yes, maybe, just no

part 3!!

Hey! You’re here! Thank you.

How are you? Do you need a glass of water? A deep breath? A little doggie belly to rub? A far off horizon to stare into? A really good cup of coffee and a donut? I personally need all of these things.

can someone please ask Yaya what she needs??

Whatever you need, I hope you get it.

In the mean time I am here, once again, to yammer and yap about my recent reads. It’s not earth shattering stuff, but it keeps me going that’s for sure. If it helps you a little to yap, let’s play a little game: yes, maybe, just no.

I sorted my recent reads into three categories - the books that yes you absolutely should read no matter what (go read them already), the books that maybe you might like, and the books that if you picked them up I would gently shake my head and say, just no.

Check out my last round of this game here.

YES

• Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza - Don’t take my word for it…this memoir won the Pulitzer prize! The fancy pants got it right for once. It’s a story of grief and sisterhood and I was gripped from beginning to end.

• The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden - HOLY SHIT. I mean woweee wow wow wow. This is it, people. This one really did it for me. I won’t tell you much because I went in knowing almost nothing except

  MJ
  said I needed to read it and it was the ideal reading experience. All I’ll say is this novel is extremely gay, and if A24 doesn’t turn this into a dark, broody, sapphic drama, well that is very much our loss. We’ve got two women in an old house in rural Netherlands and all is not as it seems. Again, don’t take my word for it!! Rebecca read this too. Ask her! She has very high standards for fiction. I’m not done yelling about this book and that’s a promise.

MAYBE

• The Prospects by KT Hoffman - Maybe, if you need a sweet, low stakes, gay, trans romance about two minor league baseball players. You probably do.

• Coming Home by Brittney Griner with Michelle Burford - Maybe, if you followed the story of Brittney Griner’s harrowing imprisonment in Russia and her journey home. A devastating read that was only bearable because, of course, I knew the ending.

• Colored Television by Danzy Senna - Maybe, if you crave smart, readable, funny fiction that takes down and laughs at the publishing and entertainment industries. I’ve never been to LA, but this novel made me feel like I was right there. And, again, it really is funny and affecting.

• Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel - Maybe, if you want to read about the teen girls competing in a youth boxing tournament in Reno, Nevada. This novel is wholly unique and though it could have been gayer if you ask me, it is worth your time.

• Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout - Maybe, if you like Elizabeth Strout’s fiction aka character driven, vibes-heavy stories that peel back the layers of supposedly ordinary people and lives.

• Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky - A parable in poetry form about what it means to live in war and unrest and occupation. It’s about silence and resistance and though it came out in 2019 it feels wrenching and urgent in this very moment.

• Jazz by Toni Morrison - Maybe, if you want to tackle one of Morrison’s more complex, challenging novels. It’s not an easy read, but your work will pay off and reveal a layered story of marriage, community, power, and loss.

• The Book of Love by Kelly Link - Maybe, if you have room for a little magic in your reading life. This novel, set in a fictional town on the coast of Massachusetts, follows three teenagers who come back from the dead and find themselves caught in the middle of a supernatural power struggle. It’s too long, but I loved the characters and the cozy, complicated, tender world that Link lovingly constructed.

• Piglet by Lottie Hazell - Maybe, if you like novels about women unraveling their socially conventional lives in dramatic, chaotic fashion. Also if you want to google croque en bouche. I picked this one up solely because of the cover. I think the author’s fatphobia is showing in certain parts of this novel and that took me out of it. That said, there are some unforgettable scenes here and I am not sure, but I think it says something meaningful about women and desire.

• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - Maybe, if you want to read the true classic of the true crime genre! I picked this up because there is a prompt in The Stacks Mega Reading Challenge to reread a book you read in school. It may surprise you that I read this terrifying account of murder and terror in Junior year Enligsh, but I sure did. It terrified me then and now! And it is engrossing and gripping and so worth your time if you like this kind of thing.

Dunkin on page 500 of Wolf Hall

NO

• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - Listen who am I to say the fancy Booker prize people are wrong?? But guys the fancy Booker prize people are wrong. This award winning 2009 novel about the rise of Thomas Cromwell and life under Henry VIII was just…. boring. I didn’t get it? I didn’t care? Too long! and for what?? But if you love 600+ page novels about British men jockeying for power, who am I to yuck your yum??

me reading Wolf Hall

Okay, that’s all I’ve got. If you read this far, you are a true champ.

I hope that whatever you read next, it fills you up with love or rage or something in between.

I’m glad we have each other and I’m glad we have books. And dogs. And coffee.

I love you.

Love,

Rosamond