Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) by Danel Nayeri
When I was teaching third grade, my students would celebrate their writing every few months with a Publishing Party for anyone who wanted to listen to them read their masterpieces. On...
Author: Kate
The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury
I will begin by saying that some reviews have not been especially kind to The Girl Who Reads on the Métro, but I loved it. Originally written in French [La Fille...
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Before Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie revealed her gifts as a storyteller in Purple Hibiscus, longlisted for the Booker prize, and Half a Yellow Sun, winner of the Orange prize. With Americanah,...
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
Sigrid Nunez does not use a question mark after the title What Are You Going Through (2020). She has stated that she views the phrase not as a question but more...
Little Gods by Meng Jin
What do you do when your debut novel is a masterpiece? In Meng Jin’s case, I have no doubt, she’ll produce another and another. It is rare that an author creates...
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
I was a little nervous when I read that one of the most important voices in America today, Ta-Nehisi Coates, had written a novel. I cherished his nonfiction starting with We...
Make Me Rain: Poems and Prose by Nikki Giovanni
You cannot read Nikki Giovanni’s poetry and prose without being grateful to be a part of her life. She’s mentored us through poems like Nikki Rosa [“Black love is Black wealth...
When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson
In 2002, Australian foreign correspondent Gina Wilkinson was living and working in Bangkok when her Canadian husband was offered a posting in Baghdad working for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)....
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich
In the Afterword and Acknowledgments to The Night Watchman, Ms. Erdich states that “if you should ever doubt that a series of dry words in a government document can shatter spirits...
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
A Charlotte Mecklenburg Adult Services Librarian facilitates the book club at the West Boulevard branch of which I‘m a proud member. We don’t take ourselves too seriously; we share lots of...
