Recently, I (accidentally) purchased book 3 in the Gunnie Rose series. Instead of returning it, I just checked out the first two from the library. I’ve already read a few very heavy books in 2022 and I needed some candy, so I went ahead and read the first two. I’m going to review them separately,Continue reading “AN EASY DEATH – Charlaine Harris”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
THE FORTUNE MEN – Nadifa Mohamed
Despite my best intentions, reading the Booker longlist during the calendar year just wasn’t realistic due to US release times. I did, however, finally get my hands on Nadifa Mohamed’s The Fortune Men (Alfred A. Knopf, 2021), which is the last of the shortlist for me. (There are two longlisted books that are still outstanding.) Continue reading “THE FORTUNE MEN – Nadifa Mohamed”
THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. Du BOIS – Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’s debut novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois (Harper 2021), is a five-star historical saga. Jeffers’s background in poetry gives this chunky book a cadence and rhythm that carries the voices of the silenced ancestors such they stay with you long after the last page. The truths and horrors of AmericanContinue reading “THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. Du BOIS – Honorée Fanonne Jeffers”
PLAIN BAD HEROINES – Emily M. Danforth
I don’t DNF (Do/Did Not Finish) books for assorted reasons. (I can count on one hand the number of books I’ve abandoned after starting, and they still haunt me.) A few hundred pages into Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines (Harper Collins 2020), I wanted to stop. I had such high hopes for this sapphicContinue reading “PLAIN BAD HEROINES – Emily M. Danforth”
The HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA – TJ Klune
I finally got around to reading one of the most talked about books of 2020, and before I get into my review of TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea (TOR 2020), I want to briefly touch on the problematic aspects of the novel, or as is the case, of the author. During anContinue reading “The HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA – TJ Klune”
SALT TO THE SEA – Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys’s Salt to the Sea (Penguin Books 2016) was a bit of a surprise. It’s been hanging out on my TBR for several years now, but I didn’t much know what to expect when I finally picked it up. As I’ve never read Sepetys before, I’m not sure if the snapshot-style alternating narration isContinue reading “SALT TO THE SEA – Ruta Sepetys”
LEGENDBORN – Tracy Deonn
Before I get into my review of Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020), I want to recognize that it may be biased and cloaked in an unexpected connection. I was 17 when my father was killed. My acceptance to UNC arrived just under two months later. That August, when I moved into myContinue reading “LEGENDBORN – Tracy Deonn”
THAT SUMMER – Jennifer Weiner
The title of Jennifer Weiner’s That Summer (Atria Books 2021) immediately brought a smile to my face as I recalled another That Summer. When the novel started with “She is fifteen years old that summer,” I was reminded even more of Sarah Dessen’s 1996 novel about fifteen-year-old Haven, a novel set at the beach duringContinue reading “THAT SUMMER – Jennifer Weiner”
NO HEAVEN FOR GOOD BOYS – Keisha Bush
Keisha Bush’s No Heaven for Good Boys (Random House 2020) is one of the more delicate and devastating debut novels I’ve read in a long while. The tragedy of it is exquisitely crafted, clinging to the reader like small, dirty hands begging for money, or a hungry child suckling at his mother’s breast. It’s aContinue reading “NO HEAVEN FOR GOOD BOYS – Keisha Bush”
THE GILDED ONES – Namina Forna
The cover of Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones (Delacorte Press 2020) is a work of art from the way the light hits the warrior’s cheeks, to the details in her hair, to the ombre choice of the backdrop. (Having read the book, I wish her hair had been left naturally in the “soft cloud” aroundContinue reading “THE GILDED ONES – Namina Forna”
A Girl Named Tommi 