Wren in Black Book Reviews

April 27, 2022

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

“The beautiful thing about the piano is that you got white keys and you got black keys. And the only way to make the most beautiful, magnificent, and poetic noise is with both sets of keys working in tandem. You can’t just play all white keys, because you won’t maximize what the instrument has to […]

March 21, 2022

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

“People pay accountants and psychologists to give them power over the here and now, and they pay life coaches, fitness trainers, doctors, and tarot readers so they can control more of the future.” – Brittney Morris, “The Cost of Knowing” Review: The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris was the book I didn’t know I […]

March 14, 2022

True Colors by Kristin Hannah

“What is passion? It is surely the becoming of a person. . . . In passion, the body and the spirit seek expression . . . The more extreme and the more expressed that passion is, the more unbearable does life seem without it. It reminds us that if passion dies or is denied, we […]

March 12, 2022

An Ideal Presence: A Novel by Eduardo Berti

A week later, during an ordinary conversation, he lets it slip: “It’s nice to be informal with each other. But I advise you not to become my friend, because soon you’re going to lose me.” He says the words calmly. With serene anger. With a mix of bitterness and resignation. And I stay there, speechless. […]

March 11, 2022

The Assignment by Liza M. Wiemer

For students, speaking out against any injustice, especially when adults are involved, can be a formidable task. But it’s crucial, life-changing, and perhaps even life saving. – Liza M. Wiemer Review: The Assignment by Liza M. Wiemer is one of the most underrated and underhyped books of 2020, or of this decade so far. It’s […]

March 9, 2022

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

“We are each other’s harvest. We are each other’s magnitude and bond.” – Akwaeke Emezi, “Bitter”. Review: To start this review, I have to go back to the first Emezi novel I read, Pet (read that review first!) , about a girl named Jam and an angel she accidentally releases from her mother’s painting. Pet […]

March 7, 2022

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

“The truth does not change whether it is seen or unseen, it whispered in her mind. A thing which is happening happens whether you look at it or not. And yes, maybe it is easier not to look. Maybe it is easier to say because you do not see it, it is not happening. Maybe […]

March 5, 2022

Hope Never Dies: An Obama / Biden Mystery by Andrew Shaffer

“Barack once told me that, at the end of the day, every one of us is just part of a long-running story. All we can do is try to get our paragraph right.” – Andrew Shaffer, “Hope Never Dies” Review: If you’re wanting a serious mystery, then Hope Never Dies is not for you. Not […]

March 4, 2022

Harriet Tubman: Toward Freedom by Whit Taylor and Kazimir Lee

Review: I was exploring the Black History Month section of my local library when I came across Harriet Tubman: Toward Freedom, a graphic novel about Harriet’s journey into the South to rescue her brothers from slavery. I haven’t taught junior high in a couple of years now, and I’m getting woefully behind on my purchasing […]

March 2, 2022

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

“If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him. – Paulo Coelho, “By the River Piedra, […]