family estrangement – Reading While Fat

Get Over It, April Evans

I enjoyed Get Over It, April Evans (publication day February 3, 2026) by Ashley Herring Blake — this was an angsty romance between two ex-lovers of the same “power lesbian” who dumped each of them consecutively. I thought it was well done and loved getting to know both April, a tattoo artist with a degreeContinue reading “Get Over It, April Evans”

Missing Sam

Missing Sam (publication day January 27, 2026) by Thrity Umrigar caught my attention immediately, telling the story of a fight between married Aliyah and Samantha, that they don’t resolve before they go to sleep. In the morning, Sam goes for a run and doesn’t come back. Ali becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance. UmrigarContinue reading “Missing Sam”

Is This a Cry for Help

Is This a Cry for Help? (publication day January 13, 2026) by Emily Austin was so, so good! This is the third book of Austin’s I’ve read and reviewed (Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, and We Could Be Rats), and it lived up to my already-high expectations! Darcy, a queer librarian whoContinue reading “Is This a Cry for Help”

Wayward Girls

I was completely captivated by Wayward Girls (publication day July 15, 2025) by Susan Wiggs! It’s an epic story of friendship and survival despite the horrific conditions some girls in the United States were subjected to as recently as 50 or 60 years ago. As the book opens in 2020, we know that a fifty-yearContinue reading “Wayward Girls”

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits (publication day April 8, 2025) by Jennifer Weiner is the kind of book I typically gravitate to. It’s about sisters, and music, and it has a fat main character, who is also likely on the autism spectrum. One sister is fat and very talented, the other is conventionally attractive butContinue reading “The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits”

The Vanishing Half

I’m late to The Vanishing Half (2020) by Brit Bennett, which was deservedly named a best book of the year by many popular news outlets, and was one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year. Beginning in 1968, when one of the “lost twins” of Mallard, Louisiana, returns after having run away at 16Continue reading “The Vanishing Half”

Season of Love

I don’t know why Season of Love (2022) by Helena Greer sat on my physical TBR shelf for a year, because I was so enthralled by this sapphic romance set at a Christmas tree farm run by a Jewish family. Miriam is an artist with an Instagram following, who spent summers growing up at herContinue reading “Season of Love”