“Irrevocably dispersed throughout the land he abandoned, the land where he belonged.” Until page 150, I thought Jemimah Wei’s The Original Daughter (Doubleday 2025) was easily going to be a 4-star read. I enjoyed the storytelling style and, more importantly for me, I enjoyed the story. At page 150, there is a marked shift inContinue reading “THE ORIGINAL DAUGHTER – Jemimah Wei”
Tag Archives: 2025 release
JAMAICA ROAD – Lisa Smith
“I’ve missed you too. I’ve been missing you for ages.” Lisa Smith’s Jamaica Road (Knopf 2025) is a heartbreaking debut of a love story that is very much time and place. Set primarily in South London, Jamaica Road opens in 1981 with a young Daphne. Daphne is the only Black girl in her class, andContinue reading “JAMAICA ROAD – Lisa Smith”
VERA, OR FAITH
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read Gary Shteyngart, but thoughts of Absurdistan still make me chuckle nearly two decades later. While that filthy funny novel followed the adventures of Misha Vainberg, the 325-pound son of the 1,238th richest man in Russia, Vera, or Faith (Random House 2025) gives us ten-year-old Vera – aContinue reading “VERA, OR FAITH”
DAYS OF LIGHT – Megan Hunter
“It was a language, she saw now, the way he touched her.” Megan Hunter’s Days of Light (Grove Press 2025) is very Bookery, and I read it as part of my “get a jump on possible longlisted books” journey. It’s The Safekeep meets Stone Yard Devotional, and while I loved both of those novels, IContinue reading “DAYS OF LIGHT – Megan Hunter”
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”
TWIST – Colum McCann
“We are all shards in the smash-up.” “Everything gets fixed, and we all stay broken.” As y’all know, I read the Booker longlist every year. Sometimes, I try to get a jump on things by reading eligible books that smell Bookery. (If you follow the Booker Prize, you’ll know what that means.) The buzz aroundContinue reading “TWIST – Colum McCann”
THE ASHFIRE KING – Chelsea Abdullah
The long awaited second book in Chelsea Abdullah’s The Sandsea Trilogy will be released on Tuesday, April 15th. A huge thanks to the publisher for gifting me an advanced uncorrected proof of The Ashfire King. I loved The Stardust Thief and had high hopes for the second installment of the trilogy. The publishing delay concernedContinue reading “THE ASHFIRE KING – Chelsea Abdullah”
SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME – Abby Jimenez
This is going to be a difficult review to write. Abby Jimenez’s new novel, Say You’ll Remember Me ( Forever 2025), just didn’t live up to my expectations. I really enjoy Jimenez’s work. I’ve said before that I don’t really read romance – that’s mostly because I’m just very particular about what I want inContinue reading “SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME – Abby Jimenez”
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”
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”
A Girl Named Tommi 