Reviews with TLC

Fires to Come by Asha Lemmie packs a lot in a few pages. A story of belonging, family, and power that feels like it's going one direction and then pivots in a way that is both surprising and makes perfect sense. Lemmie creates complex but real characters that are both likeable and unlikeable, often at the same time.  Fires to Come explores the life of Carlotta, a Black baby adopted by an Italian family in the early twentieth century who never quite feels like she fits in even when she goes to Harlem trying to figure out her place in the world. As Carlotta seeks to fit in, she makes choices to protect herself that sometimes feel misguided but understandable. Fires to Come is a well-written, intriguing story about choices made and the consequences of those choices. Currently Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass   by Robin Wall Kimmerer Larger Than Life  by Jodi Picoult The Bad Friend  by Carolline Kepne Harlem by Eric Jerome Dickey Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for

Natural Selection: A Short Story by Elin Hilderbrand made me smile in spite of myself. While parts of the plot were fairly predictable, the element of self-discovery felt interesting enough to overcome that predictability. Some characters' choices were a bit hard to really embrace at various points in the story, but still served the story. The examination of relationships that plays out throughout the story with the backdrop of a trip to explore nature feels like an exercise in natural selection itself. I enjoyed Natural Selection more than I expected to because the cast of characters and the descriptions of the settings were intriguing and beautiful in their own ways. Currently Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass   by Robin Wall Kimmerer Fires to Come  by Asha Lemmie Larger Than Life  by Jodi Picoult The Bad Friend by Carolline Kepne Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights   by Omar Barghouti The Butterfly's Burden  by Mahmoud Darwish Disclosure:

How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good by Steve Phillips is a fascinating take on the current political landscape of the United States. Phillips tracks and explains how the Confederacy has morphed over time in the United States. How We Win the Civil War draws a direct line between the Civil War and modern day White Supremacy ideas. There are moments in the early chapters that feel hopeless yet were intriguing enough to keep me interested. I nodded along at times, felt skeptical at other times, and learned a bit along the way. In the second part of the How We Win the Civil War , Phillips examines various movements in several states aimed at civic engagement and voting as well as encouraging people to run for office that the people can feel excited about. Phillips demonstrates how these organizations strategize to achieve their goals. How We Win the Civil War takes a realistic yet hopeful approach to creating a more inclusive and

Mother Country by Etaf Rum pulled me in quickly and held on. Rum creates a short story filled with characters that are at once relatable and unique proving once again that people have more in common than not. The clash between expectations and the desire for something different that threads throughout Mother Country transcends the exploration of cultural differences landing in the heart of anyone who has ever wanted a future different than the one they grew up expected to live. Rum tells the story in a way that feels like sitting down with a friend to hear what's happening in their life.  Mother Country explores not only motherhood but daughterhood and the desire to escape not only tradition but generational trauma while also exploring what it takes to find understanding and compassion in the journey to embrace the truth of who one is. Currently Reading: How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips Braiding Swe

The Bookstore Wedding: A Short Story by Alice Hoffman continues the story of two sisters who had been estranged and are rebuilding their relationship while also honoring their parents and the bookstore they inherited. While one sister is planning her wedding to her rekindled love yet again, the other sister gets sick causing the wedding to be postponed once again. The Bookstore Wedding is filled with familial love and the kind of supportive community many crave these days. As some things came together and other things fell apart, I often found it difficult to understand the decisions the sisters or the community made but somehow that only added to the appealability. Hoffman provides characters that are at once complex and simple in a way that makes them more approachable. The Bookstore Wedding is a sweet story of endurance and connection. Currently Reading: How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips Mother Countr

They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri demonstrates the resilience of not only Ahed Tamimi but her family, her community, and the Palestinian community as a whole. Her story resonates on a deep level demonstrating how the political is personal in an approachable and engaging way. Written in first person, They Called Me a Lioness often brought me fully into the moment and left me feeling voyeuristic all at once. Tamimi and Takruri plant Tamimi's struggle in middle of the larger struggle with a seamlessness that reminds the reader that her story is both unique and all too common. The overarching story is one that brings to light the way humans are programmed to condemn or praise an action depending on who we are taught is worthy and who is unworthy. They Called Me a Lioness is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story of resilience as well as a call to action to the world. Currently Reading: How We Win the Civil War: Secur

A Night at the Tropicana: A Short Story by Chanel Cleeton is a beautiful story of love lost to fulfill family expectations that leaves a mark on those who feel it. Family expectations and ambition get in the way of a love that feels magical in its beginning but gets sidelined by a parent's interference before it even has a chance to really begin. Years later a recreation of the event at a different place brings back the memories of that first taste of love. The romance of the evening paired with the romance of young love juxtaposed against a fundraiser capitalizing on the idea of that evening felt apropos to the world we live in yet the nostalgia threading through the memories also managed to impart an unexpected hopefulness. A Night at the Tropicana pulled me in and had me hoping for a magical ending... Currently Reading: How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl&

Time After Time (The Donnelly Cabin Inn Book 5) by Joanne Pence continues the story of the Donnelly Cabin and its connection to helping people find love. I've been surprised by the way the expansion of this trilogy into a series has felt like welcoming back a friend each time I read one even though it always centers around new characters. Pence puts characters who seemingly should have no reason to even like each other in positions where the reader cheers for their connection to grow. I was surprised by the way Pence incorporated the use of the song in this one, but it worked. As the characters in the book fight against their internal demons and question the ghostly things that seem to be pushing them together, there's never any doubt of their feelings for each other only whether those feelings are as important as the lives they lead individually. Time after Time explores the other side of the Donnelly family origins in an intriguing, inviting way that made me realize I wanted

Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming by Stefanie Briar delivers on its promise to explore heart both breaking and blooming. I'm rarely seduced by an interesting cover, but the cover of Iron & Velvet really spoke to me. Briar's poetry explores heartache and loss as well as the journey to mending hearts and growing from the experience. Several of the poems in Iron & Velvet reminded me of heartbreaks as well as moments of healing I've experienced. Briar's style is accessible, relatable, and encompassing. Iron & Velvet holds within it compassion, strength, and vulnerability in poems that delight the senses and at times almost feel like a comforting hug. Currently Reading: How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom  by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri Time after Time: The Donnelly Cabin Inn Series  by Jo

Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story by Isabel Allende is a story of love at first sight that reads like a fantasy that never feels quite real and yet immerses the reader in the dream of the moment. It's a story that felt like it floated off the page and into my imagination intriguing me but never quite taking root. Allende creates two characters in Bibiña Aranda and Indar Zubieta that I alternately felt the need to protect, chastise, and cheer for. Lovers in the Museum drifts along feeling risqué and almost chaste at the same time. Currently Reading: Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming  by Stefanie Briar How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom  by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri Time after Time: The Donnelly Cabin Inn Series  by Joanne Pence The Butterfly's Burden  by Mahmoud Darwish Disclosure: This blog contains a

Cut &Thirst by Margaret Atwood is a short story about a group of friends plotting revenge for another friend's mistreatment years before. As retired women, they've decided it's time to seek this revenge before it's too late and talk about ways to do it ranging from murder to practical jokes over drinks and cheese in ways that leave the reader wondering if they're just fantasizing. As usual Atwood delivers a story that makes the reader think by having nothing be quite as it seems in the beginning. Cut & Thirst leans into the idea that lives change and people change over the course of their lives even though some can very much get stuck in a moment that forever changes them and their life. Currently Reading: Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming  by Stefanie Briar How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Fr

Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History by Nur Masalha delves into the variations of the name of Palestine as well as the history of the peoples who have inhabited the land for the past four thousand years. Masalha explains the reasons the names have slight variations over time, mostly linguistic variations of the same name. He illustrates how the culture has changed over the years as well as traditions that have survived. Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History details the importance of the ports and the land for trade among myriad countries. Masalha also delves the importance of farming to Palestine over the past four thousand years. He really focuses on how the name of Palestine and the people have survived over the past four thousand years. He demonstrates how multi-cultural Palestine was for centuries as well as how myriad religions survived in land with the peoples of those religions interacting peacefully, building community, and living as friends and neighbors. While at time

The Shivering by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a well-written short story that reminded me of how I reacted to lost relationships earlier in my life enough to create a mild level of discomfort with Ukamaka's oblivious obsession with her ex while not fully seeing Chinedu after his offer of friendship. Adichie writes about human interactions with an ease that feels universal yet somehow also very specific. There's an undercurrent of religious ideology that works in the story but also feels a bit strange somehow. Overall, The Shivering is worth reading with its insights into how people's assumptions and expectations influence their interactions with one another. Currently Reading: Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming  by Stefanie Briar Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History  by Nur Masalha How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good  by Steve Phillips Cut and Thirst: A Short Story  by Margaret Atwood The

Two Women Walk into a Bar by Cheryl Strayed offers insight into how relationships are affected by assumptions and lack of communication. Strayed plays with these real-life interactions in touching ways that are both relatable and read like fiction. The story she tells of her relationship with her mother-in-law framed by her mother-in-law's final days will remind anyone who has had challenging family relationships that everyone has histories they bring to the story that are not necessarily as clear as they could be. The stories we don't tell can be every bit as important as the stories we do tell, and often are more important to defining our complexities as demonstrated in Two Women Walk into a Bar . Strayed has shared her vulnerable moments in life throughout her literary career in ways that make the reader feel less alone. Two Women Walk into a Bar does that once again. Currently Reading: Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming  by Stefanie Briar Palestine

Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Y. Davis is a powerful reminder to anyone who cares about society that we are all interconnected no matter how some people wish we weren't. The interview with Davis in the beginning of the book was interesting and thought provoking. The speeches that make up the rest of the book inspired me to keep looking forward in the fight for justice, equality, and true liberation around the world while never forgetting the history that brought us to this point. Davis consistently demonstrates how the struggle for freedom is ongoing but worth the effort.  Freedom is a Constant Struggle reminded me that history books might be written by the victor but history is what actually happened not what's in the books and that history has consequences as do the actions we choose every day. Currently Reading: Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming  by Stefanie Briar Palestine: A Four

Six O'clock Silence: An Inspector Rebecca Mayfield Mystery by Joanne Pence delivers an easy to read, fun mystery laced with romance and family always with an edge of danger. In Six O'clock Silence , we get a glimpse into Shay's past in a way that both challenges the reader perception of him and yet makes perfect sense. I'm interested to see where the change in Shay's life will lead. The underlying mystery and the upfront mystery dance together well in Six O'clock Silence because they both affect so many of the main characters exposing long held secrets. The insight into Rebecca's acceptance, understanding, and compassion about Richie's past love juxtaposed by his undercurrent of insecurity is refreshing and unexpected. I enjoyed Six O'clock Silence even though I've not really been in the mood to read mysteries lately. Currently Reading: Freedom is a Constant Struggle  by Angela Davis Iron & Velvet: poetry for hearts breaking and blooming  

The January 6th Report: Findings from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol by The January 6 Select Committee is an interesting read based on the findings of the investigation into the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to interfere with Congress doing its job of certifying the 2020 election. It is sometimes a bit dry and legalistic , but it attempts to create a record that is accessible for people to understand the findings and facts discovered through the Select Committee's investigation . There are a lot of footnotes detailing where the evidence originated for the findings the Committee made. The book would be much shorter without the extensive documentation in the footnotes, but those footnotes are important. There is some repetition, but that repetition was necessary because various acts and words spoken applied to different aspects of the attack and what lead up to it.  I found The January 6th Report a worthwhil

A Week in Summer by Maeve Binchy is a sweet short story filled with reminders that life and love are rarely as simple as we'd like. People are complex and relating to one another isn't always as easy as we'd like. Yet, there can be moments that change everything often seeming serendipitous. Binchy writes characters in relatable dilemmas that feel like they could be real sometimes with an interesting twist that changes the perspective of both the characters and the reader. A Week in Summer  exposes a couple who seem to have drifted apart and fallen into a bit of a rut in their routine to a new way of looking at not only the world but their relationship in the process. Binchy's development of the couple in the story and the connection to the past that showed them the possibility for a future made me think about life and the connections in my own life. A Week in Summer explores the complexities and the simplicities of life and relationships in what is far more than the v

The Beautiful Little Things by Melissa Hill pulled me in gently but firmly. The characters felt almost too real at every turn. The breakdowns in communications and the assumptions made about each other and situations felt all too familiar. I cheered them on, shook my head at bad decisions, and urged them to just talk to each other. Hill creates the kind of family drama and tension that often accompanies big changes in life with a nuance that felt voyeuristic at times. The Beautiful Little Things tells the story of a family navigating love, relationships, disappointment, guilt, and most of all, grief. As the family tries to navigate through unspoken resentments and unfair assumptions about one another, they are also navigating grief over their beloved matriarch and their perceptions of her perfection leading them to lash out and create havoc for all even while using her last journal as a guide to find their way back to each other. The Beautiful Little Things is all about navigating th

Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha is an immersive, honest, and intense book of poetry. By the time I finished it I needed to remind myself that poetry, even when based on one's life experiences, is only a snapshot of the moments it details not a memoir. This was another book of poetry that while short took me a long time to read because I wanted to think about and feel each poem after reading it. T hings You May Find Hidden in My Ear reveals gems of language, nuance, and beauty even while detailing atrocities, personal pain, and loss in the larger picture of living. Abu Toha's poems constantly reminded me that while we have many differences in our lives across the world, we share the experience of being human. Abu Toha ends the book with a particularly impactful poem that speaks to both resilience and hopefulness. While laced with the realities of living under occupation, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear imparts an unexpected hopefulness. Currently R

A Gift of Fire: The Light-Bringer Series by Stephanie Stamm, the third and, apparently final, book in Stamm's trilogy picks up where A Gift of Shadow left off. This trilogy pulled me in and refused to let go even when I questioned the characters choices. I initially felt uncertain about how some of the relationships changes throughout the trilogy, but by A Gift of Fire , I was fully on board and cheering on the relationships as they developed. Lucky, her friends, and her family find connection, lose connection, and fight to rediscover their connection as they battle forces bent on destroying all the worlds in existence. I really enjoyed the play on expectations with good, evil, light, and darkness repeatedly proving that life is far more complicated and nuanced than we often see. The choices the characters, especially Lucky, faced about choosing how to use their powers made my heart pound and left me a little bit more aware of the potential consequences of the choices I make. Sta