Marc Petitjean — The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris (Book Review)
Marc Petitjean separates fact from family legend in his biography, The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris. He explores the veracity of the family stories about his father’s affair with Kahlo in 1939. She gave the elder Petitjean, Michel, a painting she titled The Heart as a...Rachel Krantz — Open (Book Review)
The upcoming memoir from Rachel Krantz, Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy is raw and sometimes raunchy. It’s also a tale about control and gaslighting in relationships. As the memoir opens, Krantz is a twenty-something writer who doesn’t...Bakari Sellers — My Vanishing Country (Book Review)
Bakari Sellers addresses a few themes in his memoir, My Vanishing Country. Primarily, he talks about being a young black man in rural South Carolina. But his family is also intricately tied to the Civil Rights movement, so this connection influences him daily. He also...The Hungry Tide — Amitav Ghosh (Book Review)
Author Amitav Ghosh introduced me to both the Sundarban Islands and Irrawaddy dolphins. The islands are at the easternmost part of India and continue into Bangladesh. I first discovered Ghosh’s unique style of environmentally conscious fiction in Gun Island. That book...Secret Santa — Andrew Shaffer (Book Review)
Secret Santa is a creepy horror novella from Andrew Shaffer. His Obama Biden mysteries are enjoyable, so I picked this up during the year. Of course, the best time to read a Christmas-themed book is December. My only regret is getting the review posted after the...Diana Gabaldon — Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Book Review)
Diana Gabaldon takes on the politics and harsh realities of the Revolutionary War in her newest Outlander book, Go Tell the Bees that I Am Gone. Of course, it still focuses on the time-traveling family of Claire and Jamie Fraser. But the story’s intensity centers on...Andy Weir — Project Hail Mary (Book Review)
Andy Weir creates a science fiction masterwork in Project Hail Mary. It deserves to be on every “Best of 2021” list, particularly the audiobook lists. There’s copious science within this adventure story among the stars of a distant galaxy. And also considerably more...Wendy Pearlman — We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled (Book Review)
Wendy Pearlman gathers an oral history in We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria. This focuses on the time period around Arab Spring when in 2011 the Syrian people rose up and protested. As a result, many individuals and families suffered greatly. And...Hyeonseo Lee — The Girl with Seven Names (Book Review)
Hyeonseo Lee tells her harrowing story in The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story. Growing up in the Northern region of her country, the Chinese border was quite close. Her mother had connections there, and her father had some family. One day, Lee...Rebecca Whitehead Munn — All of Us Warriors (Book Review)
Cancer touched the life of Rebecca Whitehead Munn at an early age. Together with a wide circle of cancer patients and family members, she created All of Us Warriors: Cancer Stories of Survival and Loss. As often happens with cancer and other illnesses, this group of...The Warmth of Other Suns — Isabel Wilkerson (Book Review)
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration is Isabel Wilkerson’s first tour de force, published in 2010. Her second is Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which I reviewed earlier this year. Reading them in reverse order didn’t change the...David Sedaris — The Best of Me (Book Review)
David Sedaris is a new author for me, and his 2020 compilation, The Best of Me, was the perfect place to start. He introduced me to his family, his outlook on life, his writing style, and the general ethos of his audience. And yes, I laughed plenty. A few tears fell...Azedah Moaveni — Lipstick Jihad (Book Review)
Azedah Moaveni writes part memoir and part political discussion in her 2005 book, Lipstick Jihad: Growing Up Iranian in America and American in Iran. Although the events in this book are over 20 years old, as I read it in 2021 the topics and issues felt relevant....Just River — Sara B. Fraser (Book Review)
Just River by Sara B. Fraser is a novel about hopeless people in Wattsville, a small upstate New York town. Once a place with a booming factory, it’s now slower and sadder. It’s the kind of town people leave as soon as they can. And yet, Carol raised her daughter...Vanguard — Martha S. Jones (Book Review)
Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All by Martha S. Jones made me rethink Black women’s activism. Most importantly, that activism started a full century sooner than I realized. And it happened through four primary...Bookshop.Org Affiliate
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