I thought I’d check in and see what you’re reading lately! I’ve just finished writing my third book (yayyy!) and I’m not reading a lot right now. So, I’d love recommendations! Fiction! Non-fiction! I’ll take it all!
What are you reading, and what’s it teaching you (if anything)?
I’m preparing for ordination as a deacon for The Episcopal Church so my reading has been centered around that. But…..two weeks ago I took a much needed trip to NYC & grabbed this amazing book off my shelf: Native. I purchased it several months ago but it wasn’t the right time. I Devoured the book on the plane, with hot tea in the morning & on the subway. It’s happily marked up & highlighted. It’s breathtaking, Kaitlin. It touched me deeply. Thank You
I just got Andre Henry’s book All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep and also reading The Altar Within from Juliet Diaz - both are 10/10 definitely recommend!
Going through Rebecca Solnit books I haven't read yet, currently listening to Whose Story is This? and going through the fictional/reflective novels in the Sensible Shoes series by Sharon Garlough Brown.
Just finished The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd and currently reading Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson although I think I’ll add in some fiction such as Piranesi.
My three right now are: hooked, a memoir by Sutton Foster; Codependent No More; and Manhattan Beach. I try to balance something light, a non fiction learn-about-myself kind of pick, and then one that's been recommended by a friend for our virtual book club.
I just finished Skye Falling, a novel by Mia McKenzie, a Black queer author. It was sooooo good. I don’t read a lot of fiction, but it was perfect. Smart, hilarious, lots of social commentary tucked in. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Just finished reading the 5am club by Robin Sharma, very interesting read about reframing our daily routines. Now reading Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown and also Think Again by Adam Grant.
I just finished *The Trees* by Percival Everett which is....not for everyone (trigger warning: it's a novel about injustice and the legacy of lynching) but also, whew, powerful. Since it's a farce, it also is sometimes funny which is, I know, hard to imagine but it works. When I think of it now, I literally still get chills. I've recently loved *The Sentence* by Louise Erdrich and *The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois* by Honoree Fannone Jeffers.
I love these questions! I just finished Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, and the YA novel Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. I loved reading all of these. Now I am reading Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall and Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout.
Just finished This Boy We Made by Taylor Harris - an absolute study in liminality. And Kate Bowler's Good Enough: 40ish Devotional for a Life of Imperfection - cannot recommend Kate enough!!!. And Killers of the Flower Moon - The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI after a trip through OK. Devestating realities that I had never known about.
So finished Native a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m reading Opening Israel’s Scripture (Ellen Davis), Come Out My People (Wes Howard-Brook) and Stand Your Ground (Kelly Brown Douglas).
I'm reading Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy (read by Saskia Maarleveld). It's a tender, raw story about wolves, family, abuse, pain, and hope for reversing the damage we have done to the earth. (Trigger warnings for domestic abuse, sexual assault, and others.)
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard. How trees in forests are interconnected. Incredible. How she used Eurocentric science (and fought the system) to show how Amazing our tree kin are.
I’m reading Aubrey Gordon’s What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat and just finished Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility and Karen Joy Fowler’s Booth.
I highly recommend Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed. He’s such a beautiful writer, so it’s a history book that feels like poetry. There were so many mind-blowing moments in which I learned things happened so much differently in the US Civil War and reconstruction and periods than I was raised to believe. It’s particularly poignant in light of all the hullabaloo over CRT today. Like, the extent to which we as white people have rewritten history in order to avoid ever having to face any sense of systemic accountability is just mind-boggling to me. And we are STILL doing it. Gah!
I just finished You Are the Medicine by Asha Frost. It was such a powerful and tender read as I navigate chronic health issues and was so affirming to the ways I’ve been seeking ancestral healing and spiritual practices recently.
Some of the top books I've read this year have been "Body Work" by Melissa Febos, "The World Cannot Give" by Tara Isabella Burton and "The Seed Keeper" by Diane Wilson. All so good and all SO different!
I’m mostly reading out loud to my wife, presently the Valley trilogy by Helen Bryan. But I did read Native recently and was left with a few questions.
I’m older and white, so I was a little disturbed that Christian evangelism was cast as colonization (including the clear implication that it would be better to leave the “unreached” undisturbed). Likewise, I was disturbed at my perception that any attempt at establishing a moral standard for the Christian life is an exercise in supremacy of some kind.
I recognize that Christianity has been used as a excuse for colonialism and supremacy, but I’m concerned that you have used too broad of a brush.
Congratulations!! Can’t wait to read it. I recently finished a 2-book series, The Golem and the Jinni, and now I’m reading Sandman Book 1, my first foray into Graphic Novels. May have been a mistake - I’m totally hooked! For work, I’m reading The Grieving Brain by Mary Frances O’Connor.
Recently finished Outlove by Julie Rodgers. One of the best books I've read from LGBTQ perspective. Also recently finished The Body Keeps the Score; took me months to read, but it is so insightful and presents several intriguing mental health healing alternatives. Bewilderment by Richard Powers just took me out. Such lovely, complex characters.
I'm currently reading "Shattered (Trauma & Grief) - 2022 Hospice Foundation of America/Living with Grief series (for education purposes) and Make Me an Instrument of your Peace (by Kent Nerburn)
- listening to Dante Stewart’s Shoutin in the Fire. I especially love hearing his voice, since I grew up in SC, too.
- reading My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and Mending our Hearts and Bodies. The concept of metabolizing trauma in our bodies is helpful insight, particularly that there is different trauma for Black and white folks, and trauma specific to working in law enforcement.
- will finish Solnit’s Hope in the Dark tonight. It’s helpful history.
- making my way through First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. I am appreciating the naming conventions of Native culture as applied to this text.
- starting Part of Your World, Abby Jimenez’s new romance novel that just came out yesterday. I’ve really enjoyed her first three books.
I'm doing some re-reading, started the Broken Earth series again with The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison - i love it so. Am listening to Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey on audiobook. And for new am reading Louise Erdrich's The Sentence - I'm desperately trying to savor it and not just plow through it . For non-fiction I'm reading The Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom by Martin Hägglund.
Just before Easter, I completed Easter Stories, Classic Tales for the Holy Season…a book from the UMW Reading List in 2020. I just finished Longbourn by Jo Baker today. The Paris Library by Janet Charles is next in my stack. Nurturing my interest in England…and preparing for an upcoming trip there, is Hill House Living by Paula Sutton. I am reading more than one book at a time.
I’m preparing for ordination as a deacon for The Episcopal Church so my reading has been centered around that. But…..two weeks ago I took a much needed trip to NYC & grabbed this amazing book off my shelf: Native. I purchased it several months ago but it wasn’t the right time. I Devoured the book on the plane, with hot tea in the morning & on the subway. It’s happily marked up & highlighted. It’s breathtaking, Kaitlin. It touched me deeply. Thank You
I just got Andre Henry’s book All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep and also reading The Altar Within from Juliet Diaz - both are 10/10 definitely recommend!
Going through Rebecca Solnit books I haven't read yet, currently listening to Whose Story is This? and going through the fictional/reflective novels in the Sensible Shoes series by Sharon Garlough Brown.
I’m reading the gifts of imperfection by brene brown and listening to faith after doubt by Brian mclaren.
Just finished The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd and currently reading Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson although I think I’ll add in some fiction such as Piranesi.
My three right now are: hooked, a memoir by Sutton Foster; Codependent No More; and Manhattan Beach. I try to balance something light, a non fiction learn-about-myself kind of pick, and then one that's been recommended by a friend for our virtual book club.
1. How to Heal from Emotionally Immature Parents
2. The Handbook of Interpersonal Neurobiology
3. The Wild Edge of Sorrow
4. The Good Guys Guide to Great Sex
5. Co-Parenting with a Narcissistic Ex
Good stuff
I just finished Skye Falling, a novel by Mia McKenzie, a Black queer author. It was sooooo good. I don’t read a lot of fiction, but it was perfect. Smart, hilarious, lots of social commentary tucked in. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I just started God is a Black Woman by Christena Cleveland and it's so good!
Lessons From the Edge by Marie Yovanovitch. I notice how good it is to read about someone who has integrity.
Just finished reading the 5am club by Robin Sharma, very interesting read about reframing our daily routines. Now reading Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown and also Think Again by Adam Grant.
I just finished *The Trees* by Percival Everett which is....not for everyone (trigger warning: it's a novel about injustice and the legacy of lynching) but also, whew, powerful. Since it's a farce, it also is sometimes funny which is, I know, hard to imagine but it works. When I think of it now, I literally still get chills. I've recently loved *The Sentence* by Louise Erdrich and *The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois* by Honoree Fannone Jeffers.
I love these questions! I just finished Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, and the YA novel Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. I loved reading all of these. Now I am reading Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall and Oh, William by Elizabeth Strout.
Just finished This Boy We Made by Taylor Harris - an absolute study in liminality. And Kate Bowler's Good Enough: 40ish Devotional for a Life of Imperfection - cannot recommend Kate enough!!!. And Killers of the Flower Moon - The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI after a trip through OK. Devestating realities that I had never known about.
So finished Native a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m reading Opening Israel’s Scripture (Ellen Davis), Come Out My People (Wes Howard-Brook) and Stand Your Ground (Kelly Brown Douglas).
I'm reading Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy (read by Saskia Maarleveld). It's a tender, raw story about wolves, family, abuse, pain, and hope for reversing the damage we have done to the earth. (Trigger warnings for domestic abuse, sexual assault, and others.)
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard. How trees in forests are interconnected. Incredible. How she used Eurocentric science (and fought the system) to show how Amazing our tree kin are.
I’m reading Aubrey Gordon’s What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat and just finished Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility and Karen Joy Fowler’s Booth.
I highly recommend Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed. He’s such a beautiful writer, so it’s a history book that feels like poetry. There were so many mind-blowing moments in which I learned things happened so much differently in the US Civil War and reconstruction and periods than I was raised to believe. It’s particularly poignant in light of all the hullabaloo over CRT today. Like, the extent to which we as white people have rewritten history in order to avoid ever having to face any sense of systemic accountability is just mind-boggling to me. And we are STILL doing it. Gah!
Fortune by Lisa Sharon Harper. Breathtaking read!
I just finished You Are the Medicine by Asha Frost. It was such a powerful and tender read as I navigate chronic health issues and was so affirming to the ways I’ve been seeking ancestral healing and spiritual practices recently.
Some of the top books I've read this year have been "Body Work" by Melissa Febos, "The World Cannot Give" by Tara Isabella Burton and "The Seed Keeper" by Diane Wilson. All so good and all SO different!
I'm reading Four Hundred Souls and reading Radical Acceptance
The Creativity Leap by Natalie Nixon and Recovering Racist by Idelette McVicker (thanks to you, KAITLIN!)
I’m mostly reading out loud to my wife, presently the Valley trilogy by Helen Bryan. But I did read Native recently and was left with a few questions.
I’m older and white, so I was a little disturbed that Christian evangelism was cast as colonization (including the clear implication that it would be better to leave the “unreached” undisturbed). Likewise, I was disturbed at my perception that any attempt at establishing a moral standard for the Christian life is an exercise in supremacy of some kind.
I recognize that Christianity has been used as a excuse for colonialism and supremacy, but I’m concerned that you have used too broad of a brush.
Congratulations!! Can’t wait to read it. I recently finished a 2-book series, The Golem and the Jinni, and now I’m reading Sandman Book 1, my first foray into Graphic Novels. May have been a mistake - I’m totally hooked! For work, I’m reading The Grieving Brain by Mary Frances O’Connor.
Recently finished Outlove by Julie Rodgers. One of the best books I've read from LGBTQ perspective. Also recently finished The Body Keeps the Score; took me months to read, but it is so insightful and presents several intriguing mental health healing alternatives. Bewilderment by Richard Powers just took me out. Such lovely, complex characters.
I'm currently reading "Shattered (Trauma & Grief) - 2022 Hospice Foundation of America/Living with Grief series (for education purposes) and Make Me an Instrument of your Peace (by Kent Nerburn)
- listening to Dante Stewart’s Shoutin in the Fire. I especially love hearing his voice, since I grew up in SC, too.
- reading My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and Mending our Hearts and Bodies. The concept of metabolizing trauma in our bodies is helpful insight, particularly that there is different trauma for Black and white folks, and trauma specific to working in law enforcement.
- will finish Solnit’s Hope in the Dark tonight. It’s helpful history.
- making my way through First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. I am appreciating the naming conventions of Native culture as applied to this text.
- starting Part of Your World, Abby Jimenez’s new romance novel that just came out yesterday. I’ve really enjoyed her first three books.
I'm doing some re-reading, started the Broken Earth series again with The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison - i love it so. Am listening to Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey on audiobook. And for new am reading Louise Erdrich's The Sentence - I'm desperately trying to savor it and not just plow through it . For non-fiction I'm reading The Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom by Martin Hägglund.
Just before Easter, I completed Easter Stories, Classic Tales for the Holy Season…a book from the UMW Reading List in 2020. I just finished Longbourn by Jo Baker today. The Paris Library by Janet Charles is next in my stack. Nurturing my interest in England…and preparing for an upcoming trip there, is Hill House Living by Paula Sutton. I am reading more than one book at a time.