Category: Read This Book

Rita Todacheene is a Diné woman working for the Albuquerque police department as a forensic photographer when she comes across one of the worst cases she’s ever seen: a woman has fallen over the side of an overpass to her death. Rita is one of the best photographers in the business, but she has a secret: she can see ghosts. Seeing the spirits of the dead has given her an edge in her career, but it’s also incredibly dangerous.

Rita was raised by her grandmother on the Navajo reservation. Her grandmother knew of her gifts, but tried to instill in Rita a deep respect for the dead. Now Rita must figure out what happened to the dead woman before her angry spirit causes Rita harm.

Emerson does a great job of setting up our protagonist. I’ve read a lot of mysteries around someone solving crime, but I’d never read a book centered around a forensic photographer before. Plus, the fact that Rita can see ghosts throws an interesting wrench into the mix. The mystery itself takes some surprising turns, playing with readers’ assumptions about the suspects.

The novel jumps back and forth between the present, when Rita is trying to solve the case of the murdered woman, and the past, when Rita was a young girl living with her grandmother on the reservation. We learn more about when Rita first discovered her gift, and how her grandmother taught her to have a healthy respect for the spirits of the dead.

If you listen to audiobooks, this one would be a great one to pick up in that format. The audiobook is narrated by Lakota Mohawk actress Charley Flyte, who plays Aunt Sue on Rutherford Falls. She does an excellent job of capturing Rita’s state of mind as she searches for the murderer and gets herself into some dangerous situations.

This was Karen Cushman’s debut novel, and she received the Newbery Honor for her epistolary story of Catherine, called Birdy, who is thirteen-going-on-fourteen and lives in England in 1290. Her father is one of the landed gentry and so her life is a little more comfortable than most, but as a girl she is expected to marry young. When her father begins searching for a husband for her, an odious string of suitors comes to call and Birdy becomes determined to run them all off—she’d much rather be a crusader, a goat herder, or literally anything else but a wife. But it’s difficult for even the most spirited of girls to shake off convention, especially in a world where women have narrow roles.

What I truly appreciate about epistolary novels is that when they are very well done, you get the unfiltered day-to-day thoughts of your narrator in all of their obsessive, mundane, or even brief glory. Birdy’s entries flit from topic to topic, she’s frequently (hilariously) frustrated to learn about the realities of life, and while she grapples with big questions about her place in the world she also records her crushes and her opinions, her random insights and song lyrics, and her hopes and dreams and disappointments. This format allows readers to dive right into her world without being weighed down by lots of description, and Cushman’s genius is that she’s able to impart so much about this strange world through the eyes of her protagonist. The exposition and world-building is all done subtly and beautifully, and the reader hardly notices it because they are preoccupied with Birdy’s wit. She’s not the perfect protagonist–she’s sometimes cross and often impatient. She’s unruly and disobedient, but she’s also passionate and loving and it’s a joy to see her change her mind about certain beliefs and matters over the course of the year she keeps her journal.

It should also be noted that Cushman is really, really frank about how living in 1290 is not glamorous. There are fleas. So. Many. Fleas. And no sense of hygiene. And everyone lives on top of each other, death comes often and quickly, and Birdy’s father is not a nice man—he seems her as a commodity to be traded and often mistreats her. For being wealthy and privileged, they still must work very hard to survive. So just be aware going into the book that you are getting an unfiltered and sometimes gross view of life! It’s a wonder humanity has survived to now! But it’s refreshing to get a realistic and also very human look at life back then, and I am in awe of Cushman’s abilities!

A year ago, Sabriel by Garth Nix celebrated its 25th birthday. When I first read the novel as a teenager, I was swept away to another world where the dead didn’t always stay dead. Wild magical creatures roamed the dark places of the world. And only one young woman had the power to save the land.

Fantasy novels have always been my first love. I poured over library catalogs looking for more stories set in other worlds full of things like dragons, elves, fairies, talking cats, or whatever other fantastical creatures the author imagined. But most of the fantasy novels that I read featured stories of young men finding the hidden power within themselves. They always reluctantly accepted that power, eventually slaying the bad guy and saving the world.

But Sabriel’s story was different. She grew up knowing she would one day take up her father’s mantle and become the Abhorsen, the one who kept the dead down. There were no secret powers to discover or reluctant acceptance of her own ability. Sabriel studied. She ground out her training day after day, knowing that she must be ready when the time came. She was a woman who knew that there would be no magical power to save her if she had no idea how to use it in the first place.

Eventually, her father goes missing, and Sabriel must venture across the wall into the Old Kingdom and search for her father in a land she hasn’t been in since her childhood. Even with all of her preparedness, she still has so much to learn about fighting necromancers and slaying the undead.

I loved all of the Old Kingdom series, which now has expanded to six books and a couple short stories. But Sabriel will always be my favorite. There’s just something about her practical approach to her career as an Abhorsen that I deeply connect with, and now that I’m older, I have begun viewing her in new ways. Sometimes rereading a favorite from your childhood can be disappointing. But other times, you find something new that is just as profound and meaningful as when you first read it.

This book does an excellent job at capturing how incredibly lonely it has become for Black people who have (or had) a racially diverse group of friends. Or in my case of being mixed, a whole side of the family that is not Black. As the author learned, and as many of us have learned, we can love people and also no longer have them in our lives. Supporting white supremacy is a deal breaker and that is at the heart of this book. Over and over, the author comes to the realization that systemic racial injustice isn’t going to be solved by individual conversations with racists. The “all we need to do is love” mentality isn’t actually effective at bringing about change.

The author covers a lot of ground through his own journey of awakening. His activism is woven through his performance art and music. His writing incorporates history about the civil rights movement, both historically and present day, both violent and nonviolent means as well. He also incorporates his knowledge of the bible, having graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

It was painful to read about his repeated attempts to have heartfelt, honest conversations with white and other non-Black friends and loved ones and every time it was just another punch in the face. No one was interested in having a conversation, only in being right and also being able to uphold white supremacy. Over and over with “I don’t want to talk politics” when really they mean “I don’t want to acknowledge my role in your oppression so be quiet about it.”

The author posits that we don’t actually have to convince everyone that racism is wrong to achieve justice. Maybe winning over white people should not be the main goal. He offers some concrete advice for folks in the struggle such as not debating and not engaging with trolls, whether they are anonymous or people we know. Among other things, he writes about the importance of hope in this fight, not least of all because it’s so easy to lose hope.

Content warnings for anti-Black racism and graphic descriptions of police brutality.

For Sabine, winning a full ride scholarship to a prestigious art school should be a dream, but it’s quickly turning into a nightmare. Sabine lost her mom in a horrible car accident her senior year of high school, and she has no one else to turn to. Her day-to-day security rests on her ability to keep her scholarship and good student Sabine is suddenly struggling to keep up in Colin Krell’s painting class. Krell is harder on her than any other student, and when he makes a comment about doubting her ability to keep her merit scholarship, desperation sets in. That’s when she meets Adam while putting in long hours at the studio. He has access to Krell’s personal studio, and shows her his latest masterpiece: a painting that’s already sold for millions. Adam encourages Sabine to try to understand Krell better by replicating his painting in secret. Sabine knows it’s wrong to copy another artist’s work without their consent, but in her desperation to improve and to keep hold of her scholarship, she readily agrees…but it may soon become a decision she deeply regrets.

I really like it when books can take me into a very specific subset of life, especially if it’s a sphere I’m not likely to ever inhabit or get close to, and I feel like this book did a great job of immersing me into what it must be like to go to a fine arts school for visual art. (I went to a fine arts grad school—the same one as the author, actually—but had very little overlap with the visual arts department!) Sabine is a character who has been dealt a bad hand, and you can’t help but feel for her and her recent loss and what a destabilizing force it is in her life. However, she does make some rather questionable decisions and while those actions aren’t exactly right, Linka does a great job of painting Sabine in such a way that even though you know it’s wrong, you hope it’ll all work out for her. The savvy reader will probably see where this plot is heading, but there’s enough here that keep me guessing and I was so invested in Sabine’s story and how she’d pull through that I never once thought of putting the book down at the inevitable moment when she realizes she’s been duped.

This is a book about impressions—first, false, and skewed. It’s also a book about education and growth, and how in order to grow, you have to do the work. What I appreciate about this story is that mistakes are made—very, very big mistakes that have lasting repercussions outside of the people who make them. And while there are consequences, at no point is the reader left with the idea that making a mistake makes you a terrible person. It’s about learning to own up to your mistakes, address them head on, make things right the best you can, and move forward. I think it’s a really valuable lesson a lot of young people need, but older readers do, too.

This was an excellent and fascinating book about a young person with ambition coming up against the realities of adult life and the cutthroat pressure of the art world, and learning to forge her own path and own up to her choices. And bonus: The audiobook narrated by Frankie Corzo is excellent!

When journalist Alan Maimon was moving back home to the United States after many years reporting in Berlin, Germany, he decided to try to gain experience by reporting from a lesser known part of the country, a place where he felt like he was reporting in a foreign country. That’s how he found Hazard, Kentucky.

Through his reporting, Maimon touches on some of the major issues that Eastern Kentucky faces, like coal companies denying disability benefits for miners with black lung disease, the opioid crisis, mountaintop removal, and lack of quality healthcare. Other journalists have written entire books on each of these topics, but Maimon does a good job providing readers with an introduction to these complex issues.

Miamon centers his experience on getting to know the people of Eastern Kentucky, using himself as a sort of a guide for people outside the region. As he learns more about Hazard, so do his readers. But he did receive pushback from the people of Hazard, and they ended up holding a sort of town hall where people from the community could respond to his book. After listening to the people of Hazard, he changed the paperback based on their feedback to include many of the grassroots organizations fighting for change in the region.

I recommend this for folks outside of Appalachia who are looking to get to know the region. For more Appalachian Literature recommendations, check out “15 Books to Read Instead of Hillbilly Elegy” and “15 More Books to Read Instead of Hillbilly Elegy.”

Our main protagonist is Kian Andrews and this story is told from his point of view. Kian is a gay Black man just out of college (Northeastern) and still living in Boston. He studied journalism and fully intends to go on to be a journalist but he is currently unemployed. Kian’s best friend is Divya Evans. She is studying Law at Harvard and calls Kian on his b*llshit every single time. She doesn’t let anything slide.

Not too long before this book begins Kian’s boyfriend broke up with him and left him devastated. This is probably why right at the beginning, Divya is yelling at Kian via text. Turns out that Kian responded to a text from the ex-boyfriend asking to meet up. Kian said yes. He knows it’s probably an awful idea.

This ex is Hudson Rivers and he is from Atlanta. The Rivers family is the third richest in the South, as they are the family behind the Rivers and Valleys brand of alcohol. Hudson is gorgeous, absolutely stunning, and a really good person. Unsurprisingly, Kian is still madly in love with him.

So they meet up at the coffee shop, as Hudson asked. He wants a favor (which it’s clear he doesn’t deserve). Much to Hudson’s family’s dismay, Hudson doesn’t want to be involved with the family business at all. He actually wants to go into a grad program and become a psychologist and help people. His parents are incredibly disappointed by this decision. They were also disappointed that he went to Northeastern and not Yale. Basically, they think that every decision Hudson makes is a bad one except for the decision to date Kian. His parents think that dating Kian is the one good decision he has ever made. They do not know he broke up with Kian and they are coming to town for a visit.

Hudson is desperate for his parents’ approval and so he asks Kian to pretend to be his boyfriend, just for the one lunch date during their visit. In return, Hudson will make a connection between Kian and the CEO of Spotlight, an online news corporation that Kian is dying to get a job at. Fake date for one lunch and be set for the rest of his life. Easy, right?

I laughed so loudly reading this book. Yes, it’s sweet and very sexy (there is definitely sex on the page) but it’s also absolutely hilarious. Every character pops. I love it so much.

Lauren and Ryan are together for over a decade before their marriage reaches a breaking point. Angry and unhappy, they know they can’t keep moving forward like this, but they’re not willing to get divorced, either. Instead, they come up with an agreement: For one year, they’ll go their own separate ways. Anything goes and anything can happen, but the one thing they agree on is that they won’t contact each other before the year is up.

For Lauren, this means embarking on a new lifestyle and contending with what it’s like to live life as a single person for the first time since becoming an adult. And along the way, everyone has opinions about her marriage and her break from Ryan, from her grandmother to her best work friend. But when it really comes down to it, Lauren has to decide who she wants to be, with or without Ryan.

One of my favorite pastimes is reading advice columnists about life, love, and relationships—I like the little peeks into other people’s lives and relationships and how they think and what makes them tick and what their petty (and not-so-petty) dramas might be. Reading this book kind of felt like reading a really fascinating novel-length letter and response. (And there’s even an advice columnist subplot, plus voyeuristic emails!) We get a view of Lauren and Ryan’s marriage via snapshots from various points in their relationship leading to the disintegration and breaking point, and then we are with Lauren through the aftermath of her decision as she puts her life back together. I loved seeing all of the relationships she has, and how she pays attention to her friendships and her connections with her siblings, mom, and grandma even more after her separation. Each person has something to teach Lauren about love and life, and it was great to read about how she synthesized all of their wisdom and advice (both good and bad) to come to a few truths of her own. This isn’t the most plot-heavy book, and maybe some readers will find certain aspects predictable, but I thought it was an emotionally satisfying and insightful read!

When it was first published in English back in 2018, Négar Djavadi’s Disoriental was nominated for many different awards for novels in translation. And for good reason! Tina Kover’s translation from the original French is incredible.

The story begins in a fertility clinic where we meet Kimia Sadr, an Iranian French woman who is waiting to see her doctor. As she waits, she recalls the history of her family in Iran, her father’s exile as a journalist, and their journey to seek asylum in France. In between scenes at the fertility clinic, we get to know Kimia through her family, starting with her great-grandfather, Montazemolmolk, who had a harem of wives, but loved Kimia’s grandmother above his other children.

Djavadi spins an incredible tale where we meet a cast of memorable characters set against the background of Iran’s tumultuous history in the 20th century. This novel represents the family saga genre at its best, with multiple characters sharing their own versions of the family’s history, giving us multiple perspectives on each character. And with each new generation, we learn a little more about Kimia’s present and what she has done with her life.

In addition to the novel’s fascinating characters, the structure of the novel uses a nonlinear structure to jump back and forth in time. With each jump, the novel cleverly gives us more pieces of the puzzle of Kimia’s family history. Midway through the novel, we meet Kimia in the present and learn the results of Kimia’s doctor’s visit and what her future plans are for her family.

This might be my favorite read of Women in Translation Month this year. If you’re looking for a stunning family saga in translation, you can’t go wrong with Disoriental by Négar Djavadi.

Belle Marion Greener was a Black woman and J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian. Belle was very light-skinned and passed as white. She went by Belle da Costa Greene, saying the da Costa was from a Portuguese grandmother of hers, which is why she was slightly olive-skinned.

Belle’s mother and siblings were also very light-skinned. Her father was too, but he was a prominent Black man, Harvard University’s first Black student and Black graduate, and an attorney who was dean of the Howard University School of Law. He fought loudly and openly for equal rights for Black people. He’s also the one who gave Belle an appreciation for books and fine art. Belle’s mother, Genevieve, had different ideas. She decided that she and the children would pass as white to gain access to things they could not if they stayed being perceived as Black. They moved up to New York (they were from Washington, D.C.) and Belle’s parents, having very different views on what was best for them and the children, separated from each other.

Belle got a job as a librarian at Princeton University, where she met and intellectually dazzled the nephew of J. P. Morgan. J. P. Morgan already had an extensive rare books collection and had a library built to house the collection he had in hand as well as to supply a place for the collection to grow. His nephew insisted he interview Belle to be the librarian.

Needless to say, she got the job and was thrust into the world of fine art auctions and rare book dealers, which was at the time, for the most part, the realm of men. Not only was she so incredibly careful with every single thing she did so that people would not find out her true heritage, but she was also trying to make a name for herself in a world where the expectations and respect for women were so incredibly low.

The book is full of extravagance and secrets. There’s definitely some anti-Semitism and racism, so be aware of that. I really loved this book. Belle is an absolute force to be reckoned with. There’s a great historical note at the end where the authors talk about where some of the largest liberties were taken and I appreciate that.