Weekly Reading Journal: Family secrets, Strange stories, and Booker Prize Excitement!

What happened in our reading world for the week ending Aug 2, 2026

Aug 02, 2026

Welcome to our Weekly Reading Journal, where we share mini reviews, updates on what happened in our reading lives, and also share any readerly news that we think is interesting/important.

Books mentioned in this week’s update:

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams
American Han by Lisa Lee
All Them Dogs by Djamel White
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung
Hellions by Julia Elliott

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✍️ Mini Reviews

Bite-sized reflections on books we finished this past week

Mia’s Books

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams - ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
I’m back on my memoir kick and this one was so interesting. Lucinda Williams is a singer-songwriter and Grammy winner and her songs are a bit of country, rock and roll, and blues. She has a very distinctive raspy voice and I’ve loved her music for years, but didn’t know much about her. In this memoir, she talks about growing up in the South, her tumultuous relationship with her mother, trying hard to break into the music industry, always falling in love with the “wrong” man, and the struggles she faced because her music wasn’t easy to categorize. I listened to this one on audio and loved hearing Williams read it in her own voice. My only nitpick with this one is that sometimes Williams got bogged down in the very specific details when telling her story and it got a little tedious at times.
P.S. If you’ve never heard her music before, this song is my favorite!

American Han by Lisa Lee - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Oof, this book hit me hard. It’s a novel, but it honestly reads like a memoir, and I had to remind myself that this wasn’t nonfiction. It’s about Korean parents and their two Korean American children, all trying to assimilate to the U.S. while still keeping their traditions and values alive. Jane has always yearned to break free of her mother’s grasp, but she won’t let her go. Abuse, manipulation, lying, her mother does it all to keep Jane and her brother, Kevin, close. This story about family loyalty, identity, and freedom felt familiar to me in some ways, as a girl born in America with a mother who was born in Thailand. The family obligations and expectations in an Asian family, especially for girls, gave me flashbacks to my childhood. This was a hard read for me personally, but a very compelling one!

Carrie’s Books

All Them Dogs by Djamel White - ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Tony Ward is home after spending 5 years in England hiding after his involvement in a gang murder. He wastes no time getting back in with the wrong people. This novel is on the shorter side, which I was ultimately grateful for, because it is unrelenting, gritty, and violent. It is also very, very good. I can’t say I hands-down recommend this to everyone, and content warnings should be reviewed. It has the fast-pace, rough feel of an S.A. Cosby novel but leans more literary, and it’s no shock to me that it landed on the Booker Prize Longlist this week.

Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung - ⭐⭐⭐½
This tells the story of a mother and her daughters making their way to safety during the communist revolution that took place in 1940s China. I didn’t know much about this time/place prior to picking up this book, which made this a very eye-opening read. It was a harrowing, tragic and beautiful story (partially based on the author’s family). At times, I found sections felt a bit too much like a history lesson, but overall, I highly recommend this one for historical fiction readers, and audio is absolutely the way to go.

Hellions by Julia Elliott - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m obsessed with this short story collection. It provided me with such an incredible reading experience - I read it slowly, picking it up each morning and reading only one story over coffee and it was truly the best. This collection is full of weird, mystical, fairytale-esque stories. There was so much magic and wonder - several stories were of children experiencing the joy of summer. It also was dark and sad at times; exploring tough childhood experiences, struggles with motherhood, and loneliness. I was genuinely sad to reach the final story, fortunately she has another collection which I will be checking out soon. I must continue with my morning short story routine. 😊

🗞️ Bookish News & Notes

Literary updates: new releases, publishing news, awards, or anything fun from the book world that we want to share.

The 2026 Booker Prize Longlist was announced this past Tuesday, and I am very excited about the selected books!

If you’re not familiar, the Booker Prize is truly the kickoff to literary awards season. The judging panel changes every year, and each year they read around 150-170 books released between 10/1/25 - 9/30/26 and narrow that down to just 13 books. From there, the judges re-read the longlist and narrow down further to a shortlist and finally announce a winner in early November. There are no real requirements, other than the novel holding up to multiple rereads.

I love that loose definition and this year, the judges’ choices feel very unusual, but intriguing to me. I will try to read through the full set of 13 books by Sept 22 when they announce the shortlist. I’ve read one (see All Them Dogs reviewed above), so this means I need to read 1.5 per week. Fortunately, they lean on the shorter side this year (with a few exceptions), I think I can do it! My reviews will pop up here each week. -Carrie

💬 From the Margins

A quote that stood out to us.

“A name in the right mouth was as good a weapon as any gun.”
― Djamel White, All Them Dogs

“Peace was slippery, quick inhalations between violent tides. When war came again, we held our breath as it dragged us into its ebb and flow. It swallowed our people. It claimed our homes.”
― Eve J. Chung, Daughters of Shandong

“If I’ve learned anything at all, it’s this: cruelty is born from a desire for power, but it can also come from a place of fear.”
― Lisa Lee, American Han

📚 Currently Reading

Just a quick update on what we’re currently reading this week (you’ll probably see these books reviewed in a future update!).

Carrie: The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
I started this on audio, and it hooked me immediately. It’s about Artie Dam who is in his fifties and grappling with big life questions. I’m impressed by how Strout introduces the characters, they instantly feel like real people that you could know. I’m also enjoying the coastal New England setting.

Mia: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
I know, I’m late to the party on this one, everyone seems to have read it already and loved it. But I saw it at the library recently and decided to scoop it up. It’s about Chemist Elizabeth Zott in the 1960s, who faces discrimination/misogyny from her male coworkers. She goes on to have a popular cooking show and encourages women to challenge the status quo. But not everyone is cheering her on. I’m excited to dive in and see if it lives up to the hype!

🍿 Beyond the Page

What we’re watching lately — the shows and movies that captured our attention.

Carrie: I’m a few more episodes into Widow’s Bay, and it is seriously creepy! I was expecting the horror to land on the silly side, but I would describe it more as classic horror with some comedic elements. That said, I really love it and don’t mind that it cuts into my reading time.

Mia: I watched Exit 8 recently and I wasn’t sure what to expect because it’s based on a video game and I don’t play video games and knew nothing about it. It’s about a man who becomes increasingly desperate when he realizes he is trapped in a subway station, needing to complete a strange mission in order to get out. I loved it!! It was interesting and a little creepy and the plot kept me hooked all the way through.

🫶 Life Updates

I mean, this is called Reading Through Life, right? So, here’s a bit of what’s happening in our lives at the moment.

Carrie: Not much new to report here! The Booker Prize craze has taken over, Tuesday’s announcement sent the group chat in overdrive, and my librarians probably think I’m crazy for how many books I’ve checked out in the past few days 😂.

Mia: I don’t have much to report either. It’s been a nice, slow week. We went out to dinner with friends the other night and enjoyed adult conversation and good food. It’s been raining a lot here still, so I’ve been inside watching more TV than usual.

Until next time, keep reading everything under the sun!

Love,
Carrie and Mia