9. Life Happens & Reading Helps
On taking care of yourself and others, my Harry Potter orchestra experience, and a somewhat controversial author of the week.
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. I’ll have a fun book related question somewhere in the post for you to answer as well! To send in your recommendation & review, visit the R&R page. Without further ado, let’s get into this week of The Sunday Reads.
News & Thoughts
I don’t have news for this week, mostly just thoughts. It feels like every time I make plans to stick with this newsletter & platform, something comes up where I can’t. It’s still January, and I still have time. So this is all to say that sometimes life happens and there are more important things than consistency and that you should take care of yourself and others when life calls you to.
This post is late because I wanted to write about something that I did last night … my friend and I went to the Harry Potter orchestra! It was incredible. They had butterbeer and gillywater to drink, the house flags were up, and the audience was so incredible. The whole atmosphere was all encompassing, and the soundtrack is unbelievably better live. Even the movie itself seemed better because you were so focused on it. We watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If you are a Harry Potter fan and you have the opportunity to go to an orchestra, I cannot recommend it enough!
Do you want to go to one of these shows?
I know there is a … very exciting … release next week, but here are some releases you should watch out for this week as well!
Found Family by Laurie Frankel (Fiction): Jan 23, 2024
No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall (Mystery/Thriller): Jan 23, 2024
Into The Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru (Fantasy): Jan 23, 2024
The Cancer Factory by Jim Morris (Nonfiction): Jan 23, 2024
Books I’ve compiled from B&N Top 100, the NYT Bestsellers List, and Amazon Bestsellers in no particular order. I’ve decided to simply add the books I haven’t before, since I’ve caught up to the new additions. If you’re curious, last week’s post can be found here.
Holmes, Marple, and Poe by James Patterson (Mystery)
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher (Fantasy)
The Atlas Complex (The Atlas #3) by Olive Blake (Fantasy)
Upside Down by Danielle Steel (Romance)
When The Moon Hatched (Moonfall #1) by Sarah Parker (Fantasy)
Today’s Author of the Week won by a landslide on my Instagram poll. Honestly, I am a bit nervous to talk about her because I know there is some controversy that I am, quite frankly, not totally familiar with. However, she is a fantasy author who most of us are familiar with. This week’s AOTW is Sarah J Maas.
Sarah J Maas is a prolific fantasy author, having written the internationally best selling Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City series. Her book are indisputably popular and her world building is fantastic. She has written some of the best fantasy books lately.
I recently found out she started writing Throne of Glass at 16 years old. Sixteen! She worked on the book for ten years before it got published. Sarah started posting it on an online book community, where people encouraged her to keep writing and helped her throughout her journey. I find it incredibly inspiring and a wonderful lesson to stick with your dreams. She also bases her books off of popular folklore. Throne of Glass is (loosely) based on Cinderella. There are moments, particularly in books 1&2 where you can see those threads. ACOTAR is based off of Beauty & the Beast, which is easier to see the connection! I believe she came up with the ending of Crescent City 1 on a flight - it just came to her. I look up to her creativity and unwavering work ethic. Her books have fantastic world building, and she takes her time. Her characters are three dimensional, she deals with mental health, and nothing feels forced.
As for the controversy, here is a basic overview of what I know. I’m always happy to learn more, but if you have anything to add in the comments please be kind! There are questions about the relationships. For example, power dynamics, age gaps, and toxicity. In ACOTAR, the main love interest is hundreds of years old and Feyre is 19 at the start. In TOG, the main love interest and Aelin hated each other at the start. I can understand the age gaps, but also I don’t think the love interests necessarily act hundreds of years old. The hatred stemmed from both battling with their mental health, and they ended up seeing, knowing, and staying with each other even after experiencing their darkest moments. I can understand the concern people and especially parents have with this, but also I don’t think these books are for children. Her series are classified as New Adult, which are for people aged 18-27, and as adults, we should be able to decipher these things. Next, people are upset with her lack of diversity. She has a lack of different ethnics and backgrounds as well as LGBTQ+. She does have characters in every book that are people of color and LGBTQ+, but I think the issue lies in that they aren’t typically main characters. However, Sarah is a straight white woman, and I simply don’t think she wants to offend, stereotype, or make a mistake. I think she’s trying to diversify her characters without speaking on experiences she isn’t familiar with.
To wrap up, Sarah is married with two children, and she lives in New York. She graduated from Hamilton College. She largely keeps her life private, which I don’t want to disturb. You can find out more about her here.
Just a reminder to submit any books you think others will love on the R&R page or to my email: thesundayreads@gmail.com!
That’s all for today. Much love
Izzy <3