Thanks Dial Press & Netgalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available April 30th 2024.

Reading Liana Fink's "How to Baby" felt like someone was creating comics on my own life and thoughts. Fink captures the rollercoaster of emotions that is the first year(s) of motherhood with a graceful, comedic eye. I highly recommend this book for all new moms and those who may know them.

I wasn't in the right frame of mind for this story and couldn't follow along the different timelines

Delightful and tender story of a queer couple navigating life. Sometimes our relationships come to natural tension points. In Lee Lai's Stone Fruit, the author gently combs through the aftermath and shows readers how to rebuild ourselves and how to define family. Visually, the story is told through small details, which I really enjoyed. Being a mother myself, I loved Amanda's multifaceted character.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would at the beginning. Wertz's introspection & preserverance despite the odds is a winning combination. I'm also a sucker for a story with a (mostly) positive ending & the love of community 🥰

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Available now.

Whew, I cannot think of a better way of starting 2024 than with Lamya H's incandescent Hijab Butch Blues. I have never felt more seen, loved, or understood by a book as I did reading this coming of age story of a Pakistani by way of the Middle East queer Muslim. What I loved the most was reading Lamya's modern interpretation of stories from the Quaran. Figures like Maryam, Yunus, Nuh, and Hajar are revisited and brought to life as Lamya interrogates them with a modern set of values. I lauughed, I cried, I felt like I learned more than I did in therapy. Read this book ASAP!

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the Reader's Copy!

Now available.

A Golem, a Brooklyn art teacher & an ex-Hasidic lesbian walk into a novel & what do you get? Adam Mansbach's The Golem of Brooklyn aka one of the funnier books I've read this year. It's hard to define what exactly this book is about but for me the highlights were definiteky Mansbach's retelling of Jewish history with a keen eye and biting critique. I almost felt like the book could have kept going just a bit longer as it ended mid argument.

Thanks University of Nebraska and NetGalley for the Reader's Copy!

Available now!

Susan Nguyen's "Diar Diaspora" is a tender, meticulous letter to a lost generation. Switching between Suzi, a second generation Vietnamese American, and her father, a first generation Vietnamese immigrant, we see how much trauma can shift and travel. Using first hand encounters, newspaper headlines, and research, Nguyen guides through the end of.the Vietnamese War and its aftershocks including mass punishment, the Vietnamese Boat People, American xenophobia and more. At a time when the fate of refugees around the globe seems more precarious than ever before, Nguyen's poetry is worth reading with keen eyes and an open heart.

Part mystery, part political commentary, Zahra's Paradise covers the aftermath of the Irani elections of 2009. When Mehdi Alvani goes missing after a student protest, it is up to his mother and his brother to find out what happened. They follow the trail of breadcrumbs through corrupt political offices, aristocratic homes, and even a secret underground print house. The level of detail and suspense in this comic were wonderful and kept the reader engaged. I teared up at the horrific ending, especially as a mother myself.

Thank you Ecco & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available March 12th 2024.

There's something familial about Hala Alyan's work that grips the soul and slowly turns it until you can't help but view the world in a different way. I love the poems in this collection, the way Alyan plays with form, expanding and questioning the very fabric of poetry itself. At the same time, her stories center around traditional themes - motherhood, immigration, and relationships. I devoured these poems, each unlike the other yet together a symphony, like a box of sticky baklava, licking remnants off my fingertips and a delicious echo in my ears.