I struggled through A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles despite its beloved status by many (Goodread Choice Nominee for Historical Fiction, Kirkus Nominee for Fiction), having to switch formats from print to audio version so that I could speed it up. It was just so slow! Many in book group really loved it,Continue reading “A Gentleman in Moscow”
Tag Archives: weight neutral
The Rebel Girls of Rome
It took me a little bit to get into The Rebel Girls of Rome (publication day July 8, 2025) by Jordyn Taylor, but once I did, I was hooked. Going back and forth in time in the present-day, from the perspective of Lilah who is visiting Rome with her grandfather Ralph (Raffaele), and in 1943,Continue reading “The Rebel Girls of Rome”
America is Not the Heart
I thought Elaine Castillo’s How to Read Now: Essays was so important that I needed to read her first novel, America is Not the Heart (2018). It was utterly absorbing and did what my favorite novels do–immersed me in a world that I could not otherwise experience as a white person. Castillo switches perspectives, specificallyContinue reading “America is Not the Heart”
Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes
I listened to Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon and Kim Green, upon the recommendation of a friend, and it was well worth reading, despite the sometimes difficult subject matter. Nguon, born in 1962 in Cambodia to an ethnically Vietnamese mother and Khmer father, had a happyContinue reading “Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes”
Of Monsters and Mainframes
I was so completely charmed by Barbara Truelove’s Of Monsters and Mainframes (publication day June 3, 2025) that I just about read it in a single sitting! Space travel meets vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein, a mummy, and cthulhu-people! Primarily told from the perspective of two spaceship AIs, with interludes told from the perspectives of others whoContinue reading “Of Monsters and Mainframes”
Project Hail Mary
I read Andy Weir’s first book, The Martian, years ago, but hadn’t read any others until my book group picked his 2021 Project Hail Mary. As the book opens, an unnamed man is awakening without knowing who or where he is, and he slowly realizes he is alone on a spaceship, the medical robot havingContinue reading “Project Hail Mary”
The Language of the Birds
I really enjoyed The Language of the Birds (publication day May 13, 2025) by K.A. Merson, which is a young adult thriller/ mystery that features a neurodivergent, 17-year old main character named Arizona and her dog Mojo. As I read it, I was somewhat reminded of the middle-grade mysteries Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, andContinue reading “The Language of the Birds”
Detective Aunty
Detective Aunty (publication day May 6, 2025) by Uzma Jalaluddin is a satisfying cozy mystery featuring the widowed Kausar Khan, who is called back to Toronto, from her home in North Bay, Ontario, by her adult daughter who is a suspect in a murder. Kausar and her late husband, Hassan, had fled Toronto fifteen yearsContinue reading “Detective Aunty”
All the Sinners Bleed
All the Sinners Bleed (2023) by Anthony award-winning S.A. Cosby was a gripping, frightening mystery/ thriller set in rural, coastal Virginia featuring former FBI agent, and the county’s first Black sheriff, Titus Crown. Racial tensions are coming to a head, with local white people wanting to parade in support of a Confederate statue and TitusContinue reading “All the Sinners Bleed”
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
Julia Alvarez’s newest novel, The Cemetery of Untold Stories (2024) was a delight! I so loved her In the Time of the Butterflies and Afterlife that I knew I couldn’t miss this one. Alma, the celebrated writer known as Scheherazade, is in the twilight of her career, and has boxes and boxes of unfinished draftsContinue reading “The Cemetery of Untold Stories”
Reading While Fat 