Category: read in 2022

• 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 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 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 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,…