Let me start by saying this is an AMAZING book, successfully jumping timelines and generations in two families from Flint, Michigan and portraying the history of the city in an engaging, emotionally meaningful and factual way. I'm one of those people who paid attention to Flint, Michigan pretty much since I saw Roger and Me … Continue reading Chevy in the Hole – Kelsey Ronan
Category: Book Reviews
On A Night of a Thousand Stars – Andrea Yaryura Clark
On a Night of a Thousand Stars takes place in 1976 and 1998. In 1976, Santiago Lerea is a law student from a prosperous family in Argentina. In 1998, he and his wife Lila live very well in the United States with a house in the Hamptons and an apartment in Manhattan. Thye have one … Continue reading On A Night of a Thousand Stars – Andrea Yaryura Clark
Last Dance on the Starlight Pier – Sarah Bird
Evie Grace Devlin was only five when her father died and her mother put her to work as the breadwinner. He was a phenomenal dancer on the vaudeville circuit and her memories are warm and joyous, except for those in the hospital where the nurses set up a cot because Mamie didn't visit. Mamie will … Continue reading Last Dance on the Starlight Pier – Sarah Bird
The Postcard from Italy – Angela Petch
The Postcard from Italy is part WWII story, part a love note to Southern Italy, part family dysfunction, part romance, part mystery, part a foodie's dream and thoroughly enjoyable. I requested to read it through NetGalley because my father served in Italy in WWII, returning home in May 1946. He was stationed fairly close to … Continue reading The Postcard from Italy – Angela Petch
The White Girl – Tony Birch
Odette Brown is raising her granddaughter, Sissy in a small, rural Australian town that has lost many of its Aboriginal residents. It is sometime in the 1960s. Sissy turns 13 early in this story, receiving her first bike as a gift, cobbled together by Henry, the white guy at the junkyard who had some intellectual … Continue reading The White Girl – Tony Birch
Four Treasures of the Sky – Jenny Tinghui Zhang (Audio)
This is a powerful, enlightening, thoughtful, beautifully written -- and devastating story. The audio version was worth the time, with an extraordinarily talented narrator, Katharine Chin. Audio is particularly valuable when as here, the writing is exquisite. But, since I have no writing to reference, I may get some details wrong. Sometime in the late … Continue reading Four Treasures of the Sky – Jenny Tinghui Zhang (Audio)
Things Past Telling – Sheila Williams
Danger, love and safety are lost and found repeatedly in this fictional autobiography that opens in 1870 with the census taker filling out his form. An old Black woman sits at her home in Ohio. Is she 112? It makes no difference, She is at least 90. Her name in this world is Maryam Priscilla … Continue reading Things Past Telling – Sheila Williams
The Last Nightingale – Anthony Flacco
The Last Nightingale is a 12 year old boy, Shane, adopted by the Nightingale family from a home for orphans and delinquents run by a less than honorable Friar and his helpers. The novel opens in 1906 as the Great Earthquake devastates San Francisco. Shane is shut up in the pantry while a crazy man … Continue reading The Last Nightingale – Anthony Flacco
Murder at the Porte de Versailles – Cara Black
I was fortunate enough to discover Clara Black's Aimee Leduc series with the first installment, "Murder in the Marais," and I have purchased and read every one since, at the moment it was published. In this instance, thanks to NetGalley, I read the twentieth book in the series ahead of the publication date and it … Continue reading Murder at the Porte de Versailles – Cara Black
Deacon King Kong – James McBride (audible)
Deacon King Kong is a funny, tragic, sweet, ugly, pulls no punches but finds good in the world around every corner book. It is McBride's meticulous attention to the humanity, humor, danger, ambivalence and values (good and bad) of every single character that fills Deacon King Kong with heart and humor. Because, while its subjects … Continue reading Deacon King Kong – James McBride (audible)
They Called me Bookworm 