Friday Reads: Three Fantastic Books

I finished three really great books this week and I'm so excited to tell you all about them. Expand for more information. 👇

Links 💻

Further Viewing 🎥

Titles Mentioned 📚
Whose Names Are Unknown, Sanora Babb
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, Honorée Fannone Jeffers
Yellowface, R.F. Kuang

My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:

But wait, there's more!

[raeshawnwallace]

Love Songs is absolutely a favorite! It should be required reading. many topics to discuss

[rororeads]

So glad you loved “love songs” it’s fantastic and heartbreaking.

[ArvaDavis]

Good morning Greg, another great video. I am so glad to hear that Jamie is doing well and that you had a great reading week (yay🎉). I am so happy you didn’t give up on “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois”! It was on of my favorite read of 2021! I loved, loved, loved this book! Miss Jeffers is an awesome writer. I went through a range of emotions while reading this book. It was a book that stuck with me. It felt authentic and I was really vested. All parts were necessary and the end result was well worth it. I also cried after reading it. There were so many layers in this book, just as there are in us. I really appreciated this because we are complicated and multidimensional. You make me want to read this book again now. Your enthusiasm is so infectious! “Yellowface” is on my TBR. It is an upcoming book club pick and I am looking forward to reading. I am currently reading “The Secret Book of Flora Lea” by Patti Callahan Henry. I hope you have a great week this week! Thanks again for this video.

[evajanczaruk]

I have copies of both Love Songs and Yellowface and after your reviews I am really excited about reading. I have to say I am in awe of Kuang and her ability to discuss significant issues in an easily digestible fashion, such as the damage British colonialism created in her book Babel. I am currently working on logging the books in my collection, I am a bit of a book magpie, anytime I see something shiny and new I buy and read and forget about the books I purchased on my last shopping trip, so I told myself I can read a new purchase after reading a dated one. I am currently reading The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry ( I do love that Victorian novel trope). Enjoy your weekend away!

[readandre-read]

Your review of Love Songs is excellent and reminded me of why I loved it. I'm so glad you loved it, too.

[KierTheScrivener]

I'm really excited about Yellowface. I want to read Love Songs but haven't yet because if the length but I need to sooner.

[karenmoore]

Thanks Greg. Just bought Love Songs and added to my tbr

[bibliobethica]

"Love Songs" was one of my favorites of 2021 and I would have loved for it to win the Pulitzer last year. "Yellowface" is Roxane Gay's book club pick this month. Your take is interesting. I'm a teacher almost on Summer Break, and I'm getting ready to start "The Covenant of Water" which I'm excited about even with the 736 pages. Thanks for your book talks!

[TheEmzies]

Love Songs has seemingly been overlooked for so many prizes. I thought it should have definitely been longlisted for Women's Prize. For me, it felt like the story of the US told through the eyes of those least likely to be centred in traditional nation building narrative - black and indigenous women.

[dianereynolds]

I have just discovered your podcast or vlog, and I love it! I loved Demon Copperhead, too. I can't wait to read Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois. Thank you for all your reviews. I'm also a dog lover.
Diane Reynolds
Meridian, Mississippi

[annegibson]

Good morning. I finally read Foster by Claire Keegan. I really enjoyed it but I have so many questions. Maybe that was the point. I also read a current event book. I am reading The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh. It is YA. It's a beautiful story about Ukraine and the people. I want to read The Love Songs. I have the hardback copy. It's too heavy so I think I need the paperback. A mysterious person sent me a copy of The Covenant of Water. I think that is my next book though it is a very heavy hardback book. I read the Women's Prize long list so I am eager to see the winner. Hope you have a good week.

[davidnovakreadspoetry]

The story behind _Whose Names Are Unknown_ is fascinating, and frustrating. I will look out for it. _Night of the Living Rez_ has been on my TBR so I suppose that should keep priority. I feel about books about the publishing world the way I feel about books about an English professor: I’d rather not…

[kristenchumley]

I just picked up Yellowface at Target and I'm excited to read it for AAPI month. I love messy, unlikeable female lead characters so it seems up my alley. I also added Whose Names are Unknown to my TBR so thank you for bringing that to my attention.

[rudy]

I agree with everything you said about Yellowface. It was fun to read.

[steveurick]

You made me want to read “love songs” so I just checked on Amazon here in Japan and found a hardcover copy for about 8 dollars! I don’t know why this new copy is marked down so much, but looking forward to reading it. Sending positive energy for your recovering loved one.

[Secret]

So glad you had such a good reading week. I agree with you Love Songs was such an amazing book and fast paced surprisingly. I'm reading Yellowface now and it's interesting so far. I haven't read the Grapes of Wrath yet but maybe I'll read the Sanora book.

[bobbykeniston]

May has a been a REALLY SLOW reading month so far. I have been reading "Trespasses" by Louise Kennedy, but very slowly, even though I like it quite a bit. I took both "Trust" and "Demon Copperhead" out of my library, so I hope to get to them next!

[lonesomedovecall]

Absolutely LOVED all your thoughts about Love Songs! I've been waiting for you to get back to it 'cause I KNEW you'd love it!!! It's definitely one of my favorite books of all time... I'll be re-reading it at some point but I have to buy another one because I lent my copy to someone and never got it back --- arrrgh!, I hate it when that happens! Anyway, I'm SOOO happy you enjoyed it! I "sailed through it" as well - I couldn't help myself, it was just too good to put down!

[cindyfreese]

I really need to dust W.E.B. Dubois off my shelf😊 glad it picks up in the last half. I also want to read E.M. Forster. Did you know “My Policeman” by Bethan Robert’s was inspired by his life? I liked the book but didn’t love it.
I’m reading Trespasses and so far I’m loving it.

[maikelvoors]

Read what you can do about that rooster in Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the Champion of the World’. 😉