Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford

Summary from Goodreads: One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins.

For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he’s the only person in the entire world who understands her. She thinks she understands him too. He’s sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark. She’s certain that one day they’ll be reunited again, and she’ll finally feel complete. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there.

Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison. And that’s where the story really begins.

Somebody’s Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them.

I’ve been following Ashley for years on social media so I’m so happy to see her book Somebody’s Daughter coming out.

It’s a beautifully written, heart-wrenching memoir about growing up a Black girl in a loving family (that has it’s own issues) but with a father who has been incarcerated as long as she can remember. Much of her childhood is spent trying to be “somebody’s daughter” – trying to be her daddy’s good girl despite a rough relationship with her mom and a number of potential step-fathers who come into and out of her life. She also writes about growing up in a female body, specifically a Black female body, and how to reclaim that body when it is violated. The assault also tints how she reacts when she finally learns why her father is in prison and also when he is granted release. Ford has a wonderful way of writing about childhood – she is somehow about to recount an emotionally harrowing incident using a child’s words and thoughts without bringing a lot of adult sensibility and reasoning to interpret the scene. Her joy at finding the world of books and reading as a child is palpable – if you’re a fellow bookworm, you feel that joy in your soul.

There are a number of trigger warnings in this book. Physical abuse and sexual assault are recounted on the page, so you may need to skim a few pages (in the chapter about her rape, Ford does a masterful job telegraphing that the scene is coming so the reader has advance warning).

Somebody’s Daughter is out tomorrow, June 1!

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss.

The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan (The Roommate #2)

Summary from Goodreads: Naomi and Ethan will test the boundaries of love in this provocative romance from the author of the ground-breaking debut, The Roommate.

Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won’t hire her.

Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city’s hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his nontraditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they’ll close the doors of his synagogue for good.

Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems–until they discover a new one–their growing attraction to each other. They’ve built the syllabus for love’s latest experiment, but neither of them expected they’d be the ones putting it to the test.

Last year, Rosie Danan published her debut The Roommate, which I liked but it didn’t blow me away. She’s back with The Intimacy Experiment featuring the third co-founder of the start-up Naomi. I like this book more than The Roommate – probably because I really liked Naomi and Ethan as characters – but there’s still something in the book that doesn’t hit quite right with me.

I did really love the push/pull Naomi feels in re-exploring her Jewish heritage and faith and how Ethan leaves her space to explore that. I also really loved how Naomi is the one who is like “FEELINGS!!! FUCK FUCK FUCK WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM” – she knows she could just blow Ethan’s mind in like 3 seconds because she has skillz, but since her feelings and emotions and heart want to get engaged it had her running scared.

But I feel like there were some (maybe a lot of) mis-matches in sentiment and scene. There’s a very late scene in the book *spoiler, sorry* where Naomi is invited back to her old high school (given her history at that school, wut?) to give a sex ed talk which is extremely ROMANCE REASONS that I just didn’t buy. The speech Naomi ends up giving – the most beautiful bit of “how to self-care when you are crushed by a breakup” and almost made me cry – doesn’t fit with the high school audience at all. The book also reads very slowly since we don’t get many scenes with Naomi and Ethan together to gauge their attraction – instead Naomi talks to the Intimacy series class and she and Ethan make eyeballs at each other. But they don’t talk too each other.

Loved the premise, maybe not the execution. There are a few content warnings for this book, mostly about people being awful to Naomi – and Ethan – on-page because Naomi is an ex-sex worker and also for sexual harassment described in Naomi’s past.

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss.

The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism by Dr. Jen Gunter

Summary from Goodreads: Just as she did in her groundbreaking bestseller The Vagina Bible, Dr. Jen Gunter, the internet’s most fearless advocate for women’s health, brings you empowerment through knowledge by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, and expert advice.

The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women’s bodies, and it’s no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond. Menopause is not a disease–it’s a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what’s to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why, and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring. Frank and funny, Dr. Jen debunks misogynistic attitudes and challenges the over-mystification of menopause to reveal everything you really need to know about:

• Perimenopause
• Hot flashes
• Sleep disruption
• Sex and libido
• Depression and mood changes
• Skin and hair issues
• Outdated therapies
• Breast health
• Weight and muscle mass
• Health maintenance screening
• And much more!

Filled with practical, reassuring information, this essential guide will revolutionize how women experience menopause–including how their lives can be even better for it!

I slept on The Vagina Bible (don’t worry, I’ll get to it one of these days), so I didn’t want to let The Menopause Manifesto get past me. I’m old enough that my insides are clearly starting to gear up for this whole Perimenopause carnival ride, thanks human biology. This is a well-written, very easy to understand breakdown of the menopause process starting with how the reproductive system works, non-menopause reasons that can cause a problem, physiologic symptoms of menopause, what can be done when those symptoms become annoying/out-of-hand, health risks that can come from the change in hormone levels or treatments for menopause symptoms, etc. etc. Plus, Dr. Gunter is really funny. If you don’t follow her on Twitter, go do that because she has no patience for bozos (which is important in these pandemic times). (As a note: the book does focus on cis-women’s biology.)

The Menopause Manifesto was published on Tuesday!

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole (Runaway Royals #2)

Summary from Goodreads: New York Times and USA Today bestseller Alyssa Cole’s second Runaway Royals novel is a queer Anastasia retelling, featuring a long-lost princess who finds love with the female investigator tasked with tracking her down.

Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir.

Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with.

When a threat to her grandmother’s livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas. When they finally make it to Ibarania, they realize there’s more at stake than just cash and crown, and Makeda must learn what it means to fight for what she desires and not what she feels bound to by duty.

Y’all! Y’all. Helpy chaos Muppet vs prickly order Muppet in an Anastasia retelling

How to Find a Princess is Alyssa Cole’s second entry in the Runaway Royals series. Beznaria Chetchevaliere aka Bez has moved from royal matchmaking to tracking down lost royalty. Only this job is personal – she’s Ibaranian and her grandma was on guard the night the Queen disappeared. She wants to make it right. So she kiiiiiiind of goes outside the bounds of her job set by the World Federation of Monarchies to pursue what she thinks is the likeliest lead: one Makeda Hicks, the granddaughter of a woman who had a fling with an Ibaranian prince. Makeda absolutely Does Not Care to get all that mess back out of her closet – it kind of ruined her life when her mom got obsessed with it – and just wants the persistent, and helpful, and attractive (whoo, the biceps) Bez to scram. Bez won’t be got rid of that easily.

I loved Bez and Makeda. If you haven’t read any of Alyssa’s previous Royals books, you could start with this one since this is the first one where previous couples don’t really make an appearance in any significant way (the connection from the previous book to this one is through Bez). Also: cargo ships, one bed, fake marriage. If there’s a weak part, it’s the World Federation of Monarchies, which feels shoe-horned in to give Bez a reason to track down Makeda. But other than that? *chef’s kiss* What a fun, goofy book.

How to Find a Princess is out today!

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley from the publisher via Edelweiss.

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly by Kate Lebo

Summary from Goodreads: Inspired by twenty-six fruits, essayist, poet, and pie lady Kate Lebo expertly blends natural, culinary, medical, and personal history.

A is for Aronia, berry member of the apple family, clothes-stainer, superfruit with reputed healing power. D is for Durian, endowed with a dramatic rind and a shifty odor–peaches, old garlic.

In this work of unique invention, these and other difficult fruits serve as the central ingredients of twenty-six lyrical essays (and recipes!) that range from deeply personal to botanical, from culinary to medical, from humorous to philosophical. The entries are associative, often poetic, taking unexpected turns and giving sideways insights into life, relationships, self-care, modern medicine, and more. What if the primary way you show love is to bake, but your partner suffers from celiac disease? Why leave in the pits for Willa Cather’s Plum Jam? How can we rely on bodies as fragile as the fruits that nourish them?

The Book of Difficult Fruit is a really interesting read, a combination of agricultural and food history, memoir, essay, and cookbook. I’m probably not going to try many – if any – of the recipes, though. I’m not quite that adventurous a foodie. The A to Z arrangement is easy to read and I liked the range of fruits Lebo described.

Dear FTC: I purchased my copy of this book from my store.

Cheese, Wine, and Bread: Discovering the Magic of Fermentation in England, Italy, and France by Katie Quinn

Summary from Goodreads: In this delightful, full-color tour of France, England, and Italy, YouTube star Katie Quinn shares the stories and science behind everyone’s fermented favorites—cheese, wine, and bread—along with classic recipes.

Delicious staples of a great meal, bread, cheese, and wine develop their complex flavors through a process known as fermentation. Katie Quinn spent months as an apprentice with some of Europe’s most acclaimed experts to study the art and science of fermentation. Visiting grain fields, vineyards, and dairies, Katie brings the stories and science of these foods to the table, explains the process of each craft, and introduces the people behind them.

What will keep readers glued to the book like a suspense novel is Katie’s personal journey as an expat discovering herself abroad; Katie’s vulnerability will turn readers into fans, and they’ll finish the book feeling like they’re her best friends, trusted with her innermost revelations.

In England, Katie becomes a cheesemonger at Neal’s Yard Dairy, London’s preeminent cheese shop—the beginning of a journey that takes her from a goat farm in rural Somerset to a nationwide search for innovating dairy gurus.

In Italy, Katie offers an inside look at Italian winemaking with the Comellis at their family-owned vineyard in Northeast Italy and witnesses the diversity of vintners as she makes her way around Italy.

In France, Katie meets the reigning queen of bread, Apollonia Poilâne of Paris’ famed Poilâne Bakery, apprentices at boulangeries in Paris learning the ins and outs of sourdough, and travels the country to uncover the present and future of French bread.

Part artisanal survey, part travelogue, and part cookbook, featuring watercolor illustrations and gorgeous photographs, Cheese, Wine, and Bread is an outstanding gastronomic tour for foodies, cooks, artisans, and armchair travelers alike.

Cheese, Wine, and Bread by Katie Quinn was one of the books offered in a recent Harper influencer package. A deep dive into three of my favorite things plus some recipes? Sure, I’ll bite.

This was a fun book to read in the evenings while winding down. I really liked Quinn’s deep dives into cheese-, wine-, and bread-making. I definitely got some new recipes to try (those brownies sound AMAZING). I did feel like the cheese section was much easier to get into than the wine and bread sections. I couldn’t connect the grape names to the actual wine I might find in the store (as much as I like a good wine, I’m definitely not an expert) and then the bread section had far more “experts” to keep track of than this other two sections (that might have been an artifact of the research process – Quinn wasn’t able to get the longer-term deep-dive access to the French bakers that she was for the English cheese-makers and Italian wine-makers). If you’re a fan of Quinn’s YouTube – full confession: I didn’t even know she had a YT, so now I have to check it out – you’ll like her book. I’ll definitely be rec-ing it for customers looking for something a little different in cookbooks for holiday gifts.

Dear FTC: I received a finished copy from the publisher – thanks HarperCollins!

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

Summary from Goodreads: Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard returns with a powerful romantic fantasy that reads like The Goblin Emperor meets Howl’s Moving Castle in a pre-colonial Vietnamese-esque world.

Fire burns bright and has a long memory….

Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.

Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.

Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?

I had my galley of Fireheart Tiger hanging around the iPad so I finally read it. What a lovely one-sitting read. It’s an intriguing sapphic romantic fantasy with political shenanigans that does not play out the way you think it will. I wished it had been a little longer since there are so many parts of the world-building I wanted to see more. Thanh is a great character. (And check out that beautiful cover!)

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley from the publisher via Edelweiss.

Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself by Chloe Angyal

Summary from Goodreads: A reckoning with one of our most beloved art forms, whose past and present are shaped by gender, racial, and class inequities—and a look inside the fight for its future
 
Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance.
 
In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by men; the impossible standards of beauty and thinness; and the racism that keeps so many people of color out of ballet. As the rigid traditions of ballet grow increasingly out of step with the modern world, a new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on, in the studio and on stage. For ballet to survive the twenty-first century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.

Turning Pointe reminded me very much of a book I read in junior high – Off Balance: The Real World of Ballet by Suzanne Gordon – that was very much an expose about the toxicity of the ballet world (since it came in the wake of Gelsey Kirkland’s Dancing on My Grave and was more a work of investigative journalism than memoir, I don’t think it hit quite as big as it should have). Angyal’s new book about ballet in the 21st century, and what we need to do to make the art form relevant, more inclusive, and less-likely to do permanent damage to young bodies and minds both updates Gordon’s work and expands it. It is very well-researched, with a lot of interviews with working dancers, teachers, administrators and with some who have left the profession. She covers a lot of subjects including racism, classism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault/abuse, psychological abuse, body dysphoria/eating disorders (all the trigger warnings for this book, although it is all handled sensitively, I think).

I think Angyal perhaps tried to cover too much in this book. I feel like she could have pushed deeper on a number of subjects. This may have been due to having to research and finish a book during a global pandemic, which obviously curtailed planned research trips and also added new subjects to the book. But it does feel like this book is the tip of an iceberg, that a book could be written for each chapter to deconstruct some of these very entrenched institutional constructs of “how” ballet and ballet dancers should exist. This is necessary reading for all dancers and dance parents.

As a former dancer, who started at age 3 and danced until finally stopping at 34, even though I never danced professionally I saw versions of many scenarios recounted in this book. I love ballet, I would have continued taking daily class until I died (thanks, osteoarthritis, you are very much not welcome), but we as dancers and ballet-lovers really need to demand change or the art form will make itself obsolete.

Turning Pointe is out today!

Dear FTC: I read a digital galley of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss.