Book Review: "Exposure" by Ava Dellaira

More than 10 years ago, I read Ava Dellaira’s debut novel, a YA book called Love Letters to the Dead. It was an absolutely beautiful, powerful story. Exposure is Dellaira’s first adult novel, and it is equally powerful, moving, and thought-provoking.

In 2004, Juliette, a student at the University of Chicago, runs into Noah, a high school senior who was in a poetry class she taught as a volunteer project. Juliette is white and Noah is Black, but the two have grief in common. They hook up twice in Juliette’s dorm room.

In 2016, after years of struggling and trying not to lose hope, Noah realizes his dream of becoming a filmmaker. His movie is about to be released, and he and his wife, Jesse, a bestselling novelist, have recently had a baby. On the cusp of this life-changing opportunity, Annie, who was Juliette’s best friend, shares a bombshell about Noah that she recently discovered, and it threatens to upend everything he and Jesse have worked for.

“‘You wanna be able to say she’s good and he’s bad,’ Jesse says, ‘and it would be easier if it worked that way. We all want to be one of the good guys. But we have to live inside of the same story, and it gets messy.’”

The book is narrated by Noah, Jesse, Juliette, and Annie, and shifts back and forth between 1999 and 2016. Each character has their own issues to deal with, but all four are greatly affected by grief, and the book demonstrates how thoroughly it can affect a person.

I’ll admit I didn’t love everything these characters did, but I devoured this book. I’m definitely going to be thinking about Exposure for a long time.

Book Review: "Anita de Monte Laughs Last" by Xochitl Gonzalez

A dual-timeline book that examines the art world as well as the sexual, racial, and power dynamics it stirs up, Anita de Monte Laughs Last was a very thought-provoking read. I really loved Xochitl Gonzalez’s debut, Olga Dies Dreaming, so I was really looking forward to this.

In 1985, a rising young artist, Anita de Monte, died under mysterious circumstances. Anita was married to famed artist (and womanizer) Jack Martin, but as her raw talent started gaining notoriety, it provoked Jack’s envy and his anger. While Anita’s death proved to be a scandal, the buzz was short-lived, and it wasn’t long before Anita’s talent was forgotten and Jack's career continued to flourish.

In 1998, Raquel Toro is an art history student at Brown University. Being one of only a few minority students, she felt ostracized, like she needed to work three times as hard to get the breaks her fellow students got. When she starts a relationship with Nick, an older, wealthy art student, she does reap the advantages—but at the expense of her pride, her independence, and her self-respect.

She plans to write her final thesis about Jack Martin, but while interning at a museum over the summer, she is introduced to the life and work of Anita de Monte. She realizes this artist, her talent as well as her tragic end and the influences she had over those in her cycle, is the real story that needs to be told.

The parallel narrative is an interesting one, shifting back and forth through Anita’s short career and her death, alternating with Raquel’s struggles and her discovery of Anita’s work. It’s fascinating and sad how both women felt the need to compromise themselves in order to make the men in their lives happy, and how their minority status often made them “exotic.”

While the pacing felt a little slow at times, I really liked this book. I’d imagine the struggles Anita and Raquel dealt with were very realistic, not just within the art world.

Book Review: "I Finally Bought Some Jordans" by Michael Arceneaux

“No matter how bad things get, if I feel my hair is together, I believe more firmly that I can deal with what is thrown at me.”

Can I get an amen? I believe I’ve actually spoken these words (albeit less articulately) before, because I do feel better when my hair doesn’t look like an overgrown shrub.

As it was with his first essay collection, I Can’t Date Jesus, Michael Arceneaux imbues his writing with sly humor, wry observations, rich emotions, and thought-provoking ideas. There were definitely instances throughout this book when I felt truly seen, and identified with the feelings he was expressing.

Whether he’s talking about the realization that trolling celebrities on the internet sometimes comes back to bite him, his fear that no one would show up to his book signings, his working on his relationship with his parents during the pandemic, or finally feeling secure enough financially that he can splurge every now and again, Arceneaux is thought-provoking and at times either side-splittingly funny or poignant.

Sometimes an essay collection is a great change of pace for me, and I’ve found some great writers over the last few years. If you give this a chance, you may find yourself wiping away a tear one second, and laughing out loud the next. I don’t know about you, but that’s what makes reading fun.

Book Review: "Great Expectations" by Vinson Cunningham

No, this isn’t a retelling of the Charles Dickens classic. (I’ll admit, that’s what made me first pick up the book.)

It’s February of 2007 when David, a young Black man from New York, hears the Senator from Illinois declare his candidacy for President of the United States. David is fascinated by the Senator and the hopeful vision for the future he conveys, but he cannot believe that a Black man would be taken seriously as a credible candidate for President.

Thanks to a connection, David lands a job working for the Senator’s campaign. It’s a low-level job helping collect contributions at events, but it’s not long before the Senator notices him, and little by little, David becomes a more integral part of the fundraising operation.

While “the Senator” is never referred to by name, it’s obvious that he is based on Barack Obama. David is a fictionalized version of the author, Vinson Cunningham, who worked for the Obama campaign and at the White House.

While today’s political climate makes me ill, I’m fascinated by the behind-the-scenes of campaigns and presidential administrations. There are glimpses of that in this book, but this is more of a meditation on religion, identity, fatherhood, and race. Cunningham is a talented writer, but this book never quite grabbed me.

Book Review: "The Last White Man" by Mohsin Hamid

Mohsin Hamid's latest novel, The Last White Man, is powerful, thought-provoking, and so timely.

“One morning Anders, a white man, woke up tofind he had turned a deep and undeniable brown.”

So begins the latest book by the author of Exit West, a book I absolutely loved. Anders doesn’t understand what happened to him, and for a while he can hardly believe he is the person looking back at him in the mirror. He feels totally different and feels everyone is judging him differently (although that could just be his paranoia).

He keeps his secret from everyone around him except Oona, an old friend with whom he’s recently become much closer. But as the same phenomenon starts occurring to many others, people wonder what could be causing this and what it means.

This is a fascinating story, with a walk-a-mile-in-my-shoes feel, and it’s tremendously thought-provoking. How often do we feel like strangers in our own skin when nothing has changed, so this is pretty profound.

I wanted a bit more from the book, but I honestly just love the way Hamid writes and captures both emotion and the zeitgeist of the moment. This would definitely be a great book for book club discussion.

Book Review: "Call Us What We Carry" by Amanda Gorman

Call Us What We Carry is a collection of powerfully soaring, inspiring, relevant poems by the National Youth Poet Laureate.

Like many across the world, I marveled at the incredible talent of Amanda Gorman during President Biden’s inauguration, when she became the youngest presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history. Her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” dazzled me, leaving me emotional, breathless, and endlessly replaying the video of her reading on YouTube.

This collection examines the pandemic and how it affected our collective consciousness. It looks at history, race, bigotry, despair, hope, rebuilding, and capturing the spirit of our country. It feels both immensely ambitious and yet so timely, viewing the world from a distance and yet close-up at the same time.

I don’t read a lot of poetry so this was a wonderful change of pace for me. The design of the book itself is incredible too—some poems are formatted into different shapes, the book needs to be turned in different ways to get to different parts—and it adds to the experience. Each poem is also uniquely told.

Wonderfully, “The Hill We Climb” is included in Call Us What We Carry, and I watched her once again on YouTube as I read that poem. It remains as mesmerizing today as it was over a year ago. I’d imagine the audio version of this book might be incredible. Gorman’s talent is truly a gift.

Book Review: "We Are Not Like Them" by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

Christine Pride and Jo Piazza's new novel, We Are Not Like Them, is powerful and thought-provoking.

Wow. I’m a little late to the party on this one but thanks to my friend Jenni for sending me a birthday gift off my wishlist. I devoured it quickly, as this really was fantastic.

Jen and Riley have been best friends since childhood, so long that Jen remembers when Riley went by her given name, Leroya. Even though one is Black and one white, and their lives have taken different paths, their bond is as close as sisters in many ways. Jen is married and has finally gotten pregnant after years of trying, and Riley is on her way to becoming a news anchor—one of only a few Black female anchors in Philadelphia history.

One night it all changes. Jen’s husband, a policeman, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Much to Jen’s dismay, Riley is the network’s choice to cover the aftermath of the shooting and the investigation. While the difference in their races hasn’t always been an issue in Jen and Riley’s friendship, the shooting may prove too big to overcome.

As Jen struggles both with her pregnancy and the public outrage against her husband, she has to examine her own feelings and biases. At the same time, Riley has to try and separate her feelings for her friend from her feelings not only about the shooting and the inequities of race, but also her ambitions and whether she’s being used as a pawn for the very reason her star is rising.

We Are Not Like Them is a tremendously thought-provoking book, one that would be great for a book club. The characters are not perfect—I often felt like the friendship was a little one-sided and that Jen was a bit of a brat—but thinking of how you’d react in a situation like this is eye-opening.

Book Review: "¡Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons" by John Paul Brammer

¡Hola Papi! is a series of reflections and recollections from John Paul Brammer, an online advice columnist who could’ve used his own advice a time or two.

Do you ever feel like a book speaks to you? Sometimes I completely identify with a character or situation in a book (like one of my last reads, Pumpkin). But rarely have I felt so seen by a book like I did with ¡Hola Papi! and, truthfully, I didn’t expect this in the least.

In this terrific book, Brammer shares what it was like to grow up biracial in Oklahoma. It was not a good place to struggle with your sexuality, and of course, deal with the related struggles with self-confidence and loving yourself. Far too many times these struggles took their toll on his mental health.

Brammer shares the problems he faced and the discoveries he made about life and himself, and presents them as answers to some of life’s questions, like how to let go of the past, how to forgive those who wronged you, how to find yourself worthy of love and happiness, and what to do when your high-school bully hits you up on Grindr. (Substitute “summer camp” for “high school” and I’m so there!)

I found this book funny, insightful, emotional, and so on point in so many ways. Even though on the surface Brammer and I couldn’t be more different, it’s amazing how much of what he had to say truly resonated and moved me.

I don’t read a lot of nonfiction but this is definitely one I’ll really remember.

Book Review: "Libertie" by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Thought-provoking and emotional, Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie is a reflection on what freedom really means and how relationships of all kinds are sometimes the things keeping you from being free.

“How is it possible to become free when you do not even know who you are?”

Libertie is a girl growing up in post-Civil War Brooklyn. Her fearless mother is a doctor, and Libertie marvels at the things she can do. And her mother has a plan—Libertie will become a doctor, too, and they can have a practice together.

While her mother is light-skinned enough to pass, Libertie is constantly reminded her skin is too dark. As she grows, she starts to chafe under her mother’s rules and plans, and wonders if her only course of freedom is doing what someone else wants her to do.

When she meets one of her mother’s protégés, she is utterly charmed by him. He promises her a life as his equal back at his home in Haiti, so she abandons everything to follow him. It’s not long, of course, before she learns that the promise of freedom he sold her is an illusion, and that the role of a Haitian wife is actually subservient. As Libertie considers her future, she must make a decision which could truly determine the course of her life.

Greenidge is an exceptional writer. I was so blown away by the characters she created, how evocative the different settings were where the book took place, and the realizations Libertie made along her journey.

One thing, however: I would’ve loved an epilogue for this book, because I thought the ending happened abruptly. I’d love to know what happened after the decision Libertie made.

I was honored to be part of the tour for Libertie. Algonquin Books provided me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Book Review: "100 Boyfriends" by Brontez Purnell

100 Boyfriends, Brontez Purnell's new short story collection, is raunchy and frank, poignant and powerful. These short stories look at sexuality, race, lust, addiction, inequity, and the need for connection, be it fleeting or permanent.

With this new book, Purnell hits the ground running on page 1 and doesn’t let up the pace until the very last word. His characters are all Black men of various ages and in various states of fitness—physical, emotional, and psychological. In some cases these men are fully aware they’re a mess and continue to self-sabotage; in others they’re totally (and, at times, blissfully) unaware.

“There are periods of my life that roll through me hazily. Not like an apparition, more like that moment a cartoon villain gets hit in the head with, say, an anvil or whatever, and all he sees is stars — my life was all flashbacks that never materialized.”

The characters in these stories are often searching. Sometimes it’s for their next fix or their next hookup, sometimes it’s for something more, something deeper. At times they find fulfillment—temporary or otherwise—but at other times, they’re still searching.

These stories are often explicit, so they’re not for those who are uncomfortable with graphic language or sexual content. But even when he shocks you, there’s an underlying note of poignancy or emotion in many of the stories, which only increases their power.

100 Boyfriends is definitely not a collection for everyone, but Purnell’s storytelling is a talent to behold.

Book Review: "Concrete Rose" by Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas' new book, Concrete Rose, is simply amazing. This is a powerful look at the life and challenges faced by a young Black man.

This prequel to The Hate U Give (but you don't need to have read that book first) takes us back to Garden Heights 17 years earlier. Maverick Carter knows his responsibility is to take care of his mom while his father, a former gang legend, is in prison. But the only way for a 17-year-old to truly help his mom is to sell drugs on the side for his gang, the King Lords.

While Maverick knows his life could be better—he’d love people to stop looking at him as a pale imitation of his father—he’s happy with his girlfriend and he has a cousin who looks out for him. And then his life is completely upended when he finds out he’s the father of a three-month-old boy.

How can he be a father when he’s still a child himself? While it completely changes his life, he’s determined to be a better father than the one he had. But he can’t be a father if he’s dealing drugs, so as much as “real work” pains him, when he’s given the chance to walk away from the gang life, he does.

When tragedy strikes and Maverick makes a foolish mistake, he’s faced with a decision: does he do what he needs to in order to survive and take care of his family, or does he continue to walk the right path, even if it may be the harder one?

Concrete Rose was just a fantastic book. I will never know the challenges faced by young Black men, but Thomas takes the reader into that world and gives a glimpse of the struggle between right and wrong, between boyhood and manhood, between being tough and being right.

Thomas never ceases to dazzle me with her power as a storyteller, her ability to make you think and make you feel and make you root for her characters. With this book, she has created another masterpiece that will resonate for long afterward.

Book Review: "The Office of Historical Corrections" by Danielle Evans

Danielle Evans' The Office of Historical Corrections includes six beautifully written, powerful stories and a novella which move you and leave you thinking.

These are stories about race, racism, family, love, relationships, identity, history, and how we are perceived. In many cases they touch on complex, thorny subjects but they are never heavy-handed.

While not all of the six stories worked equally for me, my favorites included “Anything Could Disappear,” about a woman who finds herself in some unexpected roles; “Boys Go to Jupiter,” in which a woman inadvertently winds up in the middle of a furor when a photo of her wearing a Confederate flag bikini goes viral; "Happily Ever After," which followed a woman with a life-altering decision to make; and “Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain,” about a photojournalist in the midst of wedding drama (not her own).

The title novella is fantastic as well. It follows a former university professor now working for a federal agency committed to correcting historical inaccuracies. It’s particularly meaningful and powerful in a time when we’re plagued with claims of “fake news” and people worried about rewriting history when monuments and statues are taken down.

Danielle Evans is an amazing storyteller. The Office of Historical Corrections will stick in my mind for a while.

It has been a while since I’ve read short stories but a number of these really moved me and made me think. I know short stories don't appeal to everyone for various reasons, but if you’re thinking of giving them a shot, this book might be worth a try!

Book Review: "Everywhere You Don't Belong" by Gabriel Bump

Poignant and so timely, Everywhere You Don't Belong, Gabriel Bump's debut novel, packs a powerful punch.

Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Claude McKay Love has seen a lot of things. Raised by his Civil Rights-era activist grandmother and her best friend, they try to make him believe he can achieve greatness. But Claude has mostly seen mediocrity and abandonment, and he doesn’t believe that greatness is routinely accessible by young Black men.

But as his community is rocked by violence and caught in a tug-of-war between those wanting to change things and those who want power of their own, Claude realizes he wants more. He wants simple—love, success, safety, a feeling of belonging—but believes to achieve that he must do what has been done to him—leave.

Yet Claude quickly realizes that even a change of location doesn’t change the situation for him. To get what he wants may take everything he has—and may be dangerous—but he can’t let life pass him by or it will swallow him up.

What a tremendously thought-provoking book this was! At turns funny, sad, shocking, hopeful, and insightful, Bump takes you on a roller-coaster ride that seems exaggerated in places but is all too real for some.

I’ll definitely be thinking about this one for a while. There’s some violence in the book, which may be a trigger for some, but it’s not gratuitous. It may sound like an intense read, and it has its moments, but all in all, it's just a really good book.

I was glad to be part of the blog tour celebrating the paperback release of Everywhere You Don't Belong. My thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Memorial" by Bryan Washington

Bryan Washington's new novel, Memorial, is an intriguing look at relationships and the things we don’t say to those we care about.

“...loving a person means letting them change when they need to. And that doesn’t make them any less of a home. Just maybe not one for you. Or only for a season or two. But that doesn’t diminish the love. It just changes forms.”

Benson and Mike have been together for a few years. When things work, they’re good together, but it seems lately those moments have been fewer and farther between. But neither wants to start a conversation about what they want from each other.

Mike’s mother Mitsuko arrives from Japan, and at the same time he learns his estranged father is dying in Osaka. He decides he needs to go to Japan to be with his father, so he leaves his mother with Benson, despite the fact the two have never met before.

As Benson and Mitsuko try to negotiate the strange arrangement they’ve been left with, Mike begins to better understand his father and their relationship, and see how his memories differ from reality. At the same time, both Benson and Mike think about their relationship and its potential longevity, or what they might want from the future.

Bryan Washington is such a talented storyteller and I love the way he writes. There is definitely some beauty and emotion in this book. That being said, I kept waiting for a big revelation or moment in the story, and it never quite happened.

I felt like so much of the interactions between the characters were shaped by the things they didn’t say, and that was frustrating at times. It was almost like we were viewing Benson and Mike’s relationship through a window, and everything wasn’t quite clear.

This is one of those books that will resonate more for some than others, and it probably would benefit from some discussion. Still, reading Washington’s work is a real privilege.

Book Review: "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam

There always seem to be books that get a tremendous amount of hype and critical buzz (and sometimes win major awards), yet when I read them I'm left scratching my head at what I might have missed. How could something appeal to so many and bypass me entirely?

Rumaan Alam's new novel, Leave the World Behind, is the latest to add to that list. It's a National Book Award nominee and it has been praised by numerous publications and critics. I have seen mixed reviews among friends of mine on Bookstagram, so I guess I'm not entirely surprised where I wound up on this book, but I'm still a bit perplexed, puzzled, and even a little frustrated at what the book was about.

Sigh.

Clay and Amanda are planning a vacation just before the end of the summer with their two teenage children, Archie and Rose. They've found a rental house on Airbnb, in a remote part of Long Island, and they look forward to getting away from their lives in New York City. The house seems perfect—it has a pool and a hot tub, and isn't too far from the beach. And when they arrive, it's even better than advertised—the house is well-appointed and the owners seem to have thought of everything.

They start to settle in and enjoy the vacation. Even though the house has wifi, they can't seem to get much of a signal on their phones, but even that doesn't stress them out that much. And then, one night, after the kids have gone to sleep, there is a knock at the door. It completely startles Amanda and Clay. Who could be knocking on the door of this house in the middle of nowhere late at night?

It turns out it's G.H. and Ruth, an elderly couple who happen to own the house they're renting. They're somewhat frantic, especially Ruth, and they bring news of a blackout that has affected New York City. They don't know what caused it, but the city was in such chaos, their first thought was escaping to their second home.

At first, Amanda and Clay are a bit put out. Are these two really who they say they are? What do they expect them to do, as they paid for an entire week? But with the wifi and phones down, no one really knows what is happening in the world. Was it just a blackout in New York City, or is it nationwide? Was this caused by terrorism, natural disaster, something extraterrestrial? Are they safe staying where they are?

The uncertainty starts to get to all of them, and they discover some comfort in togetherness. But as random incidents occur, they grow more worried. What is happening? Are they in danger?

Alam teases out the tension little by little and I had no idea what was going to happen. In the end, however, I still don't have any idea. I'm really not a big fan of ambiguous endings, and that's what I was left with. There was a point when things started to get really bizarre and I just don't know what it all meant.

There's no doubt that Alam is tremendously talented, and I know there are some who loved this book, so I'd encourage you to use your own judgment in deciding whether or not to read Leave the World Behind. It's not quite a thriller or a mystery, but there certainly are mysterious elements.

Book Review: "Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America" by Hilary Levey Friedman

What do you think of when you hear the words "beauty pageant"? Do you think programs like Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Universe are relics of an earlier time and out of step with our current world, or do you think they're empowering and relevant to the women who participate? (Spoiler alert: While at times they may be a little of the former, there's still a lot of the latter to be found.)

In her new book, Here She Is: The Complicated Reign of the Beauty Pageant in America, Hilary Levey Friedman traces the origins of the beauty pageant, from the days of P.T. Barnum and his American Gallery of Female Beauty in the 1850s and early baby shows and bathing beauty revues, to the programs pageant fans know and love—Miss America, Miss USA, Miss Universe, and Distinguished Young Women (formerly America's Junior Miss). She looks at pageants that are racially or culturally based, as well as those focused on those with different abilities, different body types, even pageants for married women and senior citizens. It's a fascinating look at the mindset and the condition of the world when these pageants were created, and juxtaposing their initial purpose with where many stand today.

Friedman didn't just pick this topic at random. Her mother was Miss America 1970, she taught a course at Brown University called "Beauty Pageants in American Society," she served as a mentor to Miss America 2018, and she's judged some pageants here and there. This book is impeccably and thoroughly researched—she literally pored through national and state program books spanning a number of years for several different pageant systems, so she can understand the "typical" contestant in these pageants and see how far the reality strays from the public perception.

She spends a great deal of time looking at Miss America and the changes that program has made through the years, including those made in the wake of the #MeToo movement over the last several years, changes that have both been celebrated and criticized by long-time fans and former contestants. But she also looks at the genesis of the contestants and how they have changed, in terms of educational and career goals as well as demographics. This isn't a view through rose-colored glasses; she looks at the positives and negatives of the pageant and its effects on contestants.

There's also been no shortage of scandal in the pageant world, and she touches on those as well, from Donald Trump's former ownership of the Miss Universe Organization and the criticism of child and "glitz" pageants, to the recent controversies around Miss America. All the while, she examines the evolving nature of pageants and their relationship with Third Wave Feminism, and what they may need to do to remain relevant.

I've been a fan of the Miss America Pageant since I first watched in 1982 and as many of you know, I was a volunteer in the Miss America Organization for just short of 15 years. I'm also a fan of Miss USA, Miss Universe, and Miss Teen USA, and certainly understand the differences and similarities between the two systems. Because of that, I loved this book. While I knew some of the history and scandal, there were things that surprised me and things I learned for the first time. But more than that, I've never really stopped to think of the pageants and their relationship to feminism (I'm such a guy sometimes), so that was an eye-opening experience.

Pageant fans should love this, but I think those who might have seen a pageant once or twice or just like to read about different aspects of American culture will enjoy this as well. As Miss America celebrates its 100th anniversary next year, Here She Is is a great look at that American tradition.

The author provided me a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Here She Is publishes August 25.

Book Review: "Luster" by Raven Leilani

Luster signals the arrival of a talented new voice in fiction, Raven Leilani.

Edie is in her 20s, barely eking out an existence in a roach-infested apartment and working at a job she’s good at, but puts minimal effort into. She fills a lot of time having sex with strangers and coworkers, and occasionally finds inspiration enough to express her feelings through art.

"...I cannot help feeling that I am at the end of a fluctuation that originated with a single butterfly. I mean, with one half degree of difference, everything I want could be mine. I am good, but not good enough, which is worse than simply being bad. It is almost."

Then she meets Eric online. Eric is 23 years her senior, White, and married, though he is in an open marriage. Their relationship, which moves in fits and starts, develops in spite of the rules set by Eric’s wife, Rebecca.

When Edie loses her job, Rebecca invites her to move in with them. The dynamics of her interactions with Eric and Rebecca shift and change, and Edie becomes a kind of role model to the couple’s adopted Black daughter, Akila, because Edie is one of the few Black people Akila knows.

Luster is a story of how lonely and incomplete many feel in their lives, even while they’re connecting with others. It provides insightful commentary on racial, sexual, and economic tensions, within the workplace and within relationships.

Leilani is a beautiful storyteller. So many times I was mesmerized by a quote or phrase or description. But while I loved the way she wrote, I didn’t enjoy the story itself very much. I felt, like the characters did, as if I were missing a connection somewhere.

Still, I can’t wait to see what she does next!

Book Review: "Saving Ruby King" by Catherine Adel West

Powerful and timely, Saving Ruby King really packs a punch.

On Chicago’s South Side, a wife and mother is murdered one night in her own home. While some dismiss this as just another act of violence in a city riddled with it, the woman’s daughter, Ruby, is struck with grief.

Ruby knows her mother took abuse from her father in an effort to protect her. She was the glue that kept the family tenuously together, and without her, Ruby is in danger both physically and psychologically.

As Ruby tries to make sense of her mother’s death and slips further away, her best friend, Layla, is the only one that can save her. But as age-old secrets are revealed, it’s not truly clear what all the dangers are, and if Ruby—and to an extent, all of them—can be saved.

I’m a little late to the party on this one but it was a really good book. There’s so much raw emotion, so much tragedy in here. This isn’t a mystery per se, but Catherine Adel West’s storytelling ability, including the unique multiple narrators, draws you in. It's really best to go into this fairly blind, so I've kept the plot summary pretty vague.

This is such a relevant book for the world we live in, but it feels timeless as well.

Book Review: "Good Talk" by Mira Jacob

Packing an emotional, powerful punch, Mira Jacob's Good Talk is a great read!!

The book is subtitled A Memoir in Conversations, and that’s exactly what it is. It recounts conversations that the author had at different points in her life with her husband, family, friends, her young son, people she dated, even strangers, about race, identity, prejudice, racism, and love.

Most of the conversations with her son occur in the lead-up to the 2016 election, as she tries to help an eight-year-old process the things Donald Trump said, the unease of many yet the embrace of many as well of his candidacy for president and the things he espoused, and what all of it would mean to a young Indian boy.

She also recounts snippets of post-9/11 life in New York City for a brown woman, what dating was like, the hope that came from President Obama’s election, and ultimately, the emotional realities of being in an interracial marriage, particularly in the Trump era.

This is gorgeously emotional and so thought-provoking. To read Jacob’s thoughts as a woman, an artist, a mother, a wife, and a woman of color in both good and tumultuous times was really eye-opening.

I didn’t know when I first started hearing about this book that it was a memoir of sorts told in a graphic novel-style, but in a tongue-in-cheek way. The pictures are hand-drawn or are actual photos and they’re superimposed on different backgrounds, so it almost looks like the start of a collage. I love it but don’t want people to be caught off-guard. I've seen some people comment on that, but it didn't bother me at all.

You’ve got to read this.

Book Review: "Blacktop Wasteland" by S.A. Cosby

Now HERE’S an excellent crime novel/thriller for you: S.A. Cosby's new book, Blacktop Wasteland!!

“You were never out of the Life completely. You were always looking over your shoulder. You always kept a gun within reach, not buried under cement in your basement. Having a gun nearby was the only way you could pretend to relax.”

Once the best getaway driver on the East Coast, Beauregard “Bug” Montage has put that life behind him. He’s a husband, a father, an excellent mechanic. But lately the pressure has been mounting—the kids need glasses, braces, everything, and business has slowed down—and he doesn’t know how to get his head above water.

So when a guy with whom he’s worked before shows up, recently out of prison and talking about a can’t-miss scheme involving a jewelry store and a tremendous payoff, Bug can’t resist the temptation to get back behind the wheel again, despite everyone’s warnings to the contrary.

What Bug doesn’t really count on, however, is just how messy a web he’s about to step in. At the same time he’s trying to figure out what kind of life he really wants to lead, he’s haunted by memories of his father, who also was a renowned wheelman, and who disappeared when Bug was younger. His father left him a classic car, and he can't help but conjure up memories of him each time he gets behind the wheel.

In addition to some pulse-pounding chases and action scenes, this book explores the idea of whether a life of crime is somehow hard-wired in our genes, or if it’s just a life some are backed into. S.A. Cosby is such a fantastic writer because he makes you root for Bug and his family despite the choices he made. I've never read any of Cosby's earlier books but I'm definitely going to check them out now!

Such a fantastic book, both fast-paced and cerebral.