bbwesquire

The Book of Form and Emptiness

I was really looking forward to The Book of Form and Emptiness (2021) by Ruth Ozeki because I loved her 2013 A Tale for the Time Being. It both exceeded and fell far short of my expectations in different ways. The great: I was hooked from the very first page. Ozeki has the book tellContinue reading “The Book of Form and Emptiness”

The Other Man

In The Other Man (2021) by Farhad Dadyburjor, Ved, the closeted heir to his father’s Mumbai business empire, gets himself into trouble when he submits to the pressure to get married to a woman. Ved’s work is his life; he lives with his father and avoids his mother because she reminds him at every opportunityContinue reading “The Other Man”

American Gods

I don’t know why it has taken me so long to read Neil Gaiman, but American Gods (2001) made me want to methodically read each and every book he has written. (And I have very little time, in general, for white male authors, so this statement is meaningful for me.) Gaiman has described it asContinue reading “American Gods”

Alice I Have Been

Alice I Have Been (2009) is historical fiction based on the life of Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired the fictional Alice in Wonderland. Full disclosure: I have never read Lewis Carroll’s classic, although I’m aware of the characters and general overview. Alice Liddell was the daughter of an Oxford dean and lived across theContinue reading “Alice I Have Been”

What If It’s Us

What If It’s Us (2020) by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera is a super-cute queer YA romance set in one perfect NYC summer. Arthur is in New York City with his parents for the summer between his junior and senior year, working as an intern at his mom’s law firm. He left his two bestContinue reading “What If It’s Us”

Interior Chinatown

Interior Chinatown (2020) by Charles Yu is a very quick read, and has one of the most interesting formats that I’ve read-novel-as-screenplay! I didn’t know when I picked it out to read that it won the National Book Award in 2020, but I’m not surprised. Yu tells the story of Willis Wu, who plays “GenericContinue reading “Interior Chinatown”

Alone Out Here

Alone Out Here (2022) by Riley Redgate, has been described as “Lord of the Flies on a spaceship” and there are similarities between the two. But Alone out Here is better, in that it’s more inclusive (Redgate includes women and girls, and people of color as lead characters) and, though there is still brutality, theContinue reading “Alone Out Here”

Finna

Finna (2020) by Nino Cipri is a jewel of a speculative fiction/ horror novella that can be listened to in just three hours! Nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Lambda Awards, Cipri gives us Jules and Ava, recent exes who work in the same big-box Swedish furniture store and are accidentally working the sameContinue reading “Finna”

The Elephants in My Backyard

The idea of The Elephants in My Backyard (2016) by Rajiv Surendra was interesting–a young actor is so enthralled with a character in a book and the similarities he shares with the character that he starts an email correspondence with the author and goes on a years-long quest to prepare himself for the role byContinue reading “The Elephants in My Backyard”

Red, White, And Royal Blue

Red, White, and Royal Blue (2019) by Casey McQuiston is a queer enemies-to-lovers new adult romance that imagines a relationship between the son of the first woman president and the prince who is the younger brother to the heir to the throne of England. Alex Claremont-Diaz is in his last year at Georgetown, living inContinue reading “Red, White, And Royal Blue”