BookTalkTuesday

According to The New York Times, Pineapple Street is "the season's first beach read." And no doubt, Jenny Jackson's buzzy debut is wildly bingeable. Tightly constructed chapters make each endpoint feel like you could read just one more section. The world itself feels rich and immersive, as you dive into the wild wonders of the 1%. But there's something a bit more sophisticated than what The New York Times says. It reminds of another "beach read" Florence Adler Swims Forever . That book also maintained a bingeability factor, but it also layered complexity against its setting. Somewhere between that book and The Royal Tenenbaums, Pineapple Street  is a fun and fast read, but it never quite has enough action nor does it ever coalesce into something greater. Pineapple Street is set in modern day against the backdrop of generational wealth. You're quickly immersed into the world of the Stocktons. Talks of tennis clubs, stocks and real estate all continual

In Nick Brooks first foray into Young Adult books, he establishes himself as an essential voice ala Nic Stone, Jason Reynolds, and Nicola Yoon. Yes, Promise Boys  is that good.  What immediately sets Promise Boys  apart is its narrative structure. Young adults are no stranger to a handful of different voices, but  Promise Boys  immediately blows this structure wide open. Not content with just the three main protagonists of the text, the story begins with the voices of a wide range of characters in or around the main incident. For some, it's people who know the protagonists intimately. Others only have a passing knowledge of the characters. It makes the mystery build methodically and quickly, and the structure also instills enough doubt in the reader to make them guess characters' truths or deceits. So what's it about? It all begins with the murder of the principal. The main suspects are three boys, each with an apparent motive. But the book layers complexity quickly. The wo

This #BookTalkTuesday brings us the essential Where I’m Coming From by the genre busting Barbara Brandon-Croft. Important. Necessary. And more relevant than ever before. #book #books #booktalk #BookLover pic.twitter.com/4miGdpnNnE — Daniel Valentin (@DanielJValentin) March 28, 2023

You're only going to fit into one of two camps here. You're either going to love this or loathe this. I'm firmly in the former camp. Really Good, Actually is a hilarious adventure for the millennial and Gen Z generation. The jokes here are frequent. Dabbling from situational humor to verbal cues, author Monica Heisey establishes an unreliable main character on the brink of disaster that truly has no parallel. The premise revolves around Maggie. A somewhat zaftig, 29 year old red haired young woman whose marriage fell apart after 608 days. Over the course of 377 pages, Maggie tries to figure out what dissolved the marriage, but it's clear (early on) that it was no singular thing.  What transpires is recovery. Recovery from the marriage. From the expectations of family. And the recovery from friends. To me, it never felt burdensome. It feels witty and clever. And just when the book seems to go in one direction, it circumvents expectations with new failings both from new

This #BookTalkTuesday brings us Madame Restell by @JenAshleyWright - a fascinating look at New York’s most infamous abortionist. Fascinating from so many lenses. #book #booktalk #books pic.twitter.com/mOV85UWLqa — Daniel Valentin (@DanielJValentin) March 21, 2023

Who is underrepresented in the world of daily comics? We can all name the big ones: Peanuts, Garfield, Far From Home, Cathy, For Better or For Worse, that one about the caveman. With few exceptions (The Boondocks / Dykes to Watch Out For), the world of comics is largely cisgendered, and most certainly white. Enter Barbara Brandon-Croft. But... Wait... What? She entered the scene in 1989? I, and I guess many other people, missed out on this triumphant comic. Entering syndication in 1991, Where I'm Coming From  follows the lives of nine different black women. In this compilation, you get the major highlights from the series, while also getting the history of the text, its evolution and its worries. It's the way compilations ought to be made. Give readers context and history and never before seen glimpses! From rejection letters, to worries about the comic's unconventional drawings, this release gives new readers and returning readers something fresh. What's amazing is the

This #BookTalkTuesday brings us Nic Stone’s newest released Feb 28. Another great book by author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out. #book #books #booktalk #BookBoost #BookLover @CrownPublishing pic.twitter.com/nCd2RedI92 — Daniel Valentin (@DanielJValentin) March 14, 2023

This year's buzziest new book delivers what so many contemporary texts do. It delivers a brilliant protagonist with real world problems that keep you invested from beginning to end. While short on excitement, Maame (Pronounced ma-meh) feels real and tangible like other texts of similar nature: Queenie , Olga Dies Dream , Really Good, Actually  and yet has enough differentiation to keep it in a class all its own. This is going to sound a little blasphemous, but what differentiates Maame  from the aforementioned titles is that the protagonist, Maddie, is a little boring. Maybe boring isn't the right word. Reserved? Private? Restrained? Something of that nature. This is a much tamer text than what many people will be used to. This is light on action or big revelations. Even when revelations do happen, Maddie handles most of them with a shrug. When confrontations occur, she becomes even more reclusive in nature. The result is a far more subtle and gentle text. The result is fully i

Why do we make? What satisfaction does it give us? How do we connect with what we do or what our ancestors do? How does that help shape who we are? These questions sit at the heart of Peggy Orenstein's newest book, Unraveling. She takes us through the history of wool, yearn and the art of crafting. Through the first person account, it starts with the shearing of wool and only dives deeper from there. Orenstein weaves stories of family, history and present day events with ease. For the DIY crowd, this is deeply fascinating.  Does it break new ground? Not particularly. I don't know if the text separates itself if any way from Knitlandia . In many ways, that text felt more complex because of the constant movement around the world. Here, is something more intimate. We don't see the vast array of locals that Knitlandia offers; instead, it creates a more gentle and intimate text.  What I found fascinating was the history of yarn and the way yarn, sewing and thread weaves itself i

This #BookTalkTuesday brings us the much talked about Maame by @JessGeorge_ - worthy of all the buzz and so much more. #book #books #BookLover #booktalk pic.twitter.com/6DMzO3m913 — Daniel Valentin (@DanielJValentin) March 7, 2023

This #BookTalkTuesday brings us The Davenports by @KrystalMarquis - a delightful Bridgerton-esque book but with more gossip and more weight (set in 1910 / Jim Crow). A surprise right until the last moment. #book #booktalk #BookRecommendation #bookrecommendationsons @penguinrandom pic.twitter.com/DQpxEx2bjn — Daniel Valentin (@DanielJValentin) February 28, 2023