Wren in Black Book Reviews

July 18, 2022

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

“Books are filled with human thoughts and feelings. People suffering, people who are sad or happy, laughing with joy. By reading their words and their stories, by experiencing them together, we learn about the hearts and minds of other people besides ourselves. Thanks to books, it’s possible to learn not only about the people around…

July 16, 2022

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

“If your mother is the love of your life, what does that make your husband?“ – Rebecca Serle, “One Italian Summer” Review: After reading In Five Years by the same author and enjoying it immensely, I had some high hopes for this book. I shouldn’t have. In part, this book was a victim of my…

July 14, 2022

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

“Don’t ignore the problems,” he says. “Learn from them. But also, don’t knock what you get right. Every success deserves a celebration.” – Mason Deaver Review: I’ll admit that I did not know about International Nonbinary People’s Day until today. So the fact that I finished a book about a nonbinary teenager today is a…

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…