racism Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Catherine — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 07:31:23 +0000

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 […]

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The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

Catherine — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 08:26:56 +0000

Siblings Gloria and Robert live on their own in a small Florida town after their father was run out of town for trying to get the local mill workers to unionize. Their position is precarious because it’s the 1950s and Jim Crow, the KKK, and racism are still strong in Florida. So, when 12-year-old Robert […]

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Those We Thought We Knew

Catherine — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:34:23 +0000

The residents of Jackson, a quiet county in the North Carolina mountains, are happy believing racism is largely in their past. Until that is, reality intervenes in David Joy’s new novel, Those We Thought We Knew. Joy uses the perspectives of three local characters: two white law enforcement officers and one Black woman to strip […]

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A Fever in the Heartland

Catherine — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 07:15:03 +0000

I had little idea what to expect when I picked up Timothy Egan’s new book, A Fever in the Heartland. I knew it was about the Ku Klux Klan, but its subtitle seemed a bit dramatic: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them. It actually proved to […]

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All the Sinners Bleed

Catherine — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 07:38:32 +0000

It occurred to him no place was more confused by its past or more terrified of the future than The South. It’s always gratifying to watch a new author come into their own. I’ve been reading S.A. Cosby since his debut Blacktop Wasteland and have found his writing getting stronger with each of his […]

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Symphony of Secrets: A Novel

Catherine — Thu, 11 May 2023 07:35:49 +0000

When Bern Hendricks is asked to authenticate a piece of music believed to written by his hero, famed 20th century composer, Frederic Delaney, it’s the chance of a lifetime. A scholar of his works and a new professor, it will be a triumph for Hendricks, both personally and professionally. But when he discovers documentation about […]

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The Trees by Percival Everett

Catherine — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 07:15:21 +0000

Percival Everett’s novel The Trees is a dark and darkly humorous look deep into the foul, blood-clogged engine of racism. Set in a small Mississippi town locked in the 1950s, the death of two good ole boys has left residents stunned. Not because they were particularly liked (they were not), but because the crimes are […]

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Indian Horse: A Novel

Catherine — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 08:15:14 +0000

I love discovering new writers, the voices of people with stories I’ve never imagined. In the past two years I’ve been fortunate to read more from Native American authors like Tommy Orange and Oscar Hokeah, with their singular style. I can now add Richard Wagamese to this list. A Canadian writer and member of the […]

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May Reading Recap

Catherine — Tue, 31 May 2022 04:52:34 +0000

Wait a minute—is May over? I’m pretty sure I was cheated out of a week. Or maybe it’s just that the bad news is coming at a faster pace, whether it’s the increasing attack on women’s rights or the unrelenting uptick in gun violence. I veer between apathy and a rage that wants to know: […]

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My 8 Best Books of 2021

Catherine — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 05:19:05 +0000

Best is a big word, especially these days when words that have been a part of the lexicon for lifetimes feel as if they’re losing their meaning. The first that comes to mind is “normal”. There is nothing normal about our weather, our politics, America. There’s a COVID vaccine and a booster, but the […]

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