Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses that he is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.  Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars.

Dang this book was so good! It had been on my TBR for a while, and it was the @bookishswiftiesclub March YA book, so I had to give it a read! This book tackles a lot of heavy subject matters that disproportionately impact Native Americans. Sensitive readers, should definitely pay mind to the content warnings, because this book does not shy away from addressing violent moments and the realities of drug addiction. What I loved about this book was how strong Daunis’s character was, and how she was able to use both parts of her identity to propel her through hard times, and to ultimately help her community. The plot of this book was very fast paced, and I couldn’t wait to keep reading to figure out what would happen next. The book was so captivating, heartbreaking, thrilling, resilient, and compelling. I listened to the book on audio and really enjoyed it, especially to hear the narrator pronounce all of the Ojibwe words. I highly recommend adding this book to your TBR!

Ever imagined what the world would be like if a person you ceased to exist? The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts, trains its students to make these dreams reality. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.

Props to this book for its originality and wit! The story was so unique and I was really hooked by the premise. The book started out really strong and I enjoyed the portions of the book that took place at McMasters. The writing was light, sarcastic, and funny. I think where I got a bit lost was once the students depart the school to execute their these (pun intended); the narratives became disjointed and many of the methods employed were a bit roundabout and hard to follow.  Some of the details that went in to explaining each student’s thesis and its execution felt a bit superfluous and the chapters jumped from character to character, making it hard to follow who was who and what was happening to each character. I would love a book that explored the school and its teachers a bit more, maybe an origin story, as McMasters to me was the best part of this book.

One afternoon in a town in Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. But Vivek’s closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens—and Osita struggles to understand Vivek’s escalating crisis—the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom. 

This book had been on my TBR for a while, and it was a super quick read that I finished in an afternoon. The story itself was very heartbreaking, but also beautiful and powerful. The ending was not what I expected. The novel’s prose was very beautiful and helped illustrate the heartache of the story and characters. The book covers some sensitive subjects, including sexual identity and intolerance. I wouldn’t say the book necessarily feels like a mystery, even though the story does ultimately lead to the answer of how Vivek died. Some of the descriptions in this book got a little bit graphic, so I would recommend looking up trigger warnings if you are a more sensitive reader. I definitely recommend picking this up, but prepare to be sad once you finish! lol

The United States has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?  In this book, sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. 

This book has been on my TBR for a while, and it was very fascinating. There is definitely a lot of data that went into the book, and I appreciated how well researched the book was. I really learned a lot about how policies targeted to help the middle and upper classes also are responsible for perpetuating poverty, and that many of our nation’s practices and politics are geared towards keeping the wealthy, wealthy rather than doing anything to alleviate poverty. I also appreciate that Desmond proposed solutions for eliminating poverty, rather providing so much information and then leaving the reader wondering what they can do. Sometimes I got a little bogged down with all of the data and the writing came across as a bit preachy at times. Nonetheless this was definitely a very educational and thought-provoking read.

In late 2021, Diane Foley sat at a table across from her son's killer, Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as "The Beatles" who plead guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son Jim seven years before. Kotey was about to go serve life imprisonment and this was Diane’s chance to talk to the man who had been involved with brutally taking her son's life. Diane looks back on the early days when Jim was a child and his journey to journalism, and the killing fields of the world where he reports with indefatigable determination and insight on the plight of those caught up in the agonies of war. She guides us through her family history and the difficulties they faced when Jim was captured. And she also charts the tenacity it takes to turn her grief into grace as she seeks to give voice to those who are still being kidnapped and wrongfully detained around the world.

Colum McCann does it again! He’s my favorite author and what I particularly love about him is how he is able to catch the complexity of humanity in his writing. McCann was drawn to the story after he came across of photo of Jim Foley reading his book Let the Great World Spin, which is one of my favorites. I am so glad that he and Diane finally were able to work together to write this beautiful story. The book was incredibly powerful and moving, and at times read like a thriller, a biography, a mystery, and a memoir, all with a literary examination of forgiveness and grace. Diane Foley is a beacon of faith, patience, and compassion. How many mothers would be able to sit across from their son’s killer and view them as a whole person rather than just a murder? I really appreciate how she was able to mobilize her grief into a greater cause in honor of her son’s enduring memory and learning about all of the things that she has done to further the safe return of hostages from around the world. This book will stay with me for a long time, and I highly recommend it.

In 1873, Eliza Touchet is the Scottish housekeeper—and cousin by marriage—of a once-famous novelist, now in decline, William Ainsworth, with whom she has lived for thirty years. Mrs. Touchet suspects her cousin of having no talent; his successful friend, Mr. Charles Dickens, of being a bully and a moralist; and England of being a land of facades. Andrew Bogle, meanwhile, grew up enslaved on the Hope Plantation, Jamaica. When Bogle finds himself in London, star witness in a celebrated case of imposture, he knows his future depends on telling the right story. The “Tichborne Trial”—wherein a lower-class butcher from Australia claimed he was in fact the rightful heir of a sizable estate and title—captivates Mrs. Touchet and all of England. Is Sir Roger Tichborne really who he says he is or is he a fraud? Mrs. Touchet is a woman of the world; Mr. Bogle is no fool. But in a world of hypocrisy and self-deception, deciding what is real proves a complicated task. 

I haven’t read any other books by Smith, and I definitely want to after this book as I love Smith’s writing. I was particularly impressed by Smith’s ability to write Ainsworth’s passages, which came across as so terribly rambling that it was funny. The clever writing was definitely the best thing about this book. I was enraptured with the book’s description and thought it had a lot of potential, but I think it felt a little bit short for me for a few reasons. First of all, there were a superfluous amount of characters, and I had trouble from time to time distinguishing who was who and remembering which history belong to which character. Secondly, the book was not written chronologically, which usually does not bother me. However, for whatever reason, I struggled to keep track of events as I was reading this and felt that I was being thrown around in the timeline. I think this also led to the book not really having much momentum, which caused me to lose interest, particularly towards the end. Overall the book felt a bit disjointed, which was a shame because that really distracted from the brilliant writing and what could have been a fascinating plot.

Kathleen Cheng has gone through a humiliating breakup, dropped out of her graduate program, and left everything behind. Now she’s back in her childhood home in Oakland, wondering what’s next. To her surprise, her mother isn’t the same person Kathleen remembers. No longer depressed or desperate to return to China, the new Marissa Cheng is perky and has been transformed by love. Kathleen finds herself helping her mother plan her wedding to a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur. Grasping for direction, Kathleen takes a job at a start-up that specializes in an unconventional form of therapy based on touch. While she negotiates new ideas about intimacy and connection, an unexpected attachment to someone at work pushes her to rethink her relationships—especially the one she has with Marissa.

I’m behind on reviews, mainly because I’m still digesting this book. It definitely had its thought provoking moments, but so many bizarre and unrealistic things happened that I’m not quite sure how to feel. The character development was a bit lackluster; there was a lot of focus on the main characters’ shortcomings and difficult relationships, but I never really feel like the characters progressed beyond that. Kathleen had a lot of moments where she was really unlikable;  I had a hard time understating her motivations and she didn’t do much throughout the book to redeem herself. I enjoy books with dysfunctional characters, but there was no growth in this group and they became grating after a while. There were some funny and entertaining a moments, as well as commentary on millennial culture and growing up as a first generation American in the shadow of immigrant parents’ expectations that I enjoyed. The book was an easy read but if you prefer books with character progression I’d skip this one.

City of Mist is a posthumously published collection of short stories by the late Ruiz Zafón, whose most famous work is The Shadow of the Wind. Many of these short stories relate to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, while others do not. I was devastated when I found out that this author passed away and I truly believe he is the among the best writers I’ve read. His books have been translated into over 50 languages, making him this most widely published Spanish author. I absolutely loved The Shadow of the Wind so it was enjoyable to read short stories where some familiar characters made an appearance. I also just love Ruiz Zafón’s beautiful writing and it was lovely as always in this collection. 

While on a drive in Los Angeles, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question. In her memoir, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds, chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey. She reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and a deeper sense of belonging.

Libby came through with an available now copy of this, and I’m glad because the audiobook was on hold for 20+ weeks! I always love when the author narrates their memoir, as it feels like a very personal conversation. Kerry Washington was a great narrator, and I love to hear her story in her own words. Washington has always been a woman that I have admired both as an actress and an activist, but I did not know much about her life before reading this. She really jumped into her childhood, traumas, mental health struggles, and family drama. The way she overcame those hurdles shaped her into the person that she has become, and I loved her introspection and resilience. Sometimes the narrative jumped around a little bit, and was not told chronologically, which is not the usual structure, in which I have read are written. This was a little distracting for me at first. Overall, this was a great audiobook and I would definitely recommend it.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered a new and exciting position. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible. She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on a doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by concepts such as “washing machines” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts. Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be an uncomfortable roommate dynamic evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC! I was drawn to this book by its very interesting and unique premise. The book read like a futuristic Outlander with a bit more commentary on race and colonization. It was an accessible sci-fi with a touch of romance that I think a lot of readers will enjoy. I really enjoyed how the expats adapted to modern living and found those moments funny and endearing. I also found it interesting and poignant that the bridge, who narrates the book, remains nameless throughout, I thought the book was very well written, but at times the story seemed to stall and drag on a bit. This isn’t a genre that I typically gravitate towards so perhaps that’s why at times I was a little bored or waiting for more exciting plot points to occur. The majority of the exciting plot points took place in the final third of the book, so I found the pacing to be a bit off. The book was witty but the execution fell a bit short of my expectations.