“She wished that she could read music. She might have hummed the melody, or at least understood why this phrase of music was important or original or innovative enough – or elusive enough, at the risk of being forgotten – to require being written out so urgently. But she couldn’t read music, and so theContinue reading “THE HISTORY OF SOUND – Ben Shattuck”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
THE ANTIDOTE – Karen Russell
“A person can lose everything in an instant. A fortune, a family, the sun. I’ve had to learn this lesson twice in my life.” “The coroner gave me the only picture that I have of Mama, a print of her body in the ditch.” “I guess, the way I see it, you could tell theContinue reading “THE ANTIDOTE – Karen Russell”
THE UNBROKEN COAST – Nalini Jones
Nalini Jones’s debut novel, The Unbroken Coast (Knopf – expected 8/12/2025), is a story of intertwined lives, found families, regrets, and triumphs. Set in and around a Mumbai fishing village, the novel follows a prominent retired professor who is struggling with his memories, and a young Koli girl from the fishing village whose family isContinue reading “THE UNBROKEN COAST – Nalini Jones”
CO-WIVES, CO-WIDOWS – Adrienne Yabouza
Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re still in the C’s!!! Country: Central African RepublicTitle: Co-Wives, Co-WidowsAuthor: Adrienne YabouzaLanguage: FrenchTranslator: Rachael McGillPublisher: First published in Mali, 2015; Dedalus, 2021 Co-Wives, Co-Widows is the first book from the Central African Republic to be translated into English. The self-educated Yabouza fled the country in 2013, seekingContinue reading “CO-WIVES, CO-WIDOWS – Adrienne Yabouza”
NESTING – Roisín O’Donnell
“Nights like this, she knows this is real, she’s not imagining it. The fear is bright, animal, sure. Pure blue at the heart of a flame.” “But right now, there’s no space for stories.” Rounding out my Booker predictions for the weekend is Roisín O’Donnell’s debut novel, Nesting (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2025 –Continue reading “NESTING – Roisín O’Donnell”
THEORY & PRACTICE – Michelle de Kretser
“As a child I’d often heard, ‘Tell the truth and shame the devil.’ When the truth was told, someone had to be shamed – usually the teller of the truth. It was time, I told myself, to stop fearing shame.” “Who will write the history of tears?” Another Booker prediction comes from Australia – TheoryContinue reading “THEORY & PRACTICE – Michelle de Kretser”
OUR EVENINGS – Alan Hollinghurst
“I lay there for agonized hours as the miracle of being in bed at him was nibbled away by the heat and the hangover and the longing.” This year, I decided to get “a jump” on potential Booker books, and Alan Hollinghurst’s (a previous Booker winner) new novel, Our Evenings (Random House 2024) was aContinue reading “OUR EVENINGS – Alan Hollinghurst”
THE PRETENDER – Jo Harkin
“Lambert isn’t sure if he’d remember to answer to the name Lambert, but he does, every time. What kind of soul does he have, that can tip itself out of a John Collan cup into a Lambert Simons cup, without spilling a drop.” In 1487, Lambert Simnel, a boy raised in obscurity and believed toContinue reading “THE PRETENDER – Jo Harkin”
TOLD BY STARLIGHT IN CHAD – Joseph Brahim Seid
Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we are now in the C’s!!! Country: ChadTitle: Told by Starlight in ChadAuthor: Joseph Brahim SeidLanguage: FrenchTranslator: Karen Haire HoenigPublisher: Africa World Press 2007 (originally published in 1962) The options for English translations of works from certain countries are extremely limited, and I had very options for aContinue reading “TOLD BY STARLIGHT IN CHAD – Joseph Brahim Seid”
BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL – V.E. Schwab
“It is easy, isn’t it, in retrospect? To spot the cracks. To see them spread. But in the moment, there is only the urge to mend each one. To smooth the lines. And keep the surface whole.” Toxic lesbian vampires. That’s how V.E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (2025 Tor) was marketed.Continue reading “BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL – V.E. Schwab”
A Girl Named Tommi 