really feels interior and earnest; thanks to a trade-off POV for each of the main characters, you feel very intimately aware of Jamie and Wes' emotions, their past traumas, and how their actions are informed by those experiences. They're two people who genuinely care about each other, but are still figuring out how their lives fit together in an organic way, particularly in how they navigate a relationship with that shared harm behind them. It's a person learning how to let someone in, whose walls might not have been built to endure this kind of heartbreak again, and another figuring out that what he thought was his guaranteed life plan suddenly feels a lot more subject to uncertainty. Both are vulnerable in ways they haven't had to be before, and are not only learning how to cope, but help each other move through it... together. 

And, again. Spicy as hell. 

Four stars. 

SPL Book Bingo Square: "True Crime or Crime Fiction" 

Ripped Bodice Bingo: "We Have the Same Job"

Wolf at the Door, Charlie Adhara

The bodies keep stacking up at a remote state park, and Cooper Dayton's on the case to track down the killer for the BSI, a department of the FBI specializing in crimes of a... different nature. It's his first chance to prove himself on his own merit, away from his legendary partner; too bad he's been attached to the reserved and mysterious Oliver Park, who has his own paranormal perspectives to offer. Can the two work together to catch a killer? Or will Dayton's past come back to bite him... literally? 

This book was just... the happiest surprise. 

Take, for instance, the fact that for over half of its narrative, it reads straight out of a gritty crime procedural, like in a True Detective kind of way. A series of mysterious disappearances have been ravaging a tourist town, two unidentified corpses have been unearthed in a secluded forest, and yet another missing local seems to have heralded yet another death, if something isn't done in time to stop it. Cue the entrance of two polar opposite detectives, called to partner up across different departments, in order to collaborate on putting an end to the killings once and for all. 

The only difference that separates this from any other run-of-the-mill Thriller, is that it's actually, definitely, a Romance. The two detectives - cue the shock and awe - end up stripping down and getting REAL interdepartmental around the 62% mark through the book. 

Well, that, plus the fact that one of them is also a werewolf. 

That's right, this whole dark-and-dangerous tale also takes place in a world where not only are werewolves real, but there's a whole secret subdivision of the FBI dedicated solely to werewolf-related crimes. One of our lovebird detectives is a human, used to simply hauling in the nearest wolf to the crime in handcuffs; now, the nearest wolf is a hunky past-English-professor-turned-werewolf-Trustee-agent who he just can't seem to keep his own paws off of. 

And it's SMART. The entire thing is a well-written-and-carefully-structured metaphor, about conflicts between the greater justice system and persecuted populations, who have been historically forced under the thumb of unfair governmental prejudices. It's for anyone who's had to hide who they were and are. It's like every other person is either gay, or a person of color, or a werewolf, or all of the above. It's GREAT. 

I'm so glad I already own the sequel, because I don't know how I'd get through this Book Buying Ban if I didn't. I'm already planning it for my TBR for October, so I can enjoy it the week of my Birthday. 

Five stars. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo: "It Was Supposed to Be One Night" 

The Rake Gets Ravished, Sophie Jordan

After her dissolute, social-climbing, ne'er-do-well brother barters the whole of their family lands on a game of cards - literally betting the farm - during a drunken night out in London, Mercy decides to secure the deed back by breaking into the personal quarters of a gambling hell kingpin. She definitely didn't plan on distracting him with an unexpected night of seduction. And she certainly didn't account for him following her home. He claims he's only interested in protecting what's his, and she has her mind set on doing the same... but maybe what she should be protecting, is her heart. 

Okay. So. Talk about starting with a literal bang, and ending with a metaphorical whimper. 

This book got off to such a blistering start that I was giggling and kicking my feet in the air like a teenager at the back-and-forth banter. I read up to the 48% mark in one night, and went to bed completely won over by what was, at the time, blisteringly hot pacing that verged on the Erotica genre. 

Unfortunately, things were not as sexy in the light of day. It seems as though Jordan decided to do nearly the whole plot backwards: by having the main characters experience their hottest scene the second they meet each other, there's no way the tension or stakes are sustainable throughout the rest of the narrative. By the end of the novel, hearts are expected to flutter at the fact that they're kissing in bed, having finally made it to the happily-ever-morning-after for the first time? I don't think so. 

Additionally, by beginning on such a spicy note, it makes the main heroine seem a little flighty and disingenuous by the end of the novel. That goes double for when she catches her younger sister in the same compromising position she's indulged in numerous times throughout the plot already, and totally flips out; her 17-year-old sibling, whom she was responsible for raising, is totally warranted a bit of a teenage meltdown about it. 

Not that she's warranted to much else. Both of the heroine's siblings are utterly infuriating: Grace was undoubtably supposed to come across as a spirited and romance-minded menace of a young woman, but ended up an egregious flirt and an unrepentant brat, while Bede was so intolerable that up to about the 95% mark I genuinely thought that there was no possible way the book could have a happy ending without him dead (He ends up getting shipped off to New Zealand instead). 

Not to mention the hero's own threadbare excuses for pretty much any of his actions, which was also incredibly frustrating. 

Three stars. 

But that was last month; now, we're well into September, and I've had the same books staring at me from my coffee table since before I left for LA at the end of August. What on earth will I read next? 

Well, there are some OTHER Romance novels that require my attention...

Did you read any good Romances this summer? Let me know, in the comments below!

Summer Reading Challenge Pt. 3: What I Read in August!

Man, this summer has just been... a LOT. 

Hence why I haven't been able to muster up the ability to tell you about the end of my Summer Reading Challenges until we're nearly halfway through the month of September. I'm experiencing the brain scramblies, as a result of a pseudo marathon of travel and social engagements, and the only thing more ravaged than my mental health, to-do list and Fall planning, is my digestive system. Things have been full chaos city in my life for the last month or so, and some days it feels like the only tape binding my broken parts together is a combination of iced caramel coffees and the fact that I actually get to sleep in my own bed every night from here to the end of 2023. 

(I washed my bedding AND two week's worth of travel laundry yesterday. It took all day to get done, and when I went to bed last night, between those crisply-folded, freshly-laundered sheets, I truly felt the bone-deep-exhausting reward of self care. I nearly cried.)

But it's time to move on. Fall, in my mind, is already here, even though the calendar insists that it doesn't start until a week and a half from now, for some obviously incorrect reason. The local school district I volunteer with has already begun their academic year; friends have begun asking me what my plans are for Halloween and my 30th Birthday next month. This morning, the Dancing with the Stars cast list for this season was announced, and tonight, I'm headed to the local state fair to see one of my favorite country bands in concert with some of my cousins. 

Autumn has arrived. And yet, until I get this blogpost - and its inevitable successor, which we'll address in a second - published, August keeps hanging over my head like a disgruntled cloud that just wants to rain, already. 

So. Let's talk about August. 

What I Read in June

What I Read in July

The final month of Summer, stymied by a packed travel schedule but desperate to gain at least ONE Bingo before I resigned myself to September, I ended up reading EIGHT books... however. However! Only three of them were quote-unquote NORMAL books. 

With about ten days left in the month, I suffered something akin to a mental breakdown and read five Romance novels across five days, and ended up finding two of the best Romance novels I've read in the last few years. So. That's going to have to be a different kind of blogpost, you know? 

But I still have those three "normal" books that I read. I ended up being able to count two of the Romance novels on my regular Seattle Public Library Book Bingo Summer Reading Challenge, too, and altogether, I not only managed to get one Bingo... I got three! 

While I'm still busy trying to recover from the effort, why not read some of the reviews I wrote for them? 

Bingo Square: "Debut Essays or Short Stories"

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion, Jia Tolentino

A funny, self-deprecating - but nonetheless salient and well-researched - collection of personal essays, covering topics like reality television, coming of age in the Internet, and the wedding industrial complex, with a unique and feminist edge. 

The first time I attempted this dense, yet conversational, collection of essays, I was suffering from an extended panic attack while flying home alone from LA in October of '21. I had been mislead in the idea that it would make for beneficial vacation reading, but the jaded and often pessimistic discussions of gender and culture were only adding to my distress the higher we flew. I ended up bailing out 30 pages in, and decided to listen to the Beetlejuice musical cast album for the umpteenth time instead. 

It was only when I saw the square "Debut Essays" on my Summer Book Bingo card that I figured I would have to give this particular hardcover another chance. Even so, I absolutely dreaded returning to it. 

Then I saw it pop up on one of my social feeds, in an Instagram post shared by a friend, in a list of reads titled "Books to Read After Watching Barbie," and that comparison felt way more apt and appropriate than calling it a beach read. Barbie's gentle perspectives on constructions of femininity, impacts of the patriarchy, and coming of age in a complicated girlhood, felt salient to the topics discussed in the collection, and approaching it within that mindset made the whole thing feel far easier to digest. Instead of feeling overly dismissive or glib, the author's voice felt more like an extended vent session with a friend, after a particularly spirited Gender and Women's Studies quiz section. 

The fact that one of the final essays in the collection involved an exploration of the author's views on marriage felt particularly notable to me, as I was on vacation with my sibling, her partner (fiancé), and her partner's family, in celebration of the engagement (Yes, I did end up reading it on vacation after all). The conversations that resulted from me sharing quotes from the floor of our shared bedroom lost no degree of authority for all that they also made us laugh. 

It's complicated, being a woman. 

Four stars. 

Bingo Square: "Includes a Recipe"

Something Old, Something New, Tamar Adler

A joyful exploration and authoritative retrospective on vintage and antique recipes that a well-versed chef believes should find their way back into dinnertime rotation. 

I've been a part of the growing appreciation for Tamar Adler's impeccable first book - An Everlasting Meal - for several years now, including at a time when securing the elusive ten-year-old hardcovers felt impossible enough to consider "misplacing" the only one I could find (the solo copy on offer from our local library system. I have a paperback copy now, though, so don't worry for my immortal soul). The near cult fanaticism many feel for that installment in her canon of work made me giddy enough to pick up this next title shortly after its paperback release, then preserve it for the occasion where I could fully read it at my leisure, with a bundle of page flags nearby. 

The "Includes a Recipe" square on my Summer Book Bingo card certainly helped promote this decision. 

SOSN carries the same meditative elegance present in AEM, the same blissful confidence that you, too, can cook like this, punctuated by flashes of Adler's characteristic humor. The topics, however, couldn't be further from each other: whereas Everlasting's gastronomic perspectives make you feel like you will never waste a scrap of food ever again, SOSN dives into antiquated gustatory novelties with gusto. I have no room to talk - I literally have a monthly cooking newsletter dedicated to exorcising trapped recipes from decades-old cookbooks, myself - but seeing her glom onto recipes for aspic, souffles, and seafood served with a variety of surnames attached, did feel a little detached from her previous theses. 

What seemed unequivocally true, regardless, is that Adler seems to be having an excellent time while doing it. It doesn't quite live up to my levels of appreciation for its predecessor, but then again, very few selections of Food Writing do. I have a favorite within M.F.K. Fisher's ranks, as well, and the comparison feels worthy of merit. 

Three and a half stars. 

Bingo Square: "Trans or Nonbinary Author"

I Kissed Shara Wheeler, Casey McQuiston

After the popular and intelligent daughter of their private Christian high school's principal goes missing a few weeks before graduation, those she left behind - her boyfriend, the boy next door, and our main character, her closest rival for the valedictorian title - piece together a series of intricate clues she left behind, to figure out why she left... and where she's hiding now. 

I was an early adopter and fan of McQuiston's debut novel - Red, White and Royal Blue, which was also adapted into a very popular Amazon Prime movie this past summer - and have continued to be a fan of it in the years since... but their other novels haven't really interested me. One Last Stop seemed a tad convoluted, and this, I Kissed Shara Wheeler, trod a little too close to John Green's Paper Towns to capture my interest... something that, funny enough, the characters own up to the context of the story. 

However, the continued goading of my younger sister finally got me to commit (as talking about novels we have in common has become one of our favorite phone conversational topics now that she's established in California for good). And, of course, the Book Bingo square for a "Nonbinary Author" made for a compelling argument. And it was a title I already had on my shelves, thanks, of course, to the aforementioned sister who had abandoned it in my keeping.

To jump to the end, and provide some high-key spoilers, I was fairly disappointed. Because I was already acquainted with McQuiston's authorial voice and subject matter, most of the plot felt fairly predictable: in both an "obviously those two characters are in love with each other" and an "obviously those two other characters are in love with each other" kind of way. Obviously if the main character mentioned her penchant for "megabitch" villains who fall for the hero, then her archnemesis will be revealed to be a secret megabitch who's obsessed with her. Obviously. This all made each "plot twist" revelation the kind of thing that sent me pedaling backwards, thinking to myself, Wait, why is this a reveal? I thought we knew that already. 

Shara, for all that she was seemingly the focus of the entire novel, also felt bizarrely two-dimensional, like one of the Ashleys from Recess, or any other bitchy queen bee of the '90s or early '00s, crossed with the competitive streak of Tracy Flick. The final act conflict - the revelation that the principal had been taking bribes to alter peoples' grades - felt like McQuiston had simply popped on the news to determine how to resolve character conflicts, in ways that actually didn't end up meaningful to the overall narrative. Parts of the resolution felt unreasonable, or unrealistic. 

And yet, there were absolutely parts that made me laugh. I believe it's McQuiston's first YA attempt, which explains why the whole thing feels ripe for another Amazon Prime adaptation. I just might not watch that one. 

Two and a half stars. 

So, those are my August reviews. Except, of course, the five Romance reviews I read in the space of one week, which I'll talk about some time in the next few days... and the Paranormal Romance I DNF'd. That Big Box is due for another update soon, I think. 

Hopefully I'll manage to wrap up August sometime before October starts. 

What did you end up reading this summer? Any guesses for what some of those Romances are? Let me know, in the comments below!