Every word of this book is a delight. The language is so yummy and playful, the characters are so vivid and full, the handling of ancestral trauma and processing grief is so compassionate and deeply needed. This book made me laugh, made me cry, and my heart burst open in a way I have not felt in a long time. Open for connection and love, open for art and joy, open to grief and all the ways it shows up in our world. Thank you for this book. It is a treasure.
Fascinating history about the Dark Ages in London, after the Romans left, with wonderful characters. Historical fiction with hints of magic!
This second installment of "Six Crimson Cranes" is just as good as the first book! It picks up immediately where the first book leaves off and whisks you away as the main character tries to set things right. The storytelling is so luscious and well crafted. I love the journey of the characters, the sweet love story, and the recognition and exploration of the complexity of "good" and "evil." It brought me to tears at the end! These books are so beautiful, I have added them to the top of my list of favorite folklore retellings/fantasy books! Teens and adults alike will love this story!
Yay! I loved and devoured this book! This is a fun, heartfelt, heartwarming, spicy, fantasy romance with "zombies" and hints of "You've Got Mail" but so much better. It has everything I love in a fantasy/romance! I'm so excited to recommend this to readers!
Loved this book so much! It made me laugh and made me cry. It was so passionately, thoughtfully written, sensitive about grief and death, while also finding levity and humor throughout! Fans of Emily Henry as well as some magical realism will love this!
This is a book that immerses you in the life of the author, whose reflections on his life and Thoreau's life are honest, raw, contemplative, at times funny, and always a welcome voice throughout many tides of life. It is a meditation on so many things: time passing, our human relationship to nature and walking, grief, friendships, and love. I especially appreciate how he considers the ways we can and cannot relate to Thoreau in our modern times. I recommend this book to those who are interested in Thoreau and his life, and are looking for a thoughtful book to connect to place and the self.
What a ride! This is book is gorey and powerful, vivid and angry. It's got body horror and romance, grapples with spiritual questions, and celebrates the experiences of LGBTQ and neurodivergent folks. It felt like watching a friend play a video game (which I enjoy), but better! It has fast paced action, a cast of characters that you really root for despite knowing that the post apocalyptic environment is brutal and unforgiving. I was moved by this story and will definitely be recommending it to YA and adult readers!
This story is like a folk-tale, out of time and amorphous, yet tethered to untangling the experience of motherhood in this small community and beyond. I was captivated and intrigued until the very last page, and it drew me to tears. It was a story that engaged my senses, swept me in and away, and touched my heart.
I loved this book! It's a great novel for teen fantasy fans! The magic system was so original, centered around brewing and presenting tea in ceremony. There's a little bit of romance, a magic competition, and a mystery with poisoned tea! I fell in love with this world and can't wait to read the next book in the series!
I was delighted and charmed by this book! Unexpected in the best ways, cozy in the best ways, with tension that excited me with each page! This book exuded a deep passion for art, family, and food that ultimately made my heart so happy! For lovers of sci fi, donuts, aliens, the violin, and so much more!
I could not put this book down! It was a tender, passionate, and captivating YA novel that utterly transports you to Prague. It wove Jewish history, folklore, and the present day beautifully. The language is beautiful as well, the whole book is in verse!
What a delightful book! This had me laughing out loud and rooting for this town! It was earnest and silly in all the best ways. I will definitely be recommending this book to those looking for a fun read!
What a joy of a read! I loved this story, the setting of the aquarium and this area of the pacific northwest, the voices of the characters, and the interweaving of their lives. There are some scenes that painted such clear, heartwarming images, I've been delighting in them ever since reading. I can't wait to recommend this book to readers this spring and summer!
This was a wonderful YA novel about two characters learning about themselves and how to communicate to those they love. I know that this book would have been so helpful for me to read as a young person. I found it quite powerful how the book normalizes holding space for each other through challenging times, and that we may never understand each other fully, but we can still love each other for who we are, as we are.
This collection of vulnerable poems of love, loss, grief, addiction, and trauma digs into deeply intimate terrain. His words shed bright, clear light into these places with tenderness and sweeping generosity. What a gift to this world.
Jeanne Masterson can talk to the dead and hear their last parting words. I found the book to deal with the cosmic ending of possibilities with tenderness and complexity, witnessing the characters struggles as they make sense of loss and love in their lives. I love the elements of the supernatural woven with the everyday that creates a rich and captivating world. I'd like to recommend this book to folks who were swept away by "Fresh Water for Flowers" and also enjoy a sprinkle of magical realism.
This whirlwind novel is an action-packed YA sci-fi full of bloodthirst and justice! There is electric feminist energy, beautiful queer themes, and thoughtful commentary on disability all while weaving in aspects of chinese culture that utterly whisk you into their world. I 100% agree with this review by E.K. Johnston and couldn't say it better: "A primal scream of a book!"
Wow, what a powerful story! I was so moved and I can't stop thinking about it.
I cannot speak more highly about this book. The story takes place in Bombay in the 60's and 70's, following a girl as she discovers her passion for dance through the traditional form of Kathak. Her relationship to this dance form as she matures and passes through different phases of her life is so powerful. Swamy has tapped into the perspective of a dancer: the relationship between teacher and student, your relationship to your body, how movement effects how you see the world, perfectionism and balancing craft and specificity, all navigated with passion, masterful language, and thoughtfulness. This book took my heart and danced with it, through love and loss and ultimately deep connection with what it means to be alive in an ever changing body.
This is a beautiful, insightful work of historical fiction about love across time, with such an interesting ending!
This book was so powerful! A fantastic science fiction novel geared towards children 8 and up, I think would be great for middle school and high school ages as well. The story follows a girl as her and her family flee Earth on a spaceship of scientists to find a new planet to live on. It was heartbreaking as well as heart-warming, a story about love, loss, reverence of science and nature, as well as the power and healing nature of storytelling. I fell in love with the characters and there were a few scenes that brought me to tears. This would be a great choice for kids/teens who liked The Hunger Games and other dystopian novels, and could spark thoughtful family conversations.
This collection is such a moving read. The meditations on family, history, nature, grief, deafness, and love are heart-wrenching and poignant. The poems are visceral and deeply sensory experiences, with powerful usage of the idea of closed captioning that invite the reader to consider - what does sound truly mean to us? I highly recommend this collection to poetry lovers.
Six Crimson Cranes is a sweeping story inspired by Western and East Asian folklore. Three primary elements weave together a magical braid: family, delicious food, and a budding relationship. I fell in love with the characters and found myself delighted by so many details - dragons, cranes, cooking, and curses - a princess creatively navigating restraint with hope to save herself, her family, and those she loves. There is also a mystery element with a great twist! I loved curling up with this book; it warmed my heart, and I couldn't wait to keep reading! I highly recommend it to any readers who enjoy retellings of folklore and fantasy, as well as strong, dynamic female protagonists. It is for ages 12+, but I enjoyed it as an adult!
I'm usually not drawn to horror, but the artwork in this novel was so intriguing and inspired, I had to pick it up! Yes, it is violent and is scary at times, but it was a wonderful read and I couldn't put it down! It's a New England Folk Horror story centered around a woman in Puritan - era Connecticut as she tries to survive in incredibly harsh conditions. The parts of the story that center on her life and relationships with the village were compelling on their own, but I also found the demons and magical elements to offer beautiful commentary on environmental issues as well as contemplations about identity. I highly recommend this book, even if you don't tend to seek out horror as a genre.
What a joy! I was delighted with each turn of the page and couldn't help from giggling with pleasure throughout. The characters are so sweet and the illustrations just wonderful! I loved the main character Garlic, who struggles with anxiety, then finds strength and purpose in her mission to help her friends. I can't wait to recommend this magical book to young readers this fall!
This sequel to "Show Me a Sign" was just as riveting as the first one! The urgency of the story and the narrator's fervent drive, always following her heart and her ethics, captivated me from start to finish. This is such a beautifully written, powerful book for young people and adults alike. I hope there will be more books in the series!
This book was one of my favorites this year so far. The story follows a set of twins, one of which is studying wolves and working on a project re-introducing them into areas that are struggling with biodiversity. Taking place in Scotland, the relationships she develops with the community there are very strained and challenging, which sparks her own recollection of violence in her life and makes her hyper aware of the violence around her. I so appreciate the way this story really asks us to question the role of predator and prey, in nature and amongst humans, and how those roles have quite alot of grey area moment to moment, the deeper in you go. It's an intense read, and I highly recommend it.
Magical, surreal, and transformative! This is a perfect book to be transported by and touched by the power of family.
I have read 3 books by The Minimalists and was so excited to read their newest release! Their take on minimalism is expansive, refreshing and consistently inspiring. Josh and Ryan let themselves be very vulnerable in this book, laying bare the personal struggles they’ve encountered on their minimalism journeys. Along with providing fun, actionable steps to minimise possessions, we also get to see how fixing our relationship to “stuff” only scratches the surface. It goes so much farther than aesthetics and convenience. Minimalism can help us rediscover what really matters in life and find fulfillment in ways we didn’t think possible. A great pick for those who love Marie Kondo or Rich Roll!
This book is one poem. My experience of this poem was through the lense of embodiment. After the experiences of 2020, of isolation and immobilization -- the flight, falling, and awe inspiring dynamicism of this piece was so liberating. This is also an incredibly personal piece, one that draws the reader into moments of despair and elation, and ultimately of justice.
Goldenrod reads like a drive through your hometown, past land and houses you once knew, catching glimpses of people you love. Her poems ring with such truth and clarity they bring me to tears. This is a collection for mothers, for those yearning, struggling, and caring for our world. I highly recommend this book for those who love poets like Mary Oliver and Kate Baer.
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This book was such a joy to read: touching, sensual, and powerful. The language was so rich and transported me to the world of each story so effortlessly and graciously. I was especially struck with how refreshing it is to read love stories centering empowered women of color. My heart felt so full by the end, like the love poured into this book was overflowing right off of the page. I can’t wait to recommend it to others!
I adore this book and could not put it down. The story explores important topics of racial injustice. It is a touching family drama throughout history with a bit of teen romance. There were also parts that were so thrilling and was a fast paced mystery! This is a young adult novel, and I think adults will get swept away by it as well, I know I did.
This collection is such a balm for weary hearts. It is clear that the editor has lovingly selected each poem, and that passion for poetry is seeped into every page. The forward is a gorgeous meditation ushering the reader into the perfect headspace for poetry, asking us "how we witness makes our world." And in this collection this witnessing of the world is studied through gratitude and hope.
This is one of my very favorite poetry collections. Ross Gay is such a loving, powerful, masterful poet, and this collection of poems bring the reader right to the heart of it all. I highly reccommend this collection for fans of Mary Oliver.
I am drawn to retellings of myths and legends but tend to struggle with Greek mythology with its vastness and complicated relationships. This book captured me in way I haven't felt with Greek mythology before! It fleshes out these timeless characters with such grace and depth. The story beautifully weaves through so many eras of that cannon, and I felt like I could finally connect to the characters, dramas, and intricacies of this vast world. I love the world created here through the lens of the character Circe, who is a wonderfully complex, passionate, and caring witch and herbalist.
I loved and highly recommend this historical fiction novel based on a real community of deaf residents on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1800’s. The main character Mary is an empowered, spunky young girl who is deaf and gets kidnapped by a Boston doctor who doesn’t understand deafness. It’s a page turner of a book that has heartfelt themes of friendship and family, some thrilling action, as well as fascinating local history, conversations about prejudice, and beautiful language based on first-hand experience of communicating with sign language.
I was immediately drawn to this book by the mysterious foggy cover, which turned out to be very fitting for this story. Part mystery, part ghost story, part coming of age story in the subculture of 2000's Toronto, it spans diverse and fascinating topics with compassion and intrigue. I was thoroughly enthralled by how it all threads together.
I love time travel stories. In this one, I was genuinely amused by the "rules," quotidian nature of the characters, and unapologetically casual pacing. This book took a touching look at relationships and our universal desire for understanding and closure. A perfect book for a rainy day with a cup of coffee.
Maggie Smith is an exquisite poet! I’m a huge fan of her book Good Bones. Keep Moving is a project that she started on twitter, where each day she shared a goal, an affirmation, or an encouragement, all about moving forward through difficult times. I so appreciate the simplicity, honesty, and generosity of this book. You can read it cover to cover to follow her journey chronologically, or you can open the book to any page for a bit of wisdom and inspiration. I’ve found it so grounding and helpful this past year, and think it’s a perfect choice for those going through challenges and transitions.
This is a perfect gift for the flower lover in your life. The illustrations are lovely, colorful paper collages that capture the essence of each plant. The stories delve deep into each flower’s history and mythos in ways that are illuminating and surprising. It’s beautifully designed and inspiring!
This book is a perfect read for a chilly autumn day. I was completely swept up in this story about this strong woman, Mary, in Purtian-era Boston as she navigates trying to get away from her abusive husband. I was fascinated by the look into interpersonal relationships, politics, and the justice system through the Puritan lense at the very beginning of witch trials in New England. Her story kept me on the edge of my seat up until the very end!
