Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: Holy Land by D.J. Waldie
Our reviewer says: "As a boy, Waldie moved with his family to a suburb of Lakewood, Calif., that was designed and built nearly overnight during the 1950s. In this unusual and compelling memoir organized into a series of short, episodic essays, the author describes both a place and the mindset of a decade." Read more.
The book: Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly
Our reviewer says: "Chef and recipe developer El-Waylly offers a prodigious guide to ramping up one’s culinary skill in her impressive and thorough debut.... As tasty and appealing as it is informative, this is the ideal handbook for those starting out in the kitchen." Read more.
The book: Mercury by Amy Jo Burns
Our reviewer says: "An aimless young woman joins a family of roofers in 1990 Pennsylvania in Burns’s appealing if florid sophomore novel.... Burns delivers a satisfying portrait of life on the margins." Read more.
The book: Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie
Our reviewer says: "A woman struggles to come to terms with her mother’s newfound happiness while her own life falls apart in Xie’s funny and sharp debut.... This author is off to a stellar start." Read more.
The book: The Expectant Detectives
Our reviewer says: "Full of charming characters, including [a] goofy dog, this fast-paced, original cozy is great fun. A sequel would be welcome." Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Our reviewer says: "Chan debuts with a dynamic if overstuffed family saga involving a Malayan mother who becomes a spy for Japan in the lead-up to Japan’s WWII invasion of the territory.... Though the short chapters make for brisk pacing, the characters wind up feeling underdeveloped amid all the various plot threads. Still, Chan convincingly portrays a family caught in the horrors of war." Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (Fiction)
The book: Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger
Jewish Book Council Book Club (Noniction)
The book: The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance by Rebecca Clarren
Our reviewer says: "Journalist Clarren provides an empathetic and eye-opening account of her attempts to reconstruct her great-grandparents’ state of mind when they fled Russian pogroms in the 1880s and settled alongside other Jewish homesteaders in western South Dakota on land taken from the Lakota people, who continued to live on nearby reservations." Read more.
TBA
The book: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Our reviewer says: "When 19-year-old Feyre kills a wolf in the borderland forest between the human world and the faerie kingdom of Prythian, she unknowingly breaks a wary truce and must repay the murder with her life.... The gruesome politics and magical might of the Fae may seem to leave Feyre hopelessly outmatched, but her grit and boundless loyalty demand that her foes—and readers—sit up and pay attention." Read more.
The book: Dawn by Octavia Butler
The book: Nothing Holds Back the Night by Delphine de Vigan
The book: Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind by Molly McGhee
Our reviewer says: "In McGee’s darkly comic fantastical debut, an everyman hero attempts to crawl out of debt with a job as a Dream Auditor, which requires him to enter and alter other people’s dreams.... McGhee anchors the zany narrative with biting depictions of financial instability. Fans of Ling Ma’s Severance will soak this up." Read more.
The book: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
The book: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Our reviewer says: "In this painful and all-too-timely book, two authors—one black, one white—present a story of police brutality.... The scenario that Reynolds and Kiely depict has become a recurrent feature of news reports, and a book that lets readers think it through outside of the roiling emotions of a real-life event is both welcome and necessary." Read more.
The book: Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Our reviewer says: "Pulitzer winner Brooks returns after The Secret Chord with a fascinating saga based on the true story of a famous 19th-century racehorse.... While Brooks’s multiple narratives and strong character development captivate, a late plot twist dampens the ending a bit. Despite a bit of flagging in the home stretch, this wins by a nose." Read more.
The book: The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Our reviewer says: "The evocative if meandering latest from Campbell portrays an herbalist and her family living off the grid on a swamp-enclosed Michigan island, a gauzy out-of-time setting meant to suggest a realm of myth.... Baggy writing, drawn-out scenes, and twee character names aren’t doing this story any favors, but Campbell’s immersive descriptions manage to suck the reader into its swampy setting." Read more.
The book: First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Our reviewer says: "The anonymous narrator of Elston’s ingeniously plotted adult debut has long relied on charm and physical strength to complete a string of lucrative, increasingly dangerous missions from her mysterious boss.... Elston whips up plenty of suspense and delivers a satisfyingly serpentine finale. This promises more good things from Elston to come." Read more.
The book: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Our reviewer says: "Tan’s remarkable debut and duology launch transports readers into a stunning world built from Chinese legend and replete with mythical creatures, magical artifacts, and mortal entanglements.... Tan paints a lush, sparkling world in her inventive reimagining of the age-old Chinese folktale. The result is a riveting page-turner that will leave fantasy lovers satisfied and eager for more." Read more.
The book: Where the Dead Sleep by Joshua Moehling
