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It's hard to find words that do justice to this story. Nahr is a Palestinian woman in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison. From the confines of what she calls "the Cube", she relates her story from her exiled childhood in Kuwait, to further exile in Jordan after the Iraq invasion, then finally finding "home" in her family's homeland of Palestine. Along the way, she is forced to make difficult choices in order to support her family, but her strong-willed nature and courage allow her to prevail even with the land is shifting beneath her feet. There was so much beauty in the strong family and friendship connections that Nahr builds throughout her life, and I was warmed by the strong sense of love for her people and her connection to the beautiful land of her ancestors. But the most compelling thing about this book is the perspective it offers on the events that have shaped this part of the world over the course of my lifetime, and the true human impact of those events. Highly recommend.

I have read few novels that so thoroughly explore the the dark depths of adolescence. Spiraling from a comment Giovanna's father makes about her looks into an obsessive re-examination of the blissful childhood world she thought she understood, Giovanna pings between disillusionment with the human failings of her intellectual parents and curious discomfort with the world she discovers in Naples' seedy districts as she forges a relationship with an estranged aunt. Even without fully understanding the references to and commentary on Neapolitan social dynamics, this story was intensely relatable to me as someone who was born around the same year as Giovanna and experienced the 90s at a similar age. Even a week after finishing it, I am still thinking about this book.

This was such a fun story that had me hooked from the first chapter. When Afi is given the opportunity to repay a family debt by marrying the son of a powerful local woman in her rural Ghanaian town, she is shocked to find out that her new husband--who didn't even bother showing up to the wedding--is in love with someone else, and that his family expects her to "rescue" her new husband from the clutches of his lover. While navigating the tense waters of this awkward arrangement, Afi manages to fall in love with her husband, even if his commitment to her seems to wax and wane. Eventually, she comes into her own in Accra, building herself a successful career as a fashion designer, and I loved following her successes and heartbreaks along the way. Would definitely recommend.

I'm not sure whether the dread this book caused me was due to the story or the prospect of having to read another page. The promising premise was sabotaged by various failings: a cringe-y, 'splainy narrator; a lack of plausible cause for the strange happenings in the book; and finally, the author's disdain for all of the characters left no possibility of redemption or sympathy. Would not recommend.

[a:Bryan Stevenson|4396806|Bryan Stevenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1416790038p2/4396806.jpg]'s memoir is a beautiful account of his work aiding condemned inmates on Alabama's death row, and a chilling illustration of all the work that is left to do to repair a corrupt and broken system of (in)justice and mass incarceration.  Would highly recommend.

There was a lot to love in this story, which covered lots of ground between racial issues in America (both modern and historical), a surprise romance, and action-packed thriller. Though flawed by pacing issues and a hasty final act with some loose ends left unresolved, overall it was very enjoyable. 3.5

This book was about what you'd expect, and all of the bombshells have already been discussed in the media, so there's nothing new here. Mary L. Trump, a clinical psychologist and daughter of Donald's brother, has a clear axe to grind with the family's treatment of her father and his family, and while her stated motivation to educate the populace before a pivotal election may be partially true, she clearly has personal motivations as well. The book is well-written, but the Trump family is an utter bore and I grew tired of reading about them, even in this relatively short book.

After reading her memoir of writing this novel earlier this year, I was excited to finally read [a:Reyna Grande|136841|Reyna Grande|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1350961123p2/136841.jpg]'s labor of love: a story of a Mexican girl who immigrates to America to find the father who left and never returned. While the story is at times sad and dark, the ultimate message is one of hope and perseverance. It was a quick read that I would definitely recommend.

When a friend of the author--a pediatrician at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan--mentioned that lead levels in Flint's water may be elevated after a recent switch in the city's water source, a horrifying thought arose: what if the author's young patients were drinking tainted water? She immediately assembled a team to gather and analyze patient data to determine whether lead levels had increased, and, reaching the dreaded conclusion, campaigned to make the results known. While the circumstances were awful, Hanna-Attisha's determination to do right by her vulnerable patients and to bring to light a disaster that was being systematically covered up by city officials was inspiring. Definitely would recommend.

The premise of this book is probably familiar to everyone at this point: a teenage girl (Vanessa) is groomed for and manipulated into a sexual relationship with her English teacher (Strane) at her boarding school in Maine. Even though the tumult of their relationship causes her constant torment--she becomes ostracized and expelled from her school, estranged from her parents, and beset with a pathological need for Strane's ongoing validation, even as he physically repulses her--she staunchly defends their relationship, his alleged worship of her, and her level of control over the situation. Rather than resting on the salacious details of the affair, though there are plenty, Russell focuses the novel on the profound effects Strane's abuse has on Vanessa's psyche, even well into her thirties, resulting in a thorough treatment of a complex scenario. Would recommend, though I imagine this could be a painful and/or difficult read for some. 4.5

Janina is a middle-aged recluse who consults the stars to see the future, spends her time translating William Blake into Polish, and suffers from intermittent ailments that affect her physically and psychologically. When her neighbor is found dead in his home, it seems to trigger a series of subsequent deaths that Janina insists--to the consternation of the local police who field her odd protestations--are at the hands (hooves?) of local animals exacting revenge on those who hunt them in the area. While she is a deeply troubled and flawed character, experiencing the world through Janina's unusual thought patterns, obsessions, and observations makes this a darkly enjoyable read.