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My Sister, the Serial Killer

January 11, 2019

sister

  Older sisters often look out for their younger siblings, but in the case of Korede it’s a bit extreme. Her younger sister Ayoola is the beautiful, sexy, creative one in the family, with her own clothing line and more suitors than she knows what to do with. Korede is a nurse at a major hospital—all responsibility and taking care of every problem. Except that Ayoola’s ... Read More...

13 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, debut, Doubleday, family, literary

When God Was a Rabbit

November 26, 2018

god

One of the best gifts of reading is not only discovering a new writer you love, but learning that they have written previous books, opening up the possibility of more wonderful reading. This was the case with Sarah Winman. I read her novel, Tin Man, and it was exactly the kind of simple but poetic prose that draws me in. So, when I saw it was her second novel I knew I wanted to ... Read More...

10 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Bloomsbury, childhood, debut, England, family, literary

The Golden State

September 19, 2018

golden

At first glance, Daphne has a great life. She’s in her early thirties, lives in San Francisco, is mother to a beautiful 16-month-old daughter, Honey, and is happily married, with a job that may not be the most satisfying, but pays well. The only problem? Thanks to Immigration officer intimidation at SFO airport her husband, Engin, had his green card taken away and was deported ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, literary, Macmillan, women

She Would Be King

September 17, 2018

she

An unlikely trio comes together in the fight for a new nation in She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore’s debut novel about Liberia. There is 18-year-old Gbessa, exiled from her small West African village as a witch, who survives the bite of a poisonous snake.  June Dey is a 15-year-old Virginian slave, who kills two men while trying to save the woman who raised him. When others try ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Africa, book clubs, debut, historical fiction, literary, magical realism

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

August 15, 2018

crawdads

On Monday I mentioned having a book hangover and Delia Owens’s debut, Where the Crawdads Sing, is the culprit. What is worse is that I tried to read my way out of it and got mired in overwrought, pretentious prose that pushed all of Crawdads beauty out of my head and filled it with a tarry gunk that immobilized my brain. A foolish mistake that I’m paying for now. Still, I’ll ... Read More...

18 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, debut, Putnam, Southern life

There There by Tommy Orange

July 23, 2018

there

One of the downsides of reading a lot is the feeling that, while you still enjoy most of what you read, some of it tends to sound familiar—as if you’ve read it before. Which is not unreasonable, as ‘how many truly distinct plots there are in fiction’ is a subject of debate even among critics. Still, it makes it that much more exciting when I come upon something wholly ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, cultural, debut, literary, Native Americans, social issues

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