At 153 pages, one can get through The Ballad of Black Tom in an afternoon, but the issues that author Victor LaValle raises will stay with you long beyond that. This is a fantasy/horror novella set in 1924 New York City. The main characters are in touch with the mystical realm, but their interests in it will lead to horrors beyond imagination. There will be monsters, and some are of their own making. Though set in the ‘20s, LaValle’s story is a brilliant commentary on […]
The Banality of Racism
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
Citizen: An American Lyric (2014) was a finalist for the National Book Award for poetry, the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry, and winner of many other literary prizes. It is a series of reflections written as poetry on racism in its many forms, from childhood through adulthood, from everyday personal experiences to those that make national news. Rankine, with precise and evocative language, provides a series of images with words that demonstrate the relentlessness and predictability of racism in America […]
Are you a good monster or a bad monster?
This incredible graphic novel is Emil Ferris’ first but not, thank goodness, her last. Volume 2 is due out next March and I’ve already pre-ordered my copy. My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a graphic novel that deals with intense issues and features stunning artwork. Set in 1960s Chicago, the novel involves contemporary events, an illness, child abandonment and abuse, a murder with possible connections to Nazi Germany, and an abiding love of fine art and monsters. The fact that it is narrated by a […]
A last year’s book revisited, with splendid results
The Chancellor has chosen Louise Erdrich’s LaRose for his September book club pick, and I was really excited. I read it for CBR8 last year, and I gave it a solid 4.5 stars. I was still on a readers’ high from The Round-House, which colored my judgment of LaRose. The beauty of a re-read is that you can really dig into major themes and ideas, because you know how the book already ends. Since I reviewed this book last year, I won’t reiterate the plot […]
The Romance/Murder Mystery/Thriller/Ghost Story You’ve Been Looking For!
The Ghost Bride is a great summer read which I thoroughly enjoyed and raced through in no time. I picked it up based on a list of recommended fantasy reads that are one-off’s and not part of a multi-volume series. This novel was so good, I now wish it was part of a series (and it seems to me, based on the ending, that it could become one). I came for the fantasy/ghost aspect and its historical overtones, but the romance part of it was […]
Constant Craving
This novel was translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes and was the winner of an English Pen Translates award This is Women In Translation month #WIT Umami is a novel about loss, grief and craving told from 5 narrative points of view over 5 years. From the beginning we know certain facts: Ana is planting a milpa or garden instead of going to camp; it is the third anniversary of the drowning death of her little sister Luz; Pina’s mother, who had been absent for […]
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