Amelia
Give me a book with some weird ass family dynamics and I’m happy.. Ms. Akinola knocked it out of the park with this one. She was able to capture the intricacies and nuances with being the child of an immigrant . The balance involved in trying to thrive and assimilate while also feeling grounded to the culture of origin.
Gbemisola (Sola), Olanipekun (Ola), Anjola and Karen are Nigerian-American siblings who are trying to survive their childhood and navigate adulthood with their issues, some inherited and some not. Akinola was able to touch on the specific trauma of being loved by Nigerian Christian parents, the chasm between the African American experience and the (insert African country here) American experience. She did it with humor, wit and a directness that was necessary. She touches on what blackness means in America, on parental bullying, on one’s exploration/understanding of sexuality.
TW- past child SA mentioned, physical abuse (by parent) mentioned.
Please read this book!
The book, the entire story is told, and built with no central narrator!
This is a story of an Afghan family. They are wonderful, loving and great parents! They are too strict and they are borderline abusive. Which should we believe? We just listen to a cast of characters tell us their views on this family. As we learn of a tragic event.
There’s islamaphobia, xenophobia, racism, sexism. All the isms! It will make you think, and question what truth is. How does one actually determine what the truth is? What a book! This is the authors debut novel!!!!!! What talent!👏🏾
What a book! What a ride!
Viola Davis’ narration made the experience even more potent.
A black woman circuit Judge in rural Alabama is presiding over an abortion case and all the crazies come out. She is threatened every way possible to recuse herself numerous times and she adamantly refuses. The case draws national attention and is symbolic of the intersection between private health decisions, religion and law.
The story of how the abortion came to be is sad and sadly not a rare thing which will break your heart.
5 stars! I’d recommend this to everyone.
A historical fiction packed with humor and wit. Doris is a 17 year old from a small town near Atlanta who finds herself pregnant with no desire, and capacity to have the baby. She reaches out to her English teacher Ms. Lucas for help. Ms. Lucas says she knows someone in ATL who can help. What ensues is a weekend trip to ATL packed with historical relevance (she meets MLK jnr, and his wife, joins a meeting about the famous sit-ins in Atlanta). She also learns a lot about real life, has a sexual awakening of sorts..she essentially has a weekend to remember. Doris has been raised ultra religious and her view of life is challenged by this weekend in ATL. She’s a character I won’t soon forget, with her funny quotes and biblical references!
Fascinating account of the Jamaican maroons in Nova Scotia. I had never learned of the maroons and reading Fireflies in Winter led me on a journey of further learning about them. The Maroons were a determined group of freedom fighters from Jamaica. For nearly a century and a half, beginning in the 1650s, they had waged an intermittent war with the British administration of the island. They wanted independence. In 1795 the administration in Jamaica decided to remove the Maroons. Three ships brought 543 men, women and children to Halifax in late June 1796.
I learned that there are descendants of Maroons today. Still living and trying to preserve the lifestyle of their ancestors.
This was a short and “easy” book- in as much as reading about anything related to slavery is. Cora is an orphan from Jamaica trying to get used to life in Nova Scotia. One day she sees prints in the snow which leads her to meet Agnes. Agnes is in hiding and somehow they foster a deep friendship. Agnes’ past closes in and they have to make difficult choices.
I’d recommend it as a great starting point in learning about the maroons from Jamaica who settled in Nova Scotia, and further into Africa.
The strangest, funniest and poignant book I’ve read in a long time! Mr. Percival James has a way of forcing us to take a hard look at the rotten parts of our humanity. The trees is some sort of imagined reckoning for all the lynching and abuse on black and brown bodies in America. The book opens with the gruesome murder of a white man, with the body of Emmett Till right next to it. And then more white people are murdered with that same body next to theirs. It turns out all the white bodies are related to the lynching of either emmet till or another person. What a book! Definitely recommend
This is the strangest book I’ve ever read. Short and impactful. 40 women are held in an underground bunker guarded by men. They appear to have all that they need. Life goes on for years and years. Until one day a siren goes off and they are able to escape. They escape and find more desolation and death. More and more bunkers with dead ppl. We have no sense of who has imprisoned them or the reason. The youngest child in this bunker has no past life thus no reference to anything cultural or social. Which makes her the perfect narrator for what becomes a commentary on patriarchy, human cruelty and what we do to hold on to our humanity. Such a weird little book.
A perfect mix of a book where we can see a mix of character and plot focus. We meet Lee (Leandra)at the beginning of the book in a crash. She’s narrating her life and we get to learn about the horrific events of her early life how from serendipitous meetings with various people she gets the opportunity to process her trauma and fully become a better version of herself. Terah Shelton Harris knows how to write books that are gut punches and feel like a therapeutic journey simultaneously. It’s almost like you will be forced to work out some of your own shit as you read her books. This was 3.87 (😜🤣) star for me and I enjoyed the journey.
I also listened to an interview w Ms. Harris after which helped me understand her process and the book better.
A heartbreaking beautiful book about black queerness, black male love and liberation and the trauma that has held black people black families hostage.
I loved “don’t cry for me” and i desperately wanted to hear Isaac’s perspective. This book gave us Isaac’s raw pain and loss. His evolution and acceptance of his “difference”. Beautiful book that is a must read for everyone! Especially black men.
“It was the achievement of his life that a man born into slavery raised a free man”. ❤️
A heart breaking book in letters from a black father to his estranged gay son. Jacob is dying of cancer and he is moved to write his story, his apology and explanation of why he was the kind of person/ father he was. While the letters examine all the trauma of violence, pain and subjugation his family has inherited and perpetuated, it was a relatively easy read. It examined the fact that a generation of black people were (may be still) unable to feel, and share desire, joy and love. Survival was the only thing they were allowed to feel which in turn starved their lives of fullness and love. This is just one part of the generational struggle and trauma that Jacob inherited and informed his parenting (and life). He was hateful, mean and violent toward his son Isaac especially bc he suspected Isaac was gay.
The letters examine his entire life, his understanding of “manhood”, love and even friendship. This book should be required reading!!!
I love a good dysfunctional family story and “Long after we are gone” delivered on that. A family (Jnr, Mance, CeeCee and Tokey)are tied together by the “kingdom” where generations of their family have owned. Along with the land, they’ve inherited pain, and desertion (their mother is not there and they have no idea where she is). So many vultures are circling them trying to get thier land in order to build luxury homes. Jnr is hiding himself (he’s gay), CeeCee has been embezzling money from her clients in NYC, Mance has been to jail 2 times already bc of his temper.. and Tokey is addicted to eating. All the siblings have to come together to honor their father’s last wish, and to save themselves.
Redemption comes in the form of the siblings forging their once tight bond, by being honest with themselves and each other.
Oof now this was a book that held me captive till the very last page. Semi- fictional account of a young 14year old who went missing and no one even noticed or tried to find her. Monday and Claudia are best friends. When Claudia gets back from summer vacation in GA with her grandmama, her bff Monday is gone! She never responded to her letters over the summer.. and when Claudia calls incessantly- the number is disconnected. This starts her investigation of her friends whereabouts. This book is heartbreaking and only shows what happens to little black girls. They disappear and no one bats an eye. There are many tough subjects in this book- poverty, child abuse, pregnancy loss…
A Night Shymalan esque plot twist at the end was wow! .. sadly it did nothing alleviate my broken heart. There’s no happy ending here. Just a dive into what it friendship, community and family mean, and what they look like in action.
An especially poignant thought provoking quote was- “Who’s really responsible for your well-being? Your family? Your community or the government”
I do have to say- All the sadness aside, Ms. Jackson gave a delightful tour of SE DC and its surroundings, it was an ode to Gogo music, chicken wings and mumbo sauce and all the things that make the DMV dear to a lot of people’s hearts
Steph is obsessed with space and everything related to it. This is a chronicle of her life, hers and her mother and sisters escape from DV, her coming to terms with her queerness and just how much self sabotage she is capable of before her reckoning (and therapy). A wonderful exploration of the reality of being an Indegenous woman in America, living and trying to balance “assimilation” with remaining true to herself( all parts).
“The Sirens” is the sophomore book of Emilia Hart and I was so excited to read it after “Weyward”. Multiple POV’s and each POV is about 100 years apart. Somehow the stories became connected… Lucy sleep walks and woke up with her hands around her (ex) BF’s neck. Then she flees to a remote island to take refuge in her sisters Jess’s house. She arrives to find her sister is no where to be found. She then proceeds to investigate and find her sister. As she investigates- rumors about the little town started to come up- an abandoned baby in a cave, numerous missing men.. The other story line centers around 2 sisters Mary and Eliza who are passengers on a slave ship from Ireland to Australia. All 4 women appear to have this skin issue that causes them to develop scale like shiny things whenever water touched them. Yet they are all drawn to the water… as secrets unravel, the connection between the women, the town and their lives is clear
What a book. What a ride.
I want to say I love an older MC. And one who as formidable and cantankerous as Sybil van Antwerpen is even better. Sybil Van Antwerpen is 72 something and has always written letters. It is the way she makes sense of the world. Through these letters she deals with her life, secrets, deep unresolved pain and she also finds family, love and laughter. The audio version is a delight, with a cast full of narrators that really bring the book to life.
Annie Hartnett is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. Her combo of weird/border line dark humor with real life (hard) issues is a specific pleasure.
This is a story about Emma who has returned home to take care of her dying father with a mysterious illnesses causes him to hallucinate animals and the ghost of a long dead naturalist.
We learn of her brother’s addiction issues, her best friend who’s been missing for a while.. all while the ghosts of the local cemetery offer commentary on the lives of the living.
Hilarious and poignant story
Set in 1960’s London A hilarious mix of elder Jamaican immigrants. The mix of ornery, and hilarious characters made this mystery even better! Ms. Hortense is a retired nurse who observes and sees all things and is afraid of Noone which makes her the perfect detective! She was the head of this group (Pardner) which is an informal organization savings where everyone contributes and takes turns collecting. She has since been ostracized and now some 30 years later the death of a prominent member has brought Ms. Hortense back in the spotlight.
Secrets, lies, stolen identities keep you on your toes till the very last page
A confusing but interesting account of the life of a young woman -Catalina who finds herself stuck as an “illegal” immigrant. Brought to the US by her grand parents at 7, after the death of her parents in a car crash she finds that her reality is different from that of her rich white classmates in Harvard. This secret of hers is killing, and isolating her because she is unable to be vulnerable with friends and lovers. Her life is complicated in the way the life of children living astride 2 cultures often is. Some of her life decisions are self destructive and leave the reader wondering why. A short 3 star read.
I found the MC so incredibly frustrating. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to throttle her or if I wanted to drive her to a therapist’s office immediately. Maybe both! Jane is obsessed with the “story” that she’s not enough, not loveable and even when there are opposing ideas that prove the story wrong she refuses to see it. I believe we are all a little like Jane, and maybe that’s why it was so hard to read. Ms. Monaghan did do a fantastic job getting us inside the MC’s overthinking often anxiety ridden thoughts. And I appreciate her writing for that.
2.75 stars
A sweet, poignant story of grief and loss. Grace’s husband Tim has died from cancer and Henry’s wife Brynne die from a plane crash. They both are devastated and trying to live with the pain. It’s almost the 1st holiday season without their respective spouses. Their mothers introduce them to each other and with a back drop of holiday movies they both navigate the pain and complication of grief. A cast of precocious children, nosy but kind neighbors- the author navigates grief, sadness and manages to make us chuckle a few times. 3.5stars
What a delight this book was! MC is a 40 plus retired mom and Nakhuda (sea captain)/ pirate. She's cranky, foul mouthed with a wicked sense of humor and a bad knee. She's trying hard to be a devout muslim again her “career” and past be damned. I mean do you need more reasons to read it? Motherhood forced her into retirement until a woman pleads with her to go and find her “kidnapped” granddaughter. She's aware of her pirate/adventure past and promises her a huge pay. Amina needs the money so she sets off to find and reunite her old shipmates/friends/crew. Adventure ensues. There's some elements of the “para normal”, lots of sea creatures, demons and creatures. You root for Amina, her damned knee, her friends and her mom heart throughout the book and you won't want to put it down! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars
(LGBTQIA, and trans representation.)
What a beautiful, sad story! This book is very heavily character driven. While some pivotal events happened during the course of the story, the events were a way to understand the characters better. The story revolved around Four generations of black women, Evelyn, Charlotte, Corrine and Camille. We see all four of them deal with generation trauma, the inherited pain, and how it informed the decisions they made, the regrets, and what forgiveness actually means.
Ms. Johnson tackled the complexities of the mother daughter relationship so well, the decision and choice of whether or not to become a mother, what we owe our children and ourselves.. i thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and understand each woman. And my heart ached for each of them.
Wow! What a book! What a journey. What an important and complex story. The Vietnam war was senseless and devastating, and this book was a tender account of the pain and suffering of the Vietnam war veterans but especially the women. Don't let anyone tell you there weren't women in Vietnam! They have tried to erase them and their stories but alas! They persisted.
Kristin Hannah knows how to grab a hold of our hearts and not let go till well after the last word of the last page. Easiest 5 star ever!
This coming of age / coming into one's own story of a black muslim teenager was a good story to help inform one of what life for a black young hijabi is like. Fatima Tate is 17, loves to bake, and wants to go to culinary school but her mom insists on her going to Nursing school for the security it would provide. She is on the brink of adulthood when she meets this young Muslim brother Rahim who is incredibly charming. He turns out to be too good to be true, manipulative and blackmails her into getting married to him. (If anyone finds out she's been intimate with him before marriage, hers and her parent's reputation will be ruined).
it was incredibly hard for me not to project my own personal ideas of patriarchy and women being treated as property. I was frustrated more than half of the book, and while I think the end was wrapped up a little too tidy, it is understandable, and I would recommend it be added to TBR lists!