CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph’s Comments (group member since Nov 27, 2018)

CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph’s comments from the Around the Year in 52 Books group.

There's a lot of options. I'm leaning towards Becoming a Man: The Story of a Transition but also considering Chasing Chopin: A Musical Journey Across Three Centuries, Four Countries, and a Half-Dozen Revolutions. Sweet on You: A Filipino Romance is another possibility, or Being Mary Bennet.

There are so many choices for this. I'll probably finish reading Paper Bullets: Two Artists Who Risked Their Lives to Defy the Nazis. But would recommend Murder at the Brightwell or The Right Sort of Man or The Listening House, if you'd like historical mystery. The Listening House and The Honjin Murders were both actually written in the 1930s and have been republished.

I'm planning to do contemporary romances for this challenge. definitely One Day to Fall, set in South Africa and written by a South African author. probably Sweet on You: A Filipino Romance, set in the Phillipines, and Accidentally Engaged, set in Canada, both of which also have a food theme.

I'm currently leaning towards Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family, although I think Husband Material comes out in 2022 too.

I'll probably buddy read Questland with my husband, who really loved Ready Player One and is willing to give this a try.

I'm leaning towards Feeding the Soul (Because It's My Business): Finding Our Way to Joy, Love, and Freedom but also considering A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce. if not, there are so many contemporary romance novels right now that focus on baking or cooking, like Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake.

I'm trying to decide between A Master of Djinn or The Conductors or The Library of the Dead. Defy or Defend has also been sitting around in my e-reader.

One of the protagonists in The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows is named Agatha. There's also a character named Arvind in Dava Shastri's Last Day. and Abby Maslin's memoir is Love You Hard: A Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love.

I'm considering How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days or I Was a Stripper Librarian: From Cardigans to G-strings or A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town or The Widows of Malabar Hill or The Autobiography of Malcolm X or Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins: A Trip Through the World of Animal Intoxication or A Short History of Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce or English and British History in 100 Bite-Size Chunks or Best Women's Erotica of the Year, Volume 7 or The Trouble with Hating You or Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI or The Brightest Star in Paris or I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation or The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs or The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows. so basically I have no idea yet.

I've been meaning to read Sea State: A Memoir. Either that or To the Lake: A Balkan Journey of War and Peace.

I'm looking forward to Bet on It.

I'm planning to read The Devil's Harvest: A Ruthless Killer, a Terrorized Community, and the Search for Justice in California's Central Valley since not only is the Devil a card, but the book also deals with Justice and Death and Judgement, which are Major Arcana as well. True crime about a very prolific serial killer for hire in the Central California agricultural region.

It's not original to say Murderbot, but I've been stretching the series out slowly for maximum enjoyment, so I'll probably read Rogue Protocol for this.

I've picked Dava Shastri's Last Day. The concept seems clever.

I've picked Lakesedge, a YA gothic fantasy/ horror with a lot of LGBTQ representation.

There are so many good books to choose from! But I think I'm going to go with All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. it's a very diverse/ intersectional feminist collection of cautiously hopeful writings from different authors.

I'm planning to read The Book of Rosy: A Mother's Story of Separation at the Border. The author is Guatemalan.

Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best has a race car on the cover that looks exactly like the Monopoly race car token. it's high stakes European car racing against the Nazis. it sounds exciting!

I'm thinking I'll read Finntopia: What We Can Learn from the World's Happiest Country. I was also considering The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Phoenix Park Murders That Stunned Victorian England or English and British History in 100 Bite-Size Chunks, American Cheese: An Indulgent Odyssey Through the Artisan Cheese World or American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears or American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World But Failed Its People.
I also highly recommend For the Love of April French if you enjoy contemporary romance.

I had a really difficult time finding something that struck my fancy for this, but I think I'll be reading The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design, which is all about infrastructure, which often involves glass (and glass is invisible too). This is from a podcast, which I tried but had too many commercials, so I am hoping to be able to enjoy this format.