Book Review : Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas
Rating: Unrated | 320 pages | Blink YA | Contemporary | Release Date: 03/03/20
Mayra Cuevas debut is a coming of age novel for fans of decadent food and charming European cities. Seventeen-year-old Isa has a passion for French cooking, which has kept her afloat now that she has left Chicago for the scenic coastal city of Nantes, France with her father and his new wife–the woman he cheated on her mom with.
The situation is a little awkward but it’s all worth it when Isa is accepted into a cutthroat culinary program where failure is not an option. She is determined to keep her focus– even if her family’s new charming young house guest proves to be a bit of a distraction.
…Audiobook Review: Memorial Drive by Natasha Tretheway
5 hours 9 min. | Harper Audio | Non-Fiction | Release Date: 7/28/2020
I’ve finally been in the mood for nonfiction again and picked this one up while browsing the new release shelf with no context whatsoever. I skim read it was about a murder and thought it was maybe true crime (it’s not). I didn’t even look at the cover long enough to realize Tretheway is a Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate.
Memorial Drive is a literary eulogy to Tretheway’s mother, who was shot and killed by her abusive ex-husband in 1985 while Tretheway was away at college. The book begins with Tretheway’s experiences growing up as a biracial girl in 1960s South and she takes us along through triumphs and heartbreaks as she and her mother make their way to Atlanta for a new life together.
Tretheway has a Pulitzer Prize in poetry so it’s no surprise that the writing is amazing. There is a large section where the narrative voice switches to the second person and it is done flawlessly. I was listening to this on audio and it took me a minute to even realized she’d switched.
…Book Review: A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison
Rating: Unrated | 448 pages | Inkyard Press | Contemporary | Release Date: 01/07/2020
This book has a lot of mixed reviews and I think part of it is because it has a premise I thought we left behind in the early 2000s. You know– a kid from the hood is dropped into an affluent neighborhood where he finds redemption and peace through writing.
In A Love Hate Thing Tyson Trice is taken in by family friends after a horrific tragedy and reunited with his childhood best friend Nandy. Nandy wants nothing to do with Trice and makes snap judgments about him because he was raised in the hood, while Trice sees her as the spoiled popular girl who only thinks of herself. To rekindle their friendship these stubborn teens have to get past their prejudices and learn to trust each other again.
The Weekly Share Vol. 2
Welcome to The Weekly Share! Inspired by some of our favorite content creators we are going to end the week on a positive note– by sharing some of our favorite bookish happenings, links, recommendations and book deals from the week.
Bookish Happenings
Julie Moody-Freeman’s two part interview with retired romance editor and founder of RWA Vivian Stephens on The Black Romance podcast is a must-listen for romance readers. It’s fascinating to hear her experiences with romance publishing in the 80s.
OprahMag.com created this great interactive guide to Black owned independent bookstores, I’ve already placed an order in at Loyalty !
Aiden Thomas’ Cemetery Boys debuted on the NYT Bestsellers list, making it the first fictional YA book by an openly trans author to hit the list. It has also been longlisted for the National Book Award,
Links & Reccomendations
When it comes to at-home workouts I want ones that are fun and never feel boring or repetitive. This week I thought I’d recommend four of my favorite at-home workouts – Kat
- Caleb Marshall’s Lady Gaga Stupid Love Dance Workout
- Pop Sugar’s 30 Minute Tabata with Ranier Pollard
- Madfit’s 15 Minute 90s Dance Party Workout
- Pop Sugar’s 30 Minute No Equipment Barre
I just discovered Target Threshold’s Wax Melts. They are affordable fire-safe ways to fill a room with fragrance plus they have a ton of dupe Bath and Body Works scents.
Looking for new podcasts? I’ve recently added Audibly Addicted and the Audiobook Lovin Podcast to my rotation of work from home podcast, both feature in-depth interviews and conversations with some of your favorite romance audiobook narrators. – Jess
Book Deals
Audiobook Review: The New David Espinoza by Fred Aceves
Audiobook length: 7 hours 50 min. | Publisher: Harper Audio | Genre: YA Contemporary| Release Date: 2/11/20
Jess gave a glowing review to Fred Aceves debut, The Closest I’ve Come, making me particularly eager to pick up his sophomore novel.
After a video of 17-year-old David Espinoza getting slapped unconscious goes viral, David is too embarrassed to ever show his face around town. He’s tired of being bullied for how thin he is and spends the summer of his senior year working out to attain a physique like his favorite action movie stars. He joins a bodybuilding gym where he is slowly pulled into the insanely toxic community of professional bodybuilding and steroids.
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