The third and final installment of Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strong series, Tristan Strong Keeps Punching (Disney Hyperion 2021), was a near perfect conclusion to a story that writes itself in your bones and whispers in your sleep. All three works were five star reads for this bookdragon, and I know had I read this asContinue reading “TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING – Kwame Mbalia”
Monthly Archives: December 2021
ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES – Charlotte McConaghy
Charlotte McConaghy’s Once There Were Wolves (Flatiron Books, 2021) is a slow burn of an environmental novel that begins tumbling fast into a whodunnit. McConaghy skillfully masters three classic literary conflicts in this novel that initially appears to be man versus nature before turning to man versus man before showing its true colors as manContinue reading “ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES – Charlotte McConaghy”
WHEN TWO FEATHERS FELL FROM THE SKY – Margaret Verble
Margaret Verble’s When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky (Mariner Books 2021) is one of those disappointing novels that simply does not live up to its potential. It’s a perfectly okay read, but I wanted it to be as great as a historical novel written by Verble about a Cherokee horse diver should have been.Continue reading “WHEN TWO FEATHERS FELL FROM THE SKY – Margaret Verble”
WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM – Christine Pride & Jo Piazza
I’ve read mixed reviews of Christine Pride and Jo Piazza’s joint novel We Are Not Like Them (Atria Books, 2021), but this was to be expected with such a heavy topic. Some of the criticism was very fair, but much of it revolved around unrealistic expectations and a failure to recognize the delicate balance PrideContinue reading “WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM – Christine Pride & Jo Piazza”
SANKOFA – Chibundu Onuzo
Chibundu Onuzo’s Sankofa (Catapult, 2021) is one of the best books I’ve read in 2021. It would have been in my top three but for the last quarter of the novel, which I don’t think carries the same power and charm as the rest of the work. Regardless, it’s a fantastic read about family, belonging,Continue reading “SANKOFA – Chibundu Onuzo”
A Girl Named Tommi 