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My 6 Favorite Debuts of 2021

December 20, 2021

debut

  Happy Monday and welcome to my first yearend best-of lists. Today is a favorite category: best debuts. Finding new authors is one of my greatest reading pleasures and 2021 proved to be a very good year. Of all my reading, 38% was debut authors and of those debuts I rated 36% 3.5 stars or higher, with 3.5 being my baseline for a book I’d recommend to others. Finally, of ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Feature, Reading Tagged: book clubs, childhood, debut, favorite books, historical fiction, literary, mystery

All Together Now

October 29, 2021

together

After State of Terror I was in desperate need of reading that would unclench my jaw. I was grateful to find it with Matthew Norman’s All Together Now, an entertaining novel about a group of high school friends now in their 30s, coming back together for the first time in almost a decade. Robbie is a math whiz, the kind of guy who can do algebra in his head (I hate that!). His ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, friendship, vacation reading

We Are Not Like Them: A Novel

October 11, 2021

we

I’m a fan of diverse reading. There are so many places I’ve never gone and experiences I haven’t had in real life. Visiting them in the pages of a book helps expand my horizons and opens my mind in ways it wouldn’t be without reading. Sadly, there are issues happening right here in America that I may think I understand, but I truly have no idea. Racism is one of them and We Are ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, friendship, racism

In Every Mirror She’s Black

October 7, 2021

mirror

I was pulled into In Every Mirror She’s Black by the premise of three Black women who end up living in Sweden. Kemi is a marketing executive who’s been recruited by a phenomenal compensation project and a leadership role to a Swedish agency. Brittany is a flight attendant who is swept away by the owner of the agency when he becomes obsessed with her. Muna is a Somali refugee ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, contemporary life, debut

We Are the Brennans: A Novel

August 20, 2021

brennans

Sunday Brennan lives in L.A. pursuing her dream of being a writer, right up until she gets in a drunk driving accident and her emergency contact is her older brother, Denny. Despite living on the opposite side of the country he arrives, forcing her to acknowledge her dream is not happening and it’s time to come home. This is We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange, a contemporary ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, family, vacation reading

The Husbands: A Novel by Chandler Baker

August 13, 2021

husbands

Chandler Baker established herself as a woman with something to say about the world of men in her debut Whisper Network. A novel about a workplace serial harasser brought down by the numerous women who lived through his abuse. Now she’s back with the next step in attacking the patriarchy—the age-old battle over shared domestic responsibilities, from parenting to groceries to ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life

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