RHYTHM OF WAR – Brandon Sanderson

“If we slow down,” Jasnah said, “the past catches up to us. History is like that, always gobbling up the present.” The year of Sanderson continues and while I may have had a rather slow month of reading in May, I did finish Rhythm of War (Tor 2020).  Book four of The Stormlight Archivemay veryContinue reading “RHYTHM OF WAR – Brandon Sanderson”

THE MADWOMAN OF SERRANO – Dina Salústio

Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we are now in the C’s!!! Country: Cape VerdeTitle: The Mad Woman of SerranoAuthor: tLanguage: PortugueseTranslator: Jethro SoutarPublisher: Spleen Ediçũes (1998), English translation Dedalus (2019) The Mad Woman of Serrano was the first novel by a female author to be published in Cape Verde, and the first toContinue reading “THE MADWOMAN OF SERRANO – Dina Salústio”

TOUGH LUCK – Sandra Dallas

When I read John Larison’s Whiskey When We’re Dry, I called it Lonesome Dove  meets Calamity Jane.  I loved everything about it. When I saw he’d blurbed Sandra Dallas’s Tough Luck (St. Martin’s Press 2025), which is marketed as a homage to True Grit, the new release was immediately placed on my radar.  (A hugeContinue reading “TOUGH LUCK – Sandra Dallas”

HOMESEEKING – Karissa Chen

Karissa Chen’s Homeseeking (Putnam 2025) is a novel of choices and resilience, spanning 1938 – 2008 in the lives of dual souls divided by distance and circumstance. Suji/Suchi/Sue and Doudou/Haiwen/Howard became ready friends as children and that friendship quickly blossomed into a deep love that would act as a magnetic force, pulling them toward eachContinue reading “HOMESEEKING – Karissa Chen”

HAPPY LAND – Dolen Perkins-Valdez

I’ve been sitting on this review for a bit, trying to figure out how best to condense my thoughts into a relatively small space. (I’ve also been toying with the possibility of changing how I review/react, but that’s really neither here nor there.) As per usual, it’ll likely just be bookish babbling, but I encourageContinue reading “HAPPY LAND – Dolen Perkins-Valdez”

SO DISTANT FROM MY LIFE – Monique Ilboudo

“My mind ran off as soon as I opened my eyes. I have always had a vagabond mind.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – this marks the last of the Bs. Country: Burkina FasoTitle: So Distant from My LifeAuthor: Monique IlboudoLanguage: FrenchTranslator: Yarri KamaraPublisher: Le Serpent á Plumes, 2018 English translation published byContinue reading “SO DISTANT FROM MY LIFE – Monique Ilboudo”

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”

LITTLE BEACH STREET BAKERY – Jenny Colgan

This review is a bit late, but hey, better late than never, right? I listened to my first Jenny Colgan novel a few weeks ago, Little Beach Street Bakery (2014), and while I enjoyed the story and found it cute, the audio does the experience absolutely no favors. The narration took me completely out ofContinue reading “LITTLE BEACH STREET BAKERY – Jenny Colgan”

OATHBRINGER – Brandon Sanderson

“We could just skip the boring part.” “Skip?” Wit said, aghast. “Skip part of a story?”… “You wound me.” I’ve said before and I still believe that Wit/Hoid is Sanderson in his works. This particular quote comes at a point in Oathbringer (Tor 2017) where I was starting to get over the story – IContinue reading “OATHBRINGER – Brandon Sanderson”