Liz Moore — Long Bright River: A Mystery About Mothering and Addiction (Book Review)
Liz Moore writes a tribute to unconventional motherhood in her 2020 novel Long Bright River. Or maybe my mind is just on that topic with the recent Mothers’ Day holiday. Either way, the story here centers around two sisters, Kacey and Michaela (Mickey) Fitzpatrick....Angela Howard: Sin Child — A Harrowing Memoir (Book Review)
Angela Howard is a brave woman. Her memoir, Sin Child, shows that she achieved this character trait because she survived. Oh my, what she survived. And in the process, she clearly developed some serious internal strength. Nobody could beat it out of her, though God...Caroline Criado Perez: Invisible Women — Exposing Patriarchy (Book Review)
Caroline Criado Perez covers extensive ground in Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. Because the world offers her illustrations galore of how we exclude women from data. Then she turns around and explains what this means in everyday women’s lives....Isabel Wilkerson: Caste (Book Review) — A Racial Justice Must Read
Isabel Wilkerson writes about devastating history in Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. It’s long, intense, and absolutely necessary to read. Thinking of the social and societal issues around race as based in a complicated caste system makes perfect sense. And...Liese O’Halloran Schwarz: What Could Be Saved—A Genre Spanning Story (Book Review)
Liese O’Halloran Schwarz crafts a family drama / mystery in What Could Be Saved. It’s set in current day Washington, D.C. as well as early 1970s Bangkok, Thailand. The Preston family—parents Genevieve and Robert and siblings Bea, Laura, and Phillip—go to Bangkok for...Anne Applebaum: Twilight of Democracy (Book Review)
Anne Applebaum isn’t an author I’d normally read. But, on the recommendation of a friend, I picked up her book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism from the library. It’s short but presents a variety of anti-democratic and authoritarian...Sarah M. Broom: The Yellow House (Book Review)
Sarah M. Broom creates a tour de force memoir in The Yellow House. And truthfully, it’s so much more. It’s about her family, her childhood, and the house she grew up in. But it’s also about her home city, New Orleans, including the politics, the racial divide, and the...Jojo Moyes: The Giver of Stars (Book Review)
I think of Jojo Moyes as a contemporary fiction author. So, The Giver of Stars surprised me since it’s solidly historical fiction. Of course, she does tell it through the eyes of a modern woman. The women at the heart of this book grapple with the same things we do...Richelle Mead: Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid #1)—Book Review
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead was a straight-up palate cleanser choice for me. You know, those books that don’t require much thought. I sped through the audiobook, partly because it’s shorter and partly because I enjoyed the story. Fantasy books often work like this...Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian (Book Review)
Chris Bohjalian’s new book, Hour of the Witch, is proof to me that even a beloved author sometimes writes a book that feels like a dud. Your mileage may vary, but despite having elements I usually love, this book just didn’t do it for me. I love journeying back in...Amy Stanley — Travel to 1800s Japan in Stranger in the Shogun’s City (Book Review)
Amy Stanley is a professor and social historian who specializes in early modern Japan. In her 2020 book, Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and Her World, Stanley explores the story of a rebellious woman in a strict time. Her subject is Tsuneno, the...Julie Wu — The Third Son: Coming-of-Age in 1950s Taiwan (Book Review)
As a first-time author, Julie Wu draws on family history in her historical fiction novel, The Third Son. Set initially in 1940s Japanese-occupied Taiwan, it follows the life of Saburo. He’s not a favored son. In fact, his mother only occasionally deigns to give him...The Glass Palace — Historical Fiction from Amitav Ghosh (Book Review)
Amitav Ghosh creates a compelling multi-generational narrative in his historical fiction, The Glass Palace. As the book opens, Rajkumar is an 11-year-old boy from India stranded in Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar). He finds himself in King Thibaw’s Glass Palace in 1885...Charles Person — Buses Are a Comin’: Memoir of a Freedom Rider (Book Review)
Charles Person was the youngest person on the 1961 Freedom Ride. He was younger even than the legendary John Lewis, who went on to represent an Atlanta area district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now, Person tells his story in Buses Are a Comin’: Memoir of a...Lauren Willig — The English Wife: Tedious Historical Mystery (Book Review)
Author Lauren Willig just didn’t deliver what I hoped for in The English Wife. It’s historical fiction and mystery, set in The Gilded Age of New York City, Newport, Rhode Island and country houses. The Van Duyvil family is “old money,” having come to America from...Bookshop.Org Affiliate
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