3. The Brat in my Brain
The Brat in my brain loves to cause anxiety over everything, five and a half more books are being released on Nov 28, the AotW has a fantastic debut, and I genuinely think I'd be BFFs with Backman.
Welcome!
On this weekly newsletter, every - you guessed it - Sunday, we’ll discuss upcoming releases, an author of the week, top 10 books from last week, and recommendations from you. To send in your recommendation & review, visit the R&R page. Without further ado, let’s get into this week of The Sunday Reads.
Apparently, we’re doubling down on the November 28th release date for every single book ever. Between this week and last week, check your bank accounts for Tuesday!
To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn (Romantasy): Nov 28, 2023
A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley (Romantasy): Nov 28, 2023
Never Plan a Billionaire’s Wedding by Julia Kent (Romance): Nov 28, 2023
Murder with Chocolate Tea (Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery #10) by Karen Rose Smith (Mystery): Nov 28, 2023
He’s Not My Type (The Vancouver Agitators #4) by Meghan Quinn (Romance): Nov 28, 2023
*special shoutout: the rerelease for the new cover of Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh in the US is (also) on November 28th!*
10 books I’ve compiled from B&N Top 100, the NYT Bestsellers List, and Amazon Bestsellers in no particular order. These are not the ones from last week, but they’re all still on the bestsellers list. If you’re curious, last week’s post can be found here.
The Edge by David Baldacci (Mystery)
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann (Nonfiction, True Crime)
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett (Fantasy)
Wolfsong & Ravensong (Green Creek #1 & #2) by TJ Klune (Fantasy)
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (Mystery)
Trees of the Emerald Sea (The Cosmere) by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy)
Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King Duology #2) by Rachel Gillig (Fantasy)
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson (Fiction)
My Effin’ Life by Geddy Lee (Memoir)
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow (Nonfiction, Politics)
We have a West Coaster for today’s author of the week! I had been meaning to read One Dark Window for months, but I chose to wait to read it until the second book in The Shepherd King duology released more recently, Two Twisted Crowns. Unbelievably, this duology is her debut. It goes to show how talented Gillig is as an author!
What I loved about the duology is that it took a unique take in the fantasy genre, which I think is pretty difficult these days given how saturated it is. Quite frankly, my only complaint was that it wasn’t a trilogy because I wanted Gillig to go more into depth in the character’s day to day and spend more time with them. You can find out more about her books & reviews on her Goodreads page.
Stay excited because her next duology releases in Spring 2025, The Knight and The Moth. It may feel like ages (it does to me), but half of the sweetness is the anticipation! I’m deeply excited to see where Gillig takes us next, and quite frankly I’m glad she’s taking her time publishing.
Outside of being a talented author, she went to UC Davis, loves to garden, and go for walks with her husband, son, and their dog Wally. Here is her Instagram, website, and Substack (!!), if you want to stay up-to-date like me.
Here’s your reminder to send in a brief book recommendation to my email, thesundayreads@gmail.com. In the meantime, I am more than happy to keep recommending books!
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Historical Fiction)
New York City in 1940: a nineteen year old kicked out of college is sent to Manhattan to live with her Aunt who owns the Lily Playhouse and is introduced to a whole new world. After making a mistake that has years of repercussions, Vivian is finally telling her story at ninety-five.
I kept putting this book off and I don’t even know why because when I finally read it, I adored it. It’s written incredibly well and keeps you fully vested. It is so … real. And as a twenty-two year old woman, it was a pretty perfect time to read this book, although I feel anyone could learn from it.
Before You Go …
I couldn’t tell you if it’s because of my anxiety or it started when I began my book account, but I feel so much pressure to keep reading, even when I sometimes don’t want to. It’s so contradictory because I started all this due to my love of books and wanting to share that with others. It makes no sense because I’m actually behind on reviews for my Instagram. So why do I feel so much pressure to just keep reading? To read faster? To keep up with the new releases and the ones going viral online? I bring this up because I’m simultaneously finding joy in reading slowly while (as I affectionately call her) The Brat in my brain reminds me that I’m not moving fast enough. This is your reminder to tell your Brat to kindly shut up because there is joy in slow things, in fully experiencing the things that make you happy.
There are two people who I follow online that I genuinely think I’d be best friends with if I ever get the chance to meet them: Morgan Riddle and Fredrik Backman. What a duo! I find it so interesting that some don’t adore Backman’s writing like I do, but I can also somewhat understand why. You have to stay interested, it jumps from character to character constantly, and there are several layers to peel back in every book. I adore how much they make me think, how real he makes each character and their choices. I’m currently reading Us Against You and The Winners, the second and third book in the Beartown series, and it is causing me emotional distress. I’ll be fine, then he will switch characters and write the most emotional evoking paragraph in the history of the universe and suddenly I’m crying. He’s able to both evoke these emotions in me and also make me crack up with his Instagram posts. My mom and I love everything he posts, and I always read the whole thing. I find immense talent in this, that the emotion and humor I find in his books carries into his real life, almost making his books more real to me.ds
I leave you with these thoughts, and I’m quite curious to hear what you have to say regarding anything I’ve brought up here.
That’s all I have for today. Much love,
Izzy