Every month we let you know what we’ve been reading and our monthly recommendations. You’ll get to see new titles with fabulous reviews from the Bay Books team. We’re sure you’ll love these fantastic books just as much as we do. We recommend a wide range of genres and themes. So get ready to explore more books!
Wendy’s Picks
If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio
Shakespeare and theater nerds, this one is especially for you! A smart thriller about a close-knit but competitive theater trupe at an exclusive fine arts conservatory. Rivalry, loyalty, love, lust and…..MURDER, on stage and off.
Tina’s Picks
Story of a Black doctor and her daughter living in a free Black community in Brooklyn during the Reconstruction era. Mom wants her daughter to be a doctor but her daughter wants something else: to be free to make her own choice. She does but finds her choice butts up against cultural and colonial bias when she ends up in Haiti.
Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry by Austin Frerick
This is one of three books that I will always have on my bookshelves as not only as a reminder of where food comes from, but also as a reference book. This story follows the rise of seven major food brokers/producers and how they became financially successful because of their exploitation of workers, laws, and the eating habits of manipulated consumers. What are we eating? Where did it come from? At what cost to others and to our health? What price are we paying for convenience and at the same time, unknown health problems? Who, exactly, are we supporting with our purchases?
This well written book is not a simple muckraking exposure, but a well researched book that gives warning and information to us about what we are doing to our bodies, and to each other unknowingly.
Author Frerick shows his expertise in agriculture and antitrust policy by weaving the intricacies and histories of both to paint a compelling picture of how we are getting it wrong in our food industry.
(The other two are “The Climate Book” by Greta Thunberg and “Seeing Red” by Michael John Witgen)
Em’s Pick
Parable of the Sower by Otavia Butler
Man oh man!! Science fiction is a genre I don’t typically dabble in, but Octavia Butler does an outstanding job blending her iconic sci-fi style with what feels like a warning for the future of our own society. This book is incredibly gripping – plus, I’m always a fan of journal entry style writing in books so that’s an added bonus! So many twists and turns, and a very powerful message regarding climate change, race, class, and gender. This book gives me (and NYT Bestselling author John Green) the same vibe as 1984 or The Handmaid’s Tale. Would highly recommend if you are into creepier dystopian fiction, or even if you aren’t!
Skye’s Pick
Come one come all to the grand show of Caraval! In this tale of magic and mystique, Scarlett must find what she loves most in this world. With the help of a sailor named Julian, they enter the twisted game where not everything nor everyone is how it may really be. To win the game, they face many challenges and Scarlett’s personal view on things is put into question. Caraval is a good read for those who enjoy Alice in Wonderland, the madness that brings questions and the magic that gives no straight answers. With a little romance and wonder in a place where anything is possible.
Grace’s Picks
Percy Jackson – Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Demigod Percy Jackson goes on an adventure of a lifetime! With smart storytelling and a few hidden twists, Percy Jackson uses Greek mythology to create one of the best stories I have ever read.
