All posts filed under: Books

The ‘How I Choose My Books’ Tag

Huge thanks to Fire & Rain for tagging me! I have been reading her blog from afar for a while. So to actually be tagged by Sydney when I got my own was an incredible experience. 1. FIND A BOOK ON YOUR SHELVES OR E-READER WITH A BLUE COVER. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO PICK UP THIS BOOK? I chose The Wife Between Us because I was super in the mood for psychological thrillers. It was apart of my Book of the Month Box for December (my other two selections being The Chalk Man and Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance). But to be honest, the synopsis was what made me choose the novel. When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. This book was everything I wanted from a Thriller. …

Review: Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race

The Stats Title: Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race Author: Reni Eddo-Lodge Publisher: Bloomsbury Circus (November 7, 2017) Genre: Non-Fiction, African Literature, Ethnography & Ethnology, Social Issues, Essayist Trigger Warnings: Discrimination & Race, Hate Crimes I want to thank my friend Taylor F. for doing a complementary sensitivity read on my review of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race. If you are in search of a sensitivity/beta reader, I highly recommend her services. Drop me an email at byairandland@gmail.com and I can get you in contact with her. The Review In February 2014, journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge posted an article titled Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race on her blog. She expressed her frustrations regarding the emotional disconnect white people have regarding the discussion of systematic racism, and how she would no longer discuss the narrative as a means of self-preservation. What Eddo-Lodge did not expect was that she “inadvertently written a break-up letter to whiteness” (xiv). Even though the blog post was never …

Review: The Alice Network

The Stats Title: The Alice Network Author: Kate Quin Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (June 6, 2017) Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Historical Fiction Trigger Warnings: Abortion, Suicidal Ideation The Review In 1947, Charlie St. Cloud’s mother brings her to Europe for a “Swiss Vacation.” Charlie, however, has something else in mind. Haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her French cousin, Rose, during WWII, Charlies sets off to determine if Rose is still alive. With only two pieces of information – the name of a bureau clerk, Evelyn Gardiner, and the name of a restaurant in Limoges owned by a Monsieur Rene, Le Lethe – Charlie finds Ms. Gardiner. 50 years of age and a drunkard, Eve is nothing how Charlie expected. When Charlie informs Eve about Le Lethe, Eve is thrown for a loop. During the Great War, in 1915, Eve worked at Monsieur René Bourdelin’s Le Lethe, in Lille… as an undercover spy. The trio, Charlie, Eve, and Eve’s driver Finn Kilgore, a Scotsman with a criminal record, embark on wild goose chase across the French countryside …

Review: Red Clocks

The Stats Title: Red Clocks Author: Leni Zumas Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 16, 2018) Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Feminist Literature, Dystopian, Women’s Fiction Trigger Warnings: Abortion, Domestic Violence, Coarse Language I bought Red Clocks as a part of my January Book of the Month club box. Thank you to Book of the Month for providing us the option to purchase an early release copy of Red Clocks. All opinions are my own. The Review Red Clocks occurs in an America where “the Personhood Amendment” has granted every embryo the right to consent. Thus, Roe vs. Wade is overturned (as the embryo cannot consent to its termination) and in vitro fertilization is banned (as the embryo cannot consent to its fertilization). To further the Personhood Amendment agenda, the Every Child Needs Two initiative will take effect making it impossible for single parents to adopt. In a small town outside of Salem, Oregon, four women attempt to navigate the world they were dragged into. The biographer, an avid feminist, never wanted to settle down but is desperately …

Review: The Golden Hairpin

The Stats Title: The Golden Hairpin Author: Qinghan Cee Translator: Alex Wooding Publisher: Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House (2015), AmazonCrossing (20 February 2018) Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Mystery/Thriller, Crime, Translated Fiction Trigger Warnings: Murder Thank you to both AmazonCrossing and NetGalley for providing me with an electrical Review Copy of The Golden Hairpin by Qinghan Cee; translated by Alex Wooding, set to publish February 20, 2018, in America. All opinions mentioned in this review are my own. The Review Huang Zixia was a seventeen-year-old super-sleuth. Since the age of thirteen, she has been assisting her father with investigations, using her extreme sense of observation to solve crimes. Now, she is the lamb having been accused of poisoning her entire family to avoid an arranged marriage. Thankfully, Huang Zixia befriends the grumpy and distant Li Shubai, the Prince of Kui. He offers to assist her in solving her own case if she can solve the Four Directions Case in ten days. Huang Zixia goes under-cover as a Li Shubai’s loyal eunuch and together they solve the Four Directions Case. However, before Huang Zixia …

Audible Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

The Stats Title: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Author: Gail Honeyman Narrated By: Cathleen McCarron Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Contemporary Fiction Time: 11 hours 1 minute Release Day: May 9, 2017 Trigger Warnings: Suicidal Ideation The Review Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine was one of my Top Five Books I Wish I Read in 2017. Thankfully, my mother already had the Audible version downloaded. After I finished We are Legion (We are Bob), I decided that now would be a great time to listen to it before it falls too far down on my TBR. Eleanor Oliphant, the protagonist and whose perspective the story is told is, believes she is completely fine. She is twenty-nine years old; works in an office; and lives with Polly, her Australian parrot-plant.  She has everything she needs to maintain a functioning life. She even purchased her first laptop – advancing herself into the technological age. It is not long though, that we learn that Eleanor is definitely not fine. Her job hired her with a black eye and an arm …

Must-Read Book: February

The Stats Title: Freshwater Author: Akwaeke Emezi Publisher: Grove Press (February 13, 2018) Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Contemporary Fiction, African Fiction Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Self Harm, Suicidal ideation I pre-ordered this novel on Amazon and, by some magic, ended up getting an early copy. All opinions are my own. The Synopsis The Ada, the protagonist, was prayed into existence by her parents. However, her birth was not what they were hoping for. A trouble child, The Ada was prone to violent fits. As it turned out, The Ada was born with a connection to “the other side”, causing multiple selves to develop inside her. When she moves to the United States for university, and experiences a life shattering event, her “selves” create a distant identity as a means to “protect her”. Now more powerful than they had been growing up, The Ada begins to lose sight of who she was in Nigeria. It isn’t long until Ada’s life begins to spiral out of control. Why this should be the one book you read in February? Akwaeke Emezi’s …
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