Snow Days Reads

We’re only a week into January, and the Midwest has been socked with a massive ice/snow storm, so it’s been days of hunkering down, hoping the power stays on (it did!), and of course, reading. Here are my first reads of 2025 (gosh, 2025!!). What have you been reading?!

–Marissa

Connie by Connie Chung was such a lovely memoir to read after hearing her speak at our library conference this summer! She details her family’s emigration from China to the US, her rise through television journalism (and the inevitable bumps along the way), sexism, amazing interviews, and her marriage to Maury Povich. I remember being so very inspired by her at a teen when she became a co-anchor with Dan Rather, and I’m so glad I got to spend time with Connie.🙂

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue was an audiobook listen that pulled me in straightaway. Jolene works at a fairly soulless job in Calgary, never feeling like she fits in or has much to hang her hat on. When through a series of misadventures she gains access to the entire company’s email, her life takes a turn for the weird and sad and wonderful – and there’s that cute HR guy, Cliff… this was warm and funny and sad and hopeful and a little suspense-y (when will she be found out?!). I enjoyed it!

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb is a sexy rom-com with, well, birdwatching.🙂 Celeste fills in at the last moment as a partner to John, an avid bird watcher who needs a partner for an upcoming competition… but Celeste thought it was to be a fake girlfriend, not a real birdwatcher. This is sexy and fun and romance-y, and has the added benefit of including lots of birding stuff – and I’m big into my birdwatching era. #middleage

The Eagle and the Hart by Helen Castor has the subtitle “The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV”. I’ve gone DEEP into my English history era, particularly the Plantagenet and War of the Roses era (I already consider myself a minor expert on the Tudors, so I’m working backwards!) and this nonfiction work by acclaimed historian Castor (and mentor to Dan Jones, my current north star for all things in this era) is detailed, absorbing, and gives a tick-tock account of both men’s lives, and how we got to Richard’s deposition and Henry’s ascension. Fascinating if you are a history nerd/English history nerd/nerd in general. 😉 Castor has also been featured on the fantastic podcasts This is History with Dan Jones and Dana Schwartz’s Noble Blood (which got me interested in the story in the first place, pre-rabbit-hole. 🙂

Meet Me at the Library by Shamichael Hallman is a slim nonfiction novel subtitled “A Place to Foster Social Connection and Promote Democracy”, and I think was designed for non-library-worker people, but obviously the library workers out there will find validation and programming ideas.

Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin was an audiobook listen, and I found it recommended on some Substack or another (but now I can’t remember which one!). This is part memoir, part cookbook filled with essays and recipes that was easy to listen to and mouthwatering at times too! Originally written in 1988, some of it feels dated, but otherwise, this was a charming, short listen.