by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness)
Here are three books coming out today that I'm excited to read!
Brenda Myers-Powell's Leaving Breezy Street
Description from Publisher:
"Fourteen years old, poor, Black, mother dead, two babies to feed and clothe, and a grandmother who is not full of motherly kindness, to put it mildly. What money-making options are open to a girl like Brenda Myers?
"When Breezy, as she came to call herself, hit the streets of Chicago as a prostitute in 1973 she was barely a teenager. But she was pretty and funny as hell, and determined to support her daughters and make a living. For the next twenty-five years, she moved across the country, finding new pimps, parties, drugs, and endless, profound heartache. And she also―astonishingly―managed to find the strength to break from a brutal world and not only save herself but save future Breezys.
"Great, compelling memoirs can bring us into worlds that have been beyond our comprehension and make us 'get it.' What these books tell us is NOT that we can all move beyond the lives into which we were born. The lesson is that everyone deserves to be truly seen by others and offered a path forward."
Why I want to read it: I am always so drawn in by memoirs. This sounds like such a powerful and hopeful story. I cannot wait to read it.
Becky Dorey-Stein's Rock the Boat
Description from Publisher:
"When Kate Campbell’s life in Manhattan suddenly implodes, she is forced to return to Sea Point, the small town full of quirky locals, quaint bungalows, and beautiful beaches where she grew up. With every intention (and a three-point plan) of winning back what she’s lost, Kate needs one summer at home to prove she’s worthy of New York.
"Meanwhile, Miles Hoffman–aka 'The Prince of Sea Point'–has also returned home to show his mother that he’s capable of taking over the family business, and he’s promised to help his childhood best friend, Ziggy Miller, with his own financial struggles at the same time. Kate, Miles, and Ziggy converge in Sea Point just as the town faces an identity crisis of its own when a developer tries to cash in on its potential. As the summer swells, white lies, and long-buried secrets prove as corrosive as the salt air, threatening to forever erode not only the bonds between the three friends but also the landscape of the beachside community they call home.
"Full of heart and humor, Rock the Boat is a joyful and compelling portrait of coming of age, revealing just how far back we must go in order to move forward."
Why I want to read it: This one just sounds like the perfect summer read for me. "Full of heart and humor..." Yes, please. That is exactly what I am looking for in my summer reading list!
Kalynn Bayron's This Poison Heart
Description from Publisher:
"Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.
"When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.
"When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.
"From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes another inspiring and deeply compelling story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her."
Why I want to read it: I always have to include a YA read in my anticipated reads. This one sounds completely intriguing. I think Bri sounds like a super compelling character. I love the fantasy aspects of the description, and the cover is gorgeous. I am all in!
(A note to our readers: click on the hashtags above to see our other blog posts with the same hashtag.)
Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.
Loving what you see here? Please comment below (scroll ALL the way down to comment), share this post using the social media buttons below (scroll down for those as well!), and find us on social media to share your thoughts!
Want to support Unabridged?
Check out our Merch Store!
Become a patron on Patreon.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram.
Like and follow our Facebook Page.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Check out our Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Follow us @unabridgedpod on Twitter.
Subscribe to our podcast and rate us on Apple Podcasts or on Stitcher.
Check us out on Podbean.
Please note that we a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We also are proud to partner with Bookshop.org and have a curated Unabridged store as well as affiliate links.