I set a goal last year to read all the 2021 longlisted Booker Prize books. The delay in US publishing meant my goal spilled over into 2022, but I’m still chipping away. After Mary Lawson’s A Town Called Solace (Knopf Canada 2021), only one remains from the list, and I’m curious to see if IContinue reading “A TOWN CALLED SOLACE – Mary Lawson”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
FEVERED STAR – Rebecca Roanhorse
“We are but fevered stars… Here a little while, bright with promise, before we burn away.” I preordered Rebecca Roanhorse’s Fevered Star (SAGA PRESS 2022) after reading Black Sun. Much like the first of the series, Fevered Star, the second in the Between Earth and Sky series,is full of strong female characters, magic, politics, andContinue reading “FEVERED STAR – Rebecca Roanhorse”
BEARTOWN – Fredrik Backman
“Late one evening toward the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barreled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else’s forehead, and pulled the trigger. This is the story of how we got there.” With perhaps the most memorable of openings, Fredrik Backman begins Beartown (Atria 2017, English translation byContinue reading “BEARTOWN – Fredrik Backman”
A CONSPIRACY OF MOTHERS – Collen van Niekerk
South African. Historical. Magical Realism. Colleen Van Niekerk’s A Conspiracy of Mothers (Little A 2021) is a novel of mothers and the lengths they will go to protect their children. It’s a novel of magic and calling on the ancestors. It’s a novel of Black, coloured, and white. It’s a novel of forbidden love, violentContinue reading “A CONSPIRACY OF MOTHERS – Collen van Niekerk”
TRUE BIZ – Sara Nović
I’ve read a lot of books in the past almost four decades, and I can say with absolute certainty that none of them were like Sara Nović’s True Biz (Random House 2022); deaf representation has been woeful absent in my literary canon. This book is… I’m not sure I can find the words. Part teenageContinue reading “TRUE BIZ – Sara Nović”
PROOF OF ME & OTHER STORIES – Erica Plouffe Lazure
Erica Plouffe Lazure’s Proof of Me & Other Stories (New American Press 2022) cements her rightful place as one of my favorite southern contemporary short story authors. We studied at ECU together and I’ve been a fan since that first story we workshopped. I’ve previously compared her work to Bobbie Ann Mason and Flannery O’Connor,Continue reading “PROOF OF ME & OTHER STORIES – Erica Plouffe Lazure”
PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING – Melissa Fu
Family sagas are one of my most favorite genres. They tend to be epic, chunky novels that hit that sweet spot for me. When I saw Melissa Fu’s Peach Blossom Spring (Little, Brown and Company 2022), I knew I had to have it. It boasts a stunning cover, and it follows a time in ChinaContinue reading “PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING – Melissa Fu”
HONOR – Thrity Umrigar
Thrity Umrigar’s Honor (Algonquin 2022) was very nearly a rare five-star read, but the generic and forced ending quickly yanked that top rating. I cannot talk about this book, particularly what I disliked that brought the rating down, without spoilers. If you don’t want it spoiled, stop reading now. Last warning. Honor is extremely well-writtenContinue reading “HONOR – Thrity Umrigar”
THE BOOK CHARMER – Karen Hawkins
Practical Magic meets Hart of Dixie but set in North Carolina? Don’t mind if I do. Karen Hawkins’s The Book Charmer (Gallery Books 2019) is a charmer of a candy read. It’s a sweet, slow burn set in a magical, lazy southern town in NC. The first of the Dove Pond series, The Book CharmerContinue reading “THE BOOK CHARMER – Karen Hawkins”
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY – Matt Haig
I finally got around to reading Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library (Viking 2020). Y’all didn’t tell me it was A Christmas Carol on repeat – just heavy on the suicide and not so much on the Christmas. If Hallmark movies allowed references to suicide, Lacey Chabert would be playing Nora; she already has experience withContinue reading “THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY – Matt Haig”
A Girl Named Tommi 