“I was born with this story. It ran in my blood. I belonged to it.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re still in the Bs. Country: BurundiTitle: Small CountryAuthor: Gaël FayeLanguage: FrenchTranslator: Sarah ArdizzonePublisher: Éditions Grasset 2016; English translation published by Hogarth 2018 Bordering Rwanda, Burundi is a small African country embroiled in politicalContinue reading “SMALL COUNTRY – Gaël Faye”
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TIME SHELTER – Georgi Gospodinov
“Now, there’s everything you need to for a true beginning – bad dreams, war, and a headache.” “I had already lived through what was to come.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re still in the Bs. Country: BulgariaTitle: Time ShelterAuthor: Georgi GospodinovLanguage: BulgarianTranslator: Angela RodelPublisher: Liveright Publishing Company 2022 (originally published 2020) Georgi Gospondinov’sContinue reading “TIME SHELTER – Georgi Gospodinov”
WILD DARK SHORE – Charlotte McConaghy
“I loved a landscape and watched it burn.” I really enjoyed Charlotte McConaghy’s Once There Were Wolves (2021), and Migrations (2020) has been sitting on my TBR cart for years, so picking Wild Dark Shore ( Flatiron Books 2025) as my BOTM selection was a no brainer. I was a bit concerned that it wouldContinue reading “WILD DARK SHORE – Charlotte McConaghy”
OATHBOUND – Tracy Deonn
“What is a bargain if not an oath? And what is an oath if not a promise with a price? Call these what you will. All are cut from the same cloth -a cloth woven of intention, will, and sacrifice.” The long-awaited third installment of Tracy Deonn’s remarkable The Legendborn Cycle was released this pastContinue reading “OATHBOUND – Tracy Deonn”
WRITTEN IN BLACK – KH Lim
“There’s a Malay word called geram, and it describes a feeling that no English term I know could properly communicate. Imagine the worst itch in the world, an itch one hundred times worse than the itchiest bite that the itchiest mosquito could ever give you, but that it’s inside you, stirring up all your internalContinue reading “WRITTEN IN BLACK – KH Lim”
DEATH OF THE AUTHOR – Nnedi Okorafor
“Tomorrow is where my hope lives. I can’t be normal, so I’ll be something else.” “I will spread the word like a virus.” All aboard the hype train – Choo! Choo! Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author (William Morrow 2025) is a beautiful marriage of literary fiction and science fiction that scratches a particular itch.Continue reading “DEATH OF THE AUTHOR – Nnedi Okorafor”
WE ALL LOVED COWBOYS – Carol Bensimon
“All great ideas seem like bad ones at some point.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re still in the Bs. Country: BrazilTitle: We All Loved CowboysAuthor: Carol BensimonLanguage: PortugueseTranslator: Beth FowlerPublisher: Companhia das Letras 2013; English translation, Transit Books 2018 We All Loved Cowboys is a queer, coming of age novel that both seemsContinue reading “WE ALL LOVED COWBOYS – Carol Bensimon”
EDGEDANCER – Brandon Sanderson
“I gots magic spit.” You’re likely going to get sick of me talking about Brandon Sanderson, but, as you’re aware, it is indeed the year of Sanderson. My second February selection is Edgedancer, a “novella” (though arguably more of a novel) that is part of The StormLight Archive. I believe it’s best referred to asContinue reading “EDGEDANCER – Brandon Sanderson”
PUNISHED – Ann- Helén Laestadius
“If she’s going through the pearly gates, she damn well ought to suffer on her way there.” Ann- Helén Laestadius’s Punished (translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Scribner 2025 – originally published by Romanus & Selling in 2023) will gut you just as surely and jaggedly as Stolen. I’ve said before that Laestadius reminds me ofContinue reading “PUNISHED – Ann- Helén Laestadius”
WORDS OF RADIANCE – Brandon Sanderson
“No apologize. Boots.” “I know most stories, But I’d never sung this one before.” “The storm catches everyone, eventually.” My “Year of Sanderson” continues, and the first Sanderson selection of February was Words of Radiance. (Edgedancer rounded out the month, but I’ll get to that later.) The second book of The Stormlight Archive accomplished somethingContinue reading “WORDS OF RADIANCE – Brandon Sanderson”
A Girl Named Tommi 