by Elizabeth Acevedo Overall: Adult fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, she’s written one for you! In Family Lore, the acclaimed YA author of The Poet X and With the Fire on High focuses on the women of the Marte family. From their childhood on a farm in the Dominican Republic to their current lives as busyContinue reading “Family Lore”
Category Archives: Contemporary Literature
Funny You Should Ask
by Elissa Sussman Overall: I’m going to be upfront and say, this is an “it’s not you, it’s me” review. Funny You Should Ask is a contemporary romance, which is a genre I almost never read. However, after reading all the raves on Bookstagram, I decided to give it a try. Chani’s a struggling writerContinue reading “Funny You Should Ask”
Honey Girl
by Morgan Rogers Overall: Grace Power wakes up after a crazy night in Vegas trying to piece together what just happened. She’s wearing a “Bride” t-shirt she’s never seen before, and has a gold ring on her finger, a photograph of herself at a church with a woman whose name she doesn’t know, and aContinue reading “Honey Girl”
The Trees
by Percival Everett I wasn’t at all sure I would be able to get into The Trees, as I don’t read a lot of satire. But after two readers I trust wrote glowing reviews on Instagram, I knew I would attempt to read this novel, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2022. And IContinue reading “The Trees”
The Removed
by Brandon Hobson Overall: The Removed tells the story of a Cherokee family in the aftermath of their oldest teenage son’s death in a police shooting. When the reader meets them fifteen years after Ray-Ray’s death, everyone in the family has coped differently. Parents Maria and Ernest have tried to keep their son’s memory aliveContinue reading “The Removed”
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Overall: This incredible family saga reaches back through history. In stories that intertwine, the reader moves back and forth from the modern-day experiences of Ailey Pearl Garfield all the way back to the earliest interactions of her ancestors, the Creek people of what is now Georgia and the first Black andContinue reading “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois”
The Mom Group
by Jennifer A. Jones Overall: Although it’s called The Mom Group, this novel is mostly about one woman who identifies primarily as a wife and mother. After years as a stay-at-home mom, Erika Thompson has reached a bumpy patch in her life. Both her kids are away at college and her husband barely sees her,Continue reading “The Mom Group”
Oh William!
by Elizabeth Strout Overall: I have loved Elizabeth Strout’s novels since I first picked up Olive Kitteridge years ago, and this latest slender volume is a wonderful addition to her oeuvre. This work of contemporary fiction picks up the threads left at the end of Strout’s earlier book Lucy Barton and explores Lucy’s life followingContinue reading “Oh William!”
Memphis
by Tara M. Stringfellow Overall: This is an incredibly powerful book. Memphis tells the story of the North family through the voices of Hazel, her daughters Miriam and August, and Miriam’s daughter Joan. These women’s lives span the 20th century, but aside from being united by blood, they are also united by their experiences asContinue reading “Memphis”
True Biz
by Sara Nović Overall: This book was a great balance of fun and learning for me. Told from the perspective of several different characters, it chronicles life at the River Valley School for the Deaf over the course of about a year. Charlie, a teenage girl with a cochlear implant that has never worked correctly,Continue reading “True Biz”
Liz Helfrich 