“She was thirteen now, and the one thing she knew how to do was run away.” I met Robert Beatty several years ago just after the release of Serafina and the Seven Stars. My oldest niece loved the Serafina books, and I wanted to surprise her with a personalized autographed copy of the newest release. Continue reading “SYLVIA DOE AND THE 100-YEAR FLOOD – Robert Beatty”
Tag Archives: books
My 2024 Booker Prize Longlist Rankings
The 2024 Booker Prize winner will be announced Tuesday, and this is the first year I have read the entire longlist prior to the announcement. (I will not meet my Goodreads goal, so this is my reading accomplishment of the year!) If you’ve followed me, you know I had some predictions prior to the announcementContinue reading “My 2024 Booker Prize Longlist Rankings”
PLAYGROUND – Richard Powers
“You know me now. You know him as well as I did. Maybe better. You have raised the dead and given us one more turn. Now tell me how this long match ought to end.” “Our first god mad the world from eggshells and tears and bone. Then our artists made the other gods outContinue reading “PLAYGROUND – Richard Powers”
ENLIGHTENMENT – Sarah Perry
“She was the most alive person he’d ever met.” “Her mouth was blotted red, as if she’d painted her lips, regretted her sin, and rubbed her shame on the back of her hand.” “Grace Macaulay – in whose veins ran Essex rivers and Bible ink…” “For God’s sake, Thomas Hart, for God’s sake: isn’t itContinue reading “ENLIGHTENMENT – Sarah Perry”
THE FROZEN RIVER – Ariel Lawhon
“To name a thing is a proprietary act. It is a commitment. Of ownership or care or loyalty. It means something. With that single word I have declared that this little beast is mine, and that I have a responsibility to protect her.” While the quote refers to a silver fox, the importance of namesContinue reading “THE FROZEN RIVER – Ariel Lawhon”
THE BERRY PICKERS – Amanda Peters
“…lost in a memory stirred alive by the moon.” Amanda Peters’s debut The Berry Pickers (Catapult 2023) is a quiet triumph of a novel about grief, anger, loss, identity, and forgiveness. When I was a child, I asked for The Face on the Milk Carton for Christmas. (It’s one of a few books I rememberContinue reading “THE BERRY PICKERS – Amanda Peters”
LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN – Lisa See
“Do you need a man to confirm what your body is already telling you to be true?” Set in 1469-1511, Lisa See’s Lady Tan’s Circle of Women (Scribner 2023) is a remarkable story of a high-status woman doctor, her midwife best friend, and an assortment of women from whom she draws strength, courage, and goodContinue reading “LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN – Lisa See”
YOURS TRULY – Abby Jimenez
“Because love shows up.” I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – I rarely read romance, but when I do I want romance that is cleverly written and pulls you into a warm hug. That’s Abby Jimenez all the day long. Yours Truly (Forever 2023) is only my second Jimenez novel, but IContinue reading “YOURS TRULY – Abby Jimenez”
JOLLOF RICE AND OTHER REVOLUTIONS – Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi
“…oga dinma, oga dinma, it will be okay. Today. Tomorrow. Someday.” Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi’s Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories (Amistad 2022) is my favorite kind of short story collections – the kind where the stories weave in and out of each other, building the reader’s connection to a full castContinue reading “JOLLOF RICE AND OTHER REVOLUTIONS – Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi”
THE VANISHING HALF – Brit Bennett
“You could never know who might hurt you until it was too late.” I finally got around to reading Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half (Riverhead 2020) – it was likely the most hyped on my TBR that had just been sitting there for ages, and it was on my “Must Reads” for 2024. (Yes. IContinue reading “THE VANISHING HALF – Brit Bennett”
A Girl Named Tommi 