Images from Goodreads

[60] Out of the Pantry by Ronni Robinson
Memoir, saw in Instagram explore tab

Warning: this may be triggering for some people – there are very detailed binge eating recounts. 

Synopsis: Ronni Robinson had been secretly binge eating since she was a young girl, but it wasn’t until she was in her 40s that she discovered she had an eating disorder, and help was out there.

Review: This memoir popped up on my Instagram feed at just the right time – I was coming back from vacation and struggling to get my eating back on track and having some binge-y moments – and I thought this might help (it did!). Robinson covers her entire eating history, discovering binge eating disorder (B.E.D.), and how she overcame it. The book focuses on her growing up in a distant, non-loving relationship with her parents, and developing low self-esteem and self-soothing (without realizing that’s what she was doing) with food. If you haven’t struggled with food or B.E.D. you might not find this interesting. But for me – and this was a huge point of hers – it’s helpful to know other people struggle with bingeing, too.

Recommend: Yes, if you’re interested in the topic

[61] The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Fiction / Contemporary Women, Green Light by Jamie on The Popcast

This was my first buddy read (where you read along with a friend and share thoughts as you go) with Stephany, and I really enjoyed it! It’s funny to share pages of thoughts with her, then try to write a little paragraph here!

Synopsis: Identical twins Stella and Desiree Vignes left their small Louisiana town at sixteen, and went on to live separate lives – one as a Black woman and one as a white woman. Ten years after leaving, Desiree brings her Black daughter back to her hometown, but has no idea where Stella is, and that she’s passing as white with a white husband who doesn’t know her true past.

Review: The writing and character development in this book was excellent! I had Bennett’s other book, The Mothers, on my TBR, but I really want to read it now. The Vanishing Half is an amazing story weaving different timelines together, focusing on how Stella and Desiree’s actions affected the generation after them. Many characters (not just Stella) have their own lies/omissions/secrets that force them to be an actor in their own life from time to time, negatively impacting their relationships and community, and bringing them further from their true self. I wonder if the title doesn’t just refer to “half” of the twins vanishing, but part of yourself vanishing when you live a lie for so long. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will stop there.  I definitely recommend this book!

Recommend: Yes!

[62] Providence by Max Barry
Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure, read about in an article (pdf here)

Synopsis: Gilly, Talia, Anders, and Jackson are astronauts on a Providence ship, fighting aliens in deep space. The ship’s AI does everything for them – piloting, weapons, logistics, and life support – they’re basically passengers. But when they go out of feed range with earth, and are surprised by the way the ship reacts to an alien attack, it’s up to them to decide what to do next.

Review: The writing is on the sparser-side, and it took me a while to get in to the story, but I ended up LOVING it. The first one hundred pages is the astronauts going through their routines, letting the ship do its thing, and being bored out of their minds and wondering why the hell they signed up for this mission. They’re essentially there to provide “feed” (social media) for earth and humanize the mission so people support it (it’s mentioned that humans are making huge sacrifices for this fight to happen and that 22% of the GDP goes towards this mission and the ships). But the action picks up, we get more of the astronauts’ backstory, and I did not want to put the book down! I was grateful we got some answers at the end (no cliffhanger) but liked how it left some mystery about the government’s involvement with the whole thing. Gah, hope that is not too spoilery. Not many of you read sci-fi anyway, right?!

Recommend: Yes, if you like sci fi!