I love Greek mythology, and I’m a big fan of Felicia Day, so this was a no-brainer for me. Day has written a graphic novel telling the story of a little-known character in Greek mythology. Philonoe is the sister of Helen, Clytemnestra, and Timandra. In Day’s retelling, she’s born with a large birthmark on her…
I very rarely read biographies, preferring to learn about people through their own words. I wondered why Blume didn’t write her own story, but I learned that she prefers not to write nonfiction, and probably didn’t want to spend her limited writing time on a book about herself. I ended up learning a lot about…
In a lot of ways, this is the novel about Hawaii I’ve been looking for. It’s steeped in the history and culture of Native Hawaiians, but also a compelling generational family saga. The Naupaka family lives in Hilo, which is on the island of Hawai’i (also known as “The Big Island”). Laka, once Hilo’s celebrated…
In February I had surgery on my nose to fix a deviated septum, which required quite a bit of time at home to recover. So between surgeries and lots of snow days, I read more than usual this month. Here’s what I read in February: My favorite reads: I highly recommend Solito, especially in the…
I’m a big fan of Tayari Jones, so I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of her newest book, Kin. This was a beautiful, moving story. It’s the story of a friendship between two women that begins almost at birth. Vernice and Annie are “cradle sisters” in the small town of Honeysuckle, Mississippi. Neicy’s…
This was a perfect book to build upon the issues discussed in As a Jew by Sarah Hurwitz. Horn explores antisemitism in various forms, most notably the idea that people are comfortable with the idea of Jews as victims, as long as they aren’t challenged to look beyond that. For example, people love the idea…
This was my first book by Richard Powers, though I’ve been wanting to read The Overstory for a while, which won a Pulitzer Prize and came recommended by a former work friend. This book, Playground, was on a lot of 2024 Best Of lists and the beautiful cover certainly drew me in. The novel covers…
This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is books for armchair travelers, or books that help you explore the world from home. I love to travel and to read about other places, so I had trouble whittling this one down. Long Walks: I love books about long walks, maybe…
If you’re looking for a short but powerful read about love, family and grief, I recommend this one. I also liked the way it combined history, science, and writing, but that’s secondary to the raw emotion of the book. It’s almost like reading poetry. Balen is an author of children’s books and this is her…
I first learned about this book when I was working with a grant to the state of Rhode Island to support a statewide read along of this book (https://ribook.org/rari/). The woman I spoke with at Rhode Island Center for the Book raved about Solito so much I went out and picked it up. That was…
In January we got hammered with snow, freezing rain and ice, so much that I got four days off of work and I’m still digging my car out. It was a great reading month, at least. Here’s what I read in January: My favorite reads: Heart the Lover was fantastic, another winner from Lily King.…
I love books about Hawaii, especially when they focus on Native Hawaiian culture. I also love books about nature and animals. So this book, about a marine biologist who goes to Hawaii to determine the cause of three shark attacks, checks a lot of boxes for me. Even better, it also features a woman in…
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