Life on Mars (by Tracy K. Smith)

My 18th Read Harder Challenge book is a collection of poetry by a Black author and Pulitzer prize winner, Tracy K. Smith. The category: an indie published collection of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author.

Sadly I did not get the hype about this collection. A couple of lovely poems in here (I particularly enjoyed "The Universe Is A House Party") but not my favorite; poetry either gives you transcendent chills or it doesn't; this collection didn't hit for me.  It did make me want to read more poetry though - it's been a while since I picked up a Best American Poetry collection, and I used to get them every year! 

(What the hell, just pre-ordered this year's edition.) 

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You (by Ann Liang)

Another cute YA, although the premise of this one (Sadie's hate mails that she saves in email drafts accidentally get sent) is ridiculous. Nobody as careful as Sadie would write email drafts with the person's name in the "To:" field, it is absolutely so dumb. And how they get sent out makes no sense.

I stuck with it because I enjoyed Sadie (an extreme people-pleaser and high achiever) and was excited to see her growth over the course of the novel - and that was great, as was the chemistry with the love interest. They had cute banter but actually did hate each other so it's a good enemies-to-lovers slow burn. I never did get fully past the premise though!

Wish You Weren’t Here (by Erin Baldwin)

A sapphic YA debut from Erin Baldwin. Overall I enjoyed it - I thought the writing was really funny without trying too hard (the slightly off-brand Beauty and the Beast production was hilarious) and I enjoyed the camp setting and the chemistry between the leads. 

There are some missteps - slightly off characterization (I agree with some Goodreads reviewers that a dual POV would have potentially really helped) and some strangely resolved side plots, but overall it's a good debut and I will definitely read whatever Baldwin writes next!

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (by Isabel Wilkerson)

Book #17 in the Read Harder Challenge was The Warmth of Other Suns, and while I was reading it it also popped up as #2 on the best books of the 21st century, so that was very satisfying, (I've read 38 of those books, and thanks to Wilkerson, I've read the top 7. Very tempted to try and read all of the rest....)  

This is the story of the Great Migration of Black Americans to the North during Jim Crow, meticulously researched and very insightful.  It centers around three specific migrants (who settled in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago) but puts their lives in context of societal changes happening around them. I found context-switching between those three life stories a little challenging, honestly; I would have preferred a straight-up oral history covering dozens of people, not just three. But regardless, I learned a lot from reading this and really recommend it to all Americans for help understanding the forces that underpin race relations in America today. 

This was just not that long ago - Ida Mae, the migrant woman whose story is told and who began life as a sharecropper, ended up meeting Barack Obama when he was a community organizer in Chicago. This is a vibrant history that every American should know. Highly recommended.

Belize Books

I'm almost done with a sixth book, but here are the five books I finished while on my vacation to Belize:

Birding Under the Influence (by Dorian Anderson)

I avidly followed Dorian's blog about the Big Year he did on a bicycle. In this memoir, he tells the story of his journey while interspersed with the love story between him and his now-wife Sonia, and his problems with drinking and drugs and general addict behavior. I thought this memoir was terrific - well written, candid, structured well, and generally one of the better blog-to-book books I've ever read. Highly recommended if you're interested in reading about a Big Year!

Journey Under the Midnight Sun (by by Keigo Higashino) 

Another Japanese Mystery, and I think the third one I've read by Higashino. This one is pretty long (I would say overly long) and you figure out whodunit pretty early, but the whydunit and will-someone-ever-catch-them elements propel you to the end. Definitely a motive I should have, but did not, see coming, which made the ending hit hard. Not my favorite by him purely because of the overlength, but good nonetheless.

The Long Run (by James Acker)

Queer YA, you knew it was making it on this list somehow. I wasn't sure an athlete love story would be my jam as they've been hit or miss for me in the past, but this one has so much depth, the characters and their relationship are actually wonderful and lovely and I cried of course. Recommended!

Noah Frye Gets Crushed (by Maggie Horne)

This was, vis a vis the RHC, "a middle grade book with an LGBTQIA main character." Absolutely adorable, funny and charming. full of terrific characters, although I would have liked to see Jessa developed better. I'm actually not a middle grade fan (Baby-Sitters Club notwithstanding ) but this nails it. Horne has got a sapphic YA debut coming out next month, can't wait for that!

Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet (by Molly Morris) 

Love the premise - every 10 years, someone in this small town gets to come back from the dead - wrapped in a queer YA.  I enjoyed it enough to finish it to the end but was my least favorite of these - I found it to be overly quirkified and aggressively 90s (authors need to stop with this).  I was thrown off at the very beginning by the quirky names. The main characters, Wilson and Ryan, are both girls. Ryan's twin brother is Mark, which makes no sense whatsoever as a sibling set. Wilson calls her mother by her first name, Jody, and Jody's ex, a man, is named Cass.  Wilson is named after Wilson Phillips. I was so confused and also, like, why do all the names have to be quirky.  My biggest issue is that the romance didn't fully work and relationships felt inorganic.  I finished it, I guess, is the best I can say!