• I am realizing that one of my favorite genres is the graphic memoir.❤️ Good Talk is as FANTASTIC as every person I know that’s read it says it is. It is ‘timely’ for sure, about a dark skinned south Asian woman raising a mixed race child with her Jewish husband. But, in any time, the whip smart art paired with heartfelt prose is utterly compelling and completely gutted me. ✨ “We think our hearts break only from endings - the love gone, the rooms empty, the future unhappening as we stand ready to step into it – but what about how they can shatter in the face of what is possible?” ✨ As with all graphic memoirs, even if you don’t think they’d be for you, I strongly urge giving them a try. Similar to memoirs on audiobook, there is something about the visual arts paired with the prose that gives the reader so much more. In addition to Good Talk, I’d recommend anything by Lucy Knisley, and The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. Any other titles that I should add to my list are always appreciated, too. 🤗 I cannot believe I haven’t read Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (yes, as in the Bechdel test) or March by John Lewis, but I am making them a priority. . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #evergreensandbookishthings #graphicmemoir #bookreview #bookrecommendation
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    I am realizing that one of my favorite genres is the graphic memoir.❤️ Good Talk is as FANTASTIC as every person I know that’s read it says it is. It is ‘timely’ for sure, about a dark skinned south Asian woman raising a mixed race child with her Jewish husband. But, in any time, the whip smart art paired with heartfelt prose is utterly compelling and completely gutted me. ✨ “We think our hearts break only from endings - the love gone, the rooms empty, the future unhappening as we stand ready to step into it – but what about how they can shatter in the face of what is possible?” ✨ As with all graphic memoirs, even if you don’t think they’d be for you, I strongly urge giving them a try. Similar to memoirs on audiobook, there is something about the visual arts paired with the prose that gives the reader so much more. In addition to Good Talk, I’d recommend anything by Lucy Knisley, and The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. Any other titles that I should add to my list are always appreciated, too. 🤗 I cannot believe I haven’t read Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (yes, as in the Bechdel test) or March by John Lewis, but I am making them a priority. . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #evergreensandbookishthings #graphicmemoir #bookreview #bookrecommendation
  • It’s been over two years since I picked up where I left off in reading my beautiful @tundrabooks Anne of Green Gables box set. Spending time with Anne is always a perfect respite, and I need to remind myself of this more often! In book three, Anne of the Island, we’re treated to the halcyon days of her college life. It’s filled with all of the drama of young adulthood, immersive scenery, and the mirthful humor of all L.M. Montgomery books❤️ . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #anneofgreengables #evergreensandbookishthings #bookreview #bookrecommendations
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    It’s been over two years since I picked up where I left off in reading my beautiful @tundrabooks Anne of Green Gables box set. Spending time with Anne is always a perfect respite, and I need to remind myself of this more often! In book three, Anne of the Island, we’re treated to the halcyon days of her college life. It’s filled with all of the drama of young adulthood, immersive scenery, and the mirthful humor of all L.M. Montgomery books❤️ . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #anneofgreengables #evergreensandbookishthings #bookreview #bookrecommendations
  • Happy first day of summer! Coming at ya with a little evergreen content 🌲🌊 Our rainy days over the last few weeks have been weirdly relegated to the weekend, and it looked as if today would be no different. Alas, as with most forecasted days of rain around here, there usually ends up being a good amount of sunshine. ☀️ #pnw #pnwonderland #pnwlife #evergreensandbookishthings #summersolstice
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    Happy first day of summer! Coming at ya with a little evergreen content 🌲🌊 Our rainy days over the last few weeks have been weirdly relegated to the weekend, and it looked as if today would be no different. Alas, as with most forecasted days of rain around here, there usually ends up being a good amount of sunshine. ☀️ #pnw #pnwonderland #pnwlife #evergreensandbookishthings #summersolstice
  • IT’S HERE🎉🎉🎉 My usual M.O. when it comes to Elin Hildebrand books is to put them on hold in the winter, so that I am high in the queue when they are ready at the library. Then I wait until I know I have some time to read at the beach, and remove the suspension on my hold to grab it🏖 One of the few (only?) good side effects of the library being closed, has been supporting different independent bookstores. I decided that if I can’t get 28 Summers from the library, I am going to get myself a signed copy from Elin’s local bookstore! @nantucketbooks That the New York Times is saying this is her best yet, and it’s another Kirkus starred review, is just icing on the cake. I would read her grocery list (Seriously. It would go perfectly with Elin’s ‘Cringe Cooking’ stories on Instagram.😁) Now, to wait a few weeks for some beach weather or dive in now...🤔 . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #Evergreensandbookishthings #summerreading #elinhilderbrand #28summers #amreading
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    IT’S HERE🎉🎉🎉 My usual M.O. when it comes to Elin Hildebrand books is to put them on hold in the winter, so that I am high in the queue when they are ready at the library. Then I wait until I know I have some time to read at the beach, and remove the suspension on my hold to grab it🏖 One of the few (only?) good side effects of the library being closed, has been supporting different independent bookstores. I decided that if I can’t get 28 Summers from the library, I am going to get myself a signed copy from Elin’s local bookstore! @nantucketbooks That the New York Times is saying this is her best yet, and it’s another Kirkus starred review, is just icing on the cake. I would read her grocery list (Seriously. It would go perfectly with Elin’s ‘Cringe Cooking’ stories on Instagram.😁) Now, to wait a few weeks for some beach weather or dive in now...🤔 . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #Evergreensandbookishthings #summerreading #elinhilderbrand #28summers #amreading
  • I finished the Revisioners yesterday, on a typical June gloom day here in the PNW. It felt like the perfect fit for this amorphous and mystical novel. I am a sucker for a dual timeline narrative, and the common threads that Sexton weaves between present day Ava, and her mother’s great grandmother Josephine, a formerly enslaved woman who becomes a sharecropper, was beautifully nuanced and thoughtful. For only 288 pages, it’s quite an epic family story about the power of mothers and Black women. I do wish it was a tad longer, as I felt that it ended too abruptly and I was just beginning to learn about the Revisioners magic✨ If you haven’t read this, definitely add it to your TBR - would be a great selection for #blackoutbestsellerlist If you have, I’d love to hear your thoughts! . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #therevisioners #bookrecommendations #bookreview #amreading
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    I finished the Revisioners yesterday, on a typical June gloom day here in the PNW. It felt like the perfect fit for this amorphous and mystical novel. I am a sucker for a dual timeline narrative, and the common threads that Sexton weaves between present day Ava, and her mother’s great grandmother Josephine, a formerly enslaved woman who becomes a sharecropper, was beautifully nuanced and thoughtful. For only 288 pages, it’s quite an epic family story about the power of mothers and Black women. I do wish it was a tad longer, as I felt that it ended too abruptly and I was just beginning to learn about the Revisioners magic✨ If you haven’t read this, definitely add it to your TBR - would be a great selection for #blackoutbestsellerlist If you have, I’d love to hear your thoughts! . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #therevisioners #bookrecommendations #bookreview #amreading
  • Okay, I GET IT. I like to know what’s up with polarizing books, and I wouldn’t say that I came down on either extreme of ‘all time fave’ or ‘worst book ever’ for Normal People. But I REALLY liked it - 4 stars. And I confess that I LOVED the BBC series - 5 big stars. I burned through it after finishing the book and I might rename my succulent George 🌱 to Connell... Seriously, there’s even a @connellschain IG!?☠️ Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the book! I was enthralled by Connell and Marianne’s back-and-forth through their coming of age, the very real feeling breakups and makeups. Sure, they were insufferable in their constant miscommunication. But they’re teens/young adults figuring sh*t out. And they DO FIGURE IT OUT, which is wonderful and heartbreaking by the end. I also appreciated that they never cheated on each other and acted deferential towards one another. In my reading experience, I felt very empathetic towards Marianne. Who doesn’t love a story of the bookish nerd girl glowing up and getting the guy? My heart ached for her as she dealt with Connell’s immaturity and her family trauma. It was harder for me to get my arms around Connell and his struggles with anxiety. He didn’t leap off the page for me. But after watching Paul Mescal’s performance on screen, I saw scenes from the book differently. Looking back on what I highlighted, I don’t know how I missed such a beautiful character study the first time around. ✨ “He finds himself rushing to the end of the conversation so they can hang up, and then he can retrospectively savor how much he likes seeing her, without the moment-to-moment pressure of having to produce the right expressions and say the right things.” ✨ Rooney’s writing was hypnotic, nostalgic and so thoughtful about socioeconomic status, family, mental health, trauma, and learning self-worth through it all. And I actually liked how it flowed without quotation marks! I think it lent itself well to such an interior focused narrative. Okay, HMU with your Normal People hot takes🔥 #bookblog #bookstagram #amreading #bookreview #bookrecommendation #evergreensandbookishthings #normalpeople #reader #igbooks #📚 #bibliophile #📖
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    Okay, I GET IT. I like to know what’s up with polarizing books, and I wouldn’t say that I came down on either extreme of ‘all time fave’ or ‘worst book ever’ for Normal People. But I REALLY liked it - 4 stars. And I confess that I LOVED the BBC series - 5 big stars. I burned through it after finishing the book and I might rename my succulent George 🌱 to Connell... Seriously, there’s even a @connellschain IG!?☠️ Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the book! I was enthralled by Connell and Marianne’s back-and-forth through their coming of age, the very real feeling breakups and makeups. Sure, they were insufferable in their constant miscommunication. But they’re teens/young adults figuring sh*t out. And they DO FIGURE IT OUT, which is wonderful and heartbreaking by the end. I also appreciated that they never cheated on each other and acted deferential towards one another. In my reading experience, I felt very empathetic towards Marianne. Who doesn’t love a story of the bookish nerd girl glowing up and getting the guy? My heart ached for her as she dealt with Connell’s immaturity and her family trauma. It was harder for me to get my arms around Connell and his struggles with anxiety. He didn’t leap off the page for me. But after watching Paul Mescal’s performance on screen, I saw scenes from the book differently. Looking back on what I highlighted, I don’t know how I missed such a beautiful character study the first time around. ✨ “He finds himself rushing to the end of the conversation so they can hang up, and then he can retrospectively savor how much he likes seeing her, without the moment-to-moment pressure of having to produce the right expressions and say the right things.” ✨ Rooney’s writing was hypnotic, nostalgic and so thoughtful about socioeconomic status, family, mental health, trauma, and learning self-worth through it all. And I actually liked how it flowed without quotation marks! I think it lent itself well to such an interior focused narrative. Okay, HMU with your Normal People hot takes🔥 #bookblog #bookstagram #amreading #bookreview #bookrecommendation #evergreensandbookishthings #normalpeople #reader #igbooks #📚 #bibliophile #📖
  • May book reviews! Link in profile for the roundup, and I’ve actually reviewed each of these on my IG feed this month 🙌 A housekeeping note, I’ve begun using @bookshop_org affiliate links to support independent bookstores instead of the big A👊, which gets me a small percentage of sales if ya purchase books through my link. I’m working on setting up a storefront soon🎉 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A Good Marriage ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Hidden Valley Road ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A Court of Mist and Fury ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stepping Stones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Go with the Flow ⭐️⭐️💫The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations #evergreensandbookishthings
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    May book reviews! Link in profile for the roundup, and I’ve actually reviewed each of these on my IG feed this month 🙌 A housekeeping note, I’ve begun using @bookshop_org affiliate links to support independent bookstores instead of the big A👊, which gets me a small percentage of sales if ya purchase books through my link. I’m working on setting up a storefront soon🎉 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A Good Marriage ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Hidden Valley Road ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A Court of Mist and Fury ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stepping Stones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Go with the Flow ⭐️⭐️💫The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations #evergreensandbookishthings
  • I am so grateful for the lists of books circulating for people to learn about being anti-racist, and couldn’t believe my luck last week when So You Want to Talk About Race by local author @ijeomaoluo was available🎉 (Incidentally, the books by her sister-in-law @thelindywest are really great. 😊) Books to educate people on Black people’s experiences are so important and I would highly recommend two I’ve read this year that aren’t getting as much amplification during this time: Heavy by Kiese Laymon and Here For It by R. Eric Thomas. Maybe these titles will be more readily available to borrow/buy at your local bookstore? I’ve seen it mentioned a little less frequently on social media, so it bears repeating that we should also strive to read stories by Black authors without agenda, without thinking of it as some sort of homework and approach them as they were meant to be as art, as literature. How Beautiful We Were, Bluebird Bluebird and The Revisioners on my shelves as eagerly anticipated fiction reads. Recent reads in this vein I’d recommend are Such a Fun Age, My Sister the Serial Killer, Washington Black, and all time favorite books: Homegoing and Born a Crime (which is technically educational about racism, but one of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read). As always, hit me up with more suggestions for my TBR or yours ✌️ . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #readblackauthors #tbr #bookrecommendations #evergreensandbookishthings
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    I am so grateful for the lists of books circulating for people to learn about being anti-racist, and couldn’t believe my luck last week when So You Want to Talk About Race by local author @ijeomaoluo was available🎉 (Incidentally, the books by her sister-in-law @thelindywest are really great. 😊) Books to educate people on Black people’s experiences are so important and I would highly recommend two I’ve read this year that aren’t getting as much amplification during this time: Heavy by Kiese Laymon and Here For It by R. Eric Thomas. Maybe these titles will be more readily available to borrow/buy at your local bookstore? I’ve seen it mentioned a little less frequently on social media, so it bears repeating that we should also strive to read stories by Black authors without agenda, without thinking of it as some sort of homework and approach them as they were meant to be as art, as literature. How Beautiful We Were, Bluebird Bluebird and The Revisioners on my shelves as eagerly anticipated fiction reads. Recent reads in this vein I’d recommend are Such a Fun Age, My Sister the Serial Killer, Washington Black, and all time favorite books: Homegoing and Born a Crime (which is technically educational about racism, but one of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read). As always, hit me up with more suggestions for my TBR or yours ✌️ . . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #readblackauthors #tbr #bookrecommendations #evergreensandbookishthings
  • Welp. I am in agreement with most of the reviews that I have seen for A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The consensus is that the first two parts of the book are engaging, and then the third falls flat. I would argue that it ALL felt dull. 🙊 At first I was sucked back into the world of Panem, and the idea of seeing the origins of the hunger games. I just wish Collins would have gone in a less predictable direction with Snow’s character. He was just wooden, predictable, and uninspiring - as a villain or a hero. On the bright side, I do love how it matches and rounds out my beloved trilogy👍 Message me if you have read it and want to share thoughts, because I also have some QUESTIONS 🧐 . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #evergreensandbookishthings #aballadofsongbirdsandsnakes #bookreview
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    Welp. I am in agreement with most of the reviews that I have seen for A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The consensus is that the first two parts of the book are engaging, and then the third falls flat. I would argue that it ALL felt dull. 🙊 At first I was sucked back into the world of Panem, and the idea of seeing the origins of the hunger games. I just wish Collins would have gone in a less predictable direction with Snow’s character. He was just wooden, predictable, and uninspiring - as a villain or a hero. On the bright side, I do love how it matches and rounds out my beloved trilogy👍 Message me if you have read it and want to share thoughts, because I also have some QUESTIONS 🧐 . . #bornandreadinchicago #bookblog #bookstagram #instabook #bookworm #reader #readersofinstagram #📚 #bibliophile #📖 #alwaysreading #igbooks #reading #instabooks #booksofinstagram #evergreensandbookishthings #aballadofsongbirdsandsnakes #bookreview