Family Saga – A Girl Named Tommi

BLACK CAKE – Charmaine Wilkerson

Spanning more than half a century, Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake (Ballantine Books 2022) is a sprawling family saga about family legacies, secrets, and treasures all wrapped up in those ties that bind. There’s a slow burn of a mystery that vibrates on the surface, but the heart of the novel is in the delicate threadsContinue reading “BLACK CAKE – Charmaine Wilkerson”

PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING – Melissa Fu

Family sagas are one of my most favorite genres. They tend to be epic, chunky novels that hit that sweet spot for me. When I saw Melissa Fu’s Peach Blossom Spring (Little, Brown and Company 2022), I knew I had to have it. It boasts a stunning cover, and it follows a time in ChinaContinue reading “PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING – Melissa Fu”

AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED – Khaled Hosseini

I don’t know how I’ve managed to go so long without reading anything by Khaled Hosseini, but here I am in 2021 reviewing my first book by this master storyteller. And the Mountains Echoed (Riverhead Books 2013) is a novel I am unlikely to forget in this lifetime or the next. The decisions the charactersContinue reading “AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED – Khaled Hosseini”

Tamar Yellin – The Genizah at the House of Shepher

Religion has always fascinated me. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church and have a pretty decent grasp of the Bible. Biblical stories were my bedtime stories and I prayed to the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. As I grew up, I began to explore other religions – never as faith-altering explorations, justContinue reading “Tamar Yellin – The Genizah at the House of Shepher”