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”

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”

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”

TIME SHELTER – Georgi Gospodinov

“Now, there’s everything you need to for a true beginning  – bad dreams, war, and a headache.” “I had already lived through what was to come.” Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we’re still in the Bs. Country: BulgariaTitle: Time ShelterAuthor: Georgi GospodinovLanguage: BulgarianTranslator: Angela RodelPublisher: Liveright Publishing Company 2022 (originally published 2020) Georgi Gospondinov’sContinue reading “TIME SHELTER – Georgi Gospodinov”

WILD DARK SHORE – Charlotte McConaghy

“I loved a landscape and watched it burn.” I really enjoyed Charlotte McConaghy’s Once There Were Wolves (2021), and Migrations (2020) has been sitting on my TBR cart for years, so picking Wild Dark Shore ( Flatiron Books 2025) as my BOTM selection was a no brainer.  I was a bit concerned that it wouldContinue reading “WILD DARK SHORE – Charlotte McConaghy”

OATHBOUND – Tracy Deonn

“What is a bargain if not an oath? And what is an oath if not a promise with a price? Call these what you will. All are cut from the same cloth -a cloth woven of intention, will, and sacrifice.” The long-awaited third installment of Tracy Deonn’s remarkable The Legendborn Cycle was released this pastContinue reading “OATHBOUND – Tracy Deonn”

WRITTEN IN BLACK – KH Lim

“There’s a Malay word called geram, and it describes a feeling that no English term I know could properly communicate. Imagine the worst itch in the world, an itch one hundred times worse than the itchiest bite that the itchiest mosquito could ever give you, but that it’s inside you, stirring up all your internalContinue reading “WRITTEN IN BLACK – KH Lim”

DEATH OF THE AUTHOR – Nnedi Okorafor

“Tomorrow is where my hope lives. I can’t be normal, so I’ll be something else.” “I will spread the word like a virus.” All aboard the hype train – Choo! Choo! Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author (William Morrow 2025) is a beautiful marriage of literary fiction and science fiction that scratches a particular itch.Continue reading “DEATH OF THE AUTHOR – Nnedi Okorafor”

EDGEDANCER – Brandon Sanderson

“I gots magic spit.” You’re likely going to get sick of me talking about Brandon Sanderson, but, as you’re aware, it is indeed the year of Sanderson.  My second February selection is Edgedancer, a “novella” (though arguably more of a novel) that is part of The StormLight Archive.  I believe it’s best referred to asContinue reading “EDGEDANCER – Brandon Sanderson”