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Summer. Reading. Like peanut butter and chocolate, or lemonade and iced tea, some things just go perfectly together. To that end, here are three (very different) books the Cup of Jo team has loved lately, and we’d love to hear what you’ve been reading…
Good Talk by Mira Jacobs
I’m generally a slow reader, but I flew through this graphic memoir in a single day. Good Talk shares real conversations, often about race, love and parenting, that the East Indian author has had. Think: a relatable argument with her husband, a heartfelt talk with her mom, endearing chats with her six-year-old. Jacob’s son, especially, asks lots of questions about race, and she tries to answer them but doesn’t always know how. (After Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, she and her son had this exchange: “Is it bad to be brown?” “What no! It’s great being brown! We look good in colors! We have history! We don’t get skin cancer as easily!” “Why are you yelling at me?” “I don’t know!”) The book is beautiful, humorous and always honest. Highly recommend. — Joanna
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
Sometimes, while reading a book, I’ll stop and think how much I’m enjoying the prose or the story. Other times — much less frequently — I’ll stop and think that I am reading something important. This is such a book. Eight years in the making, Three Women is the painstakingly researched true story of three women’s sex lives — a stay-at-home mother in suburban Indiana, a twentysomething in North Dakota, and a restaurant owner in the Northeast. Taddeo delves deep into each woman’s desires, including how their formative experiences helped shape who they became. Although it’s nonfiction, it reads like a novel and has been called everything from “brilliant” to “voyeuristic” to “poetic.” It is, more than anything, the kind of book that starts conversations. And that is enough for me. — Caroline
When You Read This by Mary Adkins
I picked up When You Read This one night before bed and immediately felt wide awake and sucked in. The epistolary novel is told in emails, texts, blog posts, online therapy sessions, even legal documents. Without giving away too much, I found the romantic comedy — about a man trying to fulfill his late friend’s last wish — both completely wrenching and hilarious. I mean like, crazy funny. The offbeat story about love, family and mortality really sticks with you. The ideal summer read. — Kelsey
Have you read anything good lately? Do tell! More favorite books are on our editors’ picks, if you’d like to see.
P.S. More book posts, including reader comments on books, the romance of reading in bed, and the funniest beach read.
