let's talk about books, baby 📚

recommendations from me & from Shiv, plus a bonus playlist 🎧

I saw a post the other day about how we’re halfway through 2024 and I really didn’t know how to feel about that. In recent years, I’ve been working to untether myself from linear notions of time, particularly to the sense of obligation that often comes with Western measurements of not just time, but worth, productivity, achievement, etc. Unhooking from old obligations is no easy task, nor is it quite a “task,” exactly - more like a full-body-mind-and-soul undertaking. Personally, I have found spending time with a baby to be extremely helpful in this regard—this almost-eleven-month-old is one of my best teachers:

I know. Is he not just the yummiest?

Books have also been some of my best teachers and friends, their companionship a near-constant in my life; I started reading at a ridiculously early age, according to my mom, and I’ve never really stopped. Some periods in my life have been more book-filled than others, and ironically, when I was teaching (teaching English of all thing!), I found it hard to make as much time for reading as I wanted to, so I’ve prioritized my reading life since then. Thanks to the public library, I keep at least one new book on my Kindle and one audiobook cued up for the car at all times. Goddess bless public libraries & librarians, forever & ever, Amen.

from Houston’ brand-new Shannon Walker library, named for a NASA astronaut (and Rice University alum!)

So, though I’m trying not to put stock in arbitrary measurements of time, I did feel like this might be an enjoyable moment to look over the books I’ve read thus far in 2024 and share my favorites.

North Woods (Daniel Mason) - one of those rare books that, for me, lived up to the hype. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, this collection of linked stories centers around a plot of land (in the North Woods of what we now know as Massachusetts) and explores the intricacies of lives lived there: murders, betrayals, love, hunger, decay. I’m not doing the book justice, as it’s much more than the sum of its parts.

Birnam Wood (Eleanor Catton) - a wildly brilliant sneak attack of a book, in the sense that it stuck with me for days after I finished it. If you, like me, read & loved Catton’s first novel, The Luminaries, know that Birnam Wood is a very different beast: super-contemporary, environmental fiction that does an astonishing job of capturing the contradictions and confusions of modern life. Loosely based on Macbeth (hence the title), don’t expect a happy ending!

Land of Milk & Honey (C Pam Zhang) - I just finished this novel, with its astonishing premise. The narrator is a chef living in a near-future reality where Earth is facing famine, smog, and widespread species extinction. To escape both her personal troubles and the planet’s, she takes a job as private chef to a ultra-wealthy survivalist community living above the pollution (literally & figuratively) in Italy. Surprisingly, this book is as much an ode to the power of food and memory as it is an indictment of the notion that wealthy tech bros will save us (spoiler alert: they won’t.)

The Vaster Wilds (Lauren Groff) - this is my favorite of Groff’s works, and very different from her most famous novel, Fates and Furies. The protagonist of the book is a young girl fleeing from disease and famine at Jamestown Colony, but this text is not externally plot-driven; the real source of interest, for me anyway, is the internal journey this young girl goes on as she fights not only for her survival but her sense of autonomy and purpose. When I finished it, I thought “this book is a sacred text.”

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (James McBride) - my LORD can this man tell a story: a wonderfully fine, engaging, life-affirming story. Set in the 1920s-1930s, this novel follows the lives of the Black and Jewish residents of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Both groups are considered undesirable outsiders by the town’s “original” residents, and unlikely allyships form between certain families as a result. This book reminded me that an ordinary life well-lived is anything but ordinary.

Yellowface (R.F. Kuang) - hoo boy, some truth gets TOLD in this novel. I’m guessing that my experience with the publishing industry primed me to be a very invested reader of this book, but I honestly think that the themes touched on here are relatable for anyone who follows the contemporary zeitgeist and conversations around diversity, representation, and workplace equity. This is the kind of thriller that initially seems difficult to believe and gradually becomes totally believable.

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For the younger set, in case you are taking any family road trips this summer, and/or are looking for something to do with your kid that isn’t screen-related, I present to you some of Shiv Mehra’s favorite audiobooks. She is one month away from being 12, but these books have a wide listening age rage. I learned when I was teaching that kids can often listen to, enjoy, and comprehend audiobooks that are one or two levels above where they can comfortably read on their own. And on that note, as a writer & former English teacher - parent, audiobooks “count” as books! So do graphic novels! Let your kids read what they want to read!

All of the books shown here are the first in a series, so you get lots of bang for your buck if you find yourself drawn in!

Serafina and the Black Cloak (Robert Beatty) - Serafina lives in the Biltmore Mansion with her father who works as the estate’s handyman. As mysterious events begin to transpire, Serafina befriends the Vanderbilt’s young ward, Braaden, and the two team up to solve the mystery.

Legend (Marie Liu) - I got introduced to this series back when I was teaching 8th grade. This is a combo enemies-to-lovers romance set against a dystopian backdrop. Legend’s setting is a futuristic Los Angeles, the capital of a fledging Republic; the United States is no more. The protagonists of this tale, Day & June, come from quite literally the opposite sides of the tracks.

The League of Secret Heroes, Book One - Cape (Kate Hannigan) - This is 100% the kind of book I would have devoured myself around Shiv’s age. It’s both historical fiction and fantasy, which is such a fun combination—you’ve got young girls discovering that they are superheroes while living against the very real backdrop of the United States during World War II. In this way, you hear about rations and family members fighting abroad and internment camps while also following these new friends on their adventures. Super well-done.

Divergent (Veronica Roth) - Unless you’ve been living under a rock for a decade, you’ve almost certainly heard of this one. If you’ve seen the movies, I truly believe the books are much more interesting in their world building and the questions they pose about human nature. There have been some concerns raised in the book-verse about whether or not the relationship model in this text is one worth emulating; I think that’s an important question worth asking, and listening to this book together can offer natural openings for conversation regarding what make a healthy relationship!

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book One - The Sword of Summer (Rick Riordan) - Again, you’re undoubtedly familiar with Rick Riordan and at least some of his oeuvre, namely the Percy Jackson series, which was recently adapted into a Disney+ series (which everyone at my house LOVED.) Shiv and I have listened to every audiobook in the Percy Jackson-verse, and we recently discovered Magnus Chase, who I actually think I enjoy more than Percy (sshhh, don’t tell!) I was not expecting to be “into” a series about the Norse gods, but perhaps it’s due to Riordan’s maturity as a writer that I found myself being tempted to listen to these books when Shiv wasn’t even around! (She fussed at me about that, so I stopped.) In this series, you’ve got a Valkyrie who wears hijab and a genderfluid child of Loki, and all of it works, seamlessly, not as a gimmick but as genuine representation. I very much respect Riordan in this regard; he has demonstrated repeatedly his willingness to admit to mistakes when called out, as well as a willingness to learn and use his power/privilege for good. I’m a fan.

Legacy of Orisha, Book One - Children of Bone & Blood (Tomi Adeyemi) - Now is the perfect time to give this one a listen, because the third book is coming out in ten days! I listened to this on my own first and sharing about it piqued Shiv’s interest, so we started all over again together. This is a powerful coming-of-age story filled with magic, examinations of class privilege/power, depictions of powerful family ties, and romance, all woven together in an imagined society where the gods of Yoruban mythology are real. Bonus: the narrator for the audiobooks, Bahni Turpin, has the *most* amazing voice.

Please, please share any book + audiobook recommendations that you have! And/or let me know if you’ve read + listened to any of the above. Differing opinions welcome :)

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend ahead - xx, Nishta