“Names were destiny, I said. So, why pick one with a history of suffering?” “Our pasts were littered with heartbreak’s debris. Were our fates a family curse? Or were we lucky to have known passion at all?” In 1992, Cristina García’s debut novel, Dreaming in Cuban, was published. The novel focused primarily on the delContinue reading “VANISHING MAPS – Cristina García”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT – Samantha Shannon
“We will all be stories one day, and I’d want someone to believe we existed. Wouldn’t you?” When I found out Samantha Shannon was returning to the world of The Priory of the Orange Tree, I was already smitten; she is a special author to me because I’ve been along for the ride since theContinue reading “A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT – Samantha Shannon”
THE FORBIDDEN TERRITORY OF A TERRIFYING WOMAN – Molly Lynch
Molly Lynch’s The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman (Catapult 2023) was an unsatisfying but thankfully quick read. Billed as an exploration of motherhood during an ecological collapse, I was expecting more of a developed and likable even if morally grey character in Ada. Unfortunately, I didn’t care what happened to her, why it happenedContinue reading “THE FORBIDDEN TERRITORY OF A TERRIFYING WOMAN – Molly Lynch”
THE LAST RUSSIAN DOLL – Kristen Loesch
“She stood, with her doll beneath her arm, and she walked, across the blood-red floor, over her blood-red siblings, through the blood-red door, out of the blood-red house, all the way to the blood-red river. She forgot to wash her blood-red hands.” Spanning the period from 1916 to 1993, Kristen Loesch’s The Last Russian DollContinue reading “THE LAST RUSSIAN DOLL – Kristen Loesch”
THE GARDEN OF SECOND CHANCES – Mona Alvarado Frazier
When SparkPress reached out to me to see if I’d be interested in receiving a copy of Mona Alvarado Frazier’s young adult debut The Garden of Second Chances (6/6/2023), I said “sure.” As a former immigration attorney who worked primarily with the undocumented in removal proceedings and in the cross-sections with criminal and family law,Continue reading “THE GARDEN OF SECOND CHANCES – Mona Alvarado Frazier”
THE COVENANT OF WATER – Abraham Verghese
“What defines a family isn’t blood but the secrets they share.” “Yes, old man, yes, eyes open to this precious land and its people, to the covenant of water, water that washes away the sins of the world, water that will gather in streams, ponds, and rivers, rivers that float the seas, water that IContinue reading “THE COVENANT OF WATER – Abraham Verghese”
PROBABLY RUBY – Lisa Bird-Wilson
“…like a salmon swimming upstream. In her blood to go there. An irresistible pull. Only she didn’t swim away in the first place. That’s why it was so hard to know the way back. She was a little salmon scooped up in a big net.” Lisa Bird-Wilson’s Probably Ruby (Coteau Books(Canada), 2020 & Hogarth (US)Continue reading “PROBABLY RUBY – Lisa Bird-Wilson”
THE EAST INDIAN – Brinda Charry
For my birthday, I ordered a mystery box from Chapters Books & Gifts, an indie bookstore out of Seward, Nebraska. They tossed a couple of ARCS into the package as a fun little bonus, one being Brinda Charry’s The East Indian (Scribner – pub date 9 May 23). This is an ARC I want theContinue reading “THE EAST INDIAN – Brinda Charry”
THE JASAD HEIR – Sara Hashem
Sara Hashem’s debut, The Jasad Heir (The Scorched Throne #1) (Orbit Book, publication date 7/18/2023) is a slow burn of an enemies to lovers, which takes a backseat to political intrigue, genocide, and the meaning of self. The novel is chock full of fantasy tropes that bleed into each other – Reluctant Hero, Orphan Hero,Continue reading “THE JASAD HEIR – Sara Hashem”
MAAME – Jessica George
“I love you, Dad. Very much, okay?” Without meaning to, I’ve been on a reading journey of books about young women in the UK “growing up;” Cassandra in Reverse, The Rachel Incident, and my most recent read, Maame are all “later in life” bildungsromans that make comparisons to Bridget Jones’s Diary a no-brainer – especiallyContinue reading “MAAME – Jessica George”
A Girl Named Tommi 