At a time when most teenage girls are busy with dating, hanging out with friends, and choosing colleges, 17-year-old Kiara is facing a rent increase that is likely to render her homeless. She lives in a rundown East Oakland apartment with her older brother Marcus. Their father is dead and their mother is in prison. This is the world explored in Leila Mottley’s gritty debut ... Read More...
The Falconer by Dana Czapnik
On page two of The Falconer, when Lucy Adler says I met that basketball for the first time only thirty minutes ago but I already know I love it unconditionally, and that it loves me back in a way that no carbon-based life-form ever will. you need to understand you’ve just seen into her very soul. On the court, she is a beast, a player so good she routinely plays pick-up ... Read More...
Ohio by Stephen Markley
I don’t focus on writing negative reviews, but at the same time, when a new novel is getting a lot of hype, my reading friends want to know what I think about it. In this case the novel is Stephen Markley’s debut, Ohio. If all you need is a one sentence opinion then here you go: The novel is a grim mash-up of the plot from 13 Reasons Why and the setting of Hillbilly Elegy and ... Read More...
March Reading Wrap-Up
Lion or lamb is the big question, both for the weather and March's reading. In Seattle we often had lion-like winds and cold temps but with the bright sunshine-y fun that feels as cute and welcome as lambs. In reading, I have to say if I look at the two to mean strength versus weakness then it was a lamb-y March. Only one new release made it to 4 stars while the others ... Read More...
Speak No Evil
Life provides a graceful arc for the fortunate When you’re a teenager, relationships feel exceptionally complicated, something Niru and Meredith learn in in Speak No Evil, the new novel from Uzodinma Iweala. They are seniors at a private school in Washington D.C. where he is a track star and is set to attend Harvard in the fall. She is also a runner, but with a more ... Read More...
The Great Alone
Well, this is a little bit awkward. I’m one of the hordes of readers who raved about Hannah’s last book, The Nightingale, and yet I have to report that with only 80 pages left (out of over 400) I abandoned her latest, The Great Alone. I had simply gone as far with the novel as I was able to go and despite being in the midst of some high drama I didn’t care what happened ... Read More...
