Everything is Tuberculosis

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by John Green
First sentence: “Around the turn of the nineteenth century, the Scottish tinkerer and chemist James Watt began working on a new project.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: March 18, 2025
Content: There’s a couple of milder swear words. It will be in the Health section of the bookstore.

When John started talking about tuberculosis on the vlogbrothers YouTube channel, I didn’t know what to think. I mean, I knew about tuberculosis – I got the TB tests when I was a kid – but I didn’t really think about tuberculosis. And so, I watched in fascination as John shared his research and stories over the years in his videos, and learned about how much tuberculosis has influenced human history.

This book, in many ways, is a synthesis of those videos. But, what I found remarkable was how John (can I call him John? I’ve been watching the videos until 2008, and it feels kind of weird to call him Green) made the disease personal. He focuses on Henry, a young man with tuberculosis that John met in Sierra Leone. He focuses on Henry’s struggle with the disease, his struggle to get treatment, and the reasons why. Interspersed with Henry’s story, John gives us the history of the disease and the development of treatment for the disease.

But, what I found most powerful in the book was the ending. John writes: “We cannot address TB only with vaccines and medications. We cannot address it only with comprehensive STP programs. We must also address the root cause of tuberculosis, which is injustice. In a world where everyone can eat, and access healthcare, and be treated humanely, tuberculosis has no chance. Ultimately, we are the cause. We must also be the cure.”

It’s a book that is absolutely worth reading.

P.S. If you’d like to do something to help, may I suggest supporting good.store? The Green brothers have set up a way to get subscriptions of things you might need (from coffee/tea to soap to socks and underwear) and all the profits go to help either building a maternal health center in Sierra Leone or tuberculosis treatment programs. It’s not a lot, but it is something. (And the products are really good as well: I’ve done the Awesome Socks club, and we’re currently getting the soap, and the tea is excellent.)

Audiobook: Food for Thought

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by Alton Brown
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: I don’t think he swears, but if he does it’s mild swearing and not very often. It’s in the Food Reference section of the bookstore.

I have been fond of Alton Brown for years. I use a handful of his recipes and he came and did an event at the store and was entertaining and not a dick to me (he’s kind of persona-non-grata at the store for reasons):

Goodness, we were young.

Anyway, I picked up a galley of his book, but C stole it from me and read it and really enjoyed it. So, when it showed up on audio, with him reading it, of course I had to listen. It’s a series of small essays, “thoughts” if you will, ranging from his childhood to his career as a food host (not a chef, never a chef), to his thoughts on food in movies and Food Network. It’s a slight read/listen, but it’s entertaining, he’s a smart person and a good writer, and a lot of fun. Which, honestly: what more do you want out of a food book?

Nothing, honestly. (And yes, I may, eventually, try his roast chicken “recipe” he includes.)

The Trouble with Heroes

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by Kate Messner
First sentence: “If I were a better kid, this story would begin with my seventh-grade diploma.”
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Content: There is PTSD and the death of a parent. (But not the dog.)

Finn Connelly is angry. So angry that he kicked over the tombstone in the local graveyard of his small town. Except, it turns out that the tombstone was the one of a locally famous mountain hiker. And her daughter offers Finn a deal: hike all 46 of the Adirondack HIgh Peaks, taking her mother’s dog, by Labor Day and she’ll dismiss the charges. Finn doesn’t have a choice: he and his mother can’t afford to replace the tombstone. So, it’s off to the mountains for reparations.

At first it’s not fun – he doesn’t like the “nannies” that have been assigned to accompany him on the hikes, he doesn’t want to wear hiking boots, he doesn’t like the dog…. but as the summer goes on, Finn finds out that maybe nature is healing. And he’s got healing to do – his father was a first responder on 9/11 and died couple years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Finn has yet to process that death. And, maybe, hiking the mountains will help.

This one was absolutely stunning. I loved the verse format – it’s partially because Finn needs to finish an ELA assignment to write 20 poems on heroes – and felt that it helped with the emotional impact of the book. Because this book packs an emotional punch. It’s funny and heartwarming, and yet the grief and loss is palpable. I just hope it’s one of those books that kids will actually like.

Because I loved it.

Beg, Borrow, or Steal

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by Sarah Adams
First sentence: “I don’t care who you are, when you live in a town the size of your thumb, if you don’t like the way your hair turns out at the salan, you stuff it deep down an never acknowledge it.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: When in Rome
Content: There is a narcissistic parent, swearing, including f-bombs, and a couple of on-screen sex scenes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Emily Walker and Jackson Bennett have been bickering and competing since they met (accidentally; he bumped into her and spilled coffee on her shirt) their freshman year of college. So, she should be happy that he’s moved to Nebraska to marry his fiance. But, she’s not, not really. And so when she hears that he’s back in town after breaking his wedding off, and moving in next door, she shouldn’t be as furious as she… kind of is? As the summer goes on, Jack and Emily realize that maybe their bickering and competing is maybe hiding something deeper.

I was looking for something light and fun to read and this absolutely fit the bill. I know there’s another one in the series that I haven’t read (I think I have it on audio) but it doesn’t really matter. I liked the banter between Emily and Jack and I liked that Adams gave them both a darker deeper backstory. It gave the book enough depth to make it have some weight, but honestly, I was there for the fun. And it absolutely delivered.

Maybe I will get around to listening to the other one now.

Monthly Round-Up: February 2025

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Why was February as long as January this year? It felt interminable. Maybe because it was snowier and colder this year than in years past? Or maybe the state of the country…. Either way, I’m very glad it’s over, and it’s at least pretending to be spring outside.

My favorite this month absolutely rocked my world:

Blood Over Bright Haven

Such a good book. Seriously.

As for the rest:

Graphic Novels:

A Song for You and I
Brownstone

Middle Grade:

The Door is Open
Tig
Not Nothing
All the Blues in the Sky (audiobook)

Non-Fiction:

It’s Only Drowning

Adult Fiction:

Onyx Storm (audiobook)
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (audiobook)

What was your favorite this month?

Brownstone

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by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is smoking by teens and two f-bombs. It’s in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Almudena has grown up without contact with her dad, knowing very little about him. But the summer before she turns 15, her mother gets an opportunity to join a dance tour, and Almudena is sent to live with the father she doesn’t know. The father who is a Guatemalan immigrant and doesn’t speak much English. The father who is currently living in and renovating a brownstone building into apartments for his heavily Latinx neighborhood. Almudena is resentful at first: she doesn’t know the language, she doesn’t fit in because she has a white mom, and she doesn’t want to do the heavy work of renovating. But, as the summer goes on, she learns. About her heritage, about the neighborhood, and most of all, about her father.

This was an absolutely delightful graphic novel. I like the way both Teer and Julia don’t hide the conflicts between those in the neighborhood who immigrated or are first-generation Americans, and Almudena, who grew up speaking English in a whiter part of the city. I liked the friendships she made in the neighborhood, and the way the neighbors looked out for those who are less fortunate. It’s a very community-minded story, and that came through. I also liked the growing relationship between Almudena and her father: it felt genuine and honest, which I appreciated.

It was just a delight to read.

Audiobook: All the Blues in the Sky

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by Renée Watson
Read by Bahni Turpin
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: This talks pretty explicitly about the violent death (due to a hit-and-run) of a beloved friend. It may touch some nerves with sensitive readers. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Sage’s thirteenth birthday party was supposed to be a fun afternoon and evening with her best friend. Except that, on her way to Sage’s party, her best friend was killed in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver. Suddenly, Sage’s world is turned upside down as she deals with the tragic death of her closest friend. It’s not easy: she’s dealing with survivor’s guilt, with the sympathy (and pity) of her classmates, and just learning to make new friends. It’s not an easy journey, and even as she grieves, new, good things come into her life.

Watson is a remarkable writer, and is able to capture so much emotion and pain and sadness in so few words. Sage’s pain and heartbreak and grief came through the page (well, audiobook) loud and clear. Some of that, though, is Turpin’s excellent narration. She’s long been one of my favorite narrators, mostly because she captures the essence of the characters and the words so well. I felt Sage’s pain. And yet, the book was hopeful. Sage was beginning to work through the grief and guilt, good things were happening. And when more bad news came, Sage was better equipped to deal with it. I know kids shouldn’t “have to” deal with things like this, but the truth is they do. And having a book that can help them see what the grieving process might look like is an incredibly helpful thing.

It’s also an excellent book for its own sake.

It’s Only Drowning

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by David Litt
First sentence: “Matthew Kappler is my brother-in-law, and we’re very different, and one of the biggest differences between us is that if I lived like him I would die.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: June 24, 2025
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It will be in the Sports section of the bookstore.

David Litt is a former Obama speech writer, author, and all-around politics wonk. He and his wife, who is a congressional aide, split their time in DC and are the sort of liberals you probably think they are. Which means, he doesn’t really get along with his wife’s brother, Matt, an non-voter, Joe Rogan-loving, anti-vaxxer. But, when COVID-19 hit, and he was stuck in pandemic lockdown, he realized he needed to find something new to do. So, he picked Matt’s favorite sport: surfing. At the ripe age of 35, David decided to pick up the sport, and then made a goal to be good enough to surf the North Shore of Hawaii in a little over a year.

This book is that journey.

And what a journey. I learned a lot about surfing – especially Jersey shore surfing – enough to have a lot of respect for anyone who not only tries it, but does it successfully. I love how Litt writes about the sport, making it accessible enough to those of us who have never even attempted it. I loved the way he writes about the ocean, both it’s power and it’s beauty. I loved learning about the culture surrounding surfing, and appreciated that Litt was honest enough to admit that he felt he was on the outside. I also liked that Litt didn’t downplay his ambitions with surfing and developing a relationship with his brother-in-law. It’s heartfelt and honest, and I love it for that.

An excellent memoir.

Audiobook: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales

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by Heather Fawcett
Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Content: There are some intense moments and a bit of faerie violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first two, obviously.

Emily and Wendell have returned to Wendell’s kingdom, the Silver Loopie, for him to take his place as ruler. It’s not all fun and games, because the former queen, Wendell’s stepmother, isn’t quite dead yet and has put a curse on the land poisoning it. It’s up to Emily, and her immense knowledge of fairy stories, to figure out which story this is playing out as, and how to set the Silver Loopie to rights. And, maybe somewhere along the way, she will figure out how to be the queen of a faerie realm.

I probably guessed somewhere along the way, that this was going to be the end of Emily and Wendell’s adventures, and while I’m sad to see them go, I love the way Fawcett wrapped them up. It had everything I have come to adore about these books: faerie magic, a bit of tension between Emily and Wendell, her dog Shadow (love the dog!), and adventures that she approaches scholarly. It was as charming and as wonderful as the other two.

I do have to admit that I got an advance copy of this book, and tried to read it but couldn’t connect with it. It wasn’t until I picked it up in audio and started listening that I realized that these books, while charming and delightful on their own, are made for audio. Potter does such as wonderful job capturing Emily’s voice and mannerisms, that she makes Emily just jump off the page. They are truly delightful as audiobooks

And, to be honest, I’m okay with the series ending. What I would like, though, is a spin-off series featuring Emily’s niece Ariadnae (not sure of the spelling of that one!). That would be delightful.

A thoroughly charming ending to a thoroughly charming series.

Not Nothing

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by Gayle Forman
First sentence: “Actually, it’s two stories, one you will recognize and one you won’t.”
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Content: There is anger management issues, abandonment by a parent, and an act of violence. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Alex, by a combination of chance and choice has landed a community service assignment at Shady Glenn Retirement center. He doesn’t want to be there (obviously) and is determined to have a terrible time and just grudgingly do his work until a longtime resident, Josef – nonverbal, 107 years old, and basically waiting to die – breaks his longtime silence to tell Alex his story. The book goes back and forth – Josef is our narrator the whole way, though – between telling Alex’s story and Josef’s, but the theme is the same: how can a person, through their choices, make a difference for good or ill, in the lives of others.

On the one hand, I really loved this book. I loved the way it was written, I loved the connection Josef and Alex had, I loved that Forman was exploring the idea of being better than the sum of their actions. It’s heartwarming and even though it deals with the Holocaust, it’s not a Holocaust book. It’s about connection and redemption and making our lives matter, in spite of our past choices.

On the other hand, I’m thinking, as much as I loved it, that it’s a kids book for adults. It’s the sort of book written in the sort of way that I think more adults who read kids books will like than actual kids. (Maybe some kids; I might have been able to convince a couple of mine to read it.) That’s not a knock; it’s just an observation.

It’s still an excellent book, though.