The plot: A mixed-race woman living in London is excited about her upcoming marriage until she finds out that her white fiancé’s family most likely owned some of her family as enslaved people. I read this description and immediately had to read this book. Released in the U.S. in paperback, it’s based on Phoebe’s one-woman show in the UK.

I really enjoyed this book! Not only does it address important topics like generational trauma, family history, and how to address “bad” history in the modern-day, it’s also a great character study of the main character, Layla. We rarely hear about issues like this from people other than historians, pundits, and politicians. It was nice to read, even if fictional, the reactions of people involved in the issue. Layla’s growth through the novel—and her relationship with her activist best friend—is especially compelling.

McIntosh narrates the audiobook (I LOVE when actors narrate), and she’s terrific. Layla’s Grandfather is Jamaican, and McIntosh switches accents effortlessly. I read parts of the gifted eBook (thanks, @NetGalley and @randomhouse!) and listened while I was in the car.

If you like character studies—ones about people of color and some serious themes—give this one a try. It’s paperback too, so it’s not too expensive. But I really liked the audiobook, too!

NPR political writer Sarah McCammon shares her story of leaving the strict evangelical church and community she was brought up in as a child in Kansas City, Missouri. Throughout her childhood, her parents kept their distance from her grandfather, a neuroscientist who lived with a male roommate. Only later in life, did Sarah realize that her grandfather was gay and his roommate was his partner.

This revelation—combined with Sarah’s work as a Senate page and, more recently, the political rise of Donald Trump and his connection to the evangelical community—seems to have fueled her extraction from her church. Not only could she not reconcile the social beliefs of evangelicals with her feelings for her grandfather, she also learned just how isolated she was from secular society. Her church was her home, her school, her friends...her whole life. She wasn’t able to experience anything that was not related to her faith.

Sarah expands her study to include the role of evangelical Christianity in history, culture & politics. This part of the book was as intriguing as her personal story. While many, like Sarah, have been leaving the evangelical Christian church due to its beliefs about the LGBTQ+ community, its power over government and society has somehow increased.

I appreciated Sarah’s candor and the intellectual way she went about examining her family, religion, and life. This book was a helpful tool and provided food-for-thought for my own relationship with the church.

This delightful novel revolves around a fun conceit. Every time Lauren’s “husband” goes into the attic, a new husband comes out. As her rotation of husbands continues, she learns more about herself and what she does—and doesn’t—want in a partner.

Lauren starts the novel as a single woman in her early 30s who lives in a small flat in London. Once she figures out what’s happening and starts experiencing life with different husbands, we get some truly funny moments. It’s always intriguing to see how she has to, at times, manipulate things to GET her current husband to go back into the attic. When she finally meets another person who’s experiencing the looping she is (in a different way), things get even more entertaining.

There’s an emotional piece to this novel that you might not expect from the choose-your-own-adventure-type storyline (author Gramazio is also a video-game designer which you can definitely see in her writing). As Lauren’s patience with the rotation begins to wane, she starts to question just what she wants out of life—and what type of role a true partner would play in that scenario.

Interesting, charming, fun, and emotional, this novel is a great choice for a spring read. Warm weather, colorful flowers, and a novel about a woman trying to find the husband of her dreams (one who DOESN’T wear Monsters Inc. slippers!) is a great spirit-lifting combo! This book is great!

4.5/5

Compelling and clever, this dystopian novel/sci-fi love story explores themes relevant to today's world. As bit too long, in my opinion, at over 450 pages, I was still immersed in the fascinating world-building and love story. January is a character who you'll be drawn to from the start. Also, the world created by author Pulley is, sadly, not too hard to imagine as a future of today's reality.

A dancer for the Royal Academy in London, January Sterling is displaced from his country by flooding, civil unrest, and a war between Russia and America. To pursue a life where he's not threatened at every turn, he travels to Mars as a refugee.

"Earthstrongers" are people on Mars who've come from Earth. They're as strong as polar bears and need to wear metal cages, so they don't unintentionally harm native Mars residents, who are taller and more delicate. Mars is an interesting place. Gender has been outlawed, residents' appearances can be altered based on the internet-capable contacts people wear, and the Martian government is intent on forcing every refugee to "naturalize." This intensely physical process guarantees that the subject will be permanently disabled from the change. Yet, if the refugee undergoes the procedure, they're guaranteed universal income, free healthcare, and unlimited electric and water. If you choose not to be naturalized, you must work a menial job with little pay, most of which January uses for sparse electric and food.

All this political and societal intrigue revolves around an effecting love story. After an accident at a protest, January becomes involved with the powerful, naturalization-proponent Senator Aubrey Gale. To mitigate the damage, January enters into a fake marriage with Gale. As these two grow closer and start to "see" the realities of each's life, preconceptions, beliefs, and emotions are altered. I loved how Pulley grounded the futuristic and sci-fi aspects of this story with this very real romance. It was a wonderful way to show how, as with all political and societal constructs, love is the agent of understanding, true meaning, and the possibility for positive change.

I did lose interest at certain parts and felt that the book was absolutely too long. Yet the story still stuck with me, especially the stellar world-building and romance.

If you're into science fiction/dystopian novels--especially those that are, at heart, a love story--give this novel a try. It's one I won't soon forget.

A sensitive, sweet, and sexy queer sports romance?! This one is a gem!

It’s 1960 and journalist Mark Bailey is adrift. He lives in his late partner’s apartment with his dog, Lula, and begrudgingly writes about arts for the New York Chronicle. Right now, though, the biggest story in the city is about sports, specifically Eddie O’Leary, the new short-stop for The New York Robins baseball team.

Eddie’s angry. He’s in a horrible slump and isn’t happy about being uprooted to play on a team that has the worst record in baseball. He mouths off about his new team and is iced out by his teammates. To boost Eddie’s reputation and to sell papers, Mark agrees to write a weekly diary in Eddie’s voice.

As their working relationship grows over dinners and drinks, these two men start to form a deep friendship, which slowly turns romantic. Both eventually come out to each other, and question whether they can even have a serious relationship. Mid-century America and the public spotlight that’s on Eddie seem to make any real relationship all but impossible. Plus, Mark has no interest in living as someone’s secret, which he had to do in his previous relationship.

I loved the care Cat took in exploring the time in which this queer love story takes place; it never seems “teachy” but instead is a legitimate concern for Eddie and Mark’s HEA. The way each character changes as they get closer and closer—and how each helps the other grow—is so realistic and entertaining. I was thrilled with the baseball talk, too! Eddie and Mark’s sweet romance is one to savor. I adored it.

I’m completely awed by another Tommy Orange book. This one picks up where the equally stellar There There left off—and readers again get an engaging mix of Native American history framed within the stories of modern-day Indigenous characters living in Oakland.

We learn of Jude Star, a Native American who escapes the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre only to end up in a Florida prison. His son, Charles, is a “student” at the Carlisle Industrial Indian School in PA. Interestingly, Orange even puts a brief spotlight on the real-life creator of the school, Captain Richard Henry Pratt.

We then get to the meat of the book: the Bear Shield-Red Feather family who populated the previous novel. Orvil Red Feather is recovering from the gunshot he experienced at the powwow. He slowly becomes addicted to the opioids he’s using to manage the pain. His friend Sean, whose father makes drugs in their house, keeps Orvil supplied, while also being an addict himself.

Addiction is a central topic of this book, affecting almost everyone from Jude on down. Orange seems to be using it to highlight how the atrocities of Native American history have manifested themselves in today’s Native generation. Instead of assuming that Native people are susceptible to addiction because they’re weak, he highlights how it’s because they have centuries of traumatic history & systemic horror to deal with. Seeing Orvil devolve from a carefree dancer to an addict broke my heart. I appreciate how Orange explores the complexity of Native people & their experiences, while also educating readers about history & lived-in experiences we don’t know.

This novel does what lit fiction does best: educates AND entertains. The struggles and tragedies described in this novel are permeated by a current of hope. Here, family is the catalyst that will heal and make things better.

Another lit fiction standout from Tommy Orange! I loved it.

This engaging novel celebrates stories—how they’re told, how they’re forgotten, and how they are uncovered, even after death.

The intriguing storyline: Alma, a famous Dominican writer and professor, retires to inherited land in the Dominican Republic, and decides to bury the remains of all the stories she never finished writing. Her groundskeeper, Filomena, has some intriguing family stories of her own. She’s also able to “hear” the stories told by the various markers.

Alma takes a backseat to the stories of Filomena, her family, and two markers, in particular. One is real-life historical figure, Bienvenida, dictator Rafael Trujillo’s second wife, whose story was erased from written history. Filomena also learns about Manuel, a doctor who has closer times to Alma’s family than we first think.

I loved each of these character’s stories. Filomena’s intrigued me the most, and Bienvenida’s life of privilege yet struggle was fascinating. I’m going to have to do some digging to see how much is true to real-life. As a fan of writing, stories, books, and reading, I really enjoyed this unique novel.

The audiobook is stellar! The same narrator who read Evelyn Hugo narrates it, and she’s terrific. It’s especially impactful to “listen” to a narrator read a novel about the power of story.

One last kudos! Gaby D’Allesandro illustrated this AMAZING book cover! It’s the perfect accompaniment for this novel.

This clever satire explores the various ways people play “the victim,” in particular Javi Perez. While going to high school in the Bronx, Javi is encouraged by a white professor to exaggerate his experience living in the city. When Javi’s embellished college essay gets him a full ride to an elite university, his continued used of “victimhood” begins.

From that description, it might sound like Javi is the example here. That he isn’t, is the genius of this novel. Almost everyone—from Javi, to his professors, to his girlfriend, to his girlfriend’s father, etc.—uses victimhood in one way or another to get ahead. The one person who seems to be the decent, honest one in Javi’s world is Gio, his childhood friend who ends up in jail for selling drugs. Boryga’s astute observations about cancel culture, campus life, and racism are expertly woven into this engaging plot. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, thinking, “When is Javi going to be found out?” If you loved Yellowface, you’ll love this one, too.