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Piglet: A Novel

March 22, 2024

piglet

When a young woman’s fiancé reveals a significant betrayal two weeks before their wedding she’s left reeling. How she deals with this news and its impact on her life in this compressed timeline are the meat of Piglet, a contemporary debut novel that probes the issues around the long-term impact of childhood experiences and the outsize weight of societal expectations. Piglet is ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, debut, England, literary, women

James by Percival Everett

March 19, 2024

james

I remember almost nothing about the plot of Huckleberry Finn, except it involved a young boy and a slave running away to save their lives and entailed rafting on the Mississippi river. As a Black man author Percival Everett remembered the tale all too well and decided this American ‘classic’ needed to be rewritten. Instead of Huck, Everett lets the enslaved Jim tell their ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical, literary, retellings

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

March 11, 2024

wandering stars

And it’s inside myself that I must create someone who will understand. In the midst of the 1864 Colorado Sand Creek massacre of the Cheyenne a Native boy is able to escape. After years of wandering, he finds himself in Nevada where he’s told he can go to a mission for food and shelter. He does and is promptly chained and sent to a prison in Florida. It’s only years after his ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical, literary, Native Americans, racism

The Book of Fire

February 14, 2024

book of fire

A forest fire, set by a developer to clear land for a hotel, ends up decimating a small Greek village, leaving the remaining residents awash in the ashes of loss and grief in The Book of Fire. For Irini, Tasso, and their young daughter, Chara, the pain is even greater as it comes with the loss of a loved one and Tasso’s career as an artist. With consummate grace, author Christy ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, literary

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones

February 9, 2024

leaving atlanta

In 1979 a serial killer in Atlanta began targeting Black children. This disturbing truth is the premise for Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones. A painfully powerful novel it chronicles the lives of three 10-year-olds living in the neighborhoods where children were vanishing. For each, the disappearances and murders will have an impact on their lives, but in very different ways. I ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, debut, historical, literary

Mercury by Amy Jo Burns

February 7, 2024

mercury

Marley’s had a nomadic life with her mother so when they pull into the small town of Mercury, Pennsylvania she’s hoping this is a place where they’ll stay awhile. In her first afternoon of exploring the town, she finds herself at a high school baseball game. As the game’s end two teens start fighting, ending up rolling on the ground. This is Marley’s introduction to the Joseph ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, family, historical, literary

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