“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”
Tag Archives: books
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”
CRUX – Gabriel Tallent
“Waiting was death, and total commitment his only chance.” I don’t know what I expected with Gabriel Tallent’s Crux (Riverhead 2026), but it wasn’t what I got. The more I think about the novel, the more I have issues with it, so I’m going to get this out before I completely hate it. I saidContinue reading “CRUX – Gabriel Tallent”
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”
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”
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”
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”
A Girl Named Tommi 