Books Read January 2022: 1-14

This might be the least number of books I've read in a month. I had one week with family in Myrtle Beach, the first time traveling with kids and also cooking meals so I found I had even less time to read. We returned home to one child in covid quarantine and another in virtual school for the week for covid/weather issues at the school. I was also dipping into some Russian novels that won't be reflected yet, but do take some time.

The Ozeki was the one book I had started in 2021, and my top five-star read was the Shafak.

A gentle reminder that all reviews can still be seen on my Goodreads profile (the review will be with the book; the format will be specified unless it's in print.) And the books with green outlines are my 5-star reads for the month!

1. The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2. Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. The Possessed by Elif Batuman ⭐️⭐️⭐️
4. You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5. The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
6. The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
7. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
8. An Evening with Claire by Gaito Gazdanov, translated by Bryan Karetnyk ⭐️⭐️⭐️
9. Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood by DaMaris B. Hill ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
10. Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood, narrated by Emma Link ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
11. Anna Karenina Fix by Viv Groskop ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
12. Sticker by  Henry Hoke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
13. Colored: The Unsung Life of Claudette Colvin by Emilie Plateau, illustrated by Emilie Plateau ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
14. Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 Books read: 14

Audiobook: 1
Ebook: 9
Print: 4

Library: 6
TBR: 1
Purchased 2022: 0
Review copy: 7

Around the World: 5
Melanated Reader's 20 Books by Black Women: 2
Reading Envy Russia: 3
Sword and Laser: 1
Tournament of Books: 2

Reading Envy 238: Inanimate Objects with Courtney

Courtney is back and before we jump into discussion of books we've read and liked recently, we discuss how our reading has changed over time. 

Download or listen via this link:
Reading Envy 238: Inanimate Objects

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Books discussed:

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
Apple Island: Or the Truth about Teachers by Douglas Evans

Other mentions: 

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Picnic in the Ruins by Todd Robert Peterson
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink
Ragnarok
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone
Seeds of Blood and Beauty by Ann Lindsay
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
The Emotional Life of the Toddler by Alicia F. Lieberman
The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature by Viv Groskop

Related episodes: 

Episode 179 - Think of the Bees with Courtney Burson
Episode 222 - Minty Fresh with Courtney

Stalk us online:

Courtney at Goodreads
Courtney is @conservio on Litsy
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy



All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Reading Envy 216 - Eloquent and Elegant with Kala

Kala and Jenny meet again about a year after our previous conversation to chat about books we've read lately, from presidential memoirs to romance to books that haven't had enough attention. We tackle backlogs and bookstacks along the way.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 216: Eloquent and Elegant.

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Books discussed: 

 

A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon
The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard
Telephone by Percival Everett
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Other mentions:

Becoming by Michelle Obama
Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton
We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny by Rebekah Weatherspoon
The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev, translated by Antonina W. Bouis

Related episodes:

Episode 096 - Not Without Hope with Yanira Ramirez
Episode 143 - Reading the Pain with Kala
Episode 151 - The Stories They Tell with Karen
Episode 184 - Theme Night at Book Club with Kala
Episode 213 - Funicular Reads with Bianca

Stalk us online:

Kala on Twitter
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Kala on Facebook
Kala's blog, Reader then Blogger
Kala is @ReaderthenBlogger on Instagram
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Reading Envy 215: Lovely Pile with Lola

I hope you have been enjoying our string of new guests, four out of the last five. Lola talks about her life as a "serial book clubber" and shares books she's read and loved lately.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 215: Lovely Pile.

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Books discussed: 

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Days in the Caucasus by Banine, translated by Anne Thompson-Ahmadova
Deacon King Kong by James McBride

Other mentions:

Elizabeth Acevedo
Make Me a World imprint
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson (memoir mentioned)
Normal People by Sally Rooney
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Lisa Dillman
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
We the Animals by Justin Torres
Santino Fontana
Armie Hammer
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene; read by Colin Firth
Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Schaffer
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The January Children by Safia Elhillo
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Bahni Turpin
Rosamund Pike
Thandi Newton
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell
Rich & Pretty by Rumaan Alam
The Need by Helen Philips
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Beneath the Keep by Erika Johansen

Related episodes:

Episode 051 - Dreaming in Books with Karen
Episode 067 - Rain and Readability with Ruth(iella)
Episode 147 - Bonus Poetry Recommendations with Lauren
Episode 202 - Jacket Flap with Chris and Emily

Stalk us online:

Lola at Goodreads
Lola is @ferociousreader on Instagram and @Lola on Litsy
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Reading Envy 214: Extreme Hiking with Mina

New guest Mina speaks with Jenny about her 2021 reading goals, a book club with an amazing life of its own, and books we've read and liked recently.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 214: Extreme Hiking.

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Books discussed: 

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce
The Liar's Dictionary by Eley Williams
Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderesch
32 Yolks by Eric Ripert
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay

Other mentions:

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
Family Ingredients (PBS show)
Example of extreme hiking - Waipio Valley
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Article mentioned about Piranesi and quarantine
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Pop Sugar Reading Challenge
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
Scrawl Books
KCRW Bookworm - Douglas Stuart
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Telephone by Percival Everett

Related episodes:

Episode 084 - A Worthy Tangent with Bryan Alexander
Episode 102 - The Reading Women Reading Envy Crossover Episode
Episode 183 - Birthing Rabbits with Jessica
Episode 192 - Sly Milieu with Thomas
Episode 211 - Rereads and Romance with Kim

Stalk us online:

Mina at Goodreads
Mina is @minamina0907 on Instagram
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Reading Envy 211: Rereads and Romance with Kim

The first regular episode of 2021 kicks off with a new guest - Kim. She talks about how she made it through 2020 by doing a lot of rereading books with disaster magnets, rich brothers, and fire cats. Jenny pitches in with one recent and one deep backlist title. We may fawn over Portland a little as well.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 211: Rereads and Romance.

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Books discussed: 

Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
The Blue Jay's Dance: A Birth Year by Louise Erdrich
Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid

Other mentions:

Powell's Books
Annie Bloom's Books
Silvia Moreno-Garcia (the book referenced is Mexican Gothic)
Book Riot - Get Booked Podcast
Currently Reading Podcast
From the Front Porch Podcast
Home Cooking Podcast
Pop Sugar Reading Challenge
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
Valdemar Series by Mercedes Lackey
Quan Barry makes a powerpoint
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
Willa Cather
Knitting in the City series by Penny Reid
Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid
Truth or Beard by Penny Reid
Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey
Burke's Law by Brian Burke
The City of Brass by S.A. Charkaborty

Related episodes:

Episode 119 - Bread and Butter Writing with Paula
Episode 181 - An Awkward Woman with Yanira Ramirez
Episode 184 - Theme Night at Book Club with Kala
Episode 190 - The Good Life with Alex

Stalk us online:

Kim at Goodreads
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors.

Review: We Ride Upon Sticks

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"It was high school. A sea of adolescence streamed by, each of us in our own way trying to both fit in and stand out...so what if there was an open flame burning in her locker? It was nothing compares with the dark storms secretly and openly raging inside each and every one of us."

I was only in elementary school in the 1980s so I'm too young for actual nostalgia and too old for retro nostalgia. If you like girl power and 80s nostalgia, this is the book for you. The novel is about the 1989 Danvers high school field hockey team, and their best season ever thanks to ... witchcraft? It is campy and fun yet I wasn't the right reader for this book. It happens. I don't want to punish the book or author for it though. I would recommend it to a lot of different kinds of readers, actually, just not myself.

View all my reviews

Review: Untold Night and Day

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"Just finish it," I chided myself. "It's only 160 pages, come on!" And thus I persisted.

Halfway through, last night, I drifted off into upright couch sitting deep sleep, where I had four intense nightmarish dreams in a row, and apparently moaned throughout (not in a good way.)

And I DO blame this book, which I can't make any sense of. I can't tell what's real or what's not. I can't understand how what seems imagined or historical in one scene is real in another. I don't understand how the characters seem to switch places and identities and also move between real and imagined (they also seem lost and confused.) I don't understand what is meant to be a deep connection to The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat, a short novel of similar tone I read earlier this year and also didn't understand.

The translator Deborah Smith has obviously gone deep with this author and this feverish style; apparently the author is considered an outsider in Korean lit as well. I might point you first to her translator note, which is the last few pages, before reading the novel. I give the translation efforts 5 stars.

View all my reviews

Review: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ever since The Vegetarian became a massive hit (for good reason,) I have read a string of novels by female writers from Korea translated into English that capture elements of the lived experience of women navigating a society that is still very male-centric. Sometimes they do this through fantasy and the weird, or in this case, with documented research accompanied by endnotes for each chapter.

The sources include data points of sexism in the workplace, of female-exclusive hiring practices, pay disparities and more, like this:

"In 2014... one in five married women in Korea quit their job because of marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and childcare, or the education of their young children."

This seems didactic, no? Until you read the article on the BBC website about the outcry to the book (and movie made from it) since the book was published in Korea in 2016. It is accused of being "highly subjective" and making "sexist generalisations against men." The author's use of facts to back up her everywoman's story provides its own defense. And maybe she felt it would have more staying power in fictionalized form (certainly it was read by many people and became a best seller) - still for my own personal tastes, this is another example of characters and plot employed solely to teach or convince the reader something, and I was left wanting more (while still supporting the ideas.)

View all my reviews

Review: Interior Chinatown

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I know this just won the National Book Award and I finally read it because that included it on the Tournament of Books long list, but I really did not enjoy reading this book. The entire structure and setup is satire? allegory? and the characters aren't real in the sense that characters are, they stand in to play a didactic role about how Asians, particularly the Chinese most of the time but also all Asians, are seen in America. As this was not news to me, I did not particularly enjoy the four hour audiobook lecture about it.

I have liked other books by Charles Yu but experimental fiction will always carry the risk of people liking it or not. I mean, I feel pressured to give it three stars because I like him otherwise and it's winning awards and other people find it very clever but cleverness is not enough to sustain a novel for me and it will never be. I'm a substance over style person.

One thing I noticed in listening to the audiobook is how much the rhythm of his writing feels like George Saunders. I challenge anyone who cares to go back and listen to Tenth of December as read by the author and see if you can hear what I mean. The audiobook narrator of this does not have George's accent, so that's not it, it's something about how the words and sentences fall. (George is also someone who I prefer when he isn't experimenting, funny....)

I listened to this in the Random House Audio Volumes app, where they have given me access to most of their new audiobook titles. I chose to listen since I was interested in this book due to its placement in the ToB, but honestly would not have been drawn to reading it otherwise, and only selected it because it is rather short and could accompany me while working on Thanksgiving prep. Therefore I'm not sure I'd exactly call it a review copy except to say that if they hadn't provided it I would have purchased it just the same, and then ended up even more disappointed that I'd spent an Audible credit on a book that was short yet not enjoyed. It came out way way back in January 2020, when the world felt very different, and I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more at that point in time. But even so, that was around when there were all these great Asian-American forward movies and tv shows coming out (at long last) so is this historical fiction?

View all my reviews

Review: Pizza Girl

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Electric Literature says Pizza Girl is the "The Queer Slacker Pizza Delivery Novel We’ve Been Waiting For" and I'm not even sure I can say it better than that, but I'll try.

"Her name was Jenny Hauser and every Wednesday I put pickles on her pizza." And that's how the novel PIZZA GIRL begins. I've had this book on my radar but the comparisons to Moshfegh didn't make me want to try it - but it is one of the shortest books from the Tournament of Books longlist that I could get from the library without waiting.

The main character, whose name you don't know most of the time since it's all from her perspective, recently lost her father. She bonded with a classmate at a grief group and by the time the novel starts, he's moved in with her and her Mom because she is pregnant. She is 18 and is working part-time delivering pizzas in what I like to call "regular California." The most social interaction she has comes from the people she delivers pizzas to and the lives she comes up with for them.

I enjoyed (?) the read despite some heavy handed metaphors and some random narrative tangents (usually when the story would jump to someone else's drama at the pizza place - one I had to reread three times to figure out what happened) - the mother and boyfriend seem like good people but they are not able to stop the MC from spiraling, and that journey is the crux of the plot. In the E.L. article linked above, the author talks about the role of imagination in the MC's life and where that can go wrong, and it wasn't something I particularly zeroed in on but enjoyed thinking about after finishing the novel.

As far as the Tournament of Books goes, I'm not sure this is one of the top 16 reads, however I would love a match between this book and Jack by Marilynne Robinson. Both stories revolve around a slacker type character with people around them who can see the issues but not help. The writing and focus are entirely different but they actually have more in common than not.

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 183: Birthing Rabbits with Jessica (ToB2020)

Jessica and I are superfans of the Morning News Tournament of Books, and have participated as readers for several years. We are not official partners of the Tournament, nor does it belong to us, but we are hopeful that all involved will take this as a fancast and that readers who haven't heard of it will participate next time. Both of us have encountered books through the Tournament we would never have read otherwise. In this bonus episode, we focus on the books from this year's Tournament (both the long and shortlist) but also end up talking about some highlights from previous years. Ready your brackets, this is the only madness happening in March!

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 183: Birthing Rabbits with Jessica.

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Books discussed:

Most books will be best viewed here on the Tournament of Books site
2020 bracket
ToB 2020 Shortlist
ToB 2020 Longlist (this is your 2020 reading list!)


Other mentions:

Cantoras by Carolina di Robertis
The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
White Tears by Hari Kunzru
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
Hill William by Scott McClanahan
Crapalachia by Scott McClanahan
The Sarah Book by Scott McClanahan
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Bangkok Wakes to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad
A Girl Returned by Donatella di Pietrantonio
Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kaji Fajardo-Anstine
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett


Related episodes:

Episode 110 - The Accidental Love Episode with Casey Stepaniuk
Episode 150 - Rife with Storytelling with Sara
Episode 163 - Fainting Goats with Lauren
Episode 166 - On Brand with Karen
Episode 167 - Book Pendulum with Reggie
Episode 175 - Reading on Impulse with Marion Hill
Episode 178 - Precarious Pile with Ruth(iella)


Stalk us online:

Jenny at Goodreads
Jessica at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy
Jessica is @the bluestocking on Litsy

Reading Envy 178: Precarious Pile with Ruthiella

Ruth joins Jenny bright and early in January, which gives us the chance to discuss reading goals for last year and this year a little, reading classics, and what happened when a friend dared Ruth to read a book! This is the first episode of a new strategy where Jenny is bringing two books to discuss to the guest's three, so feel free to let me know what you think.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 178: Precarious Pile with Ruthiella.

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Books discussed:



Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddney Ratner
Inland by Téa Obreht



Other mentions:

Ruth's Booked for LIfe blog and her 2019 Back to the Classics roundup
Ruth's Booked for LIfe blog and her pile of 21 books 
Books and Chocolate Blog - Back to the Classics 2020 challenge
Man Booker Prize 1999
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
How to Feed a Dictator by Witold Szablowski 
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum


Related episodes:

Episode 033 - An Undulating Thrum with guests Ruth and Elizabeth
Episode 053 - The Pool I Rarely Swim In with Luke Christie
Episode 086 - The Queen of Bailing with Shawn Mooney 
Episode 067 - Rain and Readability with Ruth(iella)
Episode 134 - A Pastiche Romp with Ruth(iella)
Episode 167 - Book Pendulum with Reggie
Episode 172 - The It Book of NYC with Jon Laubinger 


Stalk us online:

Ruth at Goodreads
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

Reading Envy 175: Reading on Impulse with Marion Hill

The last regular episode of the year brings back someone who contributed to the best reads of 2018 - author and reader Marion Hill. We talk about the books that work for us and some great reads we've had recently. Jenny also asks Marion to talk about his recent trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 175: Reading on Impulse with Marion Hill.

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Listen via Stitcher
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Books discussed:



Go Went Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Memory & Dream by Charles de Lint
The Tilting World by Colette Fellous, translated by Sophie Lewis
The Chef's Secret by Crystal King
Lot: Stories by Bryan Washington


Other mentions:

Diondray's Discovery (Kammbia Book 1) by Marion Hill
Marion's 25 by Marion Hill
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Kim Stanley Robinson
Frankfurt Book Fair
Independent Booksellers Consortium
Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
Bojack Horseman (tv show)
Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King
Ascending by Meg Pechenick
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow


Related episodes:
Episode 096 - Not Without Hope with Yanira Ramirez
Episode 139 - Stocking Stuffer (Best Reads of 2018) 
Episode 148 - Multiple Lives with Jeff
Episode 152 - Kill 'em and Leave with Nadine 


Stalk us online:
 
Marion Hill's website
Marion on Goodreads
Marion on Instagram
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

Reading Envy 160: Reading Plays with Elizabeth

Elizabeth is fresh a teaching seminar on plays so we talk about that for a bit before delving into books we have read and enjoyed recently. We have some books traversing the wild parts, books for pride, and more.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 160: Reading Plays
with Elizabeth
Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
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Listen via Stitcher
Listen through Spotify


Books discussed:



In the Distance by Hernan Díaz
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
The Line Tender by Kate Allen
Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong


Other mentions:

Common Ground - University of Houston
Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks
Ruined by Lynn Nottage
Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes
Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle
Sun Sisters by Vasanti Saxena
In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl
Cost of Living by Martyna Majok
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
Books on the Go podcast - Lost Children Archive
Tell Me How it Ends by Valeria Luiselli
Stories of Your Life and Others Ted Chiang
Camp ToB
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
Swamplandia by Karen Russell
Devotions by Mary Oliver
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
Sounds like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman
Lot by Brian Washington
Bangkok Walks to Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddney Ratner



Related Episodes:

Episode 033 - An Undulating Thrum with guests Ruth and Elizabeth
Episode 061 - Never Do That to a Book with Elizabeth
Episode 136 - Six Pack with Elizabeth


Stalk us online:

Elizabeth at Goodreads   
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

Books Read June 2019: 134 - 159

Pictured: June's 5-star Reads

134. The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
135. When Wanderers Cease to Roam by Vivian Swift ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library copy, my review)
136. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Audible audiobook; my review)
137. The Ash Family by Molly Dektar ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
138. If the Church Were Christian by Philip Gulley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
139. Condomnauts by Yoss ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
140. Passing Strange by Ellen Klages ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (free download from Tor.com; my review)
141. Split Level by Sandra Berger ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
142. Wild Horses of the Summer Sun by Tory Bilski ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
143. Lanny by Max Porter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
144. How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
145. Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
146. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library copy; my review)
147. Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana, translated by Mui Poopoksakul ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla eBook; my review)
148. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
149. The Bobcat by Katherine Forbes Riley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from author; my review)
150. Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
151. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library copy; my review)
152. Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
153. The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
154. The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
155. 100 Times: A Memoir of Sexism by Chavisa Woods ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
156. All City by Alex DiFrancesco ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
157. Magic for Beginners by Sarah Gailey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
158. The Body Papers by Grace Talusan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy via Restless Books subscription; my review)
159. Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)

Total books: 26

Audio: 5
eBook: 15
Print: 6

Purchased: 5
Library: 8
Review: 13

Asia 2019: 4
Camp ToB: 2
Joint Readalong: 1
TakePrideinReading: 6
TBR Explode: 3