The Books I'm Reading Now
It's another great mix of reads for me at the moment. I'm reading the novel Maame by Jessica George; I'm listening to Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) by Mindy Kaling; and my son and I are reading a book together, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.
What are you reading these days, bookworms?
01 Maame: A Novel by Jessica George
Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.
Young adult Maddie's life in London is exhausting. She's the primary caregiver for her father, who has Parkinson's disease; her mother spends the majority of her time in Ghana yet manages to micromanage Maddie's religious faith and life from across the globe; and she's the only Black person at work and has a terrible boss.
When her mom shows up, Maddie jumps at the chance for some independence; a late bloomer, she finds a flat share and revels in finally being on her own.
With humor, heartbreak, and the constant push and pull between two cultures, Maame explores Maddie's search to figure out where she belongs.
I received a prepublication copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.
02 Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) by Mindy Kaling
I'm usually an all-Libby (library) audiobook listener, but I wanted to read Michelle Obama's newest book The Light We Carry without waiting on the sizable library wait list, so I dabbled in listening via Audible for a month. It seems that Nothing Like I Imagined is only available through that app. (Speaking of audiobooks, I've now incorporated Libro.fm into my system--and Libro supports independent bookstores, ding ding ding!)
Nothing Like I Imagined is Kaling at her witty, self-deprecating, laugh-out-loud best. Here, she digs into topics such as her single parenthood, faith, social awkwardness, search for (just a few) effortless friendships, her love for her best friend B.J. Novak, and more.
03 Gregor the Overlander (The Underland Chronicles #1) by Suzanne Collins
I tried to get my older child to read Gregor the Overlander with me after the Harry Potter Era and the Hunger Games Period, but I wanted it too badly and he was like a cat, solidly rejecting my overzealous interest for years. I put the book out on his bed and suggested it so often, Gregor became a joke between us.
Enter: a second child without any Gregor baggage or knee-jerk reactions to it, who was willing to dive in. Woo hoo!
We are loving this book from Collins (Hunger Games). It's full of adventure, unexpected heroes, scenes that make us laugh, gross-out moments, and heart.