nomadreader

The backstory: The Turner House  was a 2015 National Book Award finalist, a finalist for the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize , a 2015 New York Times  Notable Book  and named a National Book Award 5 Under 35. The basics:  "For over fifty years the Turners have lived on Yarrow Street. Their house has seen thirteen children get grown and gone—and some return; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit’s East Side, and the loss of a father. But when their powerful mother falls ill, the Turners are called home to decide their house’s fate and to reckon with how their past haunts—and shapes—their future."--publisher My thoughts: The Turner House is a book I expected to adore. The premise and setting excited me. I picked it for my book club, which meets later this month. And while I liked it, and I'm quite curious to see what Flournoy writes next, I wasn't wowed. When I sat down to write this review, I was surprised to see I didn't...

The backstory: This spring I've flown through all of Allison Leotta's Anna Curtis series, starting with her debut mystery  Law of Attraction , and continuing with the e-short story  Ten Rules for a Call Girl , and the novels  Discretion , and Speak of the Devil . With this week's publication of A Good Killing , I'm left waiting for Leotta to write more and pondering which mystery series I'll dig into next. The basics: A Good Killing  opens shortly after the events of Speak of the Devil . A frantic phone call from a friend in Anna's Michigan hometown alerting Anna to the death of their town's beloved football couch. Her sister, Jody, is the lead suspect. Anna flees for Holly Grove to help Jody and escape the chaos of her life. My thoughts: A Good Killing  is a departure from the earlier Anna Curtis novels in many ways. I'm so glad Leotta changed things up with this novel, given the state of Anna's life in D.C. Perhaps the timing was convenient, ...

narrated by Eric Martin The basics: Detroit: An American Autopsy  is part journalism, part current events, and part memoir. Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Charlie LeDuff makes the somewhat surprising choice to return to Detroit, where he grew up, with his wife and daughter. In this book, LeDuff explores what's become of the town his family has lived in for generations with a cynical, native eye. My thoughts: LeDuff writes with a raw urgency I found infectious. The subtitle of this book gives a clue as to where Detroit stands, and as concerned as LeDuff is with the how, there's plenty of exploration as to how much really is wrong with Detroit. Part of telling that story is telling its prosperous history. Before Detroit became a sad story and a punchline, it was one of the most successful American cities. In the span of a generation, it changed drastically. LeDuff explores these issues and themes both personally, in terms of his experience and his family's history, ...

narrated by Robin Miles The backstory: We Need New Names, the first novel by Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo, was shortlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize . The basics: We Need New Names  is the coming of age story of Darling. The novel begins in Zimbabwe when Darling is ten years old. She knows she will soon be able to escape her troubled country and go to the U.S., where her aunt lives, but little else in this novel is so simple. My thoughts: Child narrators are hit or miss for me, and I don't have a consistent opinion about them. Instead, I feel as I do about almost any staple in literature: when it's done well, I love it. When it's not done well, I don't. In this case, I am of two minds about Darling's narration. Admittedly, I know little about the history of Zimbabwe, so it was helpful to have a child guide me through some of it. When done well, a child's narration enhances a story rather than detracts from it; it's a lens into the world, but t...