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A beautiful story of family, love, tradition, country and so much more. I really loved Jack as a character and I loved the atmosphere of this story. It was light and fast moving, a wonderful read for a rainy day.
3.5 Stars. This is a thought-provoking book that takes place in the future but tackles concerns that are all too real today. About human vs robot, logic vs feelings. About what makes life worth living. This was an experience to read.
This story brings together a list of characters connected by a mall in upstate New York. There’s a white bookstore manager and his black wife and biracial children who live in a tiny home he built for them to live with minimum belongings. There’s an Asian hair stylist single mother who secretly dreams of being an artist and whose son is into magic tricks. There’s a teenager who works at the mall and dreams of being an actress and the boy who is obsessed with her. And an old widow who lives next door to the biracial couple and gets her hair cut at the mall. All of these characters’ lives weave in and out of each other as they navigate their lives and try to live and survive as the rumors of the mall closing turn out to be true. This story covers many topics around race, growing up, work vs dreams, anger and obsession, grief and redemption. At its heart it’s a tender story around human connection and how complete strangers can make deep and meaningful differences in your life. with gratitude to netgalley and Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Promise Boys is the story of three boys who are wrongfully accused of the murder of their school principal. They band together to try to solve the murder in order to prove their innocence. It’s a powerful story tackling topics around race, poverty, education system, family and corruption. I can’t recommend enough that you listen to this one on audio. It is performed by a full cast and really makes the story come alive. Highly recommended. with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
Claire Keegan has the ability to hook you into a story in so few words. She makes every word count and her powerful stories always connect with you. This short novella will stay with you.
Beautiful, haunting, a viseral story about how depression feels.
4.5 stars rounded up. Katherine Center never disappoints. Her characters are sweet, quirky and just so lovable. I really loved this story that’s centered around face-blindness and I loved the element of how that impacts the way we move thought the world. I loved the bits around her making art and I loved the way the book made me feel. Center’s comments at the end of the book about the romance genre were also very touching and wonderful to read. Here’s to more books that lean into hope and positive anticipation. with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book was nominated for my book club but didn’t get picked. I was curious so I decided to read it anyway and I am so glad I did. What a marvelous story and so well told. I knew almost nothing about the refugee camps and what day to day can look like and i really loved reading this story of love and perseverance.
4.5 stars This was perfect on audio! I loved the characters and I really enjoyed the way they interacted with each other. It’s funny and fun to read. Recommeded.
I love reading these neighborhood mystery stories. This is the story of a group of families who live in the same block and how their lives intersect and crescendo into a murder during the annual block party. You know there’s been a murder right at the beginning but you don’t know who or why. And then the book rewinds and tells you the story of the families and how they overlap with each other and piece by piece you start seeing all the secrets and it keeps you guessing until the very end. Nothing is really what it seems and everyone has multiple secrets. I really enjoyed my time with this one. with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
I know this book has garnered a lot of controversy for the blurb. The blurb is unacceptable and also not representative of the book. I don’t know if this author wrote their own blurb or even had a say in it. If so, this egregious mistake should have been caught and corrected. If not, I want to make sure we don’t punish the author for something they had no say over. This is the story of Jess and Josh. It’s mostly the story of Jess navigating spaces where as a black woman she’s consistently in the minority and undermined. She’s incredibly smart and very hard working and yet consistently experiences racism, misogamy, and some micro and some macro-agressions. Josh stands up for her sometimes but then lets her down spectacularly other times. His political and personal beliefs are wildly opposed to Jess’ and yet he is also kind and loving to her and truly seems to think he loves her. The book explores Jess’ journey as she navigates corporate finance and New York and her relationship and her friendships and her hometown and dad. It also explores the political climate. Even though the blurb would like to convince you otherwise, this is not a romcom, it’s not a cutesy book. It does not tie up in a nice bow. It’s complicated, real and messy. Both of the characters are imperfect (in fact deeply flawed in some ways) and the book doesn’t shy away from making the reader uncomfortable. I think it was a worthwhile read. with gratitude to edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I put off reading this book because I knew it was going to be really, really sad. And it was. It was so incredibly sad. It was beautifully written and living close to Oakland and visiting Oakland at least 5-6 times a month, it felt like I should read this story that’s based on some horrific true events. I am glad I read it but it also was really sad. |
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