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…

The Beekeeper of Aleppo

I have realized over the last few years that the fairly new Aspen Words Prize, focused exclusively on fiction with a social impact, is one of my favorite literary prizes. I am by no means an expert in literary prizes, but what I can say is that their long and short lists are wonderfully diverse…

The Nickel Boys

Knowing what this book was about, I was super nervous about reading it. I was afraid of the intensity of the content. But I still had it tentatively on my TBR, because I had read and really appreciated Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad when I read it a few years ago. (In fact, I event went…

The Island of Sea Women

Wow, was it hard to get my hands on this book! This was the book chosen as the April read for my remote (Google Hangout) book club. And even though we’ve read some new releases in the past, this is the first time I was afraid I wouldn't actually get the book in time (and,…

The Girl Who Smiled Beads

I was intrigued by the title of this book before I even knew what it was about. I wanted to know who the girl who smiled beads was and what it even meant to smile beads. After reading the description, I realized it was completely different than what I was expecting (though I am not…

The Map of Salt and Stars

Joining in for my third @words.between.worlds monthly book (this being their December choice). After three amazing reads (Speak No Evil and Fruit of the Drunken Tree being the last two), it’s pretty safe for me to say that, even if I can’t join on the correct month, I’ll be adding all their choices to my…