“First you get accused of something you haven’t done. Then you do it… He was called a rebel and then he rebelled.” Mohammed Hanif’s Rebel English Academy (Grove Press 2026) is another novel I fully expect to see making the rounds during awards season. Hanif’s voice, the sharpness of that satire, renders this book asContinue reading “REBEL ENGLISH ACADEMY – Mohammed Hanif”
Tag Archives: Book reviews
CAPE FEVER – Nadia Davids
“I have learned not to tell stories that frighten children.” If you’ve been here a bit, you likely know that South African literature has a special place in this reader’s heart, with both Gordimer and Coetzee holding top rankings. When I read the summary of Nadia Davids’s debut novel, Cape Fever (Simon and Schuster 2026)Continue reading “CAPE FEVER – Nadia Davids”
CRUCIBLE – John Sayles
“They came, says Santos, they tried to beat the jungle, they lost, and they left. They left some good things. Tell me one. They educated my son here. He can speak English… Let’s hear some. Flavio – show him… ‘A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H’ —he chants, ‘I’ve got a gal – in Kalamazoo –‘” It’s rare that I’ll sayContinue reading “CRUCIBLE – John Sayles”
GLIFF – Ali Smith
“The words are only bits of words, lines of blurred or smeary words with the occasional whole word.” When the publisher sent me an advanced copy of Ali Smith’s upcoming release, Glyph, I knew I needed to read the companion novel, Gliff (2024 Penguin Random House) first. It is my understanding that the novels areContinue reading “GLIFF – Ali Smith”
THE TEN YEAR AFFAIR – Erin Somers
“The mountain that saw everything turned from green to rust, from rust to brown, from brown to green again.” Erin Somers’s The Ten Year Affair (Simon & Schuster 2025) was on my radar simply because of my goal of reading more Booker eligible litfic. While I could see this being listed, I didn’t like it. Continue reading “THE TEN YEAR AFFAIR – Erin Somers”
HOW TO COMMIT A POSTCOLONIAL MURDER – Nina McConigley
“Because you always seem to want to take what I give you and translate it into something else, something that fits your narrative, you can have it.” “It is an acknowledged truth that to be a girl is to be extracted. Girls, we are taken.” “And if you’re lost, if you have no idea whatContinue reading “HOW TO COMMIT A POSTCOLONIAL MURDER – Nina McConigley”
CURSED DAUGHTERS – Oyinkan Braithwaite
“She was a mermaid – queen of song and sea, goddess of the gill-bearing vertebrates, mistress of the hearts of men.” After a couple of “meh” BOTM reads (I’m trying to clear a backlist), I read one that reminded me why I keep the membership. Oyinkan Braithwaite’s Cursed Daughters (Doubleday 2025) gave me absolutely everythingContinue reading “CURSED DAUGHTERS – Oyinkan Braithwaite”
LOST LAMBS – Madeline Cash
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”
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”
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”
A Girl Named Tommi 