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On the Come Up

The Hate U Give‘s author, Angie Thomas, has created an even more compelling protagonist, Bri, in On the Come Up (2019). Bri is a high schooler living with her mom and older brother, because her father, the locally-famous rapper Lawless, was killed by gang violence when she was little. She wants to rap, too, andContinue reading “On the Come Up”

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters

It took two tries for me to stick with The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters (2019) by Balli Kaur Jaswal–I think I needed the audio version to fully get into it. although Jaswal’s third novel–2017’s Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows–was an instant favorite. Unlikely Adventures opens with an ill Punjabi-Sikh mother of adult daughters,Continue reading “The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters”

Echo

Echo, a Newbery-winning middle grade novel by Pam Munoz Ryan (2015) tells the stories of three preteens–Friedrich in 1933 Germany; Mike in 1935 Pennsylvania; and Ivy, in 1942 Southern California–who are all connected by music and a harmonica that finds its way to each of them at just the right time. The stories are bracketedContinue reading “Echo”

Homegoing

I’ve had Homegoing (2016) by Yaa Gyasi on my t0-read list for a long while. It won many well-deserved literary awards, and when my book group chose Gyasi’s second novel, Transcendent Kingdom (2020), which I’ve already read, I decided that it was time. It’s set both in the former Gold Coast of Africa, now Ghana,Continue reading “Homegoing”

Leah on the Offbeat

Leah on the Offbeat (2018) by Becky Albertalli (author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda, turned into the movie Love, Simon) is so worthy of the 2018 Goodreads Choice Award that it won. It’s a young adult contemporary F/F romance, full of sarcasm, Harry Potter references, and more time with the characters of theContinue reading “Leah on the Offbeat”

The City We Became

The City We Became by 3-time Hugo Award-winning N.K. Jemisin (2020) is like nothing I’ve read before. A black, gay, young adult, homeless street artist, creates “breathing holes” with spray paint for the City to exhale. He meets Paolo, who keeps talking to him in what he thinks are metaphors, how he needs to “listen”Continue reading “The City We Became”

When We Believed in Mermaids

In When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal (2019), we meet Kit, a Santa Cruz ER doctor, and travel with her to New Zealand to look for her presumed-dead sister, Josie, after catching a glimpse of her in a news story. Through flashbacks, we learn the sad history of the family, disintegrated by neglectfulContinue reading “When We Believed in Mermaids”

Spoiler Alert

Spoiler Alert (2020) by Olivia Dade is the fat-positive heterosexual romance I never knew that I needed to read! Marcus is an actor on the most popular show in the U.S., Gods of the Gates, clearly inspired by Game of Thrones. He plays Aeneas, and takes his acting seriously. learning swordwork and horseback riding likeContinue reading “Spoiler Alert”

Joan Is Okay

Joan Is Okay (pub. January 18, 2022) by Weike Wang, follows NYC resident, attending intensive care doctor Joan through the aftermath of the death of her father in China, and the weekend she took away from work to attend his funeral. It follows her through a forced bereavement leave, through the start of the coronavirusContinue reading “Joan Is Okay”

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

I am very late to reading the 2014 Philip K. Dick Award-winner The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison, despite it being highly recommended by a friend and having her copy sitting on my bookshelf for 18 months. I suspect that the timing wasn’t right–I was given the copy on New Years EveContinue reading “The Book of the Unnamed Midwife”