Kevin Kwan’s novels scratch a certain itch. They are decadent, delicious, and outrageous – perfect novels to gorge yourself on. And Lies and Weddings (Doubleday 2024) is my absolute favorite of his works. While some of it may seem like a regurgitation of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy as far as certain plot points andContinue reading “LIES AND WEDDINGS – Kevin Kwan”
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THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI – Shannon Chakraborty
“For when Amina chose to leave her home and return to life at sea, she became more than a pirate. More than a witch. She became a legend.” A female pirate retired to a life of single-motherhood and relative domesticity takes to the sea for one more daring adventure? Sign me up. From the momentContinue reading “THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI – Shannon Chakraborty”
PERISH – Latoya Watkins
I’ve been dragging my feet over this review, and I contemplated not even posting. But I remembered I posted about How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps her House, and that novel left me, as a reader, with the same sort of feeling as Latoya Watkins’s Perish (Tiny Reparations Books 2022). I’m actually going to recycle partContinue reading “PERISH – Latoya Watkins”
MIRRORED HEAVENS – Rebecca Roanhorse
“And I am happy to see your language is still more drunken sailor than Teek queen.” “Love me. And let fate do its damnedest to get around that.” Rebecca Roanhorse’s epic trilogy, Between Earth & Sky, has come to a close with Mirrored Heavens (SAGA PRESS 2024), and it is one of the more satisfyingContinue reading “MIRRORED HEAVENS – Rebecca Roanhorse”
SNARES WITHOUT END – Olympe Bhêly-Quenum
Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re in the Bs. Country: BeninTitle: Snares Without EndAuthor: Olympe Bhêly-QuenumLanguage: FrenchTranslator: Dorothy S. BlairPublisher: Longman Group Limited (English version) 1981; first published 1960 Bhêly-Quenum’s Snares Without End is a slim novel about destiny, colonization, and the monsters inside. Admittedly, it’s been a long time since I’ve readContinue reading “SNARES WITHOUT END – Olympe Bhêly-Quenum”
THE RETURN OF ELLIE BLACK – Emiko Jean
Reading more like a fast-paced, bingeworthy Netflix special than a novel, Emiko Jean’s The Return of Ellie Black (Simon & Schuster 2024) is a quick read that scratches an itch and serves as a good cleanser between reads. I never know what to say (or not say) about books like this because I don’t wantContinue reading “THE RETURN OF ELLIE BLACK – Emiko Jean”
THAT TIME I GOT DRUNK AND SAVED A DEMON – Kimberly Lemming
Kimberly Lemming’s That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Orbit 2024, previously self-published in 2021) is not my usual read. (A huge thanks to the publisher for sending it to me.) It’s absolutely ridiculous and outrageous – and everything it sets out to be. It’s not the type of book that’s for meContinue reading “THAT TIME I GOT DRUNK AND SAVED A DEMON – Kimberly Lemming”
REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES – Shelby Van Pelt
Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures (HarperCollins 2022) has been hanging out on my TBR stack for well over a year. It’s moved from one stack to another, but I kept choosing something else. I suppose I didn’t want to be let down by yet another overhyped book. Long story short: I wasn’t. Short storyContinue reading “REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES – Shelby Van Pelt”
THE PEACH REBELLION – Wendelin Van Draanen
“Each year, as the sweet smell of peaches filled the June air and ripened into summer, I found myself looking for Ginny Rose Gilley.” *Spoiler to come. I’m warning you!* Wendelin Van Draanen’s The Peach Rebellion (Random House Children’s Books 2022) is a delightful middle grade novel set in California in 1947. Ginny Rose GilleyContinue reading “THE PEACH REBELLION – Wendelin Van Draanen”
JAMES – Percival Everett
“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.” “With my pencil, I wrote myself into being. I wrote myself to here.” Confession: I’ve never read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn OR Adventures Tom Sawyer. (I was very dedicated in charting my path towards a MastersContinue reading “JAMES – Percival Everett”
A Girl Named Tommi 