Hello! I’m back today to talk about my May reads for the Buzzword Readathon! **And every day we are reminded that discrimination against marginalized communities is still a serious problem, so click here to find a compilation of resources where you can donate your time, money, or whatever you can to support these communities. I still encourage you to research these causes on your own to educate yourself and find the best way to lend your support.**
This is the fifth post in my “Buzzword-a-thon” series. In case you’re new here, Buzzword-a-thon is a read-a-thon originally created by Kayla at the YouTube channel booksandlala. It centers around readers choosing books that include specific words or ‘types’ of words. This year, all prompts were selected in advance and it’s been loosely hosted once a month. I’m making a yearly challenge for myself to at least read one book with the buzzword each month, and also include one recommendation and one anticipated read in my monthly post. The word for May was “house” or “home.” I’m just getting progressively worse with finding books with a specific word on my existing TBR (I had to stretch my “want to read” selection, but I’m picking it anyway and no one can stop me), and I don’t think I’m doing much better the rest of the year, so just warning you for the complaints every other month at this point! Anyway, on that note, let’s just get into the books, shall we?
Read in May – Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
-To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Cindy at the YouTube channel withcindy hosted the Asian Readathon, which encourages readers to pick up books by Asian authors and featuring Asian protagonists. We should be picking up diverse books all year round, but it is nice to come together as a bookish community and share some of our favorite reads from these authors. One of the books I picked up in May was Other Words From Home, a middle-grade novel in verse by Jasmine Warga, who is a Jordanian-American author. The story follows Jude, a young girl who, at the start of the novel, lives with her parents and older brother in Syria. But when her hometown becomes volatile, Jude and her mother fly across an ocean to live with her uncle and his family in Cincinnati. Things take a little getting used to at first – America seems to be too loud and move too fast – and sometimes people can be ignorant, but life throws Jude some surprises that allow her to embrace who she is and be proud. I’m not typically a reader of novels in verse, or middle-grade for that matter, but I couldn’t let that prevent me from picking this one up. I listened to the audiobook through my library, which I highly recommend. At its core, Other Words for Home is a powerful and important story about a Syrian girl with a big heart, bigger dreams, and a desire above all else to find love, understanding, safety, and happiness. I loved how there was a spotlight on just how much a problem Americans’ perception of Middle Eastern countries – or anyone they believe to be different – is, and how Jude just simply existed and there was hatred directed towards her. One of my favorite scenes was when Jude began to cover, and she was admiring the way she looked in her scarf, and even though her aunt tried to suggest no wearing it, Jude held her head up and said she was proud, because it means she was growing up. There’s absolutely so much to unpack in this short book, and I’m glad to have given it a chance.
Recommendation – The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
-If anyone was expecting me to talk about a different book here, I think I’ve let you as my audience down, because I really can’t stop recommending The House in the Cerulean Sea to everyone I can. It was released in March of 2020, precisely when the world started to take a nose-dive for the worst. But this book brings about such a calming energy that I’ve read it, or at least parts of it, multiple times over the past year. We follow Linus Baker, a caseworker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, who keeps to himself and his schedule, is good at what he does, and he may be a bit lonely (but only a bit, maybe). Then one day he’s tasked by Extremely Upper Management to evaluate the orphanage of Marsyas Island for one month, and Linus is in for a bit more than he bargained for (but again, just a bit). Throughout his month on the island, when he’ll truly see color for the first time, he’ll encounter six magical children, a protector of the island, and a caretaker who will do anything to keep his wards safe. I absolutely adored every single second of this book. I’m not quite sure on how to sell it to you, and chances are you’ve already read it by the time this post goes up. But if you haven’t, and you’re in need of a warm hug in the form of a book, please pick up The House in the Cerulean Sea. You’ll thank me later.
Want to Read – Christmas Lane (Lighthouse Bay #1) by Amy Aislin
-So technically the word house is in the series title here, but I’m counting it anyway and the month is already over so you can’t stop me! Christmas Lane is a part of a two book romance series set in Lighthouse Bay by Amy Aislin. I recently read a new release by this author, Keeping Casey, which involves characters and an organization established in Gingerbread MIstletoe (the second book in the Lighthouse Bay series). Christmas Lane follows recent college graduate Zach Greenfeld planning Lighthouse Bay’s Christmas parade, which goes smoothly until the most important float, Santa’s sleigh, gets damaged. Enter Holland Stone, Zach’s unrequited crush who volunteers to fix it, though it may jeopardize his own float he needs in order to win the competition and grow his own doll-making business. This sounds like a delightful holiday romance that I can’t wait to dive into, and maybe I’ll explore more of Amy Aislin’s work to see an overlapping cast of characters.
In conclusion, I need to read more books with house/home in the title. That’s five months down for the Buzzword Readathon, only 7 more to go.
Where to find all these books:
Other Words for Home: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads
The House in the Cerulean Sea: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads
Christmas Lane: Bookshop Amazon Goodreads
Authors’ sites: Jasmine Warga T.J. Klune Amy Aislin
Thoughts About Things 