Read by the Author

“This was a fun listen during my daily 20 minute one way commute. At first, I wasn't sure if I could listen to it given that 1) I had no idea who Retta was other then a comedy tv star and 2) there was a lot of talk about social media in the beginning that I couldn't relate to it since I'm not really on social media. But, as the seconds ticked by, I became invested in her story. I found her depiction of her childhood both truthful and amusing. And, even more so when she started to talk about her struggles with her career and other issues. What was fascinating is her use of twitter and how she loves her tv show. So much, that she live tweets to them. What I really enjoyed was her unbridled enthusiasm about things that she loves... things as mundane as handbags to HAMILTON. I really, really loved the Hamilton/Lin Manuel Miranda chapter. Plus, Retta is a funny and a true entertainer. I may have to put down my print reads at some point to check out Parks and Rec.”

“This is the second masterful memoir I've read in 2018 about the impact of the complicated and fascinating relationships between mothers and daughters (see also THE ELECTRIC WOMAN by Tessa Fontaine). Allie Rowbottom shares the history of her family's business (Jell-O) while also detailing the lives of generations of women oppressed by the patriarchy and dismissed as hysterical. Highly addictive, JELL-O GIRLS is the perfect book club pick, especially if you want to dive into the mother witch archetype and disrupting the patriarchy.”

“A thoroughly enjoyable and interesting book that makes public service, working for POTUS, a job in the White House a worthy occupation. An insider's personal account, it gives details about the the president and numerous others either identified or disguised as well as the inevitable personal pot holes that make the book a sort of novelization. By the way, who knew that "stenographer" is still an active job title. Fans of "Madame Secretary," political junkies of many stripes and those longing for a return to a sense of normalcy in the White House will pick up this book with gratitude.”

“After wowing readers (former President Barack Obama included) with 2015’s Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff returns with a collection of stories just as wise and meticulously constructed. Within the sun-kissed, palmetto-strewn swampland of Groff’s Florida, we encounter a pair of abandoned sisters, anxious mothers, and a woman being pushed to the edge. Looking inward and out, Groff examines the lives of her characters with a surveyor’s eye, capturing the sense of dread and desire that pervades their existence. Floridais an exploration of time and place, both sensual and terrifying, and seems to me both timely and timeless.”

“Michael loves Ellis, Ellis loves Annie, and Annie loves them both. Yet Sarah Winman's blistering novel Tin Man is anything but the usual love triangle. Instead, Winman asks us to consider what remains of love after its object is gone. She crowds this spare little book, set in London, Oxford, and the south of France, with vivid portraits of loss and mourning. At once terse and expansive, Tin Man is a firework flashing in the night - gone too soon but burned forever into the reader's memory.”

“The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner gives insight into life behind prison walls as well as the kind of lives lived that might land one there. Actually, many stories are bound together in this unique novel. A former stripper in for life without parole, a prison GED teacher and a dirty cop are the primary storytellers along with a host of colorful cell mates and acquaintances. The backstories are particularly interesting as there are so many commonalities regarding current social maladies: single parenthood, drugs, poverty, neglect and poor education to name a few. Grimly realistic and fascinating.”

“I've loved everything Leslie Jamison's written, but best of all so far is The Recovering, a memoir/history/criticism-hybrid that takes addiction and recovery as its subject. Every time I sat down with this book, I felt like I was in the company of my smartest friend, someone who knew all the right words for life's greatest pleasures and pains. Her book moves fluidly from personal remembrances to perfectly synthesized research into how and why people (herself and artists and others) elect to warp their consciousness with substances. The Recovering is a thorough and thoughtful look at many of our worst and some of our best tendencies, and Jamison's continually compelling style makes it a delight to read.”

“Man oh man. Roxane Gay never fails to disappoint, even if she might disagree. This is a powerful, raw memoir, narrated by the author. Her truth is so relatable, and even when it’s not, Gay’s writing is empathetic. This audiobook was so engrossing, I actively looked for excuses to step away from what I was doing and listen to it. I highly recommend listening to or reading this book—for EVERYONE. This will challenge how you look at fat people, and women especially, and if you’re like me, how you look at yourself. Do yourself a favor and read this book.”

“Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich didn't set out to investigate murder of six-year-old Jeremy Guillory in Louisiana; it was the case she happened upon as a young law school intern in 1992. In a fascinating twist, this becomes not only the true story of a heinous crime for which the perpetrator is in prison, but also of the investigation that unlocks the author's memories of her own youth, a childhood in which she and her sisters were repeatedly sexually abused by their maternal grandfather. As Marzano-Lesnevich moves backward and forward in time between the young man who killed Jeremy and her own life, the reader is swept along on a current of dismay and awe: dismay that human beings can do these things to each other, and awe that the author could face such demons and move on. I've never read another book like this.”

“Gabrielle Union is smart, funny, articulate and honest. She's also an excellent reader.I loved hearing her takes on growing up in a mostly white town, her experiences in Hollywood, about being in the room where it happens (or not, as the case may be). And, about owning her faults. I would love to sit down and have a glass of wine (or two) with her.”