“May there always be wine, may there always be smokes, may the jesters be kings and the kings become jokes.” “I do not want you to think that what comes after is your fault. I do not want you to think that the ending could have been changed. It is not your fault. It isContinue reading “THISTLEFOOT – GennaRose Nethercott”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
THE INHERTIANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA – Zoraida Córdova
“She was the mouth of an ancient god who would swallow the world. She was an ocean of stories, memories, thousands of little moments that made up her whole being.” Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Atria Books 2021) is an absolute delight of a novel. It’s House of Spirits meets Practical Magic meetsContinue reading “THE INHERTIANCE OF ORQUIDEA DIVINA – Zoraida Córdova”
BRONZE DRUM – Phong Nguyen
“Gather around, children of Chu Diên, and be brave. For even to listen to the story of the Tru’ng Sisters is, in these troubled times, a dangerous act.” The bones of Phong Nguyen’s Bronze Drum (Grand Central Publishing 2022) were exhilarating; it was an easy BOTM pick for me. Historical fiction, cloaked in myth andContinue reading “BRONZE DRUM – Phong Nguyen”
BEASTS OF PREY – Ayana Gray
Ayana Gray’s Beasts of Prey (Putnam 2021) has been hanging out on my TBR since Christmas. Following Children of Blood and Bone (we won’t discuss the second installment in *that* series), I developed an appreciation for Pan-African young adult fantasy novels, and there are elements of Beasts of Prey that remind me of Children ofContinue reading “BEASTS OF PREY – Ayana Gray”
THE WINNERS – Fredrik Backman
“You run on ahead.” I fully expected Fredrik Backman to shatter my heart with The Winners (Atria 2022), and the third and final installment of the Beartown trilogy did just that. But also as expected, it picked the pieces up, held them tenderly, and whispered hope, love, resilience, and strength. The following is a quoteContinue reading “THE WINNERS – Fredrik Backman”
HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE – Cherie Jones
I rarely post trigger/content warnings, and I try to avoid reviews with them – that’s my reading preference. You may prefer them. And that’s perfectly acceptable. That said, Cherie Jones’s How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House (Little, Brown & Co., 2021) is one TW/CW after the other: infanticide, incest, rape, child molestation, domestic violence,Continue reading “HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE – Cherie Jones”
WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS – Kelly Barnhill
“Beatrice and I walked home in the snow, pulling the weight of my mother’s memories behind us.” “There is a limit to how much we can hold, and how much we can keep in this world. It’s not a good idea to cling to the things you can’t bear to lose. That’s how we break,Continue reading “WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS – Kelly Barnhill”
THE FORTUNES OF JADED WOMEN – Carolyn Huynh
“Because there was nothing wrong with having Vietnamese daughters. It was how the world treated them that turned it into a curse.” Carolyn Huynh’s The Fortunes of Jaded Women (Atria Books 2022) was a highly anticipated release for me. Magical realism, historical fiction, Asian diaspora, a matrilineal family saga… I was sold. Now that I’veContinue reading “THE FORTUNES OF JADED WOMEN – Carolyn Huynh”
MAPS OF OUR SPECTACULAR BODIES – Maddie Mortimer
“That the peace aches more than the misery.” My ninth read of the 2022 Booker Prize longlist was Maddie Mortimer’s debut novel, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (Scribner 2022). Much like many of the other books on the longlist, Maps is rather a unique story. Mortimer elects to use font and format to provide anContinue reading “MAPS OF OUR SPECTACULAR BODIES – Maddie Mortimer”
US AGAINST YOU – Fredrik Backman
“People we love will die. We will bury our children beneath our most beautiful trees.” “On the hilltop stand two girls, watching the car disappear. They’ll soon be sixteen. One of them is holding a guitar, the other a rifle.” Fredrik Backman is easily one of my top five contemporary authors. The following is quoteContinue reading “US AGAINST YOU – Fredrik Backman”
A Girl Named Tommi 