Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

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I don’t know about you, but my reading life has been a bit scattered lately. I’m doing my best to find joy wherever I can, and sometimes that’s in a pile of comics from the library. Or a filthy romance series that isn’t quite good but I can’t put down. And that’s okay! The world is on fire and I just need to keep myself afloat amid…everything.

And that’s really all I have to say. Here’s a short and sweet one with some powerful graphic memoirs to tickle your fancy.

The books

Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Anjali Singh

This is so much fun! Taking place over the course of an afternoon tea, a group of Iranian women—mothers, grandmothers, daughters, aunties, neighbors, and friends—gossip to their hearts’ content. Each woman shares a salacious or embarrassing or hilarious story from their romantic life, like how to escape an arranged marriage or the benefits of being a mistress. Marjane Satrapi, of Persepolis fame, is a genius for capturing this delightful moment in time and sharing it with the world.

Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love by Sarah Leavitt

Sarah Leavitt’s first book, Tangles, left me in a puddle of tears as she navigated her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and death. When I saw she had a new book, I knew I needed to read it immediately. Something, Not Nothing is about her partner’s chronic illness and eventual medically assisted death. The art here is unlike anything I’ve seen. Leavitt plays with watercolor and form beautifully as her life goes on without her partner by her side. It’s a beautiful tribute to love and the ways grief works.

One in a Million by Claire Lordon

Claire knows there’s something wrong with her body, but no one can figure out quite what it is. She’s tired, she’s gaining weight, and she’s constantly enduring a headache—all while trying her best to stay on top of her grades and schoolwork. She spends her days getting MRIs, going to the Mayo Clinic, and having multiple surgeries to remove a brain tumor, all before graduating high school. One in a Million draws from Claire’s diaries, dealing simultaneously with teen woes and the weight of chronic illness.

The nightstand

No book this time, but a note that my mission for 2025 is to post about every Little Free Library I find. And also to share my own once I get it set up!

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme and occasional essays. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

It’s a quandary every reader has run into: you’re enjoying—or at least tolerating—a book for a while, then start to lose interest in the middle of it. It’s easy to call it quits when it doesn’t entice you from the start, but what about once you’ve invested some serious time into it? What happens when you’re more than halfway through a book and still haven’t caught feelings for it?

Most people say to give it 50 pages before you DNF (did not finish) a book, but to me, that’s a lot of pages to trudge through when you’re not feeling it. You should enjoy what you’re reading!

I’m a chronic book quitter and have two methods of DNFing. The first is the physical motion of putting the book down, be it literally on a table, back on the shelves, or in the to-donate pile. The second, more serious method is how I mark the book on Storygraph. For some reason, the digital marker is more meaningful than the physical one; if I mark it as want-to-read again, I’ll probably come back to it. If not, I delete it from my shelves entirely.

Now, join me in becoming a book quitter with these tips for what to do when a book just isn’t doing it for ya.

What To Do When You Lose Interest in the Middle of a Book

Okay, real talk, my first answer is the obvious one: Just quit. Don’t waste your time reading books you don’t like. Life’s too short, etc., etc.

Get Existential

Following the gut instinct you get within the first few pages or chapters, chew on this: You’re likely to only read 2,500, maybe 5,000 books in your lifetime. Is this book you’re slogging through really worth the time that could be spent reading another, better book? Maybe multiple books, if they’re enticing enough? Hmm?

Consider Why You Don’t Like It

If the book is a classic or meant to be one you spend a lot of time ruminating on, it might be worth your time in the long run. Same goes for the books that make you uncomfortable; figure out why they make you uncomfortable and if they’re meant to broaden your worldview or just be offensive. You don’t need to read a book that’s triggering or makes you feel like shit.

Come Back to it Later

Sometimes you just find a book at the wrong time. If you’re not jiving with it right now, set it aside and come back to it when you’re in a different headspace. You’ll be a different person a few months from now, and the book might be meant for that version of you.

Drop the Shame Game

Literally no one will ever ask you to dissect the nuances of [insert classic literary writer and/or work here] at a fancy-pants dinner party. I promise. You do not have to suffer through a book you hate to prepare for such an event.

I hope these tips are helpful to you on your journey of reading only the books that are worthwhile to the person you are at the moment you’re reading them.

xoxo

A version of this piece appeared in Book Riot in 2021.

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

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Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

Happy weird week between holidays, book nerds.

Now that I’ve burrowed into my house after attending and hosting what feels like too many Christmas events (four and one, respectively), I’m ready to crush my reading goal for the year. Only four more books to crank out! CAN SHE DO IT?! Who knows!

I hope you’re on the road to finishing the year out strong, too, if that’s your goal.

This month’s picks are fun for those of you who love to geek out about books. We’ve got an explainer of book design, a manifesto on the importance of divesting from Amazon to save independent bookstores, and a history of book publishing.

The books

The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers by Debbie Berne

A must-read for anyone who likes books and/or is curious about the creation of the book as a physical object. Debbie Berne has been a book designer for decades, so she knows what she’s talking about. The Design of Books walks through the basics of typography and book design, with sections on covers, interiors, and ebooks. There’s even a guide at the end for self-publishing, if you think you can hack the design work! As a book designer myself, reading this was an absolute delight. She makes sure everyone knows the extreme care that goes into every aspect of a book’s creation.

How to Protect Bookstores and Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling by Danny Caine

Telling tales of 12 bookstores around the country, focusing on one aspect of independent bookselling—community, community, and community, among other things—this is a really moving book that got me to divest a little bit from Amazon.

The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Publishing by Michael Castleman1

From Gutenberg to present day, The Untold Story of Books is a compact yet sweeping history of the industry we know and love. With tons of tidbits on why publishing is the way it is—there are two seasons because when the Erie Canal froze in the winter, books couldn’t ship from New York to the Midwest!—this book is a fun romp through publishing history.

The links

• A few months ago, inspired by these reads, I quit Goodreads cold turkey and moved over to Storygraph. If you’re there, let’s be friends!

• For even more books about books—particularly ones about design and typography—check out this list by Nathaniel Roy over at .

The nightstand

With Love, From Cold World is a perfect book if you need something soft and sweet and just a little bit spicy. Otherwise, I’ll be over here in a pile of wintry romances until, like, February. If you have any recommendations, send them my way!

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme and occasional essays. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

If you read romance, you’re familiar with this situation: You’re enjoying your fun little romance book when a normal word gets a new use, because euphemisms are fun! It’s always during a sexy scene, and from that moment on, that word is only sexy, and ruined in your brain forever.1

The other day, I was reading a very not-romance book and my eyes caught the word “mound” farther down the page and was like, “oh dang, this it going to take a spicy turn,” but no, it was about a mound of ants. It’s fine. Everything is fine.

Here are just a smattering of words romance novels have ruined for me, and I’m sure they’ve now been ruined for you, too. Sorry not sorry. And yes, I have been collecting these for a very long time.

Chiseled. Delectable. Delicious. Electric. Inner goddess. Supple.

Globes. Pebbled. Puckered.

Apex. Bud. Center. Channel. Core. Entrance. Essence. Folds. Heat. Mound. Nub. Seam. Slit. Wet. Womanhood.

Bulge. Hilt. Length. Manhood. Member. Rigid. Steel. Throbbing. Velvet.

Ache. Crave. Heat. Need.

Caress. Circle. Cup. Glide. Knead. Roll. Scorch. Stroke. Tease.

Enter. Fill. Impale. Probe. Sheath. Thrust.

Groan. Grunt. Hiss. Mewl. Moan. Quiver. Tremble. Waves.

Cream. Erupt. Explode. Juices. Nectar. Pulse. Release. Seed. Spurt.

Whew. Did it just get hot in here?

The backlist

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

I don’t know about you, but folding and putting away laundry is one of my biggest struggles. Another is reading poetry. A solution I’ve been testing out, with a bit of success, is combining the two! I get to listen to an audiobook in a form I usually feel just isn’t meant for me, which helps break down that barrier. And my laundry gets put away, revealing that I do in fact have carpet in my bedroom. A real win-win.

These collections have similar themes of girlhood/womanhood and being a human in this weird world we live in. They’re funny and dark and soft and powerful all at once.

The books

Life of the Party by Olivia Gatwood

Talk about a punch in the gut. Life of the Party captures the tweeness of girlhood and coming-of-age, followed by fear and an obsession with violence against women. Many of the poems in this collection focus on the anxiety that women who inhale true crime stories carry with them everywhere. Doing this on audiobook is perfect, as Gatwood reads it herself with her powerful performance skills.

A Bit Much by Lyndsay Rush

The genius behind Mary Oliver's Drunk Substack (@MaryOliversDrunkCousin) delivers a witty and moving collection about big feelings and being a millennial woman, meant for people who don’t know yet that they even like poetry. Rush is so smart and her writing is snappy—I cackled my way through more than one poem about the patriarchy / being child-free / eating Doritos. But A Bit Much is also full of heart, and separated into different sections based on mood, which is a really beautiful concept.

And Yet by Kate Baer

Kate Baer is the real deal. These gorgeous poems about friendship and marriage and motherhood and COVID and loss hit me hard. I found myself pausing and going back to listen to poems again and again because they were too good to hear just once. Here’s one that continues to stop me in my tracks:

I will enjoy this life. I will open it
like a peach in season, suck the juice
from every finger, run my tongue over
my chin. I will not worry about clichés
or uninvited guests peering in my windows.
I will love and be loved. Save and be saved
a thousand times. I will let the want into
my body, bless the heat under my skin.
My life, I will not waste it. I will enjoy this life.

The links

Many thanks to Kelly Jensen for boosting Crooked Reads in this great post about the bookish world on Substack over at School Library Journal: Improve Your Social Media Life.

Here’s a great list from for those of us who find ourselves Very Online.

The nightstand

I’ve been finding it impossible to focus on any book in print lately, but Lana Ferguson has come to my rescue again with The Game Changer. I knew a hockey romance was just what I needed! Up next, her forthcoming Under Loch and Key, because who doesn’t want a Loch Ness Monster romance?

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme and occasional essays. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber, buying me a coffee, or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

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If you told me a decade ago that I’d be happily planning an annual Halloween party where we listen to horror movie soundtracks and drink fall sangria (cinnamon whiskey, apple juice, and white wine—it is divine), I’d think you had the wrong gal. I am the scarediest of scaredy cats, and yet I’ve fallen in love with all things spoopy. I’m a bit of a novice to the horror genre, jumping at every single jump scare, replaying a handful of scenes in my head, and having regular bad dreams about others. Along the way, I’ve learned some tips for reading horror when you’re a scaredy cat.

My newfound love comes by way of my husband, who loves Halloween and horror in all its forms. I was hesitant at first, because the Saw movies really messed me up in high school—I still have nightmares about some of those kills. He’s given me a full horror education in the movie world. He’s also thrust various horror novels at me, because you have to read Rosemary’s Baby and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark before you can see the movies. It’s the law. Or something. 

But that’s enough about my relationship to horror and a horror-loving dude. Let’s get to those tips so you can have a scare-free spoopy reading season.1

How to Read Horror When You’re a Scaredy Cat

Ease Into the Genre

Start off with some classics from Mary Shelley, Edgar Alan Poe, Shirley Jackson, or H.P. Lovecraft. They (hopefully) aren’t going to be as terrifying as modern horror, and they can introduce you to some of the tropes without giving you nightmares.

Wait Until the Sun is Out

If it’s bright and happy outside, the horrors within the pages won’t be able to get you. Theoretically. Nighttime is far too quiet, with mysterious house creaks and tree branches tickling windows keeping you distracted from what you’re reading. 

Keep the Lights On

If you’re not able to secure reading time during the day, then ample light—ceiling lights, table lights, flashlight helmets, whatever you have on hand—is a must. Just, um, don’t acknowledge the things in the shadows.

Make a Cozy Reading Nest

Get your blanket, warm beverage, and best snacks at the ready. These are your first line of defense against getting too scared. The blanket also serves as a shield against whatever horrors just burned themselves into your mind forever.

Secure a Friend or Roommate to Protect You

Bonus points if they don’t laugh at you when you scream in response to them asking what you’re up to mid-page turn. 

Don’t Watch the Movie First

You’ll spoil all the best scares and twists for yourself! 

Read Non-Spoiler Reviews

Please do read some reviews if you need to prepare yourself for any content that’s upsetting for you.

Put the Book in the Freezer

When all else fails, follow Joey Tribiani’s sage advice: Don’t read a horror novel, like Stephen King’s The Shining, without making sure there’s ample room in the freezer. Because the freezer is the only place to keep the book from attacking you.

Or, you know, if you want to be extra scared, just do the opposite of all these tips. Read at night in a silent, empty house and let your imagination wander to the darkest places it can find. I’m not the boss of you.

The recommendation

If you want to be in the know about all the popular horror movies of the world, but are too afraid to watch them yourself, have no fear. Emily C. Hughes did the work for you in Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know about the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch, an excellent new book that gives a plot summary, an analysis of the film and its cultural significance, some talking points if you have someone you want to impress, and a list of recommended readalikes. It also serves as an excellent refresher for movies you may have watched ages ago but have no interest in revisiting.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber, buying me a coffee, or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

As I get into the weeds in my memoir writing (!!!) I find myself reading other memoirs on chronic illness and pain to see how the masters do it. It’s both insightful and devastating to see how many of us live in pain every day and just…deal with it.

While writing, I’ve been transporting myself to some of my darkest days and it’s making me more aware of the pain I endure every day without really thinking about it. Every time I go to the gym, the coaches ask if anyone has any sore spots before we get started, but I never say anything. There’s nothing sore that isn’t always sore.

It’s only recently that I acknowledged that what I live with is chronic pain. I always thought it was a descriptor for other people. That it’s normal to work through the pain—a physical therapist once told me eventually your brain tunes it out, otherwise you’d never do anything—and sleep with a heating pad every night.

These books put a spotlight—often with rage behind it—on how abnormal chronic illness really is. Let’s get to it.

The books

What Doesn’t Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller

Tessa Miller writes in such a candid way about everything she’s gone through with Crohn’s and other diseases, infections, misdiagnoses, and horrifying experiences that come from her unhappy gastrointestinal system. I am in awe of her strength. What Doesn’t Kill You digs into the reality of chronic illness and its impacts on every facet of a person’s life, as well as just how common incurable illnesses really are. Also, did you know that poop transplants were a thing? Because I did not.

Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women’s Pain by Abby Norman

Abby Norman suffers through undiagnosed endometriosis for years. Her leg goes numb, she loses 30 pounds, and when she goes to a doctor, she’s sent home with antibiotics. She knows her pain is real, so she starts digging through medical journals to find her own diagnosis. Doctors never believe her, thinking she’s too young and naive to really understand her body the way a medical professional can. Ask Me About My Uterus is a truly eye-opening read about gender bias in the medical world.

PMSL: Or How I Literally Pissed Myself Laughing and Survived the Last Taboo to Tell the Tale by Luce Brett

Luce Brett’s life changed after the birth of her first son. There was the glow of new motherhood, of course, as well as the darkness of postpartum depression and another thing: incontinence. She spent years with a bag of extra pants and underwear and diapers, just in case. She went to physical therapy and did all of the things to help, but it only got mildly better. In PMSL, Brett takes a hammer to the taboo, telling her story with snark and candor. And wet pants.

The links

• As I read more of them, I’m adding to this brief list of chronic illness and disability memoirs on my Bookshop storefront.

• There’s even more titles in this post I wrote for BuzzFeed Books a few years ago (RIP).

The nightstand

Why yes, I do use my cat to hold my place from time to time. And I can’t wait for the world to get their paws on this hilarious little book! How to Piss Off Men comes out Tuesday.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

I hope you’re reading something delightful.

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme and occasional essays. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber, buying me a coffee, or sending me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

While my reading life is quiet—hey, slump, you can leave at any time—I’m revisiting some of my older pieces around the internet. This one appeared in a slightly different form on Book Riot in 2022.

It’s inspired me to dig back into reading some Hemingway, starting with Ernest Hemingway on Writing, a compilation of tidbits from his books, letters, and interviews, which is such a delight! His style just works for my brain when I’m struggling to focus. And he’s a total a-hole to F. Scott Fitzgerald. It’s hilarious. Up next will likely be my first read of For Whom the Bell Tolls, because after seeing Metallica live, it just feels like the right thing to do.

On to the essay!1

Ernest Hemingway seems more legend than man. He told tall tales about himself—a more heroic version of his war injury, a more loving reaction to his wife losing a suitcase full of his writings—so much that it blurred the line between fact and fiction. Who was he, really? A writer? Of course. A hyper-masculine caricature? Sure. A tortured soul with a long line of mental illness in his family? You betcha.

Most people are firm in their stance on Hemingway: love him or hate him. And I get it; he’s a polarizing dude. He was arrogant, racist, and misogynist, among other things. But he also changed the way readers approached books. He didn’t write terribly difficult stories and he wrote with simple words and declarative sentences. His character-driven stories are for everyday people, with sex and gender always at play. There are no happy endings.

I don’t tend to believe in separating the art from the artist, but I make the exception for ol’ Ernest. Mostly because he’s dead and can’t literally get sued for being a monster.

In Hemingway, a three-part PBS documentary about the life of the famed writer by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, most, if not all, of the man’s life is covered. It’s very long—each episode is about two hours—and left me feeling like a little rain cloud perched above my head for a few hours after finishing it.

Over at at Literary Hub, Alex Thomas’s thoughts on the documentary mirror my own: “There is no American writer who has left as much literary criticism and speculation in his wake as Hemingway. But after nearly 100 years, that criticism is finally becoming more honest, nuanced and interesting.”

The documentary showcases all the machismo of Hemingway, of course, but also delves into the softer, messier sides of the man, especially in the final installment. There’s another book on my endless to-read list, Hemingway’s Brain, by forensic psychiatrist Andrew Farah, that touches on these more devastating topics.

Hemingway’s work came to me at a time when I desperately needed it. I was in the midst of the darkest depression I’d ever experienced, shortly after graduating from college and entering the “real world.” I’d lost the ability to focus on books—books! the one thing keeping me tethered to this plane of existence!—and picked up A Farewell to Arms at a used bookstore on a whim.

It changed everything. It wasn’t the content of the book, but the writing that enraptured me. Hemingway got right to the point. I didn’t have to worry about my mind wandering over purple prose—he laid it all out with short sentences and repetition. I was transfixed. And cured, for the moment.

Of course, I get funny looks when I say Hemingway’s work brought me out of my depression. The dude was mentally ill, an alcoholic, wrote about war and death, and died by suicide. He was also super racist and a horrible misogynist. Not exactly super hero material.

But I haven’t been able to shake the adoration I have for this complex man.

I named my cat Ernest. I’ve kept a “Write drunk; edit sober” print above my desk since college (although now that I’m looking into it, it appears he never said that and also he wrote first thing in the morning with a clear head, so why would he say that?) and followed that advice liberally for a time. I’ve received countless Hemingway-themed trinkets over the years. I have three different copies of The Sun Also Rises on my shelves and have to resist buying each new edition.

My first apartment of adulthood was in the town next-door to Hemingway’s birthplace, and I made a trip to that house and museum each summer of the three years I lived there. When I got my job in publishing, my friends took me to a fancy Hemingway-inspired restaurant where we drank daiquiris and ate very expensive french fries. Loving Hemingway has become my thing.

I have this memory of being in the backseat of my grandma’s car as a kid and hearing something about Hemingway, of Oak Park, on the radio. The long road spanning the 30-mile stretch from Oak Park to my family’s neck of the woods is called Oak Park Avenue, and I was certain that meant he lived nearby. How long could a street be? I asked to go find his house, but we never did. It stayed locked in my head, though, that this famous man once lived touchably close to us.

While in the hospital for a handful of months before she died, my grandma proudly told every nurse that her great-grandkitten’s name was Ernest Hemingway, just like the writer.

I hope she’s proud of her granddaughter, the writer.

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

⚡️ Archive | Contact | Directory | Donate | Subscribe | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

If you, too, find yourself deep in a mid-summer reading slump, hello! It’s good to have company in this sad and lonely place. I’m right on schedule for this slump, which seems to come every year during the hottest days of summer. For the last few weeks, I’ve been daydreaming about the books I wish I wanted to read and landed on these old favorites to share today. Let’s get to it.

The books

The Dead Guy Next Door by Lucy Score1

A romance mystery? Sign me up. Riley Thorn is a reluctant psychic, but when she foresees her neighbor getting murdered and calls the cops to let them know a murder is forthcoming, things get a little strange. Enter sexy private investigator Nick Santiago, who was looking for her neighbor. But now he’s dead. And Riley’s a suspect. Shenanigans (and kissing) ensue, as with any Lucy Score book.

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

Sabrina Imbler has always been enraptured by sea creatures, starting when they protested the sale of goldfish at a pet store as a teen. Each essay in this book profiles a different creature—the deep ocean octopus who starved herself watching over her eggs, the Chinese sturgeon who smash into the dams that block their migration route—as Imbler tells an intimate story about their life as a queer, mixed race science writer. How Far the Light Reaches is a truly unique and moving collection of essays about ocean life as it pertains to the author’s own story.

Poe for Your Problems: Uncommon Advice from History’s Least Likely Self-Help Guru by Catherine Baab-Muguira

Biography by way of humorous anti-self-help is an absolutely genius concept. I learned so much about Edgar Allan Poe and writing and the beer of the 1800s! This dude’s life was a serious dumpster fire, from marrying his cousin to perpetually being broke, but somehow he kept going and wrote some magnificent stuff. What an icon. Poe for Your Problems is so fun and sure to bust your reading slump.

The nightstand

My most anticipated read of the year arrived! You may remember me gushing over Gory Details in my weird science books post (a second is forthcoming—ya girl can’t get enough of weird science) and Go to Hell is sure to be another wild ride. It’s a travel guide of 54 (!!!) hellish places on Earth. My body is ready.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, need more recs, or want to peep the archives:

I hope you’re reading something fulfilling this summer, friend.

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase. If you’d like to sponsor a future edition of Crooked Reads, fill out this form and I’ll get in touch ASAP!

⚡️ Subscribe | Donate | Archive | Directory | Contact | Wishlist

Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. The newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

Subscribe now

In These Unprecedented Times, let’s escape reality with some monster romances. I’m new to the space and truly delighted to have stumbled into it last summer with one of these picks—you really can’t go wrong with a Katee Robert book. Before we dig in, a warning: These books are super spicy, so read responsibly. 😇

The books

🐺 The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson

Holy guacamole, I devoured this book. I finally get the omegaverse hype now, and Lana Ferguson is my new must-read-everything-they-write authors. It’s the story of two werewolves, Mack and Noah, who need a fake relationship to cover for her nosy grandmother (Mack) and someone leaking that he’s an unmated alpha (Noah). Fake dating turns to friends-with-benefits turns to a marathon week of Mack going into heat and, of course, love. Spice levels and swoon levels are off the charts in this one, friends.

“Your heart doesn’t have that little voice that worries about what-ifs. It sees something good and it goes all in. Sometimes you just have to listen to your heart more than your head.”

Lana Ferguson, The Fake Mate, 2023

👰‍♀️ Bride by Ali Hazelwood

If Ali Hazelwood’s spicy STEM books didn’t do it for ya, perhaps this vampire and wolf romance will be a breath of fresh air. In this world, the Vampyres and Weres live peacefully, but separately—as long as there’s a bribe. When Misery’s father, the Vampyre councilman, requires her to marry Lowe, the Alpha of the wolves, she accepts. We’ve got marriage of convenience and enemies-to-lovers, and it’s a wild ride. The world building is top-notch. And if you don’t know what knotting is…you’ll find out.

🐲 The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert

Briar Rose is married to an awful, terrifying man, and to get out of it, she makes a deal with a demon. The cost of her freedom is seven years of service, which she expects to be brutal. Instead, she finds herself on an auction block in front of a slew of monsters looking for a bride. Sol is a real cinnamon roll of a dragon: He’s gentle and cares for her and, um, teaches her how to use his double-donged body properly. She has no intention of staying in his realm, but of course, they fall hard for each other, and everything changes.

The links

It’s Time We Added Full Credit Pages to Books (Literary Hub). As an invisible publishing worker, I agree with this so hard. The best I can hope for is my name in a long list of acknowledgments or on the copyright page—which it is, in a friggin’ E L James book and some Lucy Score books. I guess I’ve made it. Everyone should be so lucky.

The nightstand

I’m having a very romance summer, and this is the perfect romance for the season.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

xoxo

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase. If you’d like to sponsor a future edition of Crooked Reads, fill out this form and I’ll get in touch ASAP!

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Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme.

I’m writing to you from a cloud of COVID brain fog, but things are looking up. The days are warmer. My sunflowers appear to be sprouting already (unless they’re weeds, in which case, I never said anything). I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, but I’m hoping the sunny days will lead to outside reading time.

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s take a look at some beautiful and sometimes devastating graphic memoirs about mental illness. Note that the format can be quite visceral, so do read with care. These books cover trauma, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression.

The books

Look Again by Elizabeth A. Trembley

While taking her dogs for a walk one morning, Elizabeth found a dead body in the woods. It shocked her to her core and she’s carried that terror with her ever since, though it’s changed shape over the decades. Look Again is a raw, emotional look at how trauma affects memory and storytelling. The way this story is presented, with six variations of how the author has told it over the years, from straight-forward to convoluted, is so fascinating.

Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words & Pictures by Jason Adam Katzenstein

Told in the present tense, starting when he was a young boy, Everything is an Emergency takes us on a journey through Katzenstein’s life with obsessive-compulsive disorder. With stunning art, he shows how OCD is much more than merely being tidy—it’s seemingly inane obsessions and endless thought spirals that disrupt daily life until the ritual is complete. This graphic memoir will give you a much deeper understanding of an often misunderstood disorder.

Ephemera by Briana Loewinsohn

Honestly, Ephemera is the perfect title for this book. It’s a dreamy graphic memoir set in nature—a garden, a forest, a greenhouse—as a woman looks back on memories of her childhood with a deeply depressed mother. She’s desperate to connect with her mom, but it feels like they are lightyears away from each other. Except when they’re in the garden. The art here is soft and beautiful and ethereal. I love it so much.

✨ Peep my list of more graphic memoirs, along with a megalist of the best mental health memoirs, on my Bookshop storefront.

The boost

Check out this list of books about mental health and use the code Wellness24 to get 15% off titles on the list! There’s lots to love here—self-help books, memoirs, journals, card decks, and more. Included is one of my favorite gifts: Thera-Pets, a deck of cards with adorable animals sharing sage advice, wise words, and positive affirmations.

If you’d like to sponsor a future edition of Crooked Reads, fill out this form and I’ll get in touch ASAP!

The nightstand

My book club (with two of my best pals from ye olde college newspaper days—hi, R and Z!) is back up and running after I threw a tantrum years ago when a long book was chosen. We’re sticking to novellas, and I’m so excited. Our first pick, The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada, is about an aimless woman in rural Japan who sees a strange animal, follows it, and falls into a hole that is exactly the size of her body??? It’s really weird. I dig it so far.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

Thanks for the inbox space, friend. I hope you’re reading something lovely.

xoxo

This newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

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Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly(ish) collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme.

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Part of the research for my memoir is to read every book about scoliosis I can get my hands on. At first, it was just to get an idea of how other people write about this thing that has ruled more than half of my life. But it quickly morphed into something else, where reading about other people’s experiences—both real and fictional—awaken memories my brain has carefully hidden deep in the cobwebs. I’d forgotten about certain sensations and experiences I’d had until I read a similar bit in a book and had the feelings come rushing back.

Scoliosis is a sideways curve of the spine that most often appears around puberty and more commonly in girls. Sometimes it’s minor and treatable with a back brace. Other cases require a spinal fusion surgery, where a surgeon straightens the spine with titanium rods and screws locking the vertebrae in place. I’ve had two such surgeries—one to merely lock the curve in place and keep it from progressing, another about a decade of pain later to fully straighten my spine. I grew 2 inches!

Here are three of the best books I’ve read about scoliosis so far.

The books

Broken Places and Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected by Nnedi Okorafor

The inimitable science fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor, then a college track star studying to be an entomologist, expected her spinal fusion surgery to be a simple procedure. But when she woke up, she was paralyzed from the waist down. It’s a known and rare complication, and luckily in Okorafor’s case, she eventually regained feeling and learned to walk again. During her months confined to a hospital bed, she hallucinated and dreamed of bugs and mystical worlds around her, which she began writing down. The surgery made her lose her faith in science and pivot her career into writing. Because when something breaks, something greater can be born. Broken Places and Outer Spaces is an incredible short memoir about Okorafor’s experience and the joy she found in writing.

Many thanks to , who sent me this from my wishlist!

Fix by J. Albert Mann

I have never read anything that so viscerally matched my experience with scoliosis and surgery. The waking up cold and in pain. The inability to jump out of bed or bend over to tie your shoes. The need for someone else to wash your hair as you painfully, precariously hold your head over the side of the tub. Fix is a heavy, beautiful, heartbreaking, powerful book. It’s about a girl and her spine, and her subsequent addiction to painkillers, but it’s also a story about friends, learning who you are, and finding what you really need.

Braced by Alyson Gerber

Rachel just started seventh grade and has to wear a back brace. As she figures out how to function with an awkward turtle shell, she also deals with normal teenager things like friends and boys and soccer and dances. And bullying. The brace makes common things more difficult, but it also helps her deal with her problems head-on. She stands up for herself and kicks ass on the soccer field. Braced brought back so many memories I didn’t know were still locked away in my brain about my time as a 13-year-old with new metal in her spine and a plaster brace to keep her safe. It’s the perfect portrayal of this twisty-turny time so many teenage girls go through.

The link

• I maintain a list of books about scoliosis on my Bookshop, regularly updated as I read more, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The nightstand

I’m listening to Housewife: Why Women Still Do It All and What to Do Instead by Lisa Selin Davis, a fascinating history of the housewife (and lobotomies???) and feminism and I am loving it.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

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Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme. Today we’re looking at some fabulous memoirs coming out this year that I can’t wait to get my hands on.

First, some realness and a programming note: I’ve been struggling with feeling like my work here is worthwhile and valuable for readers—and also for myself. The creator economy is exhausting. I want to do work that is fulfilling, so things will change around here. Posts will be less frequent, as I’ll only pop in your inbox only when I have something I’m really excited to talk about. It won’t necessarily be my standard books on a theme, because sometimes, like right now, my reading slows down and nothing fits a theme.

Hence, this list of anticipated memoirs.

A few months ago, I was chatting with some friends who said they don’t know many other people who gravitate toward reading memoirs. Say what? Oftentimes, when I’m browsing bookstores, memoir is the first place I look. And they’re most often the books that I want to keep on my shelf after I read them. They’re the perfect form: Personal and autobiographical, but often with a blend of the bigger picture beyond.

If you, too, are a memoir lover, or need some recs, dig in to these picks.

The books

Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison (February 20)

The brilliant Leslie Jamison gives us her first memoir, about the end to her marriage and endless love for her daughter. In Splinters, she covers the roles women must adhere to—mother, lover, teacher, artist—while also maintaining their own humanity.

The Manicurist’s Daughter: A Memoir by Susan Lieu (March 12)

In a memoir that goes beyond grief, trauma, and body image, Susan Lieu examines what it means to be a child of refugees trying to reach the American Dream. When her family escaped the Vietnam War, her mother set up two successful nail salons in California. And then she died from a botched tummy tuck. In the years since, Lieu has searched for answers about her mother’s life.

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne (April 2)

Patric Gagne always knew she made people uncomfortable. She didn’t feel things like others did—she felt nothing, actually. For years, she tried to conform to the world, but it was painful. She stole and lied and sometimes got violent. And then she got a diagnosis of sociopathy. But she wasn’t a monster, and she wants to prove that to the world.

Ambition Monster: A Memoir by Jennifer Romolini (June 4)

After years of workaholism, Jennifer Romolini reached the peak and had people clamoring to know the secrets to her success. Underneath it all, though, was unresolved trauma and chronic overworking, waiting to blow everything to smithereens. Ambition Monster is about the addictive nature of achievement and capitalism, and how to find yourself amid it all.

The Lucky Ones: A Memoir by Zara Chowdhary (July 16)

A survivor of anti-Muslim violence, Zara Chowdhary weaves family and political histories to tell the tale of religious extremism in India and the world. The Lucky Ones focuses on the stories of women who hold the world together while everything around them falls apart.

The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite (July 30)

While mourning the sudden death of her husband, Jessica Waite stumbled upon secrets—affairs, drugs, an addiction to porn—that upended everything she thought she knew about the man she loved. The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards is an exploration of grief, single parenthood, betrayal, and the reality of love stories.

The links

• The whole list of 2024 Anticipated Memoirs is up on my Bookshop.

• Cassie at Reading Under the Radar got all us Bookstackers together to talk about our most anticipated reads of the year. My pick is Alicia Thompson’s The Art of Catching Feelings, because you can never go wrong with a sports romance about a pro player and his heckler.

I just got an ARC of Sociopath and I’m so stoked to learn more about this personality disorder beyond the usual tropes of serial killers and other monsters.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

This newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider leaving a tip or buying me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

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Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, a monthly collection of bite-sized book reviews, based on a theme.

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Happiest of new years! I hope your reading goals are off to a strong start and you’re staying bundled up if you, too, are getting hit with a blizzard this weekend.

Over the last few months, I’ve been taking my mental health memoirs with a dash of humor, and it really is an excellent combo. A chef’s kiss, even.

Here are three of my recent favorites that deal with agoraphobia, anxiety, depression, and disordered eating. These books also discuss suicidal ideation and attempts, so do take care while reading.

The books

Agorafabulous!: Dispatches from My Bedroom by Sara Benincasa

Only a comedian like Sara Benincasa could turn tales of agoraphobia and peeing in cereal bowls kept under her bed into something not wholly terrifying. In Agorafabulous! she chronicles her life through her anxieties—a trip abroad where she felt bad but didn’t know how else to describe it, a stint as a high school teacher in a new city, the myriad challenges as stand-up comedian new to the stage. It’s more than that, too; it’s an exploration of a life lived in spite of the mental illnesses that once held her hostage.

“I subscribe to the notion that if you can laugh at the shittiest moments in your life, you can transcend them.”
—Sara Benincasa, Agorafabulous!: Dispatches from My Bedroom, 2012

Easy Crafts for the Insane: A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things by Kelly Williams Brown

The queen of Adulting gets personal with this moving memoir about depression and the easy crafts that helped her get through her darkest days. A series of unfortunate events—a divorce, several broken limbs, her father’s cancer diagnosis—led her into a deep depression and a stay at an inpatient facility. When she got home, she turned to crafts to settle her mind. But they were small, silly crafts, like tiny paper stars, which helped her build her life again. Crafting tutorials are included if you, too, need something to accomplish in a day.

Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by Maria Bamford

I’d somehow never heard of Maria Bamford before, but if you give your book a snappy title and add “mental illness” to the subtitle, I’m gonna read it. Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult is a delightful journey through Bamford’s life in the business we call show and the shocking number of anonymous groups she’s joined with hopes of being cured—of being broke, of being mentally ill, of being a lover of love. She’s candid and hilarious about her mental health struggles and psychiatric stay. And, bonus for me, she briefly mentions having scoliosis and trichotillomania, my two biggest and silly-sounding ailments! Bingo!

The nightstand

If you’re having a lousy day, I recommend taking a stroll or drive through an unfamiliar neighborhood. Chances are you’ll find a Little Free Library or two. Maybe you’ll find something as adorable as this Snoopy one I spotted!

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the mental health archives:

• Mental Health Books for Adults and Kids

• Get Inside the Mind of an Addict with These Memoirs

• Mental Health Memoirs from the Sidelines

Take care of yourself, friend.

xoxo

This newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber or buying me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

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Welcome to an extra, year-end edition of Crooked Reads, a collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme.

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We did it. We made it to the end of another year. Huzzah. Let this be a time of enjoying blank spreadsheets as we look upon a new one.

My reading goal for 2023 was a flip from the norm: Read less. Don’t let quantity and speed determine your reading life. Shockingly, I followed this rule, and not as shockingly, I loved it! I also ended up surpassing my reading goal of 100 books—but only by three.

It’s been refreshing and is a thing I’m finding myself wanting to apply to more aspects of my life. Just less. Less of everything. More quiet.

Thank you so much for being here, for letting me yap about books into the void and get responses from real, genuine, sweet people.

Let’s get to the books, split by 2023 releases and things published earlier than that.

Frontlist

The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy

We all know Elle Kennedy is the queen of hockey romance. This one features the daughter of Hannah and Garrett, from The Deal, and is basically perfect. The grumpiest of grumpy meets sunshine with two A-list college hockey players, each battling their reputations—Ryder for that time he broke a guy’s jaw, Gigi for being the daughter of an NHL superstar. The spice in this book is top-notch and the relationship felt more realistic than in a lot of other romances.

The Loneliness Files: A Memoir in Essays by Athena Dixon

Truly, truly incredible. The Loneliness Files blends stories from the news—a woman who died in front of her TV and wasn’t found for three years, a young woman who disappears in the Cecil Hotel—and Dixon’s own tales of isolation, both before and especially during COVID. She reminisces about family and home and what those concepts even mean. And what is the internet doing to us? This was such a gut punch of a book and I couldn’t put it down.

Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby

A Sam Irby slam dunk. (A Sam dunk??) I do not care a lick about Sex and the City, but I cackled through the large chunk of the book focused on the series. I also appreciated getting more vulnerable stories than Irby’s shared with us before. If you’re into snark and dark humor and poop tales, Quietly Hostile is for you. Best experienced on audio, read by the author!

Backlist

Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who’s Been There by Tara Schuster

You know when you pick up a book and it’s the perfect thing for the exact season you’re in? That’s what this was for me. The amount of annotating in my copy…is a lot. Tara woke up on her birthday one year and decided to make a change. And she actually fucking DID it. In Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies, she shares the rituals and journaling practices that helped her make a better, happier life for herself. The ultimate kindness! Which she also shares on her Substack, !

In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

Y’all. This book is an absolute masterpiece. It’s a memoir about queer domestic abuse and writing and how to exist in the world, but it’s not a straight-forward book of prose. Most chapters are a page long and focus on a single moment in time, with footnotes pointing to the parallels of her life to classic folktale themes. It’s told in the second person, putting you right in the middle of the messy story. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read.

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

The spice! Is immaculate! What happens when a WASP moves to LA and ends up rooming with a porn star? This beautiful, sex-positive book, that’s what. The Roommate is so fun. Just read it.

Your favorite posts of 2023

In case you missed them the first time around.

• Strange Science Books about Animals

• Stay Warm with These Holiday Romances

• Romantasy Books That are Worth the Hype

I wish you all a happy new year and whatever goodness that entails for you. Thank you, as always, for your infinite kindness and space in your inbox.

xoxo

This newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber, donating, or buying me a book from my wishlist to support my work!

I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

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Welcome to another edition of Crooked Reads, where I share a collection of bite-sized reviews about books on a theme.

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It’s December, and therefore I must be a law-abiding citizen and share with you some holiday romances. They’ll fill you with some cozy joy, a little bit of spice, and are best served with a warm beverage and a snoozing pet on your lap. I challenged myself to read every holiday book in my Kindle library this month, and these are just the tip of the iceberg.

A note about diversity: I did a bad job with my reading choices for this topic and this list is hella white. I apologize for that. has a great rec this week, with a holiday romance set during year when Christmas, Eid, and Hanukkah landed within days of each other.

The books

👑 Duke, Actually by Jenny Holiday

Dani’s given up on love. Her ex was garbage and inspired her to create a list of things she’ll never again do for a man. Max is heir to the Duke of Aquilla and a recovering fuckboy. When the two meet during the holiday season, all is great. They both want nothing to do with love! How convenient! But this is a romance novel we’re talking about, and Max’s father is pressuring him to find a suitable bride. When Dani and Max fall for each other, it’s in slow and sweet moments over the course of a few years, meeting up whenever Max is in New York. In between visits, their text conversations are full of the wittiest banter. And when they admit their feelings for each other, it’s just lovely.

🏝️ Second Chances in New Port Stephen by T.J. Alexander

It’s only fitting that on the night Eli Ward returns home for Christmas after years away, he runs into his still-hot, still-charming ex-boyfriend. Eli’s a different person now—post-transition, sober, and recently unemployed after his TV writing gig blew up—and it takes Nick a moment to put the pieces together after their carts bumped into each other. They hang out for the remainder of the holidays, both unsure if the flames are really being rekindled or not. Second Chances in New Port Stephen is such a sweet and funny book about family and love and identity.

🌶️ A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Bee’s mega-successful career as an adult film star takes a turn when her producer casts her in a PG Christmas movie. She’s thrilled about the chance to share her career with a wider audience, but terrified of her identity as Bianca von Honey coming out and ruining the film. Her co-star, Nolan, is an ex-boy band member whose posters she had covering every inch of her teenage bedroom. Oh, and he’s a loyal subscriber to her ClosedDoors account. They’re both trying to have a fresh start in their careers, but things immediately get spicy between them. When they hook up and quickly fall in love on set, things get messy. Secrets can never stay hidden, and there’s so much at stake. But can love conquer it all? You betcha!

The links

• Don’t forget about Bookshop’s Holiday Gift Guides! Peep this list of books for the reader who reads everything, whether that’s you or someone you love. Use the code HOLIDAY23 to get 15% off your order and support independent bookstores and this newsletter!

The nightstand

The Dreamland Billionaires series surprised me in the best way. Brothers Rowan (grumpy) meets his sunshine in Zahra, Declan (averse to love) has his arranged marriage and falls in love with Iris, and Cal (the golden retriever) gets his second-chance with Alana. Lauren Asher is a treasure and I’ll be reading everything she writes from here on out.

I’m currently reading The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert and I cannot handle how adorable it is.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

• Romantasy Books That are Worth the Hype

• Get Physical with These Sports Romances

• Strange Science Books about Animals

xoxo

Head’s up! I’m an affiliate with Bookshop.org and may earn a commission if you click through any book links and make a purchase.

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It feels foolish to recommend some silly science books to you today, when the world is so cruel. But this is what we do. We read and share books to open our minds and hearts to others, learning fun facts along the way.

It just so happens that these books are about the animal kingdom and what happens when they’re on drugs or mating or have faces that look like butts. Strange science books are my fave way to inhale science. The people who have dedicated their lives to studying a very specific topic or animal or phenomenon are such a delight. They love their studies so much, they just want to tell everyone everything they know on the topic. And when everyone they know has had enough, it’s time for a book.

I’ll almost always be on the other end, eagerly anticipating stuffing my brain with knowledge that is just a fun nugget to have in my pocket to share at dinner parties.

The books

Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins: A Trip Through the World of Animal Intoxication by Oné R. Pagán

My favorite kind of science book blends humor in with the weirdness of the topic at hand, and Oné Pagán nailed it with Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins. Pick this up if you want to hear about the romantic lives of cicadas—sometimes they get so stoned that they boink like maniacs until their abdomens fall off. And then they die. Or perhaps you prefer insects getting revenge on the scientists who study them, like the bees who were provided booze and became so filled with rage that they swarmed inside the lab and stung any human they could find. Fun!

Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis by Emily Willingham

Yeah, it’s a book about wieners and mating behaviors of animals in the wild. Or, well, in labs. You would not believe how many people study insect intercourse. There’s a lot in here about cultural perceptions about how “penis equals power,” and gender bias and rape culture, which is fine—I always love a good feminist rant—but I’m mostly here for the weird facts. Are ya ready?

The blue whale has an 8-foot-long schlong, but the barnacle has the biggest wiener in proportion to their size—up to nine times as large! You’re welcome.

Butt or Face? by Kari Lavelle

We don’t normally do kids books around here, but I couldn’t resist. My pal worked on this (we both work for the publisher) and it’s her pride and joy.

The concept is simple: Is this close-up picture of an animal butt or an animal face? Turn the page to see the full photo and learn some fun facts about the beast! Okapis are related to giraffes! Male peacock spiders dance for their mates and pounce on their prey—no web action here! Fun and colorful and silly!

The links

• Bookshop’s Holiday Gift Guides are here! Peep this list of books for the reader who reads everything. Use the code HOLIDAY23 to get 15% off your order and support independent bookstores and this newsletter!

• U.S. residents, order your COVID tests!

• Over at Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice, Patricia provides resources for Gaza, Caring for Yourself, & Information Literacy. Also: Haymarket Books is offering three free ebooks about Palestine.

• My friend Elizabeth of shared six lessons from 6,000 subscribers on Substack and some excellent bookish newsletters. Katy of also rounded up our gang of Bookstackers, in case you need even more bookish newsletters in your inbox.

The nightstand

I’ll be slowly savoring this true crime tale about man vs. nature for a while, I can already tell. In ’s Gator Country, a man goes on an undercover operation to find alligator poachers, only to find that maybe they aren’t the bad guys, after all… Out Nov. 14! 🐊

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

• Read These Weird Science Books

• Embrace Life with These Books about Death Positivity

• Spooky Horror Comics to Read for Halloween

✨ Psst, there’s also a directory with a list of every title shared on Crooked Reads, as well pages for genres—check out all my science posts.

xoxo

This newsletter will always be free to read, but it ain’t free to write. Consider becoming a paid subscriber, or buying me a book, to support my work!

Subscribe now

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Hi, friend.

Happy October! Go get your flu shots and COVID boosters! I’m a few days out from receiving both and *knocks on wood* this is the first time the COVID booster hasn’t made me puke. We love to see progress.

I’m on week two of The Artist’s Way and I get why this is such a holy text for creative people. Spilling my guts into three pages in my trusty speckled composition notebook is so healing. I’m finding myself not needing to verbally process things with friends, emotionally dumping on them, as much as I used to. The pages are the perfect audience.

My original plan for this month was to share some monster romances, but the ones I read weren’t up to snuff. So instead, enjoy some fun and terrifying spoopy comics!

The books

👽 Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen

Did I spend an hour cackling at this book, sending pictures of pages to my husband every three minutes? You betcha. Cryptid Club is cartoonist Sarah Andersen’s delightful take on cryptids—Mothman, the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, and other friends—and what their daily lives look like. Mothman crashes into lit-up windows. Big Foot is bummed that every photo of him is unattractive. Etc.

🤡 Deep Dark Fears by Fran Krause

Fran Krause’s Deep Dark Fears is funny, bizarre, horrifying, and relatable as heck. It’s a collection of comics based on real-life fears from readers around the world. Like being afraid of slipping into wrought-iron gates and impaling yourself through the eye (My version of this is clothing racks in department stores—they’re always right at my eye level). Or that, on cold winter days, when you can see your breath, that also means people can see the little tufts of warm air as you fart.

👻 A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

I’m not entirely sure I ~got~ this book, but the art is incredible. A Guest in the House feels like Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, but it quickly spirals into something deeper and darker. Abby is newly married to a widowed dentist who moved to town with his daughter after his wife’s death. As she learns more about Sheila and her death, Abby feels uneasy. How did she die, really? Were all her paintings really burned in the fire, or are they saved, hidden and locked away? The ghost of Sheila is everywhere in the house, simultaneously fascinating and tormenting Abby as she pieces together the truth about her husband.

The nightstand

The scoliosis stack begins! This reading has been surprisingly essential for my memoir-in-progress as it sparks memories I’ve had repressed deep in the shadows of my brain. If you told 12-year-old Ashley that she’d one day forget the sound her back brace made as it rubbed together, or the exact shade of grey her body socks turned after a year of sweating in them, she would never believe you.

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

• Cozy Comics for Your Summertime Sadness

• Embrace Life with These Books about Death Positivity

• Get Inside the Mind of an Addict with These Memoirs

Thanks for the inbox space! I appreciate you being here. Next month, we’re diving into some cool science books.

xoxo

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Oh, hi.

Since quitting some of my writing gigs earlier this year, I realized a lot of brain space has opened up for me to write the things I want to write. I’m journaling again and considering doing more in this space: Little essays about being bookish, personal bits about being alive, and maybe—get ready—things I learn while writing my book.

That’s right. I’m finally doing it: Writing a memoir of my life with scoliosis, blended with history, science, medicine, and whatever else I stumble upon in my research. It’s currently a single document titled “Word Vomit,” followed by another endless document (and a variety of notes on my phone) filled with articles to read, books to check out, memories to mine, and a slew of potential topics to peruse.

One of the first steps I’m taking is to read every scoliosis book I can find, starting with the rereads: Deenie and Braced. I didn’t read these books until I was older than the intended audience, but they’re so powerful in bringing me back to feeling like a 13-year-old again.

Rereading was once my main form of reading. Why delve into new books when you could return to the books you already know you love? But then I saw that TBR calculator (which doesn’t seem to exist anymore) that took the number of books on your TBR, how many books you read last year, and your age, and spit out some horrifying “you’ll finish all your books in the year 3032!” statement.

So I quit that rereading nonsense.

I had a wee bit of an existential crisis this spring and my solace was burrowing into myself and the things that brought me comfort when I was a teen. I reread the Twilight books, rewatched all the movies—and bonus content, which come in the deluxe 10-disc box set that Anthony got me for Christmas last year—and started to feel a little better.

Needing more fantasy, I devoured the A Court of Thorns and Roses series—and promptly reread them all on audiobook. I’m planning on rereading Fourth Wing before Iron Flame comes out in November. I’m revisiting more books I loved in some of my darker days so I can read them and feel cozy again.

There’s a sort of magic to rereading that I never considered before. You get to revisit a place with hindsight and deepen your understanding of the world within the pages. If you annotate your books, maybe you find joy or surprise in the passages that resonated with your younger self. Maybe you’re reminded of the person you were the last time you read the book.

For me, it’s fun because my memory is absolute garbage. I forget all plot points as soon as I finish a book; all that remains is how it made me feel. So, in a way, rereading is kind of like reading a book for the first time again.

So far, my rereading has remained in the world of fiction. As I begin the (very) early stages of writing a book, I’m dipping my toes into some of the classic writing guides I read a decade ago, and I can’t wait to see what old ideas become new for me in this new phase.

What about you? Are you a rereader?

The nightstand

In the Dream House is a masterpiece. It’s a memoir about queer domestic abuse and writing and how to exist in the world. The format here is perfect, with most chapters just a page long and focusing on a single moment in time. Tales of the past are told in second person, putting you right in the middle of the horrifying story. It’s just magnificent—and a book I see myself returning to again and again.

Note: This book is on sale for Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month at Bookshop! Use code HHM2023 to get 20% this and other fabulous nonfiction titles.

xoxo

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It feels so good to be back in the world of Substack, reading and writing like a fiend. I’ve been spending my days devouring books on my patio until I get too sweaty to focus. We had a tease of pumpkin spice season a few weeks ago in the Midwest before going back to scorchers, but we are in full fall mode in our house anyway. My husband’s already three movies into his horror viewing for the season.

Also, I’ve made a new way for you to support me and my work, if a monthly subscription isn’t your cup of tea but buying books is: Here’s my wishlist/registry on Bookshop.

Anyway, books! This month I’m sharing some recent fiction releases about the publishing world, because what reader doesn’t love reading about the industry? The plots are wildly different, but the heartbeat is the same: A love for books, despite all the chaos of the industry. These three are truly some of the best at capturing what publishing ~is really like~ according to my experience at a mid-size publisher.

The books

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Yellowface has been everywhere this summer for a reason. It’s a juicy, delicious insider-baseball fictional look at publishing from the eyes of a woman who steals her (dead) nemesis’s work-in-progress and passes it off as her own. What follows is a truly wild ride that at times had me rooting for June before remembering that she’s the villain of her own story.

Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

When a ghostwriter has a hilariously bad one-night stand, the last thing she expects is to be in a meeting the next day with said one-night stand and an offer to write his memoir. She follows him on a tour of comic cons—he was a teen drama star!—and decides to give him some pointers on his bedroom game in their spare time. Of course, they fall in love. I cackled, I giggled, I swooned. This book is such a comfy, cozy hug, with a healthy dose of steam.

A Career in Books: A Novel about Friends, Money, and the Occasional Duck Bun by Kate Gavino

A Career in Books is a delightful comic about three besties—career-focused Nina, writer Silvia, and chaotic good Shirin—navigating the world of publishing while living in a shitty New York apartment and befriending a neighbor who just so happens to be a Booker Prize winner. It’s very slice-of-life-y and I loved it.

The boost

If your TikTok feed is anything like mine, you’ve learned a thing or two about home repair for regular people from Mercury Stardust.

Join me in donating a copy of her magnificent new book Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair to the Transgender Law Center. Every purchase made through this link will support this newsletter, independent bookstores, and the TLC.

The nightstand

I’ve been reading some really great inspirational and writing-related books lately, and Tara Schuster’s Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is one of the best. Her rituals and journaling practice are what dreams are made of, I’m pretty sure?

The backlist

In case you missed ’em, or want to peep the archives:

• Romantasy Books That are Worth the Hype

• Read These Weird Science Books

• Embrace Life with These Books about Death Positivity

The postscript

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and I’m incredibly honored that an essay I wrote during the early months of COVID is featured in To Write Love on Her Arms’s little newspaper as part of this year’s suicide prevention pack! If you’re struggling, please stay. We need you.

xoxo

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