23 Comments

Unshrinking by Kate Manne was so good! Love all her writing.

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Oh yes!!!!!!!!! Agree 10000%

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Thrilled to see North Woods on your awesome list. That book touched me so very deeply.

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Me too 🩷

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Just started reading it. Didn’t know what to expect and I am loving it. I am reading it slowly to savor it.

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This is an excellent list🤓📚♥️I read The Trees a couple of years ago and it blew my mind. No surprise that P.Everett is having so much success with James and Erasure/American Fiction.

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Yes!!

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One of my favorite recent reads: THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi. It is a charming, uplifting story featuring Theo, an elderly gentleman who mysteriously arrives in the town of Golden and proceeds to do good works. It was one of our book club selections, and it was just what we all needed! Also really enjoyed FRESH WATER FOR FLOWERS by the French writer Valerie Perrin. Goggle it for a complete description of this remarkable book! I loved the strong, resilient woman in this story. NORTH WOODS AND JAMES are upcoming reads. You must be a really fast reader if you read JAMES in one night!

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I stayed up wayyyy past my bedtime just to be fair….thanks for these amazing recommendations!

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This is a great list! If you liked There There, I recommend Night of the Living Rez (note: you have to read the whole thing!). Also a very tough read but wow. Speaking of being a little late to a great book, I just finished We All Want Impossible Things and loved it.

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Thank you for these recs!!

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I really enjoyed Family Meal by Bryan Washington (a fellow Houstonian!) and also loved The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. On the memoir front, both Ina Garten and Kelly Bishop had excellent ones this year, which I liked a lot more than I thought I might. Lies & Weddings by Kevin Kwan (the same author as Crazy Rich Asians) was fun and fizzy and perfect for summer. And The Pairing, by Casey McQuiston combined queer romance with food AND travel. I mean, what's not to love?!

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Ahhhh yes! Loved The Pairing!!! And family meal too - so much.

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And thanks for these other recs too!

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Thanks for sharing this great list! I loved Pachinko and Margo (excited to see the Apple TV+ series based on it, I read Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nick Offerman are going to be in it) - looking forward to checking out the others. I'm on the library waitlist for James.

And here are a few I really enjoyed this year: The Women, This Motherless Land, Real Americans, The Wedding People, and The Lion Women of Tehran.

Happy reading!

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I loved real Americans!!! I forgot to put in on the list because it’s one of the rare books I read a hard copy of so it wasn’t on my kobo list 🤦🏻‍♀️

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The Lion Women of Tehran was such a beautiful story! I recently read The Stationary Shop (also by Marjan Kamali) and loved it.

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Me too! The Stationery Shop was excellent! :)

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Hi Julia - your current book - do you feel this is most like how you cook everyday? At 68 l need some everyday practicality and inspiration- l want to eat healthy as l age ( l know that is a big open term!) but not prescriptive - because really where is the joy or sustainability in that life? I hate to admit it but l have not gotten your recent book yet… l have the others and they are really down to earth and creative - l use them weekly- just looking to branch out- thanks - Greg

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Yes 100% and not just saying that!!! The absolute simplest recipes I’ve written

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Ok great - l ‘m getting it for myself for Christmas ❤️

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Book recs for you (and anyone): The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, and 2 interconnected novels by Shannon Bowring (The Road to Dalton and Where the Forest Meets the River). All 3 of these books take place in northern Maine; the geography and location truly acts as an important “character” in a these books. While these are works of fiction, I learned so much from both authors and highly recommend these amazing books. 📚

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The Lonely City by Olivia Laing was really beautiful. I also mostly enjoyed Nightbitch and am really looking forward to the movie! Next I'm planning to re-read Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series :).

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