by Rachel Toalson | Books
Here are 5 (or 6) things worth sharing this month:
1. Reading (MG): “I wondered if ideas were born the same way stars are, starting off small and collecting space clouds and dust until they have enough to burst open.” If you’re looking for a sweet, unusual, compulsively readable middle grade book, be sure to pick up What Stars Are Made Of, by Sarah Allen. It’s about a girl born with Turner Syndrome, and I don’t think you’ll ever read another book like it. Allen is also the author of Breathing Underwater, which is on my 2024 TBR list.
2. Reading (YA): Elana K. Arnold’s newest book, The Blood Years, is a mesmerizing YA historical novel about a girl in Romania and her family’s struggle to survive the Holocaust. This book will captivate you all the way through. There’s so much historical detail—but not so much that it becomes tedious; it only adds to the intrigue of the story. Arnold is also the author of several YA books I’ve loved, including Damsel, What Girls Are Made Of, and Red Hood.
3. Reading (adult, F): “Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.” I LOVED Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt, so much! It’s the first of Van Pelt’s books I’ve read (and so happens to be her first), but I hope it will not be my last. This book is full of quirky and lovable characters, a beautiful storyline, and an octopus you’ll root for until the end.
4. Reading (adult, NF): I started listening to Mary Louise Kelly’s It.Goes.So.Fast.: the Year of No Do-Overs, while working out on the elliptical because of significant rain during the last few weeks. I couldn’t do it, though. It was way too emotional, so I had to listen at other times, when I wasn’t already breathing hard. This book is a beautiful memoir about children growing up. And maybe it hit me in all the feels because I’m the parent of a high school junior—which means next year will be my last year with my firstborn. Oh my. Kelly saw right through to my heart. I highly recommend it for parents. (By the way Kelly, who is an NPR correspondent, read the audiobook.)
5. Reading (adult, NF): “Under a lifetime of vigilance and fear of bodily harm often lies a bedrock of rage.” Another great nonfiction read is Melissa Febos’s Girlhood, a collection of essays that examine the narratives women are taught about what it means to be female. I think I’ll have to read it twice. It was so very good. Febos is also the author of the memoirs Whip Smart and Abandon Me, both of which are on my 2024 TBR, as well as Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, which I got for the holidays and can’t wait to dive in to.
6. Reading (adult, F): “The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.” Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, was one of the best adult reads I read this year (and I’m not the only one who thought so—it won this year’s Pulitzer Prize). It examines small-town life and the opioid epidemic in a way that felt real and true and not given to stereotypes (and I’ve seen a lot of stereotypes when writers write about small-town, rural, American south, maybe because they’ve never lived there). It’s worth a read, even though it’s long. I read the audiobook, which made for a fantastic experience.
by Rachel Toalson | Books, Uncategorized
1. Reading (MG): I just finished Joanne Rossmassler Fritz’s novel in verse, Everywhere Blue, about a musical girl looking for answers to her older brother’s disappearance. It was a gripping story of love, climate change, and family bonds. Fritz is also the author of Ruptured, which just released last month. I have not yet read it but am eagerly looking forward to it.
2. Reading (YA): “No wonder early man going back and back looked at that power and force and said, that shit better be squashed, or we won’t be in charge. We better get on top of that power, and fast. We better use all we got, physical strength and control and shame, because man oh man, she is lighting and thunder, the bearer of all things, right there. She’s massive, so we better make her feel small ASAP.” Plan A, by Deb Caletti was just what I’ve come to expect from Deb Caletti novels: profound, courageous, illuminating. I’m a super fan of Deb’s, and I can’t recommend this book enough. (Other favorites of hers: A Heart in a Body in the World; Honey, Baby, Sweetheart; and Girl, Unframed.)
3. Watching: My husband and I just started watching Schmigadoon on Apple TV—and my gosh is it fun! It’s a series that’s a musical, and so cleverly written we find ourselves, after every episode, feeling impressed by the music, the caliber of the performers, and the plot itself. There are currently two seasons, and both follow couple Melissa and Josh as they get trapped in a musical world with a mission to complete. The first season shows us Schmigadoon, and the second season (my favorite so far) takes place in Schmicago. It’s riotous fun.
4. Reading (adult): On a recent early-morning run, I finished Mother-Daughter Murder Night, by Nina Simon, a story about three generations of women who come together to solve a murder in their town. If you like mysteries mixed with family dramas, this will be a good one to pick up. It’s not my favorite thing to read (honestly), but this one kept my attention, and the characters were compelling enough to feel invested in them.
5. Reading (MG): “All of life is a mystery, in a way. And that makes every single one of us a detective.” What a sweet, tender-hearted story—The Lost Library, by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Maass is the kind of book that you’ll speed through and wish would never really end. It’s the story of a little free library, a cat who guards it, and a boy who discovers it and seeks to uncover its mysteries, starting with the books in it. It’s clever, striking, and inspiring.
6. Watching: The Netflix docuseries The Most Hated Man on the Internet, about Hunter Moore and his revenge web site Is Anyone Up? will make you cringe, shout, and wonder what on earth is wrong with people. Is Anyone Up was a pornographic site that used stolen and hacked photos of men and women, posted by exes or people who wanted revenge on them. It ruined many people’s lives before the IRS got involved. Ugh. I hate that things like this exist, but it was a worthwhile series to watch. Information is better than ignorance.
by Rachel Toalson | Books
1. Reading (MG): “How it’s not my brain being messed up, but more my heart being hurt, and how sometimes we think we’re okay, we think we’ve moved on, but then our hearts crack open months or even years later and it’s important to stop, be kind to ourselves, and ask for help— ask for love.” Iveliz Explains it All by Andrea Beatriz Arango is a lovely novel in verse about a girl who’s having trouble with her anger. And with school. And with her mom. It’s a book about mental health and speaking up and leaning on the kind of love that sticks by you no matter what. Beatriz Arango earned a Newbery Honor award for the book, and it’s easy to see why. Highly recommended.
2. Reading (YA): “You don’t try to be anyone else and that is a very hard thing in this world. It may seem unimportant right now when fitting in would be so much easier. But later you’ll see. Being who you are is everything.” Fat Angie, by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo was a delight to read. Angie’s distinct voice, her way of seeing the world, the friendship and rivalries—all of it made for a spectacular read. Charlton-Trujillo won a Stonewall Book Award for this one, and Angie has more books—Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution and Fat Angie: Homecoming. See if you don’t love Angie, too.
3. Watching: “The only way to free yourself and break out is to tell the truth.”—Prince Harry. Oh my goodness. I made the mistake of watching Apple TV’s The Me You Can’t See while huffing and puffing on the elliptical machine on Sunday mornings. It’san emotional docuseries (hence, the mistake—have you ever seen someone crying while on an elliptical?) that shares stories of mental illness and mental health issues from around the world—and what leaders are doing about it. The series was produced by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry. It was amazing. The episodes follow people who struggle with mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and OCD and includes stories of trauma and healing from around the world. The last episode is a look at what mental health experts see as a way forward into healing for all those struggling.
4. Reading (poetry): Trickster time arrived/while I slept./It takes some getting used to.” I’ve long been a fan of Sandra Cisneros, since I read her book The House on Mango Street in high school. She just released a book of poetry, Woman Without Shame—her first in 28 years! It is signature Sandra Cisneros—bluntly honest, humorous, and profound. Don’t miss it if you love poetry. Or if you just love to read anything and everything.
5. Reading (MG): “We are here to help you carry the sky when you have to, and we are here to help you put it down when you need to. Why else would anyone ever become a teacher?” OH! My heart! If you haven’t yet read Gary D. Schmidt’s The Labors of Hercules Beal, you must pick it up. Full of mythology, emotion, and sweet friendship, it is tender and witty and heart-warming. Schmidt is probably best known for his books The Wednesday Wars, which won a Newbery Honor, and Okay for Now, which was a National Book Award finalist. I have, sadly, not read either of those, but they are both on my list now!
6. Watching: I just finished the Netflix series Never Have I Ever, a comedy about an Indian-American teen who’s trying to find her way through high school. I loved this series. It felt more authentic to a teen’s life than many of the teen dramas and comedies out there. It was created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, and it stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, and Niecy Nash. One of my favorite quotes from the series came from Devi’s mom (Devi’s the main character): “You’re never too much, and you’re always enough.” I wrote it in my quote journal and labeled it “From Devi Vishwakumar’s mom.). I highly recommend working your way through the four seasons of it. If you’re scared off by the narration in the first couple of episodes (I was, and then I gave it another chance), keep going. You’ll fall in love with it.
by Rachel Toalson | Books
Here are 5 (or 6) things worth sharing this month:
1. Reading: I recently finished the lovely middle grade novel, Ruby Lost and Found, by Christina Li. It’s about a girl who’s been sentenced by her parents to spend the summer with her grandmother, visiting a local senior center and interacting with her grandmother’s friends. After learning that a beloved bakery in the neighborhood is in trouble, she tries to brainstorm ways to save it. It was such a sweet story of family connection, coming of age, and learning to fight for a community. Highly recommended! Li is also the author of Clues to the Universe, which I have not yet read but, of course, plan to!
2. Reading: Another fantastic middle grade read this month was Gillian McDunn’s When Sea Becomes Sky. It was another summer story (I guess I’m only just getting around to reading them all) about a girl who learns her special place with her brother is going to be destroyed by development—and she tries to save it. Which makes it seem similar to Ruby Lost and Found, but it’s totally different. McDunn is probably best-known for her books Caterpillar Summer (which I also recommend reading) and Honestly Elliott, which I haven’t yet read.
3. Reading: “Mom likes to call them my ‘angels,’ but I worry that takes away their humanity and their nonreligious capacity for love and compassion they showed a stranger.” Javier Zamora’s memoir, Solito, is a sometimes disturbing portrait of his migration from El Salvador to the United States when he was 9. It was a riveting tale of survival and perseverance, made even more emotionally gripping because it was real. I highly recommend it.
4. Reading: I finished another fantastic middle grade this month—Jenn Reese’s A Game of Fox & Squirrels. It’s a magical realism book that confronts abuse in a very unique way. I found it captivating, touching, and…well, magical. I have not read any of Reese’s other books, which include Every Bird a Prince and Puzzleheart (which releases May 14, 2024), but one is currently in my holds stack at the library, and the other will be as soon as it’s released.
5. Watching: If you’re looking for a good drama (if your heart can handle anything other than comedy—and it’s a close call for me), look no farther than Apple TV’s The Morning Show. This show is a very candid look at what a modern early morning TV show workplace looks like. They take on modern-day issues—racial equity, political thought, and (whether you’re ready for it or not) life after Covid (Season 2 gets an up-close look at Covid). The show is currently in Season 3, and it’s been renewed for at least one more season. It’s well worth the watch!
6. Reading: “You fight and you fall and you get up and fight some more. But there will always come a day when you cannot fight another minute more.” Oh, what a disturbing—and yet somehow inspiring—book. Kate Moore’s The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women tells the true story of the hundreds of young women who worked in radium-dial factories and lived with the horrendous consequences—and what they did to battle for workers’ rights. It was fascinating, disturbing, and utterly riveting. A few months ago I shared another of Moore’s nonfiction books, The Woman They Could Not Silence. Do yourself a favor, and pick them both up. You’ll be captivated.
by Rachel Toalson | Books
Here are six things worth sharing this month:
1. Reading: “I think standing up for yourself always makes a difference.” I just finished reading Ali Standish’s latest middle grade book, The Mending Summer. It was lovely and hard and sweet and infused with magic and love. It’s about a girl dealing with alcohol addiction in her family, and I found it an authentic picture of what it’s like living with addiction under your roof. Standish is the author of multiple books; two of my other favorites include The Ethan I Was Before and August Isle. I highly recommend them all!
2. Reading: “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” You Could Make This Place Beautiful, by poet Maggie Smith, is a memoir of divorce. And oh my goodness is it beautiful. I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did, since I’ve never been through a divorce. But as a child of divorce, I felt like it was something my mom could have written. It was just…lovely. You must do yourself a favor and read it. Smith is the author of numerous poetry books, including Goldenrod and Good Bones, which are both on my reading list now.
3. Watching: If you have not yet seen the Barbie movie, you must! My husband and I saw it in the theater together, and then we took our three older boys to a second showing. I loved it even more the second time, and my sons loved it, too. When we walked out of the theater that day, a young girl was crying and told her mother, “I loved that movie so much!” It was such a sweet moment, and my 14-year-old couldn’t stop talking about how much it meant for that girl and so many others. Anyway. End of gushing. Just go see it. (You can also watch my YouTube review of it—but beware, it has slight spoilers!)
4. Reading: One of my favorite summer middle grade reads was Lasagna Means I Love You, by Kate O’Shaughnessy. It’s about Mo, who’s just lost her grandmother and who is now in the foster system. Mo writes to her grandmother in letter format…and it will not take you long at all to absolutely love this girl, who is desperately longing for a family to call her own. O’Shaughnessy is also the author of The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane, which I have not yet read but will soon!
5. Reading: I just subscribed to Ms. Magazine. I’m not sure why I never thought to subscribe before! The magazine is celebrating 50 years, and it’s a treasure trove of statistics on equality/inequality, political needs, and women’s issues. I look forward to seeing it in my mailbox every quarter! The Ms. web site is also a wealth of information…I’ve found myself getting caught in black holes of research there!
6. Reading: “Here’s a theory: Maybe I had not really been broken this whole time. Maybe I had been a human—flawed and still growing but full of light nonetheless.” Another phenomenal memoir I read this month is Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know. It’s a memoir of trauma. It was eye opening and challenging and ultimately hopeful. I read the audiobook, but I had to get the hard copy so I could read it again and make notes and study it, because it’s full of helpful research. I felt such a connection to this memoir, because for the first time it put words to some of the trauma I’ve experienced in my life—and the long, difficult road to healing.
by Rachel Toalson | Books
Here are 5 things worth sharing this month:
1. Reading: “Its heart was heavier with the weight of the young worker’s words. But should a heart not be heavy, in a world full of injustice?” I just finished Sacha Lamb’s brilliant YA book, When the Angels Left the Old Country, and my gosh was it good. It won the Stonewall Book Award, the Sydney Taylor Award and was a Michael L. Printz honor book, and I can definitely see why. It’s about an angel and a demon who leave the “Old Country” to come to America and help address social injustice for Jewish people. This is Lamb’s first book; I can’t wait to see what comes next.
2. Reading: “I wonder what it’s like to be with someone who can love you through your rage.” I guess I’ve been on a YA kick, because I also finished All My Rage, by Sabaa Tahir and loved it as well. This book won the National Book Award and the Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. It’s a love story about family and forgiveness. Don’t miss it!
3. Watching: Looking for a funny, quirky, entertaining, bingeable dramedy? Check out The Great, on Hulu. It’s loosely based on Catherine the Great, German queen of Russia. It stars Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, and Phoebe Fox, along with many others. Warning: It can get a bit raunchy at times. But it’ll make you laugh out loud.
4. Reading: I also just finished The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel A. Van der Kolk. It’s a long and in-depth book about trauma and effective methods of healing. Highly informative and enlightening, it also gave me a little hope for my own persistent trauma. I will acknowledge that in 2018 Van der Kolk was fired from the Trauma Center, where he did his research work, over allegations that he bullied employees. Nothing has been proven, but it’s worth acknowledging. I don’t think it detracts from this book and the research findings presented in it.
5. Watching: My kids and I just finished Season 1 of Netflix’s Down to Earth with Zac Effron. It’s a docuseries that follows Effron and a partner to different places in the world to learn how climate change is affecting other cultures and what innovative techniques people have developed to address climate change as well as social injustice. I absolutely loved this series. My kids and I have already begun on a more eco-friendly plan for our family. We’ve been on this journey for years now, but this show lit another fire under us. This year we’re tackling plastic—no more plastic! Maybe I’ll write about our continued and more fervent journey. 🙂
