Sugar Street by Jonathan Dee
I read this book in half a day. I enjoyed the first third or so, then was increasingly frustrated with its lack of focus and definitely unsatisfied by the ending. This (unnamed) guy is on the run. That is interesting – you know, how would you even do that? Turns out it’s pretty difficult. He’s only using cash, has no ID, has fled his home, ditched his car, all of the things, in an effort to disappear. He ends up in an (unnamed) city, and […]
Hide by Kiersten White
Fourteen people participate in a mysterious competition for a chance to win a life-changing amount of money. The challenge: to hide in a decrepit amusement park, and not get found out. But what the hiders don’t know is the true nature of the seeker… One of the worst ‘hot takes’ I ever read on the Internet was a post positing that there must be a limited number of souls to go around to all the billions of people on Earth, and that most people must […]
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
My book group chose this book for January. The group tends to choose lighter reads for our first books of the year. Sleepwalker’s Guide fit the bill. Although it clocks in at almost 500 page it flowed quickly and was an easy read. Amina is a photographer living in Seattle when her mother. Kamala, calls from Albuquerque to tell her that her father has been speaking with dead relatives. Her father, Thomas, is a brain surgeon. Amina thinks her mother might be exaggerating about her […]
Secrets Typed In Blood by Stephen Spotswood
Hello howdy and hey y’all, it’s my first post ever! I love detective stories. I’ve got a brain that enjoys puzzles and being right, so it’s fun on top of fun. But I am also super picky and easily distracted or annoyed by most mysteries. I need a challenge but not something so convoluted it’s unsolvable. I don’t want anything too cozy or too grim, nothing with lots of graphic violence/mutilation/torture but a decent amount of action. I prefer women authors and characters, I like […]
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
When does a book become real? And for that matter, what is real? These questions run through Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness as the main character, Benny, fourteen years old, struggles with the death of his father, adolescence and the voices of inanimate objects that he cannot shut out. The story is told by Benny, and also a book. The book not only narrates Benny’s story, but talks with Benny directly, or talks directly to the reader pontificating on books, the art […]
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
3.75 stars Nuri and Afra are Syrian refugees trying to make their way to England, where Nuri’s cousin, who also fled Syria, awaits them. They’ve suffered a loss that’s left Afra blind and functionally paralyzed with grief. This grief is like a tangible thing Nuri has to negotiate while at the same time trying to persuade her to leave, and also to keep from her as much as possible the level of danger they’re in by staying. Their PTSD, despair, and loss of hope have […]
