Daniyal Mueenuddin’s This is Where the Serpent Lives (Knopf 2026) reads like Chekhov wrote a Dickens’s plot. This highly anticipated debut novel by Mueenuddin, whose short story collection was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer (among others), is likely to be a strong contender come awards season. Will it make theContinue reading “THIS IS WHERE THE SERPENT LIVES – Daniyal Mueenuddin”
Author Archives: Tommi Powell
BURN DOWN MASTER’S HOUSE – Clay Cane
“Remembering is an act of brilliant opposition.” Clay Cane’s Burn Down Master’s House (Kensington Publishing Corp.) will make you extremely uncomfortable. Spoiler alert – it’s supposed to. No matter the attempts to erase the horrors of slavery from this country’s past, to whitewash the repeated crimes against black and brown bodies, the truth remains –Continue reading “BURN DOWN MASTER’S HOUSE – Clay Cane”
WESTWARD WOMEN – Alice Martin
“That’s how it goes, I guess. Sometimes you need to hurt first so you can finally go numb.” I went into Alice Martin’s Westward Women ( St. Martin’s Press 2026) entirely blind, and I can’t decide if that was a help or a hindrance to my reading experience. It’s a buzzy new release and MartinContinue reading “WESTWARD WOMEN – Alice Martin”
TANGERINN – Emanuela Anechoum (translated by Lucy Rand)
“You died on a random day and, like on any other random day, I wasn’t there. Between us there were two thousand kilometers and all the things left unsaid.” If you’re like me and a member of the Dead Dads Club, Emanuela Anechoum’s Tangerinn (translated from the Italian by Lucy Rand, translated copyright 2026 EuropaContinue reading “TANGERINN – Emanuela Anechoum (translated by Lucy Rand)”
EVERY ONE STILL HERE – Liadan Ní Chuinn
Wrapped in a shroud of mystery and intrigue, Liadan Ní Chuinn’s short story collection Every One Still Here (FSG Originals 2026 – First American Edition) has created a bit of a literary buzz. The main question? Who exactly is Liadan Ní Chuinn? The author of the collection has elected to go anonymous, opting for aContinue reading “EVERY ONE STILL HERE – Liadan Ní Chuinn”
KIN – Tayari Jones
“Your first word was “mother,” and I think it will be the last one I say before they put me in the dirt.” While I own An American Marriage, Kin (Knopf 2026)is my first Tayari Jones novel, and I must admit to being disappointed. I love Jones’s writing – it is familiar and welcoming, aContinue reading “KIN – Tayari Jones”
A GOOD ANIMAL – Sara Maurer
“A strange grave, the lion and the lamb together. In the end, I thought, the dirt gets everything.” I read Sara Maurer’s debut novel, A Good Animal (St. Martin’s Press 2026) and I have “feelings” about it. If you don’t want it spoiled, stop now. Seriously. I’m going to spoil the stuffing out of thisContinue reading “A GOOD ANIMAL – Sara Maurer”
GUNK – Saba Sams
Gunk (Knopf 2026), Saba Sams’s debut novel, is the sort of novel that will likely win prizes. It is also the sort of novel that I don’t find enjoyable. There’s nothing “wrong” with the novel. It’s well-written. It has a beginning, middle, and end. Sams clearly has talent. But it just never “clicked” for me,Continue reading “GUNK – Saba Sams”
I HOPE YOU FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR – Bsrat Mezghebe
“Women were at the mercy of those who sired them, those who married them, and those they birthed.” Bsrat Mezghebe’s debut, I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For ( Liveright Publishing 2026), is a charming novel about three interconnected Eritrean women, now living in DC, in different stages in their lives. Lydia is 13Continue reading “I HOPE YOU FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR – Bsrat Mezghebe”
OUR NUMBERED BONES – Katya Balen
“I am failing. I want to go home. But not that home. Home to the past. I am so stupid that it burns. But not hot enough.” “stories and soil change and stay the same” Katya Balen’s first adult novel, Our Numbered Bones (HarperVia 2026), is a 237-page gut punch; the ache in the pagesContinue reading “OUR NUMBERED BONES – Katya Balen”
A Girl Named Tommi 