Frankie Reads and Writes

First 25 Books of 2026
Instead of recapping every single book I read every single month, in 2026 I decided to give you a list of what I’ve read every 25 books, with special descriptions included for my 5 star reads.
1. Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, Rebecca Thorne
2. These Days, Lucy Caldwell
3. In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado
4. Orbital, Samantha Harvey
5. Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy
6. The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon
7. Best Offer Wins, Marisa Kashino
  This knockout debut follows Margo, a publicist with ambition aplenty to buy a house in her dream neighborhood in Washington, D.C. When the perfect house is about to go on the market, Margo inserts herself in the lives of the buyers and proves that she will do anything to close the deal. At times darkly funny, this thriller kept me gasping until the end.
8. The God of the Woods, Liz Moore
9. Daughters of Sparta, Claire Heywood
  This retelling of Helen and Klytemnestra, Princesses of Sparta, does a phenomenal job of untangling the stories of two oft-vilified women that make history. Both of them are afforded little to no agency as mere women and future wives/mothers of powerful warmongering men. Despite this, both Helen and Nestra forge their own paths.
10. Roaming, Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
11. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab
12. The Forestwife, Theresa Thomlinson
13. My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Otesssa Moshfegh
14. The Boneless Mercies, April Genevieve Tucholke
15. My Husband’s Wife, Alice Feeney
16. Game Changer, Rachel Reid
17. How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder, Nina McConigley
18. Meet the Newmans, Jennifer Niven
19. The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo
  Li Lan is an ordinary teenager in 1890s Malaya who is excited to receive her first marriage offer…until she learns it’s to be a ghost bride. While accepting the offer could help save her family from financial ruin, Li Lan is determined to follow her heart. In order to do so, she must spend time between the spirit world and the land of the living in order to save her fate.
20. High Risk Homosexual, Edgar Gomez
21. So Late in the Day: Stories of Men and Women, Claire Keegan
22. The Exes, Leodora Darlington
23. Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie
  In this retelling of Sophocles’ Antigone, the focus is on the British Muslim community, specifically the Pasha siblings, as they wrestle with jihadism and Muslim identity in Britain. Shamsie proves that Antigone’s themes are timeless, as the Pashas explore love, loyalty, and family ties in this page turner. This novel will stay with me for a long time.
24. I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue
25. Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
Let me know how you like (or hate) this new format in the comments!
AWP Baltimore

Dreams in tow, I walked into the AWP Bookfair and promptly walked back out, breath hitched and pouring sweat. It’s not like me to feel intimidated by something, but as the grains of sweat widened into streams and then rivers flowed down my back and soaked my shirt, I realized I was putting an outrageous amount of pressure on myself to be impressive at this conference.

AWP, or the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, is the largest annual literary gathering in North America, and this year’s conference in Baltimore boasted over 10,000 participants. I saw people from every walk of life imaginable: older writers, queer writers, famous authors, burgeoning poets…even old friends from my time living abroad. In many ways, it was inspiring to share a space with so many creatives working towards similar goals. But the inverse of that can’t be denied either-at the end of the day, I was amongst ten thousand people who all want the same thing I do. They are my peers, my community, my mentors, but also my competition. I found myself oscillating between these feelings often as the conference carried on.

I was able to attend some phenomenal workshops that left me feeling educated, eager, and exhausted. Instead of diving into all the workshops I was able to attend, I wanted to highlight one of my favorites: “Game Changer: Literary Queer Sports Writing”.

Between the runaway success of the Heated Rivalry series and my own undying love of women’s basketball, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered writing a queer basketball tale. Unbelievably, this session had been planned before that “gay hockey show” came out. The three panelists, Kasey Peters, John Fram, and Holly M. Wendt, all shared readings from their queer sports novels that highlighted romance in football and hockey.

What I found most surprising about the panelists is that even though there was a mix of men, women, and nonbinary folks, all the stories featured were MLM (men loving men). I wondered if this was because it’s what these authors felt drawn to create or if that was what the market demanded. Gay romance is still so absent from male sports teams that maybe the audience feels it’s more forbidden, and therefore, juicier. Maybe, like in the case of Heated Rivalry, the audience morphs away from queer folks and is popularized by straight women ready to gobble up a romance where they find both guys hot.

I wanted to know if there was a space in the market for many of the plotlines that already exist in women’s sports. I mean some women’s sports write the narratives for you! For example, I went to a Connecticut Sun game where Alyssa Thomas passed the ball to her fiance, Dewanna Bonner, who scored a layup to increase her total career points to a rank that eclipsed Candice Dupree…her ex-wife. TELL ME THAT’S NOT PRIMETIME ENTERTAINMENT!

It was also interesting to hear about the decisions that need to be made when writing queer fiction. Will these characters find joy? Will they have support systems? How does the chosen sport affect the romantic dynamic? How much struggle will center homophobia vs not?

I came away from the workshop ready to write the next great Unrivaled (a 3×3 women’s league I am obsessed with) romance, even though I have at least two more novels to finish in the meantime.

When I reflect on my AWP experience, I am so grateful to have heard so many amazing authors speak, networked with impressive literary journals and publishers, and been able to soak in the knowledge of my peers in the literary community.

I went back into the Bookfair on the last day, and while I was still sweating, I was also able to hand out my business card and feel like I belonged.
The Writing Process: Being Overwhelmed by the Everything of It All
Even as I begin to write this, I am double guessing what I want to say, how I can draw in you-the reader-more effectively, and how it will be perceived by the four people who read this blog (at least three of which are family members–hi guys!). These are the thoughts that run through my mind with every book I read, every assignment I complete, every time I post social media content, etc. My mind is fixated on writing; the problem is that my career as a writer feels like I am being pulled in too many directions at times.

My courses this semester are challenging me in ways that I needed, specifically in the ways it helps improve my work on my in progress novel, The Geography of Wanting, and even is helping me to set up future manuscripts BUT that also means upping my time commitment to writing and editing in addition to trying to get my assignments in on time. Needless to say, this blog has suffered as a result, even as other things have flourished.

My Revise and Pitch class has been revolutionary in my editing process. Never before have I felt like I could see so clearly where I needed to level up my writing and where I could let it breathe. I often am guilty of telling rather than showing, and should be tried and hung for the crime of writing entirely too many introspective reflective scenes vs just letting the dialogue or the atmosphere or what’s propelling the scene forward do the actual work.

In addition to the editing I’ve been doing thanks to Revise and Pitch, I also recently received feedback about my novel from Emerson’s Editor in Residence and his class, which was both a beautiful gift and an excruciating masterclass in checking my own delusion. In all, the class submitted a 35 page letter that broke down all aspects of my book, including overall impressions, character breakdowns, POV critiques, setting and sense of place, and most importantly, whether there was a market for my kind of book.

In many ways, the class challenged me to think about things that I had either ignored or been too hesitant to try. For example, my book is set in Italy and Korea but fails to explain how many expatriates live in their own little bubble rather than immersing themselves in a different culture. While that is something I witnessed and experienced all the time living abroad, I neglected to explain to my reader that this often toxic subculture exists.

Other times, I was called out on my own bias. Why doesn’t Jackie experience culture shock? I could hardly tell my team of editors that it’s for the very simple reason that because I often don’t experience culture shock as much as culture awe and appreciation, that I had forgotten that others truly struggle to adjust to a foreign environment.

At times, I was appreciative, at others, I was defensive. This also marked the first time that my book was read in full by people that don’t know me as a person, and therefore don’t know that parts of the book are loosely (and sometimes not so loosely) based on my own experiences. In many ways, this is great…right until you’re told that the main character is selfish and unlikeable. If I wanted to be told that, I would go to my high school reunion.

But all jokes aside, both my classes and my editing feedback have been pushing me, forcing me to grow, and demanding change. Often, I am more than happy to adapt, knowing that each and every edit is making my work stronger, more publishable, more real. Other times, I feel myself drowning in the work, my daydreams tinged more gray at the edges, as I realize how much further I truly have left in the journey to publication.

What can you expect from this blog moving forward:
- Returning to my monthly reading recap breakdowns
- More consistent writing updates
- A reflection on my experience at North America’s biggest writing and publishing conference, AWP
If there are other topics you’d like me to wax and wane about, just sound off in the comments! Until next time, happy reading and writing.
My Writing Journey (Thus Far)

A few folks have asked me to share how I came to write a book. My journey, as can always be expected, was not linear; it’s hard to pinpoint its true start.

Did I become a writer when I precociously dictated an Easter play to my mom and then produced, directed, and starred in my adaptation? OR, did I become a writer at 13 when I joined the Fanfiction community to write Harry Potter, Lost, and Titanic vignettes? OR, did I become a writer when I took creative writing courses during my study abroad year? OR, did I become a writer when I churned out jokes doing stand-up in Korea and Texas? OR, did I become a writer last March when I began working on my debut novel, The Geography of Wanting? OR, did I become a writer when I wrote ‘The End’ at the completion of my manuscript? Or, or, or, or, or, or…

Then the inner saboteur that lives in the deep recesses of my brain speaks to my insecurities and refutes those instances with thoughts like, “I won’t truly be an author until I’m published” or “I won’t truly be a writer until I earn my MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing”. But I try and shove that voice away as often as I can (essential for the writing process).

No matter where my origin story began or what my publishing future looks like, I can at least speak to where I am with my writing now. As I mentioned, last March I opened up my laptop and stared at the blinking cursor until I wrote my first line: ”I opened my eyes against my will, too heartbroken and hungover to want to exist another day.” Before the afternoon was over, I had an introduction to…well, I wasn’t quite sure yet. What started as an unfortunate trip down memory lane blossomed into a heartfelt, vulnerable, emotional, and most importantly, fictionalized version of who I once was.

Drawing heavily from my years studying and living abroad, I created ‘Jackie’, whose one fervent desire is to feel accepted. Her problem? Well, she has several including a deepening dependence on alcohol and a lackluster savings account, but her most demanding problem that she can’t recognize is her subconscious insistence that she can only be validated by others.

At first, I stuck closely to what I knew. Jackie, like I once did, studies abroad in Perugia, Italy. She travels to places I’ve been, and has adventures that contain faint echoes of my own. However, as the months passed, Jackie’s arc began to take on her own highs and lows, her own dramas and dreams.

I owe part of my newfound flexibility to Jackie’s story to my ‘Writing and Publishing’ graduate program at Emerson College, which I began this past fall. Suddenly, the eyes on Jackie and her story were unfamiliar ones to my own history, and I relished the feedback I received in writing workshops. Ultimately, my classmates helped me see Jackie not as a kind of extension of myself, but as a fully realized main character in her own right.

The day I finished my novel was anticlimactic. I am not sure if I expected confetti to fall from the ceiling of my home office, trumpets to blare from the condo parking lot, or even just a flood of ‘Congratulations!’ coming through via text on my phone. It was none of those things. My novel was quietly, cautiously, finished by doing what I had been doing all along: plugging away at the story.

I also have several pieces of exciting news to share. First, Emerson has made it possible for me to attend The Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference, held in Baltimore this year. I have submitted a query letter and the first five pages of my novel to a host of agents that will be attending the conference–if they like what they see they will set up a time for us to meet! Even if that opportunity does not come to fruition, the conference is going to be an incredible experience for me.

I will continue to edit and refine my novel, with the help of Dan Weaver, Editor in Residence at Emerson, and his editing class, who recently chose my novel to be at the heart of their work next semester. I am looking forward to the kind of in-depth feedback that has propelled other students from this course to publish at major publishing houses.

I would say I am not letting my dreams get away from me, but who am I kidding? I am still the five year old who believes they deserve a Tony for ‘The Easter Bunny Is Coming’. In my head, I daydream about making the NYT Bestseller list, being selected for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, and, of course, having my novel made into a movie. Conversely, on a bad day, I consider throwing the whole thing in the trash.

Regardless of what my novel’s future holds, I have come to realize that, perhaps, I have always been a writer after all.
2025 Reading Wrap Up
My goal for 2025 was to read 75 books, and I ended up reading 77. Below is a list of all the books I read this year, with indicators for Five Star Reads, grad school books, and book club books.

January
1. Sex and Vanity, by Kevin Kwan
2. Something to Talk About, by Meryl Wilsner
3. True Biz, by Sara Novic (5 Star Read)
4. The Most Fun We Ever Had, by Claire Lombardo
5. Blindsight, by Peter Watts (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
February
1. Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas
2. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz (5 Star Read)
3. Miss You, by Kate Eberlin
4. Throwback, by Maureen Gao
5. The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin
6. Halfway There, by Christine Mari
7. Furia, by Yamile Saied Mendez
8. The Hole We’re In, By Gabrielle Zevin
9. The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, by Sonora Reyes
10. The Collected Regrets of Clover, by Mikki Brammer (Books and Brews Book Club Selection)
March
1. Firekeeper’s Daughter, by Angelline Boulley
2. Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, by Hwang Bo-Reum (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
3. Yellowface, by RF Kuang
4. The Guilt Trip, by Sandie Jones
5. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan
6. Tipping the Velvet, by Sarah Waters (Read with Pride Book Club Selection)
7. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
8. When Women Were Dragons, by Kelly Barnhill
9. Lies and Weddings, by Kevin Kwan
10. The Third Gilmore Girl, by Kelly Bishop
April
1. The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai
2. Where’d You Go Bernadette, by Maria Semple
3. The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune (5 Star Read)
4. Somewhere Beyond the Sea, by TJ Klune
5. The Traveling Cat Chronicles, by Hiro Arikawa (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
May
1. No Offense, by Meg Cabot
2. Olive, by Emma Gannon
3. Dust Child, by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (Books and Brews Book Club Selection)
4. All the Other Mothers Hate Me, by Sarah Harmon (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
5. Less is Lost, by Andrew Sean Greer
June
1. The Book Club for Troublesome Women, by Marie Bostwick
2. The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky, by Josh Galarza
3. Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid (5 Star Read)
4. The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits, by Jennifer Weiner
5. The Deep Dark, by Lee Knox Ostertag (Read with Pride Book Club Selection)
6. Deep Cuts, by Holly Brickley
7. The Three Lives of Cate Kay, by Kate Fagan
July
1. Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, by Bob the Drag Queen
2. All That Life Can Afford, by Emily Everett
3. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
4. Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll (5 Star Read)
5. The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
August
1. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
September
1. Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon
2. My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
3. Margot’s Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe (5 Star Read)
4. The Art of Vanishing, by Morgan Pager
5. Maggie; Or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar, by Katie Yee
October
1. Automatic Noodle, by Annalee Newitz
2. Welcome to Murder Week, by Karen Dukess
3. The Picture of Dorian Grey, by Oscar Wilde (Read with Pride Book Club Selection)
4. A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers
5. Bring the House Down, by Charlotte Runcie
6. The Year of Witching, by Alexis Henderson
November
1. The Children of Men, by PD James (Graduate School Assignment)
2. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
3. With Stars in Her Eyes, by Andie Burke
4. James, by Percival Everett (5 Star Read)
5. The Favorites, by Layne Fargo
6. Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan
7. 107 Days, by Kamala Harris
8. To the Moon and Back, by Eliana Ramage
9. Heart, the Lover, by Lily King
December
1. Big Girl, Small Town, by Michelle Gallen
2. The Wedding People, by Alison Espach
3. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi (Sidebar Book Club Selection)
4. I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpin
5. The Savvy Author’s Guide to Book Publicity, by Lissa Warren (Graduate School Assignment)
6. Online Marketing for Busy Authors, by Fauzia Burke (Graduate School Assignment)
7. Platform: The Art and Science of Personal Branding, by Cynthia Johnson (Graduate School Assignment)
8. Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron (Graduate School Assignment) (5 Star Read)
9. Voyager, by Diana Gabaldon
Thanks for following my reading and writing journey in 2025! Stay tuned for more robust content in 2026 🙂
Blue Christmas

This will be my third Christmas without my dad, and there are days it still feels like the first. For those who don’t know, my dad battled cancer on and off for almost twenty years. It was almost a running dark joke in the family that we celebrated “The 10th Annual ‘Dad’s Last Christmas’”. How hollow that joke feels now.

It’s hard not to associate my dad with the holiday season. Regardless of the fact that he could be a downright Grinch or Scrooge the rest of the year, at Christmas he still lit up in delight at the decorations, the opening notes of ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, good food and wine paired with the expectation of indulgence, and the holiday movie classics that still make us laugh.

As a child, I have many fond memories of my dad at Christmas time. After all, there was nothing quite like the delight on my dad’s face when he was just as surprised as us kids when we opened our presents (thanks Santa, aka Mom).

One year, we went to cut down our very own tree. For most of my life, my dad wore a suit every day to work and nice slacks and a sweater or polo on the weekends. On this particularly chilly December morning, my dad was decked out in his leather loafers, his formal coat, and a brand new pair of slacks. Complaining with every slippery step, my dad lamented about the subpar conditions of the tree farm and questioned the legality of sending normal families traipsing through their property with axes.

When we arrived at the tree, my dad was flabbergasted to discover that we were looking to him to cut the damn tree down. That Christmas my dad gave me the gift of learning SEVERAL new ways to curse and insult a tree until it cried big sap-soaked tears.

My dad’s favorite Christmas movie was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Even during the most turbulent years of our relationship, watching this movie that we both had memorized and laughing together was a staple of every Christmas.

After my dad died, I watched it over and over, trying to summon the sound of his laughter at all our favorite parts. Last year, I couldn’t watch it at all. This year, my husband held me as I wept from the time the Griswolds were singing in the car to when he awaited his holiday bonus before turning it off in defeat. Maybe next year I’ll be able to get through the whole thing, I tell myself.

As we got older, my dad got bougier and we started spending Christmas in New York City. We ran around like rural Rockefellers, going to expensive dinners and Broadway shows. The city was magical during the holiday season, with each store decorated to the nines. This year, my remaining immediate family is meeting in NYC to celebrate the holidays and I can already safely say my nostalgia is tinged blue at the thought of him not being there.

All of this is to say that even though I love Christmas and I can’t wait to spend the holidays with my family in New York again, I can’t help but think of my dad when the lights are brighter, the laughter is louder, and the world a little merrier than it normally is.

This Christmas, if you feel so inclined, join me in raising a glass to all the ones we wish were still here to enjoy the magic of the season.

And I’m thinking of all of you whose holiday wish is the same as mine: to talk to your loved one just one more time.
November Reading Wrap Up: My Most Chaotic Month Yet
Welcome back to my monthly reading wrap up! In November, I read a whopping nine books, although in all honesty, one of them I had been reading for my degree since September. But still! I was really happy with the variety of books I read this month, and hope to have just as many standouts in December. I have now read 68 out of 75 books for my reading goal this year.

Children of Men by PD James, 1.5 stars

This was a graduate school assignment and, to be honest, the only reason this wasn’t a DNF is because it was required reading. James’ concept was interesting-in a dystopian infertile world, the first woman becomes pregnant and must secure her safety for the future of her baby and mankind. Theo, the main character, was extremely unlikable and his ‘why’ was offered with thin explanation and poorer execution. The only reason it received any stars at all is because I think it’s a unique concept with the potential to be a great story.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman, 3.75 stars

As you read earlier this month, this was the November pick for the SideBar Book Club! Confession: I had never read any Backman because I hate how juvenile his signature cover font looks. Yes, I am guilty of judging his books by his cover font-sue me. This book was good, but not great–I’m also pretty sure I have never read a book that talked so much about farting in my life. If you’re looking for a story that moves quickly while still dealing with heavy issues and is tied up in a nice bow by the end, then this one is for you.

With Stars in Her Eyes by Andie Burke, 3.75 stars

Every now and then, I crave a good romance and this book did not disappoint. A star on the brink of fame has a medical incident on stage and takes time away working at a friend’s bookstore back in Kansas. Enter: the sexy tattoo artist working on the same block who suddenly makes the idea of staying in Kansas and avoiding Hollywood look mighty nice. The catch? Thea, the tattoo artist, doesn’t know that Courtney is hiding her superstar persona. This satisfied my pallet for cozy queer romance-bonus points for a bi main character!

James by Percival Everett, 5 stars

I was required to read Huck Finn many times throughout my education and yet I never enjoyed the story until I read it through James’ eyes. Everett does a phenomenal job of subtly weaving in social commentary that applies to both the past and the present. This ex-teacher strongly believes this book should be in classrooms everywhere. This will be a contender for one of my best books of the year.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo, 4.5 stars

Kat and Heath are just two kids with a dream to ice dance their way to the Olympics–ok ok it was Kat’s dream and Heath was in love with her, so what could go wrong? The definition of obsessive codependency, this pair had me on the edge of my seat rooting both for and against them at different times on their multi-year journey. This was recommended to me many times, and I think it lived up to the hype.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, 3.75 stars

I wish I had waited to read this until my Christmas tree was up! Set in the heart of Ireland at Christmas time, a hardworking man wrestles with his conscience as he finds that all is not well at the local convent for the young girls housed there. Sweet, short, and chilling in turns, this novella stays with you long after you put it down.

107 Days by Kamala Harris, 3.5 stars

The problem with this book is that we all know how it ends. As the book counts down throughout the 107 days of Harris’ presidential candidacy, I couldn’t escape the sense of dread that only continued to grow as I reached the election’s sad conclusion. While interesting, this book felt like I was a balloon whose air was escaping very slowly until I was totally deflated by the end.

To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage, 4.75 stars

Those that have known me for a long time know that I am a sucker for all things outer space, so it should come as no surprise that I loved this slow burn novel. Steph Harper has been obsessed with becoming the first Cherokee astronaut for as long as she can remember and every decision she makes is with achieving that goal in mind. This book deals heavily with identity and what it means to honor one’s ancestors, respect for the planet and Native land, generational trauma, blended families, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the costs of ambition.

Heart the Lover by Lily King, 3.75 stars

Our narrator meets two highly academic seniors, Sam and Yash. Although she is initially folded into the group by Sam, Yash is her first love, her “I would do anything for you” love until it all comes crashing to a halt. To Yash, she is the one that got away. At only 250 pages, it sometimes lingered too long on certain emotional beats, but overall it was…fine. Personally, I would have loved more detail on the narrator’s family, which felt like a foil more than a developed storyline.

Thank you for reading my November recap! I would love to hear from you in the comments.
- Have you read any of these books?
- What was your favorite book from November?
- What do you want me to read and review before the end of the year?
The Case for Joining a Book Club

If I had the power to influence you to do just one thing, it would be to join a book club. As someone in not one, not two, but three book clubs, I feel as if I have become a bit of an authority on the many merits of belonging to them.

First, did you know that reading for pleasure in the United States is at a historic low? An August 2025 study conducted by the University of Florida and University College London found that, “reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% in the last 20 years”. Reading itself has a number of benefits including boosting mental health, sustaining and cultivating empathy, increasing curiosity, creativity, and lifelong learning. Yet many who haven’t picked up a book in a while have no idea where to start. Joining a book club can be the perfect remedy for accountability and community.

In fact, that’s how the SideBar Book Club got its start back in 2020. Some friends and I were all hanging around the pool one day when someone asked one of my favorite questions, “What are you reading?”. It was the kind of discussion I had been longing to be a part of again after social distancing had isolated me from most of my friends. Long after the conversation subsided, the coziness of it lingered and I wasn’t the only one who thought so–that night, my friend announced he wanted to get back into reading more regularly and the idea of creating a book club to encourage us to keep reading and get quality time on the calendar once a month had formed. Though there were just three founding members, our club has expanded to seven members and has celebrated three weddings and welcomed a baby into the world.

Our club rotates its host every month, with the person hosting selecting two books that the rest of the group votes on. In the event of a tie, the host will choose between the two. In our five years as a book club, we have read 37 books together, meeting all over the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Not only have we read some incredible books (aaaand some truly terrible ones too), but it has guaranteed that quality time that I don’t get to have with so many other friends because we are able to ‘set it and forget it’ on the calendar.

My other two book clubs are sponsored by local libraries, which have offered an opportunity to engage with members of my community I otherwise would never have met. Though both are library-sponsored, the two book clubs could not be more different.

The Agawam Public Library hosts ‘Read with Pride’ for members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies. Not to be too on the nose, but I was so very proud to join this group! Unfortunately, my town is extremely conservative, so the fact that my library was willing to run this club was HUGE. I remember making sure I was at the first meeting just in case someone from the town tried to cause trouble. Luckily, this awesome group of queer folks and allies has kept on keeping on for the last two years with minimal incidents!

Every six months, we submit ideas for books and movies to the incredible librarians that run our group. From there, we vote for our favorite picks and then the list is released for our next six months of choices. I would say for every four books or so, we pick a movie, which can be fun as well!

Overall, I enjoy this club not only because it can be hard to make new friends as an adult, but also because it is one of the only identified safe havens in my town for queer folks.

Finally, the West Springfield Public Library hosts ‘Books and Brews’ at a local brewery for the beer lovers with book problems! This club is a great place to meet new people, as it often boasts 20+ attendees in only its second year. More on the informal side, this club doesn’t mind if you didn’t read the book, use raised fingers to show star ratings, and often is accompanied by the din of the other bar flies. Books are chosen at the end of each meeting, as members shout over each other to offer their recommendations.

At this point, I don’t have to sell you on why I’m a fan of book clubs, but that everyone should be. Beyond the friendships, the local connections, and the beers, book clubs constantly expand my worldview. Books are windows and mirrors into different human experiences and hearing my peers’ reflections helps me see beyond my own echo chamber. In a country divided by politics, plagued by misinformation, and comment sections full of misspelled vitriol, I truly believe book clubs have the power to change minds and hearts. As Mark Twain wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” In these financially trying times, I would assert that, for those of us who cannot afford a quick trip overseas these days, reading together is equally as powerful.
October Reading Wrap Up: From Cozy Robots to Dark Magic and Everything In Between
Welcome to my first end of month reading wrap up! This month I managed to read six books, although to be fair two of them were novellas, which is not what I normally reach for. Not to mention both novellas were both science fiction–if you have ever been in a book club with me then you KNOW that’s not my go-to genre. This month turned out to offer a surprisingly eclectic mix of books that I was ultimately really satisfied with. I have managed to avoid a reading slump this year and have read 59 out of 75 books for the year.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, 3.75 stars

Classed as “cozy fiction”, this quirky little novella really brought me along for the ride. Four robots (and a human) embark on a mission to make San Francisco’s most delicious bowl of noodles. This clever social commentary will make your heart warm and your belly hungry.

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess, 3.75 stars

I always love a good travel novel, and this charming tale set in the English countryside was exactly what the doctor ordered. Cath travels to England on a nonrefundable trip to solve a fake murder, gifted to her posthumously by her absentee mother. Cath and her teammates set out to solve the town’s “murder” while simultaneously investigating the mystery of why her mother bought her the trip in the first place. Think: Great British Bake Off vibes meets Agatha Christie.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 3.25 stars

This book was chosen as the October pick from my “Read with Pride” LGBTQ+ book club at my local library. Here’s a shocking confession from a bibliophile: I would rather read about classic books than read them sometimes. However, the prose was more digestible than most from this time period, and I felt myself falling as deeply into the story as Dorian Gray did with himself (Alexa, please play “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon). With themes that are still relevant, Dorian Gray reminds us that sometimes even when you finally get what you want, you may still be bereft of what you need.

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers, 4.75 stars

A tea monk and a robot set out to answer a “simple” question: in a futuristic age without robots, what do humans still need? This one was recommended to me by a coworker with excellent literary taste, so I knew I had to give it a go. What I didn’t expect was to feel comforted by this story, spurring me to recommend it to those feeling restless or unmoored by their position in life.

Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie, 3 stars

Confession: I wanted to like this one more than I did. This book had a great premise–critic writer Alex Lyons sleeps with Haley, the same actress he gives a one star review to at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival. She turns pain into power and changes her one-woman show to be The Alex Lyons Experience, where women are invited to share the worst things a man has done to them. This book wanted to be a feminist reckoning of why men do bad things to women, with weaker subplots surrounding loss and infidelity from a narrator who was a bystander in their own story. Unfortunately, this one did not leave its audience wanting more.

The Year of Witching by Alexis Henderson, 3.5 stars

This book was chosen by my ‘Books and Brews Bookclub’, hosted by the library, but held at a brewery. It was the perfect Halloween read to end the month. The world of Bethel and its puritanical and patriarchal qualities alienated me at first, but as Immanuelle grew her doubts and uncovered the secrets of the witches of the Darkwood, I found myself becoming more invested. This spooky season, remember: they didn’t burn witches, they burned women.

Thank you for reading my October recap! I would love to hear from you in the comments.
- Have you read any of these books?
- What was your favorite book from October?
- What do you want me to read and review before the end of the year?
The Platform of Fear: LGBTQ+ Book Bans

This week, my LGBTQ+ book club, “Read with Pride”, met at the library to discuss Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. However, much to Mr. Gray’s dismay, I am not here to discuss the book itself, but rather the discussion around censorship it sparked and how it affects the LGBTQ+ community right now.

Oscar Wilde, for those that don’t know, stood trial and served two years in prison for sodomy and “gross indecency” in 1895. Snippets from The Picture of Dorian Gray were read aloud as evidence to Wilde’s perceived crimes. Wilde himself once asserted that there is no such thing as moral or immoral books, only books “either well written or badly written”. Wilde would be dismayed to know that PEN America reported nearly 22000 book challenges reported since July 2021, which shows us that the idea of “immoral books” not only persists, but has thrived.

More than a century later, how is it that in many ways, the LGBTQ+ community is still being tried by the court of public opinion for simply existing? Queer authors face bans, removal from libraries, and public vilification just for representing the queer experience. PEN America, a nonprofit whose purpose is to advocate for free speech in literature, stated that when it came to analyzing the most commonly banned books in 2023-2024, “disproportionate to publishing rates and like prior school years, books in this prominent subset overwhelmingly include books with characters of color (44%) and books with LGBTQ+ people and characters (39%)”.

While the LGBTQ+ community fights for equality, acceptance-and in the Trump era, mere tolerance-the narrative is twisted into some kind of dark queer agenda trying to influence the minds of the young towards the ways of the wicked. This argument is, of course, perpetrated by the religious right, Facebook opinions masquerading as facts, and our political “leaders”.

Those who cry about a “gay agenda” or claim queer representation is being “forced” on them ignore the real agenda at play: the systematic censorship of LGBTQ+ voices. The lived experiences of the queer community are drowned out against a cacophony of hardened hatred.

This is something I witnessed firsthand when I taught English in a deeply conservative town; I was appalled that nothing seemed to have changed since I was in school. The same slurs, the same immature jokes laced in fear of the unknown, the same lack of empathy from most of the staff….it was disheartening to say the least. I knew I needed to do something and formed a Gender/Sexuality Alliance (GSA) with two other brave colleagues. I added queer books, many of them banned, to my classroom library alongside other diverse books.

Being in community with students who cried at feeling accepted at school for the first time, who made sure not to fake sickness on the days the club was held, who confided their fears about their classmates, teachers, and in some unfortunate cases, their parents, was powerful.

It was my job to love them, to make them feel safe, and to teach them to advocate for themselves. It was heartening to see students delight in reading books that represented them. However, as much as we were doing and as much as our students had found a safe space, our GSA was met with challenges and unnecessary barriers at every turn, almost all of them derived from fear.

Because isn’t that what censorship is actually all about? Fear of the unfamiliar or different? Fear of lost power? Fear of gained knowledge? Fear that world you once knew may be advancing its ideas and philosophies without you? And at my school, who suffered from this fear the most -the students in the group seeking acceptance or the students/families protesting its existence?

Now apply the same logic to book bans. Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote, “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part” (“Windows, Mirrors, Sliding Glass Doors”).

Those who ban books claim to ‘protect the children’, yet they are the ones doing harm by limiting curiosity, empathy, and the cultural progress of humanity. By villainizing the queer community in the process, they undo decades of work toward love, compassion, and justice. In other words, the very thing their “Christian values” should celebrate, not limit.

Perhaps Oscar Wilde was making a larger point with The Picture of Dorian Gray–in this context, can we not use his book as a warning? Those that cling to the past, afraid of change may resort to cruelty to preserve their comfort, and like Dorian, find that the ugliness lies not in others, but in their own reflection.

What do you think? Is there such a thing as an immoral book? Where do you stand on book bans? What responsibility do you think every day citizens have to combat book bans? Let me know in the comments!

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