snapshot 8.4

currently reading: last week I didn’t get to read as much as I’d hoped, so I may have gone overboard this weekend, reading from 4 different books at once. (ADD much? Yes, thank you.)

I started listening to the new Donna Andrews, which anyone who pays any attention here knows that I rave about her books once or twice a year. Between a Flock and a Hard Place sees Meg overseeing a reality show that is remodeling a local house. But before they can start the filming, they have to evict the flock of wild turkeys that some unhappy local brought to the front yard of the remodel. That’s the start, and I am already all in. Not that I had any doubt about that. I adore Andrews’ writing style, her humor, and her characters, so I was holding on to this one for a few minutes, for when I needed a pick-me-up.

I’m also listening to Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend. A man decides to take his girlfriend to a new island resort that’s been advertised all over social media. It’s their first real vacation together, and he wants to make the most of it. But the sun melts. Implodes? Explodes? He describes it looking like the sun just melted from the sky. And now they’re stuck on this island, no communications to anyone not on the island, and they have to wok together to figure out a way to get back home in a cold, dark world. But while this sounds like a depressing book, there is a lot of snark and humor to add some lightness and texture to the story. I am not a fan of dystopian novels, so you know this one just doesn’t have that dark, hopeless overtone. I mean, it’s there in the title. There is a playfulness here, and I am enjoying it. I can’t wait to see what happens with this one!

I have dipped my toes into There’s Nothing Wrong with Her, where Vita, a young woman who works as a producer on a podcast, has fallen into a chronic illness that keeps her in bed for days at a time. No one, not even her doctor boyfriend, can tell her what’s wrong, so she spends her days falling in and out of The Pit, where the worst of the pain and delirium consumes her, and talking to her fish Whitney Houston and the ghost of a Renaissance poet she studied while living in Italy for a while. I’m not 100% sure where this is going, but it’s certainly interesting!

And lastly, I’m reading The Faculty Lounge, about the teachers and administrators at a high school in Texas. Each character has a story that feeds into the greater story of the school year and why the principal is under close scrutiny by the school board. I am loving this one, and I will be talking lots more about it tomorrow.

up next: I think it’s about time to talk about the cookbooks that are coming out later this year. Alex Guarnaschelli has Italian American Forever, and Bobby Flay has Chapter One, his collection of iconic recipes. There is a new bread cookbook from the King Arthur Baking Company, as well as a few other bread cookbooks that look amazing. There is Ottolenghi Comfort, and Martha Stewart is back with Martha: The Cookbook, 100 of her favorite recipes. One of my favorite Great British Bake Off contestants, Kim-Joy, has a new baking cookbook called Bake Joy. Julia Turshen has What Goes with What for dinner help. Actors Eva Longoria has My Mexican Kitchen and Matty Matheson has Soups, Salads, Sandwiches. Rose Levy Beranbaum is updating The Cake Bible with a 35th Anniversary Edition. And if you’re a foodie who doesn’t cook, you can always go with Stanley Tucci’s What I Ate in One Year or Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens. So many delicious books! Get your Christmas lists ready, and make sure Santa knows just which ones of these to stuff in your stocking. (For me, I may need a bigger stocking this year!)