Another busy weekend past — throwing a surprise birthday party on Saturday and celebrating Mother’s Day three times over yesterday — and blogging took a backseat again on Moan-Day…I mean Monday…morning.
Currently Reading
The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim
Reading The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim for book club on Wednesday, selected in honor of May’s being National Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It’s a split narrative; one about a couple who leaves one of their two young daughters behind with family in Korea while they get established in America and the other about the daughter in Korea who is unable to join them before civil war breaks out in Korea.
Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak
Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak is one I’m reviewing for Library Journal. It’s women’s fiction, set at the time of the Haitian Revolution. The historical details are from the perspective of a young woman whose position as the mulatto daughter of a white coffee plantation owner and an enslaved Black woman becomes even more precarious when the rebellion begins, and who flees to France with her half brother.
Coming out in early August from Berkley Books.
Recently Read
The Great Man Theory by Teddy Wayne
The Great Man Theory is coming out in July from Bloomsbury Publishing. I received an ARC through a publisher’s giveaway. Some readers may find the main character unsympathetic — a middle-class, middle-aged white male academic who, had he been born a generation before, might have led the life he was led to expect –a life of modest privilege as a tenured professor at a small but respected private college, publishing books that have wide popular appeal as well as garnishing critical acclaim.
Instead, his life is a train wreck. He alienates his friends/colleagues, feels himself losing his connection with his daughter after a divorce, loses his already tenuous academic position, and it just keeps getting worse. I felt sorry for him, as it takes a long time for him to realize how far his life has gone off the rails and he doesn’t understand why or how.
Set during the debacle of Trump’s presidency, this book should appeal to political satire fans as well as literary fiction readers.
Continue reading “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? 05-09-22 #IMWAYR”