just finished: An adorable kids’ graphic novel called Lola’s Super Club #1: My Dad Is a Super Secret Agent. It’s colorful, whimsical, and the characters are just too much fun. There are actually two stories in the book, so you get two stories of Lola in her cape and tutu as well as her cat Hot Dog, a shark, a couple of alligators, two skeletons, and a dinosaur with the ability to expand (which causes his shorts to become a hysterically funny thong). It’s as fun as it sounds! Also, I only have a little over an hour left on The Initial Insult, so I’m going to say that’s close enough. It is a crazy YA thriller about two best friends who had a falling out and what happened to cause it. Told in alternating perspectives, you get to hear about what happened to Tress and Felicity, all their secrets, all their desires, all their mistakes. And there is a roadside zoo. This one is by Mindy McGinnis, and it’s the second book of hers I’ve gotten to read (the first one I read was Heroine). She writes complex stories with realistic characters in genuine pain. They are intense! Beautiful, but intense.

currently reading: I have just started romcom Yes & I Love You, about a blogger in New Orleans with a big personality online but in reality struggles with social anxiety and Tourette’s Syndrome. I’m also ankle deep in thriller Too Good To Be True, about a man who proposes to his (younger) girlfriend, who is very much in love with him. But as you read his therapy journal, you find out he’s already married and can’t help but wonder what he’s up to. It’s engrossing and wonderful, and you should watch for it out this week. I’m also still reading Andrew McCarthy’s Brat, because I’m loving it and wanting it to last. And I got a surprise galley from Scholastic this week: a middle grade book called Shoe Wars. It’s the tale of Ruby and Bear and their father, who works for horrible Wendy Wedge in her shoe factory. The competition for The Golden Shoe Award is coming up, and Wendy will not lose. She has determined to steal the family’s Flying Shoes so she can win, but Ruby and Bear won’t stand for that. It will be a fight to the end, and an adorably charming tale told with lots of dynamic illustrations and clever writing. Watch for this one Tuesday. It’s lots of fun!

up next: It’s cookbook season again, and I already have 3 new ones coming out in March to devour. Fans of Modern Family or Food Network may recognize Jesse Tyler Ferguson. He and Julie Tanous have written Food Between Friends, and it comes out March 9. On March 16, barbecue expert Rodney Scott has a new cookbook out (Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ), and The New York Times’ Sam Sifton is releasing No-Recipe Recipes, which sounds amazing! You may remember Sifton from last year’s See You on Sunday, which I loved, and I can’t wait to dive into this one too!