These reviews were highlighted at the top of the site homepage during 2023. They appear below by review publication date, not by the date they were on the homepage.
Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe
Whew. This book is something. Don’t know if I loved it or hated it but I know I won’t forget it! I almost quit it five times and yet I couldn’t put it down. I can usually handle bleak, depressing crime fiction but oh man, this one is bleak!* It mostly works until it doesn’t…but the ending kind of comes together but it doesn’t? I really need more people to read this so I can parse it out. A few more points… -Loved: Jennifer Wolfe […]
Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser
Michelle de Krester gives the reader a (granted, limited) choice in this duology packaged as a single book – you can read these stories, each essentially a novel in itself, in whichever order you prefer. One is called “Lili”, and set in the early 1980s. The other is called “Lyle” and set in the near future. The stories are, of course, siblings but there’s not a specific through-line. They are connected without really connecting. Both stories are about Australians who had emigrated from nearby Asian […]
I Think Our Son Is Gay Vol. 3 by Okura
I Think Our Son Is Gay Vol. 4 by Okura
This is a very sweet slice-of-life series that follows Tomoko, a mother who suspects that her son Hiroki is gay. Throughout the course of the series, she challenges her own internalized prejudices and learns more about how to support her son even if he’s not able to come out to her yet. I think what stands out to me the most with this series is how grounded in reality it is. The author, Okura, is gay, and I think that lends itself to the books […]
Bitch: On the Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke
I haven’t written it yet, but I’m fairly certain this review will mostly be made up of quotes. That’s the reason I have been letting it hold up my review queue, because I haven’t had enough spoons to sit down and go through all my tabs [see below for picture] for my favorite bits, and then organize the bits into some sort of order, and then finally think up smart things to say about them. And if not smart, then at least entertaining. I picked […]
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
When I was reading through the categories for Read Harder 2023 challenge, I was stymied by number 23: Read a social horror, mystery, or thriller novel. I had no idea what a social horror novel was. I had never heard of this genre. I did a quick search for “social horror” and found a few lists. Wouldn’t you know, it turns out I love this genre! The Only Good Indians, Lovecraft Country, Mexican Gothic (which admittedly I loved in concept but not execution) are all […]
Gangsters vs. Nazis by Michael Benson
Full disclosure right from the start, I am a practicing Jew. So when my friend lent me this book, Gangsters vs. Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America, I knew I had to read it. Many may not realize this, but the Nazi movement was quite strong in the United States in the 1930s, especially within the German American community. One of the first surprises this book had for me was who gave the initial impetus behind the Jewish mobsters attacking the Nazis: […]
