“A person can lose everything in an instant. A fortune, a family, the sun. I’ve had to learn this lesson twice in my life.” “The coroner gave me the only picture that I have of Mama, a print of her body in the ditch.” “I guess, the way I see it, you could tell theContinue reading “THE ANTIDOTE – Karen Russell”
Tag Archives: magical realism
WIZARD OF THE CROW – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
“Nyawĩra and Kamĩtĩ drifted from group to group till they came to a crowd around a storyteller with a single-stringed violin.” Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o passed away on May 28, 2025. I didn’t know until recently, but perhaps that’s why Wizard of the Crow ( 2006 Random House) called out from my shelves of the unread.Continue reading “WIZARD OF THE CROW – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o”
THE MADWOMAN OF SERRANO – Dina Salústio
Current installment of Tommi Reads the World – we are now in the C’s!!! Country: Cape VerdeTitle: The Mad Woman of SerranoAuthor: tLanguage: PortugueseTranslator: Jethro SoutarPublisher: Spleen Ediçũes (1998), English translation Dedalus (2019) The Mad Woman of Serrano was the first novel by a female author to be published in Cape Verde, and the first toContinue reading “THE MADWOMAN OF SERRANO – Dina Salústio”
A NOVEL LOVE STORY – Ashley Poston
I’m likely not the best person to listen to when it comes to reviewing romance. That said, I tried really hard to like Ashley Poston’s A Novel Love Story (Berkley 2024), but it fell way flat for me. The premise is cute enough – a woman who loves romance novels heads to a cabin forContinue reading “A NOVEL LOVE STORY – Ashley Poston”
THE NIGHT TIGER – Yangsze Choo
While I have all three Yangsze Choo novels on my TBR, I opted to read The Night Tiger (Flatiron 2019) first. As the story of the ghost bride is referenced in this novel, I should have likely read Choo’s debut before The Night Tiger, but I don’t think it was necessary. (That may change onceContinue reading “THE NIGHT TIGER – Yangsze Choo”
LET US DESCEND – Jesmyn Ward
“The first weapon I ever held was my mother’s hand.” Let Us Descend (Scribner 2023) is my first Jesmyn Ward novel, but it certainly won’t be my last. Ward’s writing is as lush and powerful as everyone says, and there is a cadence to the storytelling that echoes oral traditions centuries old. The novel isContinue reading “LET US DESCEND – Jesmyn Ward”
THE BULLET SWALLOWER – Elizabeth Gonzalez James
“I think a person knows when their parents are gone for good, when the people that brought them into existence have gone out. I think the air gets heavier or the light changes, something like that. I haven’t seen the sun get dimmer yet.” One of my highly anticipated 2024 releases was an early releaseContinue reading “THE BULLET SWALLOWER – Elizabeth Gonzalez James”
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”
THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW – Adrienne Young
I love magical realism. I do not love time travel. Admittedly, I should have looked into Adrienne Young’s The Unmaking of June Farrow (Delacorte Press 2023) beyond the magical realism and North Carolina setting BEFORE selecting it for my BOTM box, but I did not. This novel has overwhelmingly positive reviews so take this forContinue reading “THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW – Adrienne Young”
WILDWOOD MAGIC – Willa Reece
“Here be witches and wayward girls grown into lonely women spooked by the wind.” I recently finished Alice Hoffman’s The Invisible Hour, and for me, it just fell short. Imagine my surprise when I opened Willa Reece’s Wildwood Magic (Redhook 2023 – thanks to the publisher for the finished copy!) and found myself faced withContinue reading “WILDWOOD MAGIC – Willa Reece”
A Girl Named Tommi 