“Friend. What a word. Most use it about those they hardly know. When it is a wondrous thing.” The 2024 Booker Prize longlist was announced on July 30th. Of the official “Booker Dozen,” I’d read only one: Percivall Everett’s James. (Feel free to look back for that review.) Prior to the announcement, I’d read anContinue reading “MY FRIENDS – Hisham Matar”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
PRAISEWORTHY – Alexis Wright
“A magic donkey could rip your heart out and make you go wild, if it knew you had an overwhelming desire to own it, and knew that you would do anything to capture its power.” “She is the prisoner of the ghosts and trapped inside her house.” “… of course he knows that Aboriginal SovereigntyContinue reading “PRAISEWORTHY – Alexis Wright”
HAPPY MEDIUM – Sarah Adler
Gretchen Acorn, a fake spiritual medium (a hustler with a heart of gold), gets paid 10k by a wealthy client to “cleanse” a goat farm of a pesky (and pervy) ghost. The goat farm belongs to the client’s bridge partner, so Gretchen is expecting an older gentleman that she can hustle into thinking she’s solvedContinue reading “HAPPY MEDIUM – Sarah Adler”
ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK – Chris Whitaker
“I’d say follow your heart, but in that way madness lies.” It’s Stephen King meets Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides with the faintest dash of Fredrik Backman’s Beartown’s small town heart. It hums with hints of My Girl and Fried Green Tomatoes – perhaps it’s the bees or the friendship or both. In short,Continue reading “ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK – Chris Whitaker”
PEARL – Siân Hughes
CHOO! CHOO! The 2023 Booker Train journey is officially over! (With a little less than a week to spare!) Siân Hughes’s Pearl ( W. F. Howes Ltd 2023) is a slim little volume. I decided to read the audiobook as the print copies won’t be available until the end of the month, and I am gladContinue reading “PEARL – Siân Hughes”
IN ASCENSION – Martin MacInnes
The Booker train is heading into the station to pick up the 2024 longlist, while will be announced next week, and to be honest, I’m ready to be done with the 2023 list. I’ve found it overwhelming “meh.” I still have one more to read, a book which hasn’t been published in the US yet,Continue reading “IN ASCENSION – Martin MacInnes”
WHISKEY WHEN WE’RE DRY – John Larison
“Oh, them’s just words.” She twirled her finger at the stars. “Men is all the time hiding behind words.” Lonesome Dove meets Calamity Jane in John Larison’s gunslinging spark of a western, and I couldn’t be more smitten. Whiskey When We’re Dry (Viking 2018) shimmers with an unexpected brilliance, the echoes of McMurtry kissing theContinue reading “WHISKEY WHEN WE’RE DRY – John Larison”
CHILDREN OF ANGUISH AND ANARCHY – Tomi Adeyemi
Y’all. I don’t even know where to start or what to say. I have waited over half a decade for this book – the final installment of a trilogy that started with such a ferocious and addictive magic. The second installment left me baffled and sorely disappointed. At that time, I wrote: All the beautifulContinue reading “CHILDREN OF ANGUISH AND ANARCHY – Tomi Adeyemi”
LIES AND WEDDINGS – Kevin Kwan
Kevin Kwan’s novels scratch a certain itch. They are decadent, delicious, and outrageous – perfect novels to gorge yourself on. And Lies and Weddings (Doubleday 2024) is my absolute favorite of his works. While some of it may seem like a regurgitation of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy as far as certain plot points andContinue reading “LIES AND WEDDINGS – Kevin Kwan”
THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI – Shannon Chakraborty
“For when Amina chose to leave her home and return to life at sea, she became more than a pirate. More than a witch. She became a legend.” A female pirate retired to a life of single-motherhood and relative domesticity takes to the sea for one more daring adventure? Sign me up. From the momentContinue reading “THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI – Shannon Chakraborty”
A Girl Named Tommi 