Hello and Welcome Back to My Channel: Kendra Winchester

Hello, I'm Kendra Winchester, welcome back to my channel! So, I'm excited to share with you something special that I've been looking forward to. Every year, I have the opportunity to spend some quality time at my parents' house in Kentucky. It's a wonderful tradition that we cherish, and I love spending time there catching up on some things.

The House: A Haven for Family Fun

One of the highlights of our annual visit is the huge yard at my parents' house. Dylan absolutely loves it here, and I can see why - it's like his own little playground. His grandparents adore him just as much, and he gets away with all sorts of mischief! My grandma has a special weakness for sneaking him treats, which always leaves us in stitches.

Audiobooks and Reading: A New Tradition

This year, I've decided to bring along some books that I hope to read while we're at my parents' house. I'm particularly excited about "Christmas Days" by Jeanette Winterson, which I originally borrowed from the library last year. We listened to the audio on Hoopla and had a wonderful time listening to one story a night before bed. What's even more special is that Jeanette Winterson has a tradition of writing a Christmas story every year, and this book features 12 of those stories.

The Audiobook Experience: A Blend of Narrators

What I love about the audiobook version of "Christmas Days" is the way it brings together different narrators. The main narrator reads the stories, while Jeanette Winterson herself reads the recipes and essays that accompany each story. It's a unique and delightful listening experience that really adds to the magic of the book.

A New Christmas Tradition

Listening to "Christmas Days" has become a new tradition for me and my partner Samuel. We like to listen to one story before bed, and it's become such a special part of our holiday season. I'm so happy to have discovered this book, and I look forward to reading it every year.

Beyond Christmas: More Books on My TBR

Of course, there are plenty more books that I hope to read while we're at my parents' house. One that's been on my list for a while is Nicky Drayden's latest novel, "Tempor". This book is set in a world where everyone has a twin, and I've always thought it sounds like an intriguing place. I love Nicky Drayden's writing style, and I'm excited to dive into this new story.

A World of Twins: The Setting of "Tempor"

The setting of "Tempor" is what initially drew me in - the idea that everyone has a twin is just so fascinating. But as I've read more about it, I realize that it's actually just space. Not exactly what I expected, but I'm excited to see how Nicky Drayden explores this concept.

A Fan of "The Prey of Gods"

I also love another book by Nicky Drayden called "The Prey of Gods", which is why I was thrilled to find it in audio format. It's a story that has really resonated with me, and I'm excited to dive back into it while we're at my parents' house.

A Memoir to Explore: "Heartland" by Sarah Smarsh

Moving on from fantasy novels, my next book to read is Sarah Smarsh's memoir, "Heartland: A memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth". This book was a finalist for the National Book Award, which is quite an accomplishment. What I find interesting about this book is that it's unusual for memoirs to make the final round - most are not typically recognized by the National Book Award.

A Memoir of Rural Working-Class Life

Sarah Smarsh's "Heartland" offers a unique perspective on rural working-class life in America, which is the richest country on earth. This book promises to be an insightful and thought-provoking read, one that I'm eager to dive into while we're at my parents' house.

A Conclusion: A Happy Holiday Season

As the holiday season approaches, I'm excited to spend some quality time with family and friends, surrounded by good books and warm company. Whether it's listening to audiobooks or curled up with a physical copy, I know that reading will be a big part of our celebrations.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHello, I'm Kendra Winchester. Welcome backto my channel. So I'm gonna be talking toyou today about the books that I hope toread at my parents house when we leavethis weekend. So every year we go to myparents house typically, and they live inKentucky. And I take a bunch of books, andwe just hang out I catch up on a fewthings. And yeah, it's a great timeDylan loves going here there was a hugeyard. And of course his grandparentslove him to pieces, and he gets awaywith whatever he wants. My grandma triesto sneak him food, which is alwayshilarious.So anyway I'm gonna be having a lot oftime to listen to audiobooks and read. Sohere are some of the books that I hopeto read while I'm there. So last yearSamuel and I read CHRISTMAS DAYS byJeanette Winterson,and I checked it out from the library.And we listened to the audio on Hoopla Ithink so this year actually bought acopy and this has become I guess a newChristmas tradition. You listen to onestory a night, and we like to listen toit before we go to bed and then JeanetteWinterson has little recipes in betweenthe stories. And she has this traditionwhere every year she writes a Christmasstory. So here are 12 of those. What'sinteresting with the audiobook is thatthe narrator reads the stories and thenJeanette Winterson herself reads therecipes and a little essays that go withthem. I love this book, so I'm more thanhappy to read it every year. That's finewith me. For books I haven't read . . . Whenever wefinished the Reading Women Award, I tend tolike focus on fantasy. Because that is mygo-to genre of choice, and so I want topick up Nicky Drayden's latest novelTEMPER. And this is in a world . . . set in aworld where everyone has a twin. And I'vealways thought this looks like an icylike kind of world. but I think it's justspace.It's just space, and Nikki Drayden'salways great and her stories are reallyindescribable.I love THE PREY OF GODS, so I'm veryexcited to pick this one up, and I didfind it on audio already. So there we go.The next book on my TBR is a book thatwas a finalist for the National BookAward and nonfiction, that is a memoir,which is unusual becausememoirs typically don't make the finalround of the National Book Award. Butthat is Sarah Smarsh's HEARTLAND: A memoirof Working Hard and Being Broke in therichest country on earth. And this issupposed to be her memoir of, like, ruralworking-class people in the \"flyover\"States. She's in, what? Kansas? Yes,Kansas. So I think it's so interestinghow people from different ruralcommunities are now writing theirmemoirs and while sometimes we getkind of you know a hot mess likeHILLBILLY ELEGY, sometimes we getsomething like this, in theory, andEDUCATED by Tara Westover. So I'mhoping that this is more like EDUCATEDon the spectrum of ones I like. So I'mlooking for this one. I am in line in thelibrary for the audiobook, so I might notget to it as quickly as I would like, butI think this is going to be great. Andcongratulations to the Sarah Smarsh forgetting to be a finalist as a memoirist.That's so hard to do. A book that I thinkwould be perfect for this wintry seasonis ONCE UPON A RIVER by Diane Satterfield.I read THE THIRTEENTH TALE as a teenagerand loved it. And then I read the BELLMANAND BLACK and loved it. So I'm so excitedfor this one. It's one of my mostanticipated December reads, and I am alsoin line with the library for this. So Ican't wait. I cannot wait. It's about likea fairy tale she writes like thesehistorical fairy tale like stories, andthis one begins when a dude walks inwith a young girl. And she's supposedlydead and then she wakes up and was shereally deadetc? Mystery happens—I don't need to knowanything else really.I mean, it's Diane Setterfield.She's like my fun fluffy magical-ish,American type writer-y stories. I thinkthat was the description of the year.Good job, Kendra. We recently talked to aRebecca Traister who wrote GOOD AND MAD, aswell as ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, which wonthe Reading Woman Award for nonfictionin 2016. She recommended ELOQUENT RAGE byBrittany Cooper, which I've already read.But she also recommended RAGE BECOMES HER: The power of Women's Anger by SoraChemaly. This is a book that looks atwomen's anger in our contemporarypolitical sphere but more from apsychological standpoint. And RebeccaTraister had nothing but wonderful thingsto say about this book. So I'm veryexcited to finally be able to read it.And yeah, I've very excited. I mean, I feellike this is going to be a great pairingwith those other two books that are alsoall on women's anger and how women'sanger is perceived and performed in ourculture. Oh my goodness, this is thecenter of my wheelhouse. So excited forit.Speaking of magical fairy tale-likethings, a book that I had beenanticipating for over like 14 months atthis point is THE MERMAID AND MRS HANCOCK by Imogen Hermes Gowar. I wasexcited for it before the hype, duringthe hype, and now after the hype. I'm justbehind. I just didn't get a chance toread it yet, so I'm very excited tofinally be able to get to this. I'vealready located the audio, so this isdefinitely high up on my list. It's alsoa nice chunky read, and I have beencraving a really long book. So yes. yes,I'm excited for that. Another book on mylist is a book that I also haven't had achance to get to yet and that is THEENSEMBLE by Aja Gabel. I have a friendwho's reading this for a project thatwe're working on later in 2019. I was like, oh,I should read that. I don'tknow, what it's about. I don'tknow. I just like to read all the things,but this looks like a very complicatedbook about an ensemble of four friends andtheir complicated relationships. I'veheard that this is a great almost, like,character study of the four differentcharacters. And you really have to likecharacter-driven stories for this towork for you, but I'm up for that.Let's do it. Let's, let's try it. Also,that cover, like, it's the most gorgeouscover this year. Riverhead doessuch a great job. So the last book on mylist for this is THE OVERSTORY byRichard Powers. I mentioned that I wasvery much looking forward to a long book,and this is it it's 22 hours on audio.The audio just came in. I have a copy ofit downstairs somewhere. I need to gothrough all of my books and find it, butI'mreally looking forward to reading this. Ihad friends who DNF'd it because theydon't like books about trees, but as youknow, I love trees. And I love books abouttrees. I don't know how that makes me sound.Anyway, so I love BARKSKINS. I lovenature writing. I love all of thosethings. I'm here for it. So I have heardthat this is definitely something Icould very much possibly enjoy. So thatis also on my list. Hopefully, I'll get tothe audio during break. We'll see. Iobviously have a lot of books here butat least I will have a wide Friday beable to choose from those. So anyway, thatis the OVERSTORY. So those are the booksthat I hope to read over Christmas break.What books are you planning on reading?Are there anything that you are tryingto squeeze in before the last of theyear? Yeah, I guess I'll see you in the next one.Bye, guys!\n"