Book Review: "Kin" by Tayari Jones

“No matter who your mama is, or how long she’s been gone, you can’t help but miss her. When you are born, she marks you with her milk, even if you never tasted her breast. That’s not hoodoo, it’s just the way the body and the spirit come together to make you a person.”

There’s something about the way Tayari Jones writes that draws me in from the very first page. And this, her newest book, is so beautifully written and so perceptive in the way it captures loss, chosen family, friendship, and love.

Vernice (aka “Niecy”) and Annie have known each other practically from birth. Growing up in the small town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana, both girls were motherless. Niecy’s mother died when she was very young and her Aunt Irene raised her, while Annie’s mother left her in the care of her mother. The sense of being left behind pervaded both of their lives.

What Niecy wants more than anything is to be a mother and wife, to have a normal life. She goes to attend Spelman College, where she tries to blend in as much as she can, but for the first time she is introduced to a world where Black women can be powerful and privileged.

Meanwhile, trying to find her mother is the one thing that occupies Annie’s mind. She takes off one night with a young man she likes and two others and heads for Memphis, where her mother has supposedly moved to. But the journey to Memphis—and to finding her mother—is a circuitous one, seeing her experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

There is so much emotion in this book, and not all of it is out in the open. The relationship between Niecy and Annie is rich with love, struggle, strength, and guidance, and their connection is a powerful one even when they don’t see each other and they live different lives. I really felt this book in my heart.

Book Review: "Ghost Town" by Tom Perrotta

I started thinking about this and can’t believe it. I’ve been reading Tom Perrotta’s books since 1994! (And no, I’m not interested in knowing how young you were in 1994, or hearing you weren’t born yet, lol.) Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy of his latest!

When Jimmy, a middle-aged writer and television producer, gets a letter from the mayor of his New Jersey hometown, he’s thrown for a loop. Apparently they’re naming the new municipal complex in memory of his father, and they’d love to have him attend. Jimmy hasn’t been back home since 1974 when he was 13, and he’s not sure he wants to return.

“Maybe all that stuff catches up to you in the end, the demons you think you’ve outrun, the bad memories you locked away in a metal box, and then you hid the box in a dark corner of the basement under a heap of dirty blankets, and then you moved far away and did your best to pretend you were someone else. But that box is always right there, right where you left it.”

Thinking about the invitation takes him back to 1974, the year that everything changed. His mother died of lung cancer, his hippie cousin and his wife moved in next door, and he was just trying to make sense of growing up and really see the world around him.

For the most part, the plot is composed of Jimmy’s reminiscences about losing his mother, befriending a local dirtbag, having a crush on a girl, feeling betrayed by his best friend, and watching everything fall apart. There’s also his desire to hold onto his mother’s memory, and perhaps see and feel her presence.

As always, Perrotta’s observations of New Jersey suburban life are dead-on. But for me, unfortunately, the rest of the book never felt complete. There’s some brief discussion of racial tensions—but not enough for Perrotta to give voice to them—and a weird, unfinished ghost story plot thread. Beyond that, nothing really was that interesting, not even Jimmy himself.

The book will publish 4/28.

Book Review: "Show Don't Tell" by Curtis Sittenfeld

In 2005, I was working at a bookstore and one of my colleagues told me to read a book called Prep. It was excellent, despite my never having gone to a prep school, and that book launched my love of Curtis Sittenfeld’s storytelling.

Now, 20 years later, I’ve read all of her books, including her newest one, which is a collection of short stories. For me, as much as I love short stories, collections are often uneven, but this book was uniformly excellent. Sittenfeld’s writing is sharp and funny and emotional, and her stories are all so much more complex than they seem at first.

The story that has gotten the most attention is “Lost But Not Forgotten.” It follows Lee, the main character of Prep, as she attends her 30-year reunion. She also recalls an encounter with perhaps the school’s most famous alumnus. (It’s okay if you’ve never read or don’t remember Prep.)

So many of the other stories in the book really wowed me. In “The Richest Babysitter in the World,” a woman remembers working as a babysitter for a Jeff Bezos-like character on the cusp of Amazon’s creation. “White Women LOL” follows a suburban wife and mother whose social blunder (is she or isn’t she a racist) goes viral. “Creative Differences” is about a documentary crew’s travel to Wichita, Kansas, and the trouble that ensues when a subject feels misled.

Other stories I enjoyed were “The Marriage Clock,” about a filmmaker who meets the author of a relationship manual—and is surprised by her visit; “The Hug,” which takes place during the pandemic and deals with the underlying anxiety about encounters; and the title story, in which a woman remembers being in graduate school and waiting to find out if she won a prestigious fellowship.

This was one of the books I was eagerly anticipating this year, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. Sittenfeld is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I’ll continue to get excited when I learn she has a new book out!

Book Review: "Society of Lies" by Lauren Ling Brown

“How often, in the world, is silence what allows horrible people to get away with their crimes?”

Maya arrives at Princeton for her 10-year reunion, with her husband and young daughter in tow. She’s nervous and excited, but in addition to the reunion, her younger sister Naomi will be graduating as well. But not long after arriving, Maya learns that tragedy has struck: Naomi has been found dead.

While the police believe that Naomi’s death was an accident, Maya is immediately suspicious. And the more she talks to Naomi’s friends, the more questions arise about what could have happened to her. It’s not long before Maya realizes that her sister kept a lot of secrets from her.

Naomi looked up to her sister and wanted to follow in her footsteps. But that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Maya discovers that, like her, Naomi became a member of one of Princeton’s most exclusive eating clubs, as well as the secret society within the club, which could open doors to an incredible future of possibilities.

However, Naomi was also digging into some mysteries around the club and the powerful people involved, not to mention the death of a student 10 years ago. She discovered that her sister was somehow involved in that incident, but she’s determined to uncover the truth.

I’m a fan of dark academia stories. I enjoyed the discussion about privilege and prejudice, not to mention how racial and cultural differences strike at the heart of a purposely diverse group. For me, the book moved sooo slowly. While it’s told in multiple narratives, the voices are nearly identical so I had to keep reorienting myself to whose story each chapter was.

Book Review: "This Motherless Land" by Nikki May

How much are our lives defined by the choices our families make? Are we doomed to follow the same paths or can we forge our own? These are questions that came to mind for me when reading This Motherless Land.

Funke is growing up in Nigeria, the daughter of an English mother and an African father. She loves her life, even loves school, and tolerates her annoying brother, although she doesn’t love that because he is a boy he’s considered more important.

When tragedy strikes, Funke is sent to England to live with her mother’s estranged family. Everything is much different than she imagined from the stories her mother told, and her aunt is often rude and condescending to her. But the one bright spot in her life is her cousin Liv, who appoints herself Funke’s protector.

The two cousins become the closest of friends, and that friendship continues into their adulthood. But when another tragedy strikes, the ramifications of the decisions made by Funke’s mother and aunt impact her and Liv. Accusations are thrown and actions are taken which shatter their relationship, leaving them both without their closest friend.

The story takes place from the mid-1970s through the late 1990s, and shifts between Funke and Liv, as well as between Nigeria and England. It’s a story of family, both blood and chosen, and how breaking free of expectations can actually enhance your life.

I enjoyed May’s storytelling, and I also enjoyed her debut novel, Wahala. The book is referred to as a decolonial retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, but my understanding is it’s a VERY loose retelling. I found certain characters very difficult and their behaviors irritated me, but I really enjoyed Funke and Liv.

Book Review: "Rough Pages" by Lev AC Rosen

This series, which began with Lavender House, is so excellent. The three books in the series are historical crime novels and mysteries, but they go so much deeper than that.⁣

⁣ In 1950s San Francisco, Andy is a gay former policeman who works as a PI ever since the discovery of his sexuality led to his being fired. Andy works out of and lives at The Ruby, a queer nightclub. Given that office location, most of his cases involve a queer person who has been wronged in some way.⁣

⁣ He is asked to look into the disappearance of Howard, the co-owner of a bookstore. The store has a secret book service that publishes and mails queer books to its customers, even though mailing them is illegal and dangerous. Howard said he was just about to publish a big bestseller, but then he disappeared, and so did the books.⁣

⁣ While Andy is concerned about the books and Howard being missing, he’s gravely concerned that the list of customers could have fallen into the wrong hands. That could mean blackmail, or worse, with his closest friends (including Elsie, his boss) being at risk.⁣

⁣ As Andy investigates, he crosses paths with his ex-boss, a determined reporter, even the Mob. Can he solve all of the mysteries before harm comes to him or those he cares about?⁣

⁣ This is such a great book, and although you should read the whole series from the beginning, you could read this one first. It’s amazingly ironic to be reading a book about the government’s desire to control what people read and publish on the eve of an election that could determine whether that control could exist again. I hope Rosen will continue this series, because I can’t get enough!⁣

Book Review: "The Accomplice" by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Aaron Philip Clark

I’ll admit that of all the celebrity authors out there, I never would’ve expected a crime novel from Curtis Johnson, aka rapper 50 Cent. And while I’m often dubious about celebrities writing books, when I saw a blurb from S.A. Cosby, how could I resist?

From a young age, Nia Adams was fascinated by law enforcement and crime scenes. Her dream was to become a Texas Ranger, and now, she’s the first Black female Ranger. It’s not always easy under that kind of scrutiny but she’s really good at what she does.

It’s 2004. Nia and others are called in to stop a bank robbery in progress. While the other law enforcement officers present try to keep Nia from intervening, she steps in just in time to prevent total disaster.

When she is sent to a remote Texas town to investigate another bank robbery, she can’t understand why a Ranger needs to be involved. There are things about this robbery that perplex her, and despite the fact that the local sheriff has no concerns, she decides to do some more digging. But she has no idea of the web she’s stepping into.

Desmond Bell is a veteran of the Vietnam war, still haunted by what he saw back then. He’s more than a bank robber; his preferred currency is secrets that his employer can use as leverage for blackmail. But when Desmond targets a powerful family, which includes a potential presidential candidate, he’s taken on enemies that will stop at nothing to protect their interests.

Nia finds herself caught in the middle of two powerful nemeses. Every step forward puts her life and career in danger, and puts others in the crossfire. Who will blink first?

While I’m always a bit dubious when a book by a celebrity is co-authored so you don’t know how much of a part they actually played, I enjoyed this. Although the pacing was uneven and the ending felt a bit rushed, I’d definitely read another of Jackson’s crime novels.

Book Review: "Colored Television" by Danzy Senna

Jane is a writer who has been teaching college while she tries to finish writing her second novel. While it started out modestly, the book has exploded into more than 400 pages of the history of mulatto people in America. She’s taking a one-year sabbatical to finish the book so she can finally get tenure.

Her husband Lenny is an artist and teacher as well, so between the two of them, they’re barely making enough to support raising their two young children. They live a nomadic lifestyle, moving from shared housing to dumpy apartments and sublets from acquaintances. But for the next year they’ll be living in her friend Brett’s mansion while he’s filming in Australia.

“Jane had discovered somewhere along the way that if you did not have money there were benefits to hanging around with people who did.”

When things don’t quite work out with her novel, in a desperate moment, she tries to get a job as a television writer. She winds up working with Hampton Ford, a producer on the rise at a streaming network. He’s determined that they make “the Jackie Robinson of biracial comedies.” And while Lenny feels that she is selling out, she’s happy to finally be working on a project that can gain her the notoriety she longs for. But when an opportunity seems too good to be true, it usually is.

Danzy Senna has created a darkly funny social commentary on racial identity, cultural appropriation, the cult of celebrity, and the fragility of fame. At times I felt this had glimpses of Erasure by Percival Everett, which was adapted into the movie American Fiction. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Senna and Everett are married!

I was really impressed by this book and its messages. While some of it was predictable, I was hooked pretty quickly, and couldn’t put the book down.

Book Review: "Prince of the Palisades" by Julian Winters

Wow, this was such a great book! I didn’t realize how much I needed a story like this until I was fully immersed in it.

Jadon’s parents are the king and queen of Îles de la Rêverie, a small island off the coast of Africa. When a drunken tirade of his goes viral and causes an outrage, Jadon is sent to California—where his mother grew up—to try and rehabilitate his image.

The palace hopes that some carefully crafted public appearances, along with attending a private high school, might show Jadon in a more favorable light. But no matter how hard he tries to be the prince he believes the people of Rêverie want, the more mistakes he makes. If he doesn’t clean up his act, he may be forever banned from returning home.

Things get even more complicated when he falls for Reiss, a pink-haired, movie-loving, aspiring film student. Reiss isn’t necessarily impressed with Jadon’s arrogance, but he can see the vulnerability and hurt in the young prince, and sees how much more comfortable he is when he is being himself and speaking his own mind.

This has glimpses of Red White & Royal Blue, but it goes beyond a sweet romance. This is a powerful story about being your authentic self and speaking out, even if it might not be what people want from you. It’s also a thought-provoking commentary on racial disparity, how young Black people have to act a certain way to be accepted.

I really loved everything about the story, including Jadon’s royal guard, his sister the crown princess, and the palace liaison. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Viking Books for the advance copy; the book will publish 8/20.

Book Review: "Jaded" by Ela Lee

Jade, the daughter of a Korean mother and a Turkish father, is an attorney at a corporate law firm. She’s always felt tremendous pressure to succeed, to be the best, which as a woman and a minority, isn’t as easy as it should be.

“That Jade isn’t even my real name. That Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name.”

One night at a fancy work event, she drinks too much, and the senior partner of the law firm acts a bit inappropriately toward her. Another colleague sees Jade in the awkward situation and offers to make sure she gets home safely.

The next morning, Jade wakes up naked in her bed with a horrible hangover. She has no clue how she got home but hopes she didn’t embarrass herself in front of her supervisors or colleagues. But little by little, she starts having flashes of memories, she notices bruises all over her body, and she’s experiencing pain and bleeding. Are her memories accurate?

Jade throws herself into her work, as she looks to the client on whose case she is working on as a bit of a mentor. Emotionally, however, she is a complete wreck. Telling her longtime boyfriend what happened causes friction between them. She doesn’t feel she can confide in her parents or anyone at work. She feels powerless, and doesn’t know how she’ll ever move forward.

This is a very powerful and thought-provoking book, but it may be triggering for those who have experienced similar situations. Jade is a very vividly drawn character, and the book is full of insightful commentary on power, race, identity, and sexism in the workplace.

Book Review: "Owning Up" by George Pelecanos

Ever since I read one of his first books in the early 1990s, George Pelecanos has been one of my absolute favorite crime writers. Although he has done well as a writer and executive producer of shows like The Wire, Treme, and The Deuce, he really should be more of a household name for his books.

He hasn’t published a book since 2018, so I was really excited to find his latest book during a bookstore visit this weekend. Even if this is more fiction with a dash of crime, it is so good to read his work again.

Owning Up is a collection of four novellas, each of which follows its main characters for a number of decades. In “The Amusement Machine,” two former inmates meet in a completely different environment since they’ve turned their lives around, at least until one finds money more tempting than freedom. In “The No-Knock,” a crime writer’s life is turned upside down when federal agents ransack his house, looking for evidence that his eldest son committed a crime.

Family history, as well as the history of some major acts of violence and disaster in Washington DC, are at the core of “Knickerbocker,” when a woman leading her grandmother through reminiscences brings her into a whole different world. And in the title novella, a young Greek man comes of age during two hostage crises in Washington, and he learns a valuable lesson from a coworker.

While I missed the whipsmart intensity of Pelecanos' crime novels, these novellas reminded me how well he creates characters that reside somewhere in the grey space between good and bad. There are familiar themes in this book, of family and heritage, over the struggle to do the right thing, and issues of racism and racial inequity. I’ve always loved the research he does for his books, and it’s gotten to the point where I’ve been here long enough to remember many of the places he writes about!!

Book Review: "One of Our Kind" by Nicola Yoon

If you’re looking for a book sure to get your book club or buddy reads group all riled up, here’s one for you. And if you’re looking for a book you can’t stop thinking about and wondering what the author trying to say, here’s one for you as well.

Jasmyn and her husband King have finally made it. They have enough money to move out of Los Angeles to Liberty, an all-Black utopia, where they don’t have to worry about the police, where they can raise their young son Kamau without fear he’ll meet a tragic end. Every single professional, every teacher, every business owner is Black.

A public defender, Jasmyn feels a little bit guilty about moving out of the city and into the grandeur of Liberty. But she’s still putting in the work every day to try and right as many wrongs as she can. And the murders of innocent Black men by police keep happening in the world outside Liberty, so her work is important and never done.

But why is it that in an all-Black neighborhood, very few people care about the fate of those less fortunate? Why do they close their eyes to what is going on outside the gates of their community? Jasmyn can’t understand what it is that is making the residents of Liberty so complacent, and why are those she felt a kinship with dropping their passion for social justice? Who's making this happen and why?

Part Get Out, part The Stepford Wives, this is a creepy yet powerful book. But the ending? Read it and let’s discuss.

My thanks to NetGalley and AA Knopf for the complimentary copy. The book publishes 6/11/2024.

Book Review: "Family Meal" by Bryan Washington

Family Meal is an emotional, hopeful, and hunger-inducing story about friendship, family, love, loss, and finding your place.

After Cam's boyfriend Kai dies, he desperately needs to leave Los Angeles, to escape the memories and the guilt he feels. He returns to Houston, where he grew up, and tries to build a new life for himself. But the same feelings and habits follow him there, and it's not long before Cam is on a path of self-destruction, dealing with drug addiction, uncontrolled promiscuity, and an eating disorder. And to top it off, Kai's ghost won't leave him alone—sometimes taunting him, sometimes nurturing him.

In the midst of his emotional and physical chaos, Cam runs into TJ, his childhood best friend and surrogate brother, and he visits TJ's family's bakery, where he used to work as a teenager. The two have been estranged since Cam left for Los Angeles, and there's a tremendous amount of tension and unspoken resentment between them. But even with TJ's anger and hurt toward Cam, he can't stand by and let him destroy himself. Yet how do you help a person who doesn't believe they need help?

The story follows both Cam and TJ, flashing back to their teenage years and their estrangement, as well as the history of Cam's relationship with Kai. There's also a section focused on Kai and his tenuous relationship with his own family, as well as his perspectives on his relationship with Cam. The prose is luminous, the emotions are palpable, and like life, so much tension exists because of things that go unsaid. The book is also pretty sexual, although the scenes aren't long.

"With every single person we touch, we're leaving parts of ourselves. We live through them."

I've read both of Bryan Washington's previous books, Lot and Memorial, and I've been impressed with his storytelling ability, even though neither book completely worked for me. But this book really packed a powerful punch for me.

Book Review: "City People" by Elizabeth Topp

To a casual observer, Susan seemed to have it all: a successful career, marriage to a handsome banker, and two beautiful children. Maybe she became a bit unhinged in her quest to get her children's private school to serve healthier food, and she was burnt when none of the mothers in her group supported her, but everyone has their pet peeves. But everyone is absolutely stunned when Susan jumps to her death from the roof of her NYC apartment. Should they have seen this coming?

Susan was one of several mothers whose children were recommended for interviews at Kent, the most prestigious private school in New York. The list of Kent alumni is truly impressive, and each of the mothers knows that their child's future might very well be set if they are accepted. But beyond the pressure and machinations needed to try and tip the scales toward their child, each woman is dealing with her own issues as well.

Vic, herself a Kent graduate, is a struggling single mother and author suffering from writer's block. She also was Susan's best friend (or was she?) and she can't believe she never really saw that Susan was struggling. While she hopes that her experience as an alum will help her daughter's case, she isn't quite sure how she's going to pay for school anyway. And she can't seem to get her high school love out of her mind...

Bhavna is a marketing executive for a cosmetics company, almost sure that her son will get accepted to Kent. And once she lands a major campaign at work and her husband closes a big business deal, they can move to a better part of the city and finally live the life they have dreamed of. How far is she willing to go to get what she wants?

Penelope and Kara are best friends, and seem like clones of one another, until you look closely. Penelope is the daughter of a wealthy family and is the president of the parents' association at the preschool. She's determined to prove her own worth as a businesswoman, and believes that another mother, Amy, may be the key to her success. Kara becomes obsessed with Susan's suicide and the suspicions around her death, in part because it reminds her of her own sister, who took her own life.

Chandice, who left her law career upon the birth of her son, faces an uphill battle as she fights breast cancer. The more she wants her son to get into Kent, the more she struggles with the other aspects of her life, like trying to go back to work.

There were a lot of people to keep track of in this book, and after a while many of them seemed to blur into one another. The book starts and ends with Susan's narration, and then shifts between all of the other mothers. Some of the threads were more interesting than others, but overall I feel like the author was trying for a Big Little Lies feel but I don't think it hit that target.

Thanks to Amazon First Reads and Little A for an advance copy of this book, which publishes 11/1.

Book Review: "Leslie F*cking Jones" by Leslie Jones

Leslie Jones is a human dynamo. She has tremendous presence—her voice and her height make you stand up and take notice. She comes across as brave and brash, seeming almost impervious to any barriers that stand in her way. But as you learn in her new memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones (like it could be called anything else?), her confidence stems from the challenges she faced in her life, the battles she had to fight to achieve her dreams.

For the most part, whether or not you'll enjoy this memoir depends on how you feel about Leslie Jones herself. This is not a polished, obviously ghostwritten book; Jones' voice is authentic, her language is peppered liberally with curse words and slang, and at times the narration seems to go off on tangents, the way people often do when they tell stories. As she puts it, "Hey you guys—some of the stories about my childhood are vague because a bitch is fifty-five and I've smoked a lot of weed. A lot of it is hazy, but I will give you the best recollection of it that I can."

While parts of the book are definitely hysterical, it's an emotional read as well. Jones faced some very difficult things growing up: her alcoholic father moved their family around a lot, and in many places she faced racism as well as bullying for the color of her skin, her family's lack of money, and her lack of polish. And tragedy certainly followed her into adulthood, as did brushes with poverty, fighting for a chance onstage, and trying to pursue fame without changing who she was.

One of the things that surprised me about this book and Jones herself is the importance she places on being a role model for Black girls and women, letting them know they're beautiful and worthy. It's a lesson she learned when she was younger and it never left her, even in the toughest of times.

At times the book gets a little too specific and detailed so chapters drag, but it's still an entertaining and powerful read.

"In the end, what I learned in the pandemic, and since, is what so many of us learned: life is life. It's not supposed to be easy all the time, and it's never as easy as we want it to be."

Book Review: "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde" by Tia Williams

I'm a bit of a Tia Williams stan, so when I got a random email from NetGalley offering “Read Now” access to her upcoming book, you bet I jumped on that chance, even in the middle of a work Zoom call.

“Leap years are strange. And because February 29 exists only every four years, it is a rare, charged day. In the old days, back home, folks whispered that it was an enchanted time. When the veil between this world and the other was gossamer thin.”

Ricki Wilde was born into a wealthy Black family in Atlanta, with her father being the famed owner of a nationwide chain of funeral homes. And while her future is laid out for her–following in the footsteps of her three older sisters and taking over her own franchise, not to mention tapping into a trust fund–Ricki isn’t interested in this path. Instead, her creative, impulsive, and rebellious nature causes significant friction between her and her family.

When she announces her dream of opening a flower shop, her ambitions are ridiculed by her family. So she quits her receptionist job at one of the family funeral parlors and decides to make her own way. But a chance encounter with a nonagenarian widow, Ms. Della, opens up an unexpected opportunity.

Ricki takes Ms. Della’s offer to move into the ground-floor apartment of her Harlem brownstone, and opens her floral boutique, Wilde Things, in the storefront portion of the space. Ricki is mesmerized by Harlem, and is fascinated by the history that existed in that neighborhood, particularly during the Harlem Renaissance.

Owning her own shop Is exhausting work, but for the first time in her life, Ricki is following her dreams without her family’s criticism. And in Ms. Della, she finds a surrogate grandmother, who recognizes Ricki’s need for love and encouragement.

One February night, she is drawn by the scent of night-blooming jasmine in a nearby community garden. She knows it is not the season for jasmine to bloom, but she cannot resist. And then she encounters a handsome, mysterious stranger who upends her world.

I’m going to leave the plot description fairly vague, although once you start reading, everything becomes clear fairly quickly. Suffice it to say that Williams imbues her upcoming book not only with steamy romance, but also lots of history of the Harlem Renaissance, and some magical realism.

This wasn’t my favorite Williams book–that honor still goes to Seven Days in June–but I’m always captivated by her storytelling. I felt like the pacing dragged a bit here, but I enjoyed all of the characters except for Ricki’s family, who were fairly one-dimensional. (But Ms. Della was absolutely fascinating.)

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this advance copy. The book will publish February 6, 2024.

Book Review: "Small Mercies" by Dennis Lehane

Man oh man, this guy can write.

I’ve been a fan of Dennis Lehane’s since his first book, A Drink Before the War, utterly blew me away. I’ve loved so many of his books—Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island, and of course, Mystic River, which is an all-time favorite of mine. (And an excellent movie, too.)

Although highly anticipated books by favorite authors have been hit or miss for me this year, Lehane’s newest book was definitely a home run for me.

“That’s what ghosts are—they’re testaments to what never should have happened and must be fixed before their spirits leave this world.”

It’s the summer of 1974. A heat wave is mercilessly punishing Boston, and everyone is on edge. But it’s not just the heat causing temperatures to rise—the forced desegregation of Boston schools is about to happen, and almost no one is happy about it.

Mary Pat Fennessy was born and bred in the housing projects of Southie, where she has raised two kids of her own. She’s struggling financially and she’s always been at least a little bit angry, a little bit proud, and, like most of her neighbors, at least a little bit racist.

One night, her 17-year-old daughter, Jules, doesn’t come home. That same night, a young Black man is found dead in a nearby subway station, apparently struck by a train. Are the two events interconnected?

The longer Jules is missing, the more suspicious Mary Pat becomes. And then she decides to get to the bottom of the matter herself—no matter whom she angers or what trouble she causes. Her nothing-to-lose, don’t-give-a-damn attitude and actions set off a powder keg in a city already on edge.

This is a tense (and intense), sometimes sad, and tremendously thought-provoking book. Mary Pat isn’t trying to be a hero; she just wants to figure out what happened to her daughter. And at the same time, she’s realizing how the way she was raised and the way she raised her children might have played a factor in all that occurred.

This will make one heck of a movie.

Book Review: "Go As A River" by Shelley Read

This is a moving and beautifully evocative story of a young woman who follows her heart.

It’s 1948. Ever since her mother, aunt, and cousin died in an accident, Victoria has become the woman of the house. She cooks all the meals for her father, brother, and uncle, not to mention the workers on her family’s Colorado peach farm. It’s a house full of tension, as all three of her family members have issues of their own.

One day she meets Wilson Moon, a young Native American man who has left his tribal land to pursue his own path. For the first time in her life, Victoria knows what it feels like to want someone and be wanted. But their time together is fleeting, because her town doesn’t like the idea of someone who is different having free will to do what he wants.

When tragedy strikes, she leaves home and escapes into the mountains, where she ekes out a solitary life for herself despite the challenges posed by the elements and her own limitations. But when she returns home, so much has changed. She soon learns of the government’s plan to flood her town, so she is determined to save all she can, especially her family’s peach orchard.

This is based on the true story of the destruction of Iola, Colorado. It’s an emotional story of love, betrayal, fear, isolation, friendship, and resilience. Victoria is a truly memorable character whose bravery and ingenuity in the face of adversity was moving and inspirational.

Book Review: "Maame" by Jessica George

Jessica George's debut novel is moving, thought-provoking, and just so good.

FOMO hits hard on Bookstagram from time to time. I saw this book since the end of 2022 and heard so much praise, so I couldn’t wait to read this. I love it when a book lives up to the hype!

Maddie is a dutiful daughter. She’s currently the primary caregiver for her father, who has Parkinson’s. Her mother mostly lives in Ghana, but that doesn’t stop her from haranguing Maddie about finding a man to marry or asking Maddie—who has to pay all of the bills—to send money. She also gets no help from her older brother, who always has an excuse to not be around or contribute financially.

At the same time, Maddie is struggling with motivation at work, where she is tired of being one of the only Black people, and she’s dealing with loneliness. When her mother decides to move back to London for a year and promises to take over her father’s care, Maddie is ready to move out and start living the life she should at 25.

But although she has decided to embrace saying yes to new opportunities—including drinking and dating—she still finds herself mired in unhappiness and dealing with similar issues at her new job. And after a tragedy and a betrayal set her back on her heels, she finds herself lost, yet afraid to actually speak her mind and admit she’s struggling.

I thought this book was excellent. It captured all the challenges of family, career, friendship, love, and responsibility. Maddie was such a fantastic character and I really felt for her. It’s amazing that this was a debut novel—I can’t wait to see what George does next!!

Book Review: "The Town of Babylon" by Alejandro Varela

This finalist for the 2022 National Book Award is an excellent, poignant look at growing up queer and non-white in suburbia.

When his father’s illness gets worse, Andrés returns to his suburban hometown. It will give him some time away from his husband so he can re-evaluate their marriage in the wake of his husband’s infidelity.

His return home happens to coincide with his 20-year high school reunion. He hasn’t any desire to attend, but with nothing else to do, he gives in. Immediately he is swept back into the memories of his time in high school, where he wasn’t always the nicest person in his quest to be popular.

At the reunion, he sees Jeremy, with whom he fooled around, to find that he is now married with children and a former convict and addict. He interacts with his high school bully and others, but he is struck by the absence of his best friend Simone, who struggles with mental illness.

While Andrés is home, he confronts his grief over his brother’s recent death, visits Simone in the mental hospital where she is receiving treatment, and deals with uncertainty around his marriage and his father’s illness.

I really loved this book and its exploration of many themes. Andrés isn’t always the most likable character but I identified with some of his emotions and actions. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, so I’m really glad it’s so good!