Next Year in Havana was a delight of a read, and I was thrilled to see that Chanel Cleeton let another Perez sister tell her story. When We Left Cuba (Berkley 2019) follows Beatriz Perez, the sugar heiress turned exile turned spy. Beatriz’s role in the Cuban Revolution was touched on in Next Year inContinue reading “WHEN WE LEFT CUBA – Chanel Cleeton”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
A COURT OF MIST AND FURY – Sarah J. Maas
When I started A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, I thought it was a trilogy and committed to the first three. I’ve since learned the series does not stop with A Court of Wings and Ruin, but I don’t know that I’ll continue with the subsequent installments. I say that partlyContinue reading “A COURT OF MIST AND FURY – Sarah J. Maas”
PAX – Sara Pennypacker
“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” – The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Those were the words I couldn’t shake while reading Sara Pennypacker’s Pax (HarperCollins Publishers, 2016). The fox’s wise words from a beloved childhood classic echoed on each page of Pennypacker’s middle grade book about a boy and his fox.Continue reading “PAX – Sara Pennypacker”
THE MAIDENS – Alex Michaelides
Alex Michaelides’s The Maidens (Celadon Books, expected June 10, 2021) is a stocked pond of red herrings that kept me guessing until the end. My biggest complaint with psychological thrillers and unreliable narrators is that they tend to be very predictable; I don’t read a lot of them for this reason. But I had noContinue reading “THE MAIDENS – Alex Michaelides”
GARDENS IN THE DUNES – Leslie Marmon Silko
It is only fitting that I picked up Leslie Marmon Silko’s Gardens in the Dunes (1999) just days after learning of Larry McMurtry’s passing. The two authors were friends, and the book opens with a special thanks to him for “all the books and encouragement.” I heard echoes of Gus in Grandma Fleet, particularly inContinue reading “GARDENS IN THE DUNES – Leslie Marmon Silko”
THE MAP OF SALT AND STARS – Zeyn Joukhadar
“A person can be two things at the same time,” Itto says. “The land where your parents were born will always be in you. Words survive. Borders are nothing to words and blood.” The power of storytelling is something that will forever unite us. Regardless of where on the map you call home, regardless ofContinue reading “THE MAP OF SALT AND STARS – Zeyn Joukhadar”
EVERYWHERE, ALWAYS – Jennifer Ann Shore
Everywhere, Always (2021) is the first non-vampire novel by Jennifer Ann Shore that I’ve read. Admittedly, romance isn’t my genre of choice as I prefer it to be more of a subplot. When I do read a novel where the love story is the central plot, I want it to be quick and sweet withContinue reading “EVERYWHERE, ALWAYS – Jennifer Ann Shore”
MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY – Fredrik Backman
“But they do what they can. They construct words of forgiveness from the ruins of fighting words.” I’ve read countless books over the years. Countless. There have been books I loved, books I hated, books I enjoyed, and books that were entirely forgettable. I am a reader, and every reader knows that once in aContinue reading “MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY – Fredrik Backman”
AMERICAN ROYALS – Katharine McGee
What if America was a monarchy? What would our royal family look like? Katharine McGee’s American Royals (Random House 2019) is a lukewarm, soapy YA novel that reads like a PG-13 Bridgerton without the sizzle. One blurb referred to it as Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown, but I didn’t get either. The short-lived TheContinue reading “AMERICAN ROYALS – Katharine McGee”
CREATURES OF PASSAGE – Morowa Yejidé
“Nepthys listened to the frightened calls of creatures of passage, their fearsome tales of happenings in the darkest of dark, unaware that she held the light of the path in her hand…” (261) Creatures of Passage (Akashic Books, available 3/16/2021) by Morowa Yejidé is unlike any book I’ve encountered before. There are echoes of otherContinue reading “CREATURES OF PASSAGE – Morowa Yejidé”
A Girl Named Tommi 