Now that my MFA program has started, I’m reading and writing more than ever, but it’s harder to make it to my blog to update as much as I want to, so I’m going on hiatus for a bit while I navigate this first semester of grad school (part II), deal with some bipolar symptoms that have made reading and writing challenging, and also while I work on how I want to refocus this blog and relaunch this fall. I adore Broke by Books, but as I head into my fourth year of blogging (!), I want to rethink my mission here. I want this blog to be about more than just me, and I want to serve readers more often than just when I feel like it. Books are my purpose, and I want to share that with you in a more focused way. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking of what that might look like, and I think one possibility would be turning Broke by Books into a resource for readers to discover new books, learn book blogging skills, read deeper, and reach readers, through blogging, writing, and social media.
Dear reader, you have continually inspired me and given me a purpose in life again and again. Thank you. Of all the readers I write for, readers of Broke by Books are the people I enjoy writing for the most. I can’t wait to push this little blog to the max and turn it into something that (I hope!) makes a real impact on your bookish life.
In the meantime, I’ll try to pop in here every so often because I have been reading so many amazing books lately, and I want to share the feels with you. You can find more of my bookish writing at Book Riot, and some of those articles might be adapted for this blog.
Here are five books from 2018 that I’ve recommended nonstop to readers (+1 special bonus!)
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
I cannot stop recommending this book, one that has helped me definitely start to consider myself a nonfiction reader. Bad Blood is an account of the meteoric rise and fall of a Silicon Valley “unicorn” startup, the biomedical tech company Theranos. Founded by Stanford dropout Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos seduced people (especially older men) into dropping gobs of money as investors all the while marketing and distributing blood testing technology that flat out didn’t work. Fortunately, whistleblowers decided to speak out, knowing full well that Theranos would continue to distribute the equipment that would eventually kill people.
Sadie by Courtney Summers (YA)
This gritty contemporary YA novel writes like Gillian Flynn collaborated with the Coen Brothers. Sadie is a brutally emotional read about an 18 year-old girl who seeks vengeance for the man she believes murdered her 13 year-old sister. The closer Sadie comes to fulfilling her mission, the more you feel in a gut-wrenching way that even if she kills him, the guilt she feels for failing her sister will slowly destroy her forever. This novel has a true crime twist, as Sadie’s surrogate grandmother asks a true crime podcast host to find Sadie after she goes missing.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (NF)
Journalist and true crime blogger Michelle McNamara died tragically before finishing her masterpiece, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, her account of an obsessive quest to solve the identity of a serial home invader and murderer who she called the Golden State Killer. I admit I didn’t really “get” true crime before reading McNamara’s book, but her sharp, lyrical prose brought her passion to life. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark recommendations for fans of the Netflix drama raises provocative questions about deviant behavior, evasion, and the dual promise and limits of trying to solve crimes from the safety and distance of online tools and the Internet community of people fascinated by the possibility of justice. See my article on Mindhunter for similar books.
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
If you’re like me and you adored The Goldfinch, you’ll fall madly in love with Michael Ondaatje’s Warlight.. When Nathaniel’s parents are ordered to relocate abroad for work, they leave him and his older sister Rachel in the care of a mysterious neighbor the children have nicknamed “The Moth.” Desperate for any kind of adult affection and kindness, fourteen year-old Nathaniel finds himself pulled deep into the Moth’s circle of black-market criminals, local eccentrics, and artists and intellectuals populating the shady London underworld after the closing of World War II. But the more Nathaniel is seduced into this underworld, the closer he comes to danger. In the second half of the novel, adult Nathaniel uncovers shocking truths about the group of ragtag deviants—and his mother’s relationship to them. Ondaatje’s prose is lush and rhythmic, capable of lulling you into a nostalgic narrative only to serve devastating twists of fortune and revelation. You know there’s a mystery hovering over the story, but Ondaatje holds you dazzling in suspense until the truth comes out.
the witch doesn’t burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace
Probably my first love as a writer is the maddening, challenging, and totally rewarding craft of poetry, but I’ve shunned it for some time because it’s hard to get my mind to quiet down for a few focused lines. Fortunately, the Poetry Friday weekly prompt via VCFA has inspired me to read and write poetry yet again. I picked up a bunch of poetry collections at Target (yes, Target!), including Amanda Lovelace’s the witch doesn’t burn in this one. Lovelace continues a theme she explored in her debut, the princess saves herself in this one, that of reimagining fairy tales, fables, and legends with a feminist twist. In the witch doesn’t burn in this one, Lovelace interprets the persecution of witches as a cultural tradition of misogyny and recasts sorceresses as empowered, dangerous, and unbreakable members of a sisterhood. This collection of poetry blew me away, with Lovelace’s verse evoking in me both anger and hope—and an itch to grab a pen and write some poetry of my own.
+1 very special bonus book….
365 Book Blogging Ideas by Sarah S. Davis
Yes, this book is by yours truly! Over the years, my most-visited post has been “An Epic List of 52 Book Blogging Ideas: from Cookbooks to Confessions,” and since I love coming up with book blogging post ideas, I decided to turn it into an eBook. I published 365 Book Blogging Ideas on Amazon’s Kindle store in June and added it to Goodreads now that I have a shiny new author profile. This eBook is more than just 365 book blogging post prompts, though. I also include chapters packed with bonus material on book blogging strategies, how-to’s, and best practices, everything I’ve learned from blogging about books for nearly four years. When I talk about what I want Broke by Books to be, I imagine it full of resources like this. Check it out!
So there you have it, dear reader, a few of my favorite books of 2018 to hold you over while I take some personal time to adjust to my MFA program, work through bipolar symptoms, and come back to you with a relaunched site bursting with bookish passion. Stay tuned and read on!
