I recently read - ok listened to - the 2019 Young Adult book On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. You may know of her 2017 YA bestseller The Hate U Give (or the movie version which hit screens in 2018). As outstanding as that book was, I think I liked this one better. Here's … Continue reading 3 books, 2 authors, 1 series, 0 complaints
Category: Fiction
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett's book The Vanishing Half is an achievement. She created a story that draws you in and lingers long after you finish. To say it is multilayered and thought-provoking would be an understatement. If you were growing up Black in the American South in the '50s but could easily pass for White, would you … Continue reading The Vanishing Half
Well-plotted
The Plot landed on all the 2021 best-of lists and now that I've read it I understand why. Jean Hanff Korelitz strikes again with her clever and devious novel. I read and raved over her 2014 book, You Should Have Known (made into the HBO show The Undoing and reviewed here). Korelitz is an excellent … Continue reading Well-plotted
From Beale Street to Tulsa
I made myself a Black History Month reading list* but only read two books so far (and one was a children's book). Read on for my reviews of a 1974 James Baldwin classic and a new, award winning book on the Tulsa Race Massacre. If Beale Street Could Talk has a straight up '70s vibe … Continue reading From Beale Street to Tulsa
False Witness
I listened to Karin Slaughter's latest standalone novel, False Witness, and came away with mixed feelings. The story, pacing, and character development are all there, skillfully achieved. But this is a hard read because of the subject matter which includes child abuse and neglect, predators, addiction, and rape. Don't say I didn't warn you. Sisters … Continue reading False Witness
Dream Girl Nightmare
Trapped in bed after a bad fall. At the mercy of your nurse and your assistant. Out of it because of all the pain meds and the Ambien. It was a really bad fall. Wondering if you're losing your mind or if it's just the drugs. This is the setting for Laura Lippman's celebrated novel … Continue reading Dream Girl Nightmare
Falling
I finished this book two months ago and have been trying to write a review ever since. But I've been distracted, unfocused, uninterested. With reading, too, unfortunately. I've been listening to audiobooks of the Joe Pickett series (literally back to back, like a chain smoker) but haven't read a physical book in a while. I … Continue reading Falling






