The heroine of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, Noemí, is a modern woman, as eager to drive her shiny new convertible to a party as she is to enroll in a Master’s program in anthropology. Her interests are broad, her charm indefatigable. She enjoys her glamorous life to the full, which is why she’s initially put …
Flyaway is exquisite, exquisite, exquisite. Saying it once is not enough. And not just for emphasis: I’m hoping I can invoke even a fraction of the magic contained within Kathleen Jenning’s masterful little book. Bettina lives with her mother in sleepy serenity, venturing out from her just-so home and her fragrant garden only when necessary. …
Hopefully you are already reading Ta-Nahesi Coates, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Ibrahim X. Kendi. Obviously if you like SFF you should read Toni Morrison*, Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin, and Samuel Delany. But to round out your reading here are other Black voices you can embrace and support in your reading of YA and SFF. *No …
I don’t really go in for short story collections and I don’t really like the original Alice or her twee wonderland. But ah, Christina Henry is such a master that I forget all about that when I read her work. These stories are interconnected novelettes, complex and complete unto themselves, but even better when taken …
If you’re struggling to find ways to contribute during the pandemic, a small way you can help several communities at once is to buy books by Asian or Asian American authors from your local independent bookstore. Debut authors especially, but really anyone with a book out recently is hurting. Small retailers are hurting. And the …
Like many people during this pandemic, I’ve been in a bit of a reading funk. A bit of a doing-anything-at-all funk, if I’m being honest. I lose interest in things quickly, if I do them at all. I can’t read more than a few pages. I do the dishes in stages. Heck, I got up …
If you want an engrossing book or two that will help you enforce social distancing and keep you inside for as long as possible, consider these long series or massive tomes (or, in a few instances, both) that don’t have anything to do with pandemics. Priory of the Orange Tree (Samantha Shannon) – This extra-large …
If you want to lean into the trend, here are fifteen books about pandemics that can hopefully take some of the stress out of distancing, quarantine, or just the general anxiety of being alive in these “interesting” times. The Stand (Stephen King) – A superflu kills 99.4% of the world population, and that’s just the …
Note: I don’t think it’s possible to give this book a proper review without at least some spoilers, but since there are several dramatic reveals and—I hesitate to call them “twists” since they’re not at all gimmicky like so many twists are these days—please be forewarned. For people who prefer no spoilers at all, know …
Forrest Leo’s The Gentleman is a silly book. It knows it is. It exults in absurdity, delights in mishap, and does an absolute jig around the plot. And why not? We need some silliness right now. Lionel Savage is anything but. More fraidy-cat than king of the jungle and more shy than savage, he’s a …