Life Update: It’s Been Wild

Whew. It has been a tough few months, y’all. Wowza. I had to take an unplanned break from reading because things got too overwhelming. And the weird thing is, there wasn’t a gigantic, immediate crisis at any point.

My kids hit some big milestones and needed extra support. My partner was traveling for work. It meant additional output from me, but nothing that I would have called unmanageable.

Except that it was. Which, thankfully, prompted me to get medical advice. I’ve had some low-key, annoying, but not dangerous, issues going on for a while. I thought by now, I’d be getting relief from new meds and treatment. But that didn’t seem to be happening. In fact, I felt worse.

Anyway, thankfully, I spoke with a nurse who not only really heard what I was saying but also pretty easily connected the dots and asked me to immediately stop the meds I was on. It turns out the medicine made me feel worse. Fortunately, there are other medicines to try, so I’ll start something new this week and hopefully continue feeling better.

So, yeah. I’ve been feeling a lot less than myself since December, but it happened so gradually it was hard to notice until now, looking back. At any rate, I am starting to feel better (aside from this head cold I’ve picked up), and I hope to get caught up on my reading in the next few weeks.

Spring Backlist Reading Check-In

Let’s move on to why we’re all here: books!

Most of these backlist titles I listened to as audiobooks. The only exception is the graphic memoir by Colin Kaepernick. I’ve found audiobooks to be a great way for me to work through my backlist since I’ll listen while I’m driving or folding laundry.

One of my goals this year is to read classic literature by women and/or BIPOC. I’m counting The Color Purple by Alice Walker and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou toward that goal.

Another of my goals is to read some of the nonfiction titles I’ve had my eye on for a while. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann and The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater will count toward that goal– and they were both absolutely excellent!

Some of these books will appear on my Beat the Backlist and Read Harder challenge pages, too.

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Spring 2024 Backlist Reading

Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game by Colin Kaepernick, Eve L. Ewing, and Orlando Caicedo

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I actually read this because I came across a pretty scathing review of the book that struck me as… well, problematic at best. I wanted to read the book and see if that context made the reviewer’s comments make more sense. It didn’t, but I enjoyed the book a lot. It’s nuanced and thoughtful and focuses on Kaepernick’s life as a middle school and high school student and the challenges he faced.

Published March 7, 2023 | My Review to Come

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games #0) by Susanne Collins

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: Oof. I am glad I read this one, but I struggled. It’s kind of President Snow’s origin story. Taking a character that people so despised and writing a story in which he appears sympathetic has to be a huge writing challenge. There were parts that I thought were great and characters I liked. Overall, I’m glad I read it, but not sure it is something I’d ever revisit. (Though I did reread WUTHERING HEIGHTS this year, so who knows!)

Published May 19, 2020 | My Review to Come

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This is an absolute must-read. I loved the way the book is structured. Slater knows exactly when to zoom into the details and when to zoom out to show the system surrounding the people in the book. I’m still reeling from the book and can’t stop recommending it to everyone I can think of.

Published October 17, 2017 | My Review to Come

Vengeance of the Pirate Queen by Tricia Levenseller

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My Thoughts: It was fun to revisit Alosa’s pirate world again and follow a ship of mostly female sailors, but this one was kind of a miss for me overall. I couldn’t really get into the romance. It felt like he didn’t respect her boundaries because he knew what she needed better than she did. Could legitimately be my perception of the characters. I wish I’d connected with the story more.

Published November 7, 2023 | My Review to Come

Killers of the Flower Moon: Adapted for Young Readers: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I discovered this YA adaptation while browsing for a new audiobook from my library. As soon as I started listening, I was hooked. I knew only the vaguest bits of history around the edges of these events. I kinda remember the Teapot Dome scandal and J. Edgar Hoover’s rise to the head of the FBI, but I knew nothing about the shocking murders of the Osage people and the racist practices that not only led to them but often protected the wrongdoers rather than the people being harmed. This is an absolute must-read.

Published November 16, 2021 | My Review to Come

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: This one has been on my reading list for a while, so I was excited to finally pick it up. I love the big city (Washington DC) to small town (Bardell, GA) vibes and the layers of mystery perfectly folded together in this book. It’s also an incredible intergenerational story about trauma, grief, and the way that we connect to our history. Some parts were hard for me to read, but the story as a whole really moved me. This book will stay with me a long time.

Published November 29, 2022 | My Review to Come

Once Upon a Broken Heart (#1) by Stephanie Garber

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: It’s been a long time since I’ve read CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber, but I enjoyed it so much, that I knew I wanted to check out this series. Now that all the books in the series have been released, I think this is one I could seriously binge my way through. It’s got the same dangerous magical feel that CARAVAL had for me, and I think I like the forbidden love angle the story has going on. I’ll definitely read on for book two.

Published September 28, 2021 | My Review to Come

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1) by Melissa Albert

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: I can’t believe this came out in 2018! Have I really been saying I’m going to read it for six years?! Wowza. Anyway. It took me until probably the halfway mark of this book for me to decide that I really liked it. I think at the beginning, I kept waiting for the story to start? I expected Alice to spend 75% of the book in the Hazel Wood or Hinterland itself instead of the pace the actual story takes.

Published January 30, 2018 | My Review to Come

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: One of my goals for this year is to read some classic literature written by women and/or BIPOC, so this will be one on that list. It’s the first in a series of autobiographies that Angelou wrote, focusing on her life from the ages of three to sixteen. I think this is the first book I’ve read that talks about the experience of segregated life from a Black perspective. It’s haunting and beautiful.

Published April 21, 2009 (Orig. 1969) | My Review to Come

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

My thoughts: Some depictions of abuse in this book made it tough to read at times, but wow. Beyond those moments (and maybe also in spite of them?) it’s such a beautiful story about sisterhood and the strength women draw from relationships with one another. It’s about the power of community and the value of holding space for one another. Helping each other. I really enjoyed this book, and it’ll stay with me for a long time.

Published December 10, 2019 (Orig. 1982) | My Review to Come

Have you read any backlist titles lately?

If you’re participating in a backlist reading challenge this year, please let me know! If you have a page or post where you list the books you’ve read, please feel free to put a link to it in my comments. I’d love to check it out.

Have you read any of the books on my Spring 2024 Backlist Reading list? If so, please let me know what you think about them in the comments!