Category Archives: Contemporary Literature

by Rachel Yoder Overall: This is a book about a woman who may, or may not, be transforming into a dog.  Not a cute lapdog: something wild, large, and terrifying.  It’s not a joke, though parts of this book are very funny.  If I’ve lost you already, this book isn’t for you.  But if you’reContinue reading “Nightbitch”

by Simon Han Overall: a quiet, beautiful novel about a family of four living in suburban America.  Patty and Liang met in China; she was a physics student, and he was a struggling photographer.  After their son Jack was born, Patty moved to Houston to pursue her studies, with Liang moving to join her laterContinue reading “Nights When Nothing Happened”

by Lily King Lily King is one of my favorite writers. I discovered her during the pandemic thanks to my friend Heather, who loaned me several of her books. Five Tuesdays in winter is her new short story collection, and I listened to it as an audiobook. I loved that there were five different narrators!Continue reading “Five Tuesdays in Winter”

by Charmaine Wilkerson Benny and Byron’s mother, Eleanor, has left them a mysterious recording and instructions to eat her last black cake (carefully preserved in her freezer) together at the right time.  As the story unfolds, we also meet Covey and Bunny, young women growing up on an unnamed Caribbean island in the 1960s.  TheContinue reading “Black Cake”