In an effort to read more in 2025, this series is dedicated to a monthly recap of what we at TGP have been reading each month. Feel free to add what’s on your TBR below!
August Home Runs
Title: K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches Author: Tyler Kepner TGP Contributor: Allie Synopsis: Exactly as billed, this is a history of baseball told through the craft of pitching. Each chapter focuses on one type of pitch, the greats who threw them, and the impact they had on the sport. Review: The amount of history in this book
that I didn’t know is enough to consider this a home run for me. Add in the interviews with all-time greats and the author’s favoritism towards talking about Phillies pitchers specifically, and I’m really glad I picked this up. I will say, some of the chapters and stories were just too long and I had to skim a few of them to keep my sanity. But I respect the amount of research and interview work that went into this.
Title: My Sister the Serial Killer
Author: Oyinkan Braithwaite
TGP Contributor: Allie
Synopsis: When Kordee’s dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what’s expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This’ll be the third boyfriend Ayoola’s dispatched in, quote, self-defense and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Kordee to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk in Nigeria, but she loves her little sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Kordee works as a nurse. Kordee’s long been in love with him, and isn’t prepared to see him with a knife in his back. But to save one of them would mean sacrificing the other…
Review: I haven’t had a five-star read since May, but my streak is finally broken. This was such a fascinating and dark story about dysfunctional relationships and how far someone would go for those they love.
Title: Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How The Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed Television-and America-Forever
Author: Alan Siegel
TGP Contributor: Joe Edinger
Synopsis: “This comprehensive account of the meteoric rise of The Simpsons combines incisive pop culture criticism and interviews with the show’s creative team that take readers inside the making of an American phenomenon during its most influential decade, the 1990s.”
Review: A perfectly cromulent book, and if you got the reference, it’s the one for you. It has fantastic behind the scenes stories from the writers room as well as first hand accounts from the actors on the show and explanations from executives at 20th Century Fox who were a part in making the show a cultural phenomenon. The only downside is that a higher than expected number of quotes and interviews, especially with the “Big 3” of the series’ creation, are from the time period described rather than more recent. Still, retrospectives are weaved with contemporary interviews for a highly entertaining and informative look back at the series’ heyday. I personally enjoyed the anatomy of certain specific jokes and the stories behind how their writers came up with them.
On Deck for September
Title: When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day
Author: Garrett M. Graff
TGP Contributor: Joe Edinger
Synopsis: “From the New York Times best selling author of The Only Plane in the Sky and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Watergate comes the most up-to-date and complete account of D-Day- the largest seaborne invasion in history and the moment that secured Allied victory in World War II.”
Preview: Despite being a proud history nerd and the owner of a degree in journalism, I’ve never really dove into an oral history like this before. This one caught my eye when it was first released and it seems as good as any to start my foray into this type of storytelling.
Title: The Last House on Needless Street
Author: Catriona Ward
TGP Contributor: Allie
Synopsis: In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time. A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory. And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buries out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.
Preview: This was recommended by a friend of mine, who enjoys reading thrillers as much as I do. I’m looking forward to reading it!
