Krystal Sutherland's House of Hollow was one of my most anticipated releases for 2021 and for good reason: it ticks off all the boxes of beautiful prose, vivid characters, all steeped in fairy tales and folklore... and not the sanitized versions peddled by children's cartoons. Sutherland's prose is deliciously demented and evocative. Take this description, for instance: "My sister's eyes were so black, they looked like polished river stones. She was fourteen then, and already the most beautiful creature I could imagine. I wanted to peel the skin from her body and wear it draped over mine." I loved the startling juxtaposition of beautiful language with disturbing imagery and themes. House of Hollow, like Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway, explores the concept of magical portals into unknown worlds. However, Sutherland's story is much darker; she is not afraid to push the boundaries (pun intended) into nightmare fuel territory. I know we're still early into 2021, but this is easily my favorite read of the year so far.

Many thanks to Putnam for the advance reading copy! House of Hollow will be available in bookstores on April 6, 2021.

"Tonight the man will die. In some ways, the city already seems resigned to it, the Beirut dusk uncharacteristically flat, cloud, a peculiar staleness rippling through the trees like wind. It's easy to costume the earth for grief and tonight the birds perched upon the tangled electricity wires look like mourners in their black and white feathers, staring down at the concrete refugee camps without song."

So begins Hala Alyan's new novel, The Arsonists' City. When the Nasr family patriarch suddenly passes away, his death leads to a domino effect resulting in the controversial decision to sell the family home in Beirut. The story follows the members of the Nasr family as they come together from different corners of the world and bring with them their histories, secrets, hopes, and regrets. Alyan writes vividly, creating memorable characters with unique personalities and cultures but all tied to each other by their Middle Eastern and familial roots. The Arsonists' City is a great novel and slightly reminds me of Jonathan Trooper's This Is Where I Leave You. Recommended for fans of Celeste Ng, Jonathan Trooper, and Miriam Toews. Many thanks to HMH Books for an advance reading copy.

As someone who spent several years living in Shanghai, I approached Land of Big Numbers with some trepidation as China has become so politicized and its citizens conflated with its government to such a great degree that it's rare to come across anything about the country that presents a balanced perspective. However, Te-Ping Chen does a wonderful job of bringing nuance in her collection. Her short stories run the gamut from contemporary fiction to magical realism. Standouts in the collection include "Lulu," "Shanghai Murmur," "Land of Big Numbers," and "Gubeikou Spirit."

A common pitfall of short stories is their brevity; often there are not enough pages to follow a traditional narrative structure with a climax and resolution. A couple of the stories in Land of Big Numbers felt a bit like unfinished vignettes. Whether by design or not, I wish Chen had dedicated a few more pages to fleshing out the stories rather than having them end abruptly and leaving the reader to wonder what happens next. Overall, I was very impressed by Chen as a debut author. There is a magical quality about her writing that I find wholly unique. I look forward to following her future literary projects. Many thanks to Mariner and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advance reading copy. Land of Big Numbers will be out on February 2, 2021.

Gregory Maguire is a gifted raconteur with a particular talent for reinterpreting fairy tales for a modern audience. His novels have, in turn, spawned their own retellings and adaptations (see Wicked). Maguire's latest novel, A Wild Winter Swan, takes the classic Hans Christian Andersen story of "The Wild Swans," and reimagines it in 1960s New York. Here, Maguire beautifully blends the wonder of a cursed swan prince with the grit and grime of the city to create a moving story filled with magical realism. Many thanks to William Morrow for an advance reading copy of this book. A Wild Winter Swan is currently available in bookstores.

Surrender by Marylee MacDonald is an emotionally wrought memoir of the hard choices a woman is forced into when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. MacDonald writes poignantly about her personal experiences and shares many nuggets of wisdom, though what was most striking about MacDonald's account is that it is not a unique one. During the 1970s, women in similar circumstances were often sent away and forced to give their infants up for adoption, thereby causing irreparable harm to both mother and child. If anything, MacDonald's memoir highlights the importance of providing women with essential support and resources such as birth control and sexual health care.

Note: my review is based on an excerpt

A tour de force, Mateo Askaripour's Black Buck takes the familiar rags-to-riches story and injects comedy, identity politics, and social commentary to create an intelligent debut novel. The story is told at a breakneck pace and follows 22-year-old high school graduate Darren as a chance encounter transforms his life and catapults him into the high-octane business of sales. While the descriptions are rich in detail and the setting, vibrant, Askariprour's writing really shines in the dialogue and the way he captures the energy between his characters. Darren and his friends feel larger than life, and I find it particularly entertaining when Darren breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader with his tongue-in-cheek observations ("Reader: Quote that and pay me my royalties"); it's a clever writing device that instantly builds camaraderie. If I had a complaint, it would be that it feels like Askaripour tries to fit too many things into his story and doesn't devote enough time to fully explore each theme. Also, less of a complaint and more of an observation: while the events that happen in the book might normally beggar belief, Askaripour keeps everything off-kilter enough that it feels diegetic to his world. I'd say that the comparisons to Sorry to Bother You are quite apt. Overall, I found Black Buck to be an enjoyable and engrossing read. Many thanks to HMH Books for sending me an advance reading copy. The book will be widely available in January 2021.

Set during the aftermath of World War II, Viola Ardone's international bestseller follows the journey of seven-year-old Amerigo Speranza as he is sent to northern Italy along with thousands of other children in hopes of a better life in the less war-torn regions of the country. Temporarily taken away from their families, these children entered a new world in which they finally don't feel the pain of hunger or the threat of the cold. After getting a taste of comfort and security, Amerigo must wrestle with his love for his family and his longing to escape from poverty.

The Children's Train was originally written in Italian, though the English translation seems true to its original text. The story itself is broken up into short chapters that provide vignettes into the lives of these displaced children. Overall, I found the story to be very moving, especially since the experiences of Amerigo and his companions were based on true events in history. Many thanks to HarperVia for an advanced copy of the book.

Sarah Gailey has a talent for taking a common genre element and subverting it. I very much enjoyed her original take on the magical school genre and "chosen one" trope in Magic for Liars. The Echo Wife, similarly, is another original story that turns The Stepford Wives on its head.

Julie Carrick Dalton's debut novel is an emotional coming-of-age story about how time and secrets can change people and affect childhood friendships. Waiting for the Night Song is set in rural New Hampshire, and woven throughout the narrative is a timely warning against racial tensions and climate change. The strong emphasis on nature writing and environmental conservation reminds me of Delia Owen's novel Where the Crawdads Sing: "The crowns of oak trees framed a window straight up to the sky, where starlings billowed like lace. Cadie inhaled Garrett's exhale. Mineral iridescence tingled on her tongue. Garrett tasted like the lake. Or maybe the lake had always tasted like him." Overall, I found Waiting for the Night Song to be both riveting and heartbreaking. It's a beautiful story about friendships, resilience, acceptance, and love. Many thanks to Forge Books for sending me an advance reading copy.

To those familiar with Nina LaCour's writing, it should come as no surprise that loss and grief are prominent themes in Watch Over Me. There is a sense of sadness that pervades the novel, infusing all of its characters with a tragic feeling of melancholia. However, unlike LaCour's other works, her latest dabbles in magical realism as ghosts (both literal and metaphorical) are recurring motifs throughout the story. The remoteness of the setting, the mysterious fog, and the crashing waves of the surrounding sea all evoke the atmosphere of a classic gothic novel. And, true to the gothic tradition, Watch Over Me combines horror (in the form of abuse), death (spirits), and romance (self-love) in its storytelling to create a beautiful allegory about dealing with loss and healing from trauma.

Many thanks to Penguin and Dutton for sending me a finished copy of this book.

Looking for a whimsical, heartfelt story about family, loss, and random zoology facts? Rabbit Cake checks all the boxes while being a sweet blend of charm, wit, and dark humor. In many ways, the tone and storytelling reminded me of a Wes Anderson film (think The Royal Tenenbaums). There are some mature themes, such as depression and suicide. However, when interpreted through the eyes of Rabbit Cake's eleven-year-old narrator, they gain a sort of clarity and youthful honesty that is at times both insightful and innocent. This is a stunning debut, and I very much look forward to any future novels from Annie Hartnett.

"The rabbit cake is baked into two-sided aluminum mode, producing a three-dimensional cake. That's the miracle of it: the cake stands on its own, on his forepaws. If the frosting job is done right, it looks like you were eating a real cottontail, one that hasn't even been skinned."

With the Marvel machine showing no signs of slowing down, superhero fatigue can be real. After all, how many origin stories can be told with the archetype superhero? Fortunately, the deluge of superhero media has also resulted in creative deconstructions of the genre (see Amazon's The Boys and HBO's Watchmen). Natalie Zina Walschots' Hench is a clever re-examination of the genre in a more realistic world setting in which supervillains form unions, organize press releases, and hire henchmen through temp agencies. Brimming with humor and satire, the novel isn't afraid to acknowledge the silliness and absurdity of many comic book tropes, from fake glasses as convincing disguises to ridiculous aliases and codenames. It also has a great story to tell, and the novel could easily function as a standalone or as the first installment of a series. Personally, I found Hench to be a fun, quick read and finished it in one sitting. Four stars.

Thanks to William Morrow for providing me with an advance reading copy of the book. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots will be available in bookstores on September 22, 2020.

Here Is The Beehive is an ugly book. Not ugly in terms of its writing but ugly in the sense that it is about extremely flawed individuals who engage in distasteful actions. The protagonist especially is not a likable person--she cheats on her husband, neglects her children, judges people superficially, and wishes her lover's wife dead. It is hard to find sympathy for such a self-centered and self-destructive individual, yet Sarah Crossan humanizes her by showing how lies and grief can tear a person apart. Narrated entirely in verse, Here Is The Beehive is both raw and lyrical, and Crossan does a great job of capturing these complex emotions in just a few simple words. The contents of the novel get dark; strong trigger warning for people dealing with depression and/or emotional and physical cheating. Here Is The Beehive is something that readers will likely find polarizing but I recommend it regardless for its unique writing and storytelling.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company for the advance reading copy. Here Is The Beehive will be available in bookstores on November 17, 2020.

Narrated by the ill-fated priestess Kassandra, The Firebrand is a unique, feminist retelling of the Trojan War. Marion Zimmer Bradley takes some artistic license in her version of Greek mythology and the writing is not without its flaws. But I give kudos to the story for being one of the first to give voice to the women of the Iliad. Since its publication, there have been a number of Trojan War retellings--The Penelopiad, The Song of Achilles, For the Most Beautiful, The Silence of the Girls--that seek to accomplish the same. However, I found The Firebrand to be more enlightening than most with regards to what quotidian life was like for a woman during those times.

What did Chaka Khan mean when she crooned, "It's a losing game I play... I'm a woman in a man's world"? Larry Watson explores the hardships endured by women through the eyes of Edie Pritchard, a smart and beautiful woman who refused to be defined by her looks or her gender. The narrative follows three different stages of Edie's life, as: (a) a young housewife dissatisfied with her failing marriage, (b) a twice-married mother fleeing an abusive husband, and (c) a grandmother who still finds herself dealing with unwanted advances from men. Decades separate each timeline of the book, giving readers a glimpse of the culture during the 60s, the 70s, and the early 2000s. Watson is a gifted raconteur; his prose, while simple and restrained, has this incredible way of transporting the reader to small-town living in Montana. Watson also does a great job of capturing the zeitgeist of each decade, especially in terms of gender and family dynamics. Overall, I found The Lifes Of Edie Pritchard to be an enjoyable and enlightening read. "...So I'm fool enough to say that a woman's place is in the home, working twice as hard for the same reward as any man, yeah. I'm a woman in a man's world…"

Full disclosure: I received an advance reading copy of this book (thank you LibraryThing and Algonquin Books), and my review is based on an uncorrected proof. The Lives of Edie Pritchard is currently available in bookstores.

Savage Legion is set in the imaginary nation of Crache and told from three different perspectives: there's Evie, a vulgar but battle-hardened warrior who fought her way up from the bottom of society; Lexi, an upper-class citizen who finds herself involved in dangerous politcal intrigue; and Dyeawan, a young parapalegic with a mysterious connection to Crache. Matt Wallace has created an intricate world filled with mystique. Admittedly, trying to understand the world mechanics in the earlier chapters was challenging and made for slow reading. Ideally, there would have been an appendix to refer to, although the illustrated map at the beginning of the book was helpful for visualizing the placement of the characters and events. The novel is thematically strong as it delves into the concept of an imperialistic nation founded on the values of military might and explores how that might affect the lives of its citizens. The story is also heavy on politics and action. As the first installment of the Savage Rebellion series, this novel is a promising start in what could be the next big epic fantasy series.

Thank you to Gallery and Saga Press for sending me a finished copy of the book.

When you're as successful an author as Christopher Paolini, there's bound to be a lot of high expectations for any book that comes after a much-beloved series (see J.K. Rowling and The Casual Vacancy). Fortunately, Paolini's latest novel does not disappoint in the very least. A cross between Alien and Star Wars, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars reimagines our world in the future, when space travel is commonplace and humans have colonized widespread galaxies. However, our understanding of the universe is irrevocably changed when Kira Navárez stumbles across a mysterious alien relic, sparking an intergalactic war.

Clocking in at nearly 900 pages, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is an absolute behemoth of a novel. Due to its considerable length, I assumed the novel would be a slow burn with most of the early chapters dedicated to world-building; on the contrary, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars wastes no time and leaps into the action from the start. Paolini also pays homage to the greats that came before him. Fans of genre fiction will recognize the elements of the story that take inspiration from classic sci-fi and comic book traditions like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Venom. For readers that may be squeamish when it comes to blood and gore, there is quite a bit of body horror in some key scenes.

It's clear that Christopher Paolini took his time with this novel, not just in terms of its length but also in terms of fleshing out the universe that he has imagined. While the story is very show more plot-driven, it does so at no expense to its character development or world building. The author has crafted a complex story populated with its own people, culture, history, and terminology (complete with a comprehensive appendix of terms, maps, and timelines). To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is incredibly dense--both literally and figuratively--but Paolini writes in such an easy and engaging way that makes the pages fly by. Overall, this is a fantastic start to a new series, and I already can't wait for the next installment in the Fractalverse.

Full disclosure: I received an advance reading copy (thanks Tor!) and my review is based on an uncorrected proof. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars will be available in bookstores nationwide on September 15, 2020. show less

Afrofuturism meets fantasy in this inspired novella:

"Our mothers were pregnant African women
Thrown overboard while crossing the Atlantic Ocean on slave ships
We were born breathing water as we did in the womb
We built our home on the sea floor
Unaware of the two-legged surface dwellers
Until their world came to destroy ours
With cannons, they searched for oil beneath our cities
Their greed and recklessness forced our uprising
Tonight, we remember"

- clipping.

Credit goes to Daveed Diggs and his hip hop group clipping. for creating such an imaginative narrative about African slave women who were lost to the seas and formed their own mermaid enclaves beneath the waves. Rivers Solomon takes this concept and expands upon it, tackling the difficult topics of oppression and racism while crafting an allegory about the impacts of multi-generational trauma. Although this is a slim novella (measuring about 150 pages), it packs a punch and feels incredibly relevant in today's social-political climate.

Alex North has crafted a tightly suspenseful thriller in his debut novel The Whisper Man. The story follows three main perspectives: Tom Kennedy, a recently widowed father trying to find a new start for him and his troubled son Jack; Pete Willis, a detective haunted by crimes of the past; and a mysterious, insidious voice who whispers to children in the dark shortly before they disappear from their homes.

I have seen The Whisper Man categorized as both a thriller and a mystery; however, I think the mystery of who is abducting the children is perhaps the weakest part of the story and the red herrings felt somewhat obvious. Instead, I think the strength of the novel lies in its atmosphere and its unsettling insights into the mind of a deeply disturbed individual.

Judging by all of the overwhelmingly positive reviews of The Kiss Quotient, my opinion of the book is going to be a somewhat controversial one. I'll start off by saying that The Kiss Quotient has some qualities that I am 100% supportive of: (1) a person of color as a love interest (always nice to see some Asian American representation); and (2) an #ownvoices protagonist who has Asbergers. The author, Helen Hoag, has openly spoken about her own autism diagnosis, which I admire and I appreciate her adding a unique voice in the women's fiction genre. However, I am not fond of the fake boyfriend/girlfriend trope and the contrived "will they, won't they?" misunderstandings that seem so common in contemporary romance novels. Hoag started out with this amazing premise and protagonist--a strong, successful woman who has autism but doesn't allow it to define her--but then allows the story to devolve into typical chick-lit tropes.

One could argue that human life is measured by BC and AD: Before Canine and After Dog. After all, as one of the first domesticated animals, dogs have played an important role in human civilization. They became our hunting partners, our bodyguards, our companions. There is little wonder why dogs so quickly earned the title of man's best friend.

As Jennifer Finney Boylan's writes in her new memoir, "My days have been numbered in dogs. Even now, when I try to take the measure of the people I have been, I count the years by the dogs I owned in each season." Good Boy traces her life, from childhood as a young boy to coming out as trans to starting a family. Boylan has lived an interesting life, and she writes with poignancy and candor. For the most part, I enjoyed reading Boylan's memoir but I did find the random digressions to be a bit confusing as Boylan would so often lose her train of thought and not return to the original topic. For the most part, I enjoyed reading Boylan's memoir but I did find the random digressions to be a bit confusing as Boylan would so often lose her train of thought and not return to the original topic.

Overall, I think Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs is a worthwhile #ownvoices read that offers a valuable perspective on love, identity, and acceptance.

The Kingdom of Liars begins with a promising premise: a fantasy world in which magical powers are finite and can be traded with one's memories. I also enjoy that this book begins in medias res; too often, fantasy and sci-fi books spend the first few chapters on long, boring exposition. This book dives right in with the protagonist, a self-proclaimed "kingkiller," on trial for regicide (Jamie the Kingslayer, is that you?). However, I found the writing to be clunky and some of the scenes felt uncomfortably cringy. Points for concept but none for execution.

Does anyone remember the 2016 film Passengers, co-starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt? In which a space colonist's cryo-sleep pod malfunctions and he wakes up a century too early on a spaceship? It was such a great premise that, unfortunately, the movie did not live up to. Goddess in the Machine is like the reverse, in which a girl wakes up centuries too late and discovers that all of her family and friends are gone. If that doesn't cause a mental breakdown, she is also the only hope for continued survival of the remaining descendants of those early colonists. In an over-saturated YA market, Lora Beth Johnson's Goddess in the Machine stands out for its unique concept and execution. The amount of world-building, the character dynamics, and even the pidgin slang used by the people of the future were all well thought out. I also appreciate that, in such a high-stakes novel, the romance took a backseat to the plot and did not divert or stall the main story line. Overall, this was a fun summer read and one I recommend.

Many thanks to Penguin Teen for sending me a finished copy of Goddess in the Machine in exchange for an honest review.

Ship of Fates is an original fairy tale that combines Eastern and Western folklore with the Chinese-American immigrant experience. As someone who comes from an Asian background, I found it refreshing to see a historical fiction that focuses on Asian-Americans without the stereotypical "exotic" mystique of the Far East. The author openly acknowledges the discrimination that early Chinese immigrants encountered (and still continue to) in America. Aside from overt racism like "Orientals" and "Chinaman," the characters in Ship of Fates experience daily microaggressions that challenge their very identity:

"His name was Wayne. Actually his name was Huang. Huang Jin Bo. He and his bride came from China, from Guangzhou, on a boat, and all the way he'd practiced saying in English: my name is Huang Jin Bo. He'd said it perfectly. But the man at the pier wrote down in his book, Wayne Jimbo. Now that was his name. That's how things were for the Chinese."

As it turns out, identity is a central theme along with personal responsibility. Caitlin Chung takes the Confucian concept of duty and applies it to her re-imagined Promethean tale of Mei, an immortal lighthouse keeper who is forced to do penance for a crime committed centuries ago. Mei becomes an agent of change as she manipulates the other characters to achieve her own ends and win back her freedom. When it comes to historical fiction, there is a fine balance to making sure that female characters have agency during a time period when show more women were afforded few rights. This is where I feel Chung's writing falters slightly. Mei and the other women feel anachronistic, as if they were 21st century people displaced in 1800's California. Some of the behavior and language (e.g. "pissed off") do not seem particularly authentic to the era and undermine the verisimilitude of the story. Despite this, I find Chung's writing to be lyrical and filled with beautifully vivid descriptions. Ship of Fates may be Chung's debut novel, but she writes like a seasoned author. Overall, I enjoyed this novella and recommend it to fans of Angela Carter, Chinese mythology, and magical realism. Many thanks to Lanternfish Press for sending me an advance reading copy.

"They abandoned ship, eager to find their fortunes, and were never seen again. All except for one lonely sailor. He watched the last of his fellows set off across the beach, out of the lighthouse's shadow and into the sun. He took in the thin fog, the way it smelled like the tide, and he felt at home. Out at sea, there are no smells--not of the human work, not of reassurance. For the first time in many months, he could think in other colors besides blue."

Full disclosure: I was gifted a copy of the book, and my review is based on an uncorrected proof. Ship of Fates is currently available in bookstores. show less

The Big Impossible is an eclectic mix of stories and perspectives, from a bullied high school student who turns to extreme violence to a man who uses Google Street View to revisit his past lives. The book is divided into three sections: part one contains five short stories; part two, the novella "House of Sully"; and part three, "The Big Impossible." Standouts in the collection include "Clean," "My Name is Percy Atkins," and both novellas. I particularly enjoyed "House of Sully," which perfectly captures the zeitgeist of New England in the late 1960's, during the political turmoil following the Kennedy assassinations, the uncertainty of the Vietnam War, the nascent of the second feminist wave, and the changing demographics of urban neighborhoods. Edward J. Delaney has such a talent for writing that his stories more often than not come across as a natural dialogue between the narrator and the reader. Take for example this excerpt:

"I looked in a veined mirror and sized it all up: rough-cut hair, windburned red face, the T-shirt and the grimy jeans and beaten leather jacket. I wasn't young, but I wasn't too old to not think I could still change. That mattered: the point in your life where the old part is dead and fallen away, and the new part isn't anything yet. You just are. You look in that cracked glass and see a face that can't quite start all over, can't erase the invested years, can't bargain for many more..."

In just a few sentences, Delaney's prose skillfully conveys show more the emotional nuances of trying to start over and find oneself. The way his stories speak to the human condition lend Delaney's works a precious verisimilitude. Overall, I found The Big Impossible to be a profound and powerful collection of novellas and short stories. Many thanks to Turtle Point Press for sending me a finished copy of the book for my honest review. show less

The Pisces is an incredibly original story about one woman's search for love and self-identity after her life falls apart and she finds herself alone in a glass fortress overlooking the sea. Add some magical realism in the form of a mysterious merman and some humor in the form of a diabetic foxhound and, baby, you've got a stew going.

"Maybe [the ocean and I] were on the same side, comprised of the same things, water mostly, also mystery. The ocean swallowed things up--boats, people--but it didn't look outside itself for fulfillment. It could take whatever skimmed its surface or it could leave it. In its depths already lived a whole world of who-knows-what. It was self-sustaining. I should be like that. It made me wonder what was inside of me."

Reading a Diane Setterfield novel is like floating down a lazy river, taking the reader on a slow but scenic journey that, as quoted by one of its characters, "does not seem particularly intent on reaching its destination." Setterfield's latest is a slow burn that masterfully blends mystery and magical realism into a beautiful story about love, loss, and healing.

The Organ Thieves is a truly horrific expose on the mistreatment of black people in America, which sadly remains true today. Although Henrietta Lacks has now become a household name thanks to Rebecca Skloot's seminal work The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, there have been many other victims of the systemic racism in medical research whose voices have not been heard. Just two years after the Civil Rights after of 1964, an African American by the name of Bruce Tucker was admitted to Medical College of Virginia after sustaining a serious head injury at his workplace. Less than 24 hours later, Bruce's heart was beating inside the chest of a Caucasian businessman. The Tucker family was never properly informed of: (a) Bruce's admittance to the hospital and (b) the harvesting of his organs. It was only when the mortician prepared Bruce's body for burial did the family realize he was missing his heart and kidneys. Thus launched an independent investigation and a shocking legal battle to determine whether hospitals were deliberately allowing patients of color to die in order to harvest their organs. In addition to focusing on the life and death of Bruce Tucker, the book dives into the early history of racial inequality in the South, medical malpractice in the pursuit of scientific research, and the resulting legal precedents. Chip Jones' writing covers a myriad of topics, some of which were extremely relevant or interesting and others less so. Regardless, Jones brings to the show more forefront a disturbing topic that deserves more awareness. In light of recent events, I'd like to point out that even now "racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than white people—even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable" (source: National Academy of Medicine). Covid-19, for example, disproportionately affects black communities; African Americans have died at a rate of 50.3 per 100,000 people, compared with 20.7 for whites, 22.9 for Latinos and 22.7 for Asian Americans.

Full disclosure: I received an advance reading copy of The Organ Thieves by Chip Jones, and my review is based on an uncorrected proof. This book will be available in bookstores on August 18, 2020. show less

I have a soft spot for fairy tale retellings, and Summers at Castle Auburn is one of my favorites from childhood. The novel is not without its flaws; the plot is somewhat predictable and the romance feels a bit forced. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Coriel's coming-of-age story and fell in love with the world that Sharon Shinn created.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

What a testament to Vladimir Nabokov's skills as a writer to give voice to such a monster and make him seem so charming and sympathetic. The prose is so beautiful that it almost distracts the reader from the depravity of its contents.