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Thank you to Cambridge University Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available June 23 2020.
Like the country she lovingly describes, Annie Zaidi's "Bread Cement Cactus" is rooted in a quest for a home for the dispossessed. How strange it is, the experience of being made a stranger in your own home. Relating the personal to the political, Zaidi traces her lineage through the prominent Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh borders. In the mere nine chapters, she interrogates the subtle, nuanced ways in which culture and politics combine to enforce power dynamics and marginalized groups. With pointed critiques and stunning prose, she takes on everything from tribal servitude, vegetarianism, language politics and graveyard sites. What seems like a relatively simple statement, for example "most Indians are vegetarians", is then challenged and broken down into power dynamics and control over food supply chain, violence, and nutritional deprivation. In today's divided political climate, "Bread Cement Cactus" is a necessary call for nuance, perspective and balance.
Available June 23 2020.
Like the country she lovingly describes, Annie Zaidi's "Bread Cement Cactus" is rooted in a quest for a home for the dispossessed. How strange it is, the experience of being made a stranger in your own home. Relating the personal to the political, Zaidi traces her lineage through the prominent Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh borders. In the mere nine chapters, she interrogates the subtle, nuanced ways in which culture and politics combine to enforce power dynamics and marginalized groups. With pointed critiques and stunning prose, she takes on everything from tribal servitude, vegetarianism, language politics and graveyard sites. What seems like a relatively simple statement, for example "most Indians are vegetarians", is then challenged and broken down into power dynamics and control over food supply chain, violence, and nutritional deprivation. In today's divided political climate, "Bread Cement Cactus" is a necessary call for nuance, perspective and balance.
Thank you to Cambridge University Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available June 23 2020.
Like the country she lovingly describes, Annie Zaidi's "Bread Cement Cactus" is rooted in a quest for a home for the dispossessed. How strange it is, the experience of being made a stranger in your own home. Relating the personal to the political, Zaidi traces her lineage through the prominent Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh borders. In the mere nine chapters, she interrogates the subtle, nuanced ways in which culture and politics combine to enforce power dynamics and marginalized groups. With pointed critiques and stunning prose, she takes on everything from tribal servitude, vegetarianism, language politics and graveyard sites. What seems like a relatively simple statement, for example "most Indians are vegetarians", is then challenged and broken down into power dynamics and control over food supply chain, violence, and nutritional deprivation. In today's divided political climate, "Bread Cement Cactus" is a necessary call for nuance, perspective and balance.
Available June 23 2020.
Like the country she lovingly describes, Annie Zaidi's "Bread Cement Cactus" is rooted in a quest for a home for the dispossessed. How strange it is, the experience of being made a stranger in your own home. Relating the personal to the political, Zaidi traces her lineage through the prominent Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh borders. In the mere nine chapters, she interrogates the subtle, nuanced ways in which culture and politics combine to enforce power dynamics and marginalized groups. With pointed critiques and stunning prose, she takes on everything from tribal servitude, vegetarianism, language politics and graveyard sites. What seems like a relatively simple statement, for example "most Indians are vegetarians", is then challenged and broken down into power dynamics and control over food supply chain, violence, and nutritional deprivation. In today's divided political climate, "Bread Cement Cactus" is a necessary call for nuance, perspective and balance.
Thank you to Random House Publishing & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy.
Available June 30 2020
Like a fever dream, Gabriella Burnham's debut "It Is Wood, It Is Stone" is an exquisite, lustful adventure set in San Paolo, Brazil. When her privileged professor husband Dennis move to San Paolo, bored housewife Linda is suddenly introduced to a new world like her stern housekeeper Marta and the sexy, elusive actress Celina. Unable to keep herself occupied at home, Linda longs for adventure but maybe she gets more than what she bargains for. What I enjoyed most about this book is the way Burnham was successfully able to transport us to a complicated narrative about Brazil from its quiet rural towns, sandy beaches, bustling streetlife and unreconciled past. Focusing on a narrative of three entirely different women, Burnham questions what it means to love and be loved, and what the value of friendship really is.
Available June 30 2020
Like a fever dream, Gabriella Burnham's debut "It Is Wood, It Is Stone" is an exquisite, lustful adventure set in San Paolo, Brazil. When her privileged professor husband Dennis move to San Paolo, bored housewife Linda is suddenly introduced to a new world like her stern housekeeper Marta and the sexy, elusive actress Celina. Unable to keep herself occupied at home, Linda longs for adventure but maybe she gets more than what she bargains for. What I enjoyed most about this book is the way Burnham was successfully able to transport us to a complicated narrative about Brazil from its quiet rural towns, sandy beaches, bustling streetlife and unreconciled past. Focusing on a narrative of three entirely different women, Burnham questions what it means to love and be loved, and what the value of friendship really is.
Thank you to Random House & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy
Available June 30th 2020
Similar to Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians, Diksha Basu's "Destination Wedding" is a sly romantic comedy that discusses not only sequined Bollywood wedding dresses but also the complexity of socioeconomic status in modern India. When a wide range of characters- the frustrated Tina Das, her effortlessly cool divorcee mom and her hunky new American boyfriend, her nerdy divorcee father, midlife crisis best friend Marianne- land for her rich cousin Shefali's fabulous Indian wedding in an elite part of Mumbai, you know drama is just around the corner. To make matters worse, Tina's dad decides it's the perfect time for him to start dating. Along the way, Basu seamlessly weaves in her social critique with her hilarious situations. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times! Destination Wedding is, like the name implies, a holiday within a book.
Available June 30th 2020
Similar to Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians, Diksha Basu's "Destination Wedding" is a sly romantic comedy that discusses not only sequined Bollywood wedding dresses but also the complexity of socioeconomic status in modern India. When a wide range of characters- the frustrated Tina Das, her effortlessly cool divorcee mom and her hunky new American boyfriend, her nerdy divorcee father, midlife crisis best friend Marianne- land for her rich cousin Shefali's fabulous Indian wedding in an elite part of Mumbai, you know drama is just around the corner. To make matters worse, Tina's dad decides it's the perfect time for him to start dating. Along the way, Basu seamlessly weaves in her social critique with her hilarious situations. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times! Destination Wedding is, like the name implies, a holiday within a book.
Thank you to Kaylie Jones Books & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available June 23rd 2020
Like any good drama show, Lauren J Sharkey's "Inconvenient Daughter" centers itself around a primary conflict. In Sharkey's case, it's the endless series of misunderstandings between Rowan Joy Kelly, a Korean adoptee, and her well-intentioned mother. Beginning with Rowan's teenage years, Sharkey shows us Rowan's complicated battle to her own identity as she grows up in a majority white community and struggles to overcome self-doubt. Always, whether she is going to her classes at her Catholic high school or she is partying in Cabrini College, Rowan questions her own self-worth. Despite the best intentions of her mother, she feels isolated and unable to cope. "Inconvenient Daughter" is a tender, emotional and realistic read about mothers and daughters that gives no easy answers.
Available June 23rd 2020
Like any good drama show, Lauren J Sharkey's "Inconvenient Daughter" centers itself around a primary conflict. In Sharkey's case, it's the endless series of misunderstandings between Rowan Joy Kelly, a Korean adoptee, and her well-intentioned mother. Beginning with Rowan's teenage years, Sharkey shows us Rowan's complicated battle to her own identity as she grows up in a majority white community and struggles to overcome self-doubt. Always, whether she is going to her classes at her Catholic high school or she is partying in Cabrini College, Rowan questions her own self-worth. Despite the best intentions of her mother, she feels isolated and unable to cope. "Inconvenient Daughter" is a tender, emotional and realistic read about mothers and daughters that gives no easy answers.
Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy
Available June 30 2020
In "Queens of Resistance: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez", Brenda Jones & Krishan Trotman attempt to discuss the young Congresswomen's successful story along with a mix of #relatable content like fashion tips & favorite recipes. While talking about issues like ICE and climate change, Trotman and Jones try to keep it #hip by sprinkling in terms like "go sis" and "yasss". It reads like a literal transcript of Al-jazeera mixed with some Teen Vogue and NowThis. It seems like the book and the series would appeal to the older teen population who are beginning to be politically engaged.
Available June 30 2020
In "Queens of Resistance: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez", Brenda Jones & Krishan Trotman attempt to discuss the young Congresswomen's successful story along with a mix of #relatable content like fashion tips & favorite recipes. While talking about issues like ICE and climate change, Trotman and Jones try to keep it #hip by sprinkling in terms like "go sis" and "yasss". It reads like a literal transcript of Al-jazeera mixed with some Teen Vogue and NowThis. It seems like the book and the series would appeal to the older teen population who are beginning to be politically engaged.
Thank you to Harper Collins & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available July 7th 2020
In Lysley Tenorio's lively "Monstress", anything goes from Beatles kitsch to homeless drag queens. Each short story is filled with a flair for the dramatic and a love for the Filipino diaspora. It is often the intricate details, the slow anger of a sibling toward another or the quiet, gentle love of an older man, that give these stories their power. Admist the craziness, Tenorio manages to find sanity and rich character details.
Available July 7th 2020
In Lysley Tenorio's lively "Monstress", anything goes from Beatles kitsch to homeless drag queens. Each short story is filled with a flair for the dramatic and a love for the Filipino diaspora. It is often the intricate details, the slow anger of a sibling toward another or the quiet, gentle love of an older man, that give these stories their power. Admist the craziness, Tenorio manages to find sanity and rich character details.
Thank you to Harper Collins & NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available July 7th 2020
In Lysley Tenorio's lively "Monstress", anything goes from Beatles kitsch to homeless drag queens. Each short story is filled with a flair for the dramatic and a love for the Filipino diaspora. It is often the intricate details, the slow anger of a sibling toward another or the quiet, gentle love of an older man, that give these stories their power. Admist the craziness, Tenorio manages to find sanity and rich character details.
Available July 7th 2020
In Lysley Tenorio's lively "Monstress", anything goes from Beatles kitsch to homeless drag queens. Each short story is filled with a flair for the dramatic and a love for the Filipino diaspora. It is often the intricate details, the slow anger of a sibling toward another or the quiet, gentle love of an older man, that give these stories their power. Admist the craziness, Tenorio manages to find sanity and rich character details.
Thank you to House of Anansi Press & NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy.
Available September 1st 2020
What a pleasure it is to be alive at the same time as Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, what a wonder to experience her thoughts and words and art and point of view. A response to an 1852 memoir by a white Canadian settler, "Noopiming" breaths into what is considered barren frozen wasteland. Drawing on ancient myths, Nishnaabeg storyteller Simpson deconstructs what it means to be in the world into seven vital components, or the seven main 'characters', Akiwenzii the will, Ninaatig the lungs, Mindimooyenh the conscience, Sabe the marrow, Adik the nervous system, Asin the eys and ears, Lucy the brain. In contrast to her other works, "Noopiming" is more esoteric and pushes us as readers to consider existence as a whole. Simpson asks what it means to own and to belong, to count or to be counted, to love and to live. A dramatic, tender and creative reclamation of native America, this work is vital in today's political climate.
Available September 1st 2020
What a pleasure it is to be alive at the same time as Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, what a wonder to experience her thoughts and words and art and point of view. A response to an 1852 memoir by a white Canadian settler, "Noopiming" breaths into what is considered barren frozen wasteland. Drawing on ancient myths, Nishnaabeg storyteller Simpson deconstructs what it means to be in the world into seven vital components, or the seven main 'characters', Akiwenzii the will, Ninaatig the lungs, Mindimooyenh the conscience, Sabe the marrow, Adik the nervous system, Asin the eys and ears, Lucy the brain. In contrast to her other works, "Noopiming" is more esoteric and pushes us as readers to consider existence as a whole. Simpson asks what it means to own and to belong, to count or to be counted, to love and to live. A dramatic, tender and creative reclamation of native America, this work is vital in today's political climate.
Thank you to Alain Charles Asia Publishing and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available May 28 2020
Award winning author Su Tong's "Shadow of the Hunter" is in many ways a story retelling itself across Chinese landscape in time and space. The story unfolds in Red Toon Street at a mental institution where we meet our hero Baorun, a bondage savant using his skills to prevent his grandfather from digging up all the town's trees. When he meets the ethereal and esoteric Fairy Princess, the custodian's daughter, he falls in love instantly. With the help of his frenemy, Liu Sheng, he attempts to secure his love only to be rescinded many times. As the story deepens, we follow these three characters on their journey through life in rural China. I loved the complexity of Tong's characters, that not one is fully good or bad but somewhere in the middle. With an unique prosaic style, Tong enrapts his readers in an amusing tale.
Available May 28 2020
Award winning author Su Tong's "Shadow of the Hunter" is in many ways a story retelling itself across Chinese landscape in time and space. The story unfolds in Red Toon Street at a mental institution where we meet our hero Baorun, a bondage savant using his skills to prevent his grandfather from digging up all the town's trees. When he meets the ethereal and esoteric Fairy Princess, the custodian's daughter, he falls in love instantly. With the help of his frenemy, Liu Sheng, he attempts to secure his love only to be rescinded many times. As the story deepens, we follow these three characters on their journey through life in rural China. I loved the complexity of Tong's characters, that not one is fully good or bad but somewhere in the middle. With an unique prosaic style, Tong enrapts his readers in an amusing tale.