A Girl Is a Body of Water

My 11th Aspen Words Literary Prize 2021 longlist read! I actually have had an earlier novel by Makumbi, Kintu, on my TBR for years. Having read this one first, due to my personal longlist challenge, I have to say that I am blown away by Makumbi’s work and am now planning to pick that one…

The Vanishing Half

I read The Mothers a few years ago and generally enjoyed and was impressed by the debut. Bennett did a wonderful job writing real, flawed, “regular people” characters in a genuine and interesting way. So, I definitely knew that I’d look into whatever she wrote next. And then The Vanishing Half came out this past…

Against the Loveless World

This is the 8th book from the Aspen Words Literary Prize 2021 longlist that I have read (halfway through the list!)…and I am pretty sure it’s going to make it onto my shortlist prediction. Because holy *deep breath* this is a powerhouse of a novel. Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa “I indulge an…

The Night Watchman

My 6th Aspen Words 2021 longlist read! I feel like it’s gonna be cutting it close to get this whole longlist read, but I am doing my best. This is my third novel by Erdrich. I read The Round House before joining starting this blog, years ago now, so I don’t have an official review…

The Yield

I made myself a goal for this year to be better about keeping track of which reviewers bring books to my attention/convince me to pick them up, so that I can give credit where it’s due in my reviews. Unfortunately, this book was put on my radar prior to that goal. So, I cannot properly…

Shuggie Bain

I spent months watching @dsweet_library hype this book up. I am not sure I’ve ever seen a reader go so hard for a novel before. It was awesome. So anyways, of course I added it to my TBR. Since then, it also won the 2020 Booker and was a National Book Award Finalist, so other,…

Hamnet

This book was not really on my TBR, to be honest. I had it on my radar, but just didn't think I was going to be feeling it...really ever. But a few things happened in conjunction that basically made me feel like I was going to have to give it a try. First, and mostly the…

We Ride Upon Sticks

You know that feeling when you see a book and the cover just calls to you, and then you read the description and you just know it’s a book you have to read? Maybe? Well, that’s what happened here for me. And that’s really all the intro I have. We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan…

Emma

Although I was one of those awesome nerds in high school that loved Jane Austen and truly read all the books by her we were assigned, I am not sure that I have actually picked up an original from her since then. I have both read and watched many adaptations and retellings (some repeatedly…2005 Pride…

The Mountains Sing

As soon as I heard about this one, I added it to my TBR: an intergenerational saga of a family living through the incredibly turbulent recent history of Vietnam, told by an author inspired by her own family’s stories. Plus, that cover is just straight up gorgeous. The library waitlist was long (which is great…