Sankofa – Chibundu Onuzo

Sankofa was released in the U.S. last week and it’s already receiving a lot of well-deserved attention. This story follows a woman from London to Africa as she tries to reconnect with her heritage and a father that she never knew. Author Chibundu Onuzo has written a story that captures the complexity and mixture ofContinue reading “Sankofa – Chibundu Onuzo”

Windswept – Annabel Abbs

Author Annabel Abbs studies and retraces the paths of several trailblazing women throughout history in her book Windswept: On The Path of Trailblazing Women. Abbs achieves a level of detail in retelling each of these accounts that provides familiarity with these historic women without recreating their entire individual biographies. We learn of the important contributionsContinue reading “Windswept – Annabel Abbs”

Bolla – Pajtim Statovic

Bolla by Pajtim Statovci explores themes of love, lust, betrayal, selfishness, and memory in a completely original and unique story. Statovci blends, bends, then breaks myth, legend, and law in ways rarely represented in modern literature. In the tradition of Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, or more recently John Boyne’s Maurice Swift, the reader witnesses love, betrayal,Continue reading “Bolla – Pajtim Statovic”

The Dead are Arising – Les Payne and Tamara Payne

The Dead are Arising – Les Payne + Tamara Payne; Winner of the National Book Award for non-fiction. X Arising gives a comprehensive view of the life of a dynamic, driven, divisive historical figure – Malcolm X. The book tells a story that spans from before Malcolm Little was born to immediately after his death.Continue reading “The Dead are Arising – Les Payne and Tamara Payne”

The Northern Reach – W.S. Winslow

I received an advance copy of The Northern Reach from @flatiron_books And I loved it! Author W.S. Winslow shares a series of stories set in coastal Maine and spanning about a century. This collection portrays several memorable characters and their love, loss, courage, and failures. The writing is rich and wonderful. Several passages seemed toContinue reading “The Northern Reach – W.S. Winslow”

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck I might be the last person to have read this novella. At just over 100 pages in this edition, this relatively simple story really packs a punch. X Lenny and George are hired on as laborers on a farm in California around the time of the Great Depression.Continue reading “Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck”

Transcendent Kingdom – Yaa Gyasi

10/10 would recommend. Transcendent Kingdom is a monumental work of fiction that speaks to contemporary questions and issues. Yaa Gyasi tells a story of a motivated female scientist who overcomes a difficult past to make important discoveries in the laboratory and within herself. This book addresses inequality, prejudice, grief, mother-daughter relationships, suicide, neuroscience, religion, opiateContinue reading “Transcendent Kingdom – Yaa Gyasi”