Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ This is an amazingly well written book with deeply flawed characters who are in turn both understandable and detestable. My opinions on the characters changed so much over the course of the novel. It stars out when Yejide finds out her husband Akin has–against her wishes–taken a second wife. …
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Oct 31
Book Review: Small Great Things
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult The cover says this is Picoult’s most important book. As Handle With Care was a book about raising a disabled child, this book could be titled “A White Person’s Guide to Racism.” Picoult is a very accessible author;. Reading her is like reading the novel equivalent of a mainstream …
Oct 24
Book Review: Educated
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover This is a memoir of what I call the “my childhood was worse than your childhood” sub-genre. In fact, I would say that it’s a standout in this sub-genre, although “worst childhood” is not a contest anyone really wants to enter, much less win. It’s a good book, well-written …
Oct 18
Book Review: The Leavers
The Leavers by Lisa Ko This was a book club selection about a story that encompasses what for many of us would be the ultimate nightmare. What if your only parent abandoned you? What if you lost your beloved child? It concerns Deming and Polly Guo, sometime residents of China and New York and about …
Oct 17
Book Review: Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost Stuff fascinates me. Why do we accumulate stuff, what is our relationship to it, and why can our relationship get to the pathological stage? I’m a child of people who are, well, if not hoarders, certainly on the spectrum of that, and I …