Nalini Jones’s debut novel, The Unbroken Coast (Knopf – expected 8/12/2025), is a story of intertwined lives, found families, regrets, and triumphs. Set in and around a Mumbai fishing village, the novel follows a prominent retired professor who is struggling with his memories, and a young Koli girl from the fishing village whose family isContinue reading “THE UNBROKEN COAST – Nalini Jones”
Tag Archives: Family
PUNISHED – Ann- Helén Laestadius
“If she’s going through the pearly gates, she damn well ought to suffer on her way there.” Ann- Helén Laestadius’s Punished (translated from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Scribner 2025 – originally published by Romanus & Selling in 2023) will gut you just as surely and jaggedly as Stolen. I’ve said before that Laestadius reminds me ofContinue reading “PUNISHED – Ann- Helén Laestadius”
I’LL COME TO YOU – Rebecca Kauffman
I’m trying to get a bit better at getting my reviews in for ARCS before the book is published, and I’m patting myself on the back with this one because Rebecca Kauffman’s I’ll Come to You (Counterpoint 2024) has an expected publication date of 1/7/2025. (Thank you to the publisher for gifting me this finishedContinue reading “I’LL COME TO YOU – Rebecca Kauffman”
FAMILY LORE – Elizabeth Acevedo
“I knew there was no safe home in the world for the violence I felt in my body in that moment.” Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acevedo’s young adult novel in verse, was pure magic. When Acevedo’s first adult novel, Family Lore (Ecco 2023) was published, I wondered if Acevedo would be able to sprinkleContinue reading “FAMILY LORE – Elizabeth Acevedo”
AND EVERY MORNING THE WAY HOME GETS LONGER AND LONGER – Fredrik Backman
Fredrik Backman is a hearthug of an author, someone I can expect to break my heart while still wrapping me in a hug. I was looking for an audio book to read while travelling for Thanksgiving, and when I saw Backman’s And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer (Simon & Schuster 2016),Continue reading “AND EVERY MORNING THE WAY HOME GETS LONGER AND LONGER – Fredrik Backman”
INFINITE COUNTRY – Patricia Engel
Patricia Engel’s Infinite Country (Avid Read Press, 2021) is a brief but bittersweet snapshot into the lives of a mixed-status Columbian family divided by borders. While the novel is well-written and a very important read, it was a disappointing display of missed opportunities for this reader. As some of you know, I was an immigrationContinue reading “INFINITE COUNTRY – Patricia Engel”
NO HEAVEN FOR GOOD BOYS – Keisha Bush
Keisha Bush’s No Heaven for Good Boys (Random House 2020) is one of the more delicate and devastating debut novels I’ve read in a long while. The tragedy of it is exquisitely crafted, clinging to the reader like small, dirty hands begging for money, or a hungry child suckling at his mother’s breast. It’s aContinue reading “NO HEAVEN FOR GOOD BOYS – Keisha Bush”
SANKOFA – Chibundu Onuzo
Chibundu Onuzo’s Sankofa (Catapult, 2021) is one of the best books I’ve read in 2021. It would have been in my top three but for the last quarter of the novel, which I don’t think carries the same power and charm as the rest of the work. Regardless, it’s a fantastic read about family, belonging,Continue reading “SANKOFA – Chibundu Onuzo”
CLAP WHEN YOU LAND – Elizabeth Acevedo
Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel in verse, Clap When You Land (Harper Teen 2020), sings with beauty, love, loss, and family. Told in alternating views, the novel follows two teenagers whose father is killed in plane crash – neither knowing of the other’s existence. But when the plane goes down and they must accept that their belovedContinue reading “CLAP WHEN YOU LAND – Elizabeth Acevedo”
GARDENS IN THE DUNES – Leslie Marmon Silko
It is only fitting that I picked up Leslie Marmon Silko’s Gardens in the Dunes (1999) just days after learning of Larry McMurtry’s passing. The two authors were friends, and the book opens with a special thanks to him for “all the books and encouragement.” I heard echoes of Gus in Grandma Fleet, particularly inContinue reading “GARDENS IN THE DUNES – Leslie Marmon Silko”
A Girl Named Tommi 