This is likely going to be an unpopular opinion based the positively gushing reviews all over, but I didn’t like Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2026) It was quite nearly a rare DNF for me. Perhaps I’m so hard on it because it bills itself on being the exact type of quirkyContinue reading “LOST LAMBS – Madeline Cash”
Tag Archives: book review
TOM’S CROSSING – Mark Z. Danielewski
“I am no more her then she is anymore me now.” “The Illiad cannot contain what the horses have to say. It has neither the ear for their speech nor for their hearts.” “You get what you deserve when you ride with cowards.” “ ‘You could stick around and help me dig up Landry,’ KalinContinue reading “TOM’S CROSSING – Mark Z. Danielewski”
COLORED TELEVISION – Danzy Senna
I wanted to like Danzy Senna’s Colored Television (Riverhead Books 2024) more than I did. Perhaps I’ve unfairly held her work up to that of her husband’s (Percival Everett), but I felt the novel missed its mark. There’s some fantastic stuff here, particularly with the build up of Jane and pacing of the novel, butContinue reading “COLORED TELEVISION – Danzy Senna”
THE THIRD GILMORE GIRL – Kelly Bishop
Gilmore Girls is one of my comfort shows. I put it on as background noise when I’m working, reading, sleeping. It is soothing. Kelly Bishop’s The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir (read by the author – Gallery Books 2024) had that same soft comfort to it; her oh so recognizable voice captivated me as sheContinue reading “THE THIRD GILMORE GIRL – Kelly Bishop”
KATABASIS – R.F. Kuang
“Don’t worry, it can’t hurt them. It’s only a memory.” The discourse around R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis (HarperCollins 2025) has been absolutely ridiculous; the book community is certainly not immune to the toxic nature bred and natured by online communities. So, I’ll begin with this – if you didn’t like this novel, it doesn’t mean you’reContinue reading “KATABASIS – R.F. Kuang”
THE THIRD LOVE – Hiromi Kawakami
“Long ago. Saying those words puts me in a strong mood. Long ago – what does that mean? I’m not all that young, but I’m not that old either.” I’ve been meaning to read more works in translations outside of my read the world challenge, and Hiromi Kawakami’s The Third Love (translated from the JapaneseContinue reading “THE THIRD LOVE – Hiromi Kawakami”
JAX FREEMAN AND THE PHANTOM SHRIEK – Kwame Mbalia
“It’s been seven hours and nineteen minutes since I, Jackson Freeman, turned twelve, moved across the country into a house of doom, and abandoned everything I ever knew and loved, only to be accused of tomfoolery. Me! Tomfoolery!” I do love a well-done middle grade novel, and I adore Kwame Mbalia. (You may recall howContinue reading “JAX FREEMAN AND THE PHANTOM SHRIEK – Kwame Mbalia”
THE SILVER BOOK – Olivia Laing
“It’s not a story you can kiss better, but he kisses him all the same, wrapping both arms around his slender waist.” I’ve mentioned before that my ten before the end was derailed by library holds – the most recent was Olivia Laing’s The Silver Book ( Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2025). The slender volume hasContinue reading “THE SILVER BOOK – Olivia Laing”
PALAVER – Bryan Washington
My ten before the end got hijacked by library holds, so who knows what the last few days of 2025 will bring reading wise. I just finished another National Book Award finalist – Bryan Washington’s Palaver (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2025). This is my first Washington; Memorial has been on my “to be put onContinue reading “PALAVER – Bryan Washington”
THE ELEVENTH HOUR – Salman Rushdie
“If old age was thought of as an evening, ending in midnight oblivion, they were well within the eleventh hour.” That quote from the first story in Salman Rushdie’s new collection, The Eleventh Hour: A Quintet of Stories (Random House 2025), pretty much sums up the work as a whole; in these five stories, fallingContinue reading “THE ELEVENTH HOUR – Salman Rushdie”
A Girl Named Tommi 