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Memorial
Memorial by Bryan Washington If I were to compare Bryan Washington’s debut novel to parts of speech, it would be to nouns and verbs...
aolundsmith
Feb 2, 20212 min read
3 views
1 comment
If I Had Two Wings
If I Had Two Wings by Randall Kenan Sometimes short stories can feel like painful exercises to me. Their brevity can feel like roots...
aolundsmith
Dec 5, 20201 min read
5 views
1 comment
Real Life
Real Life by Brandon Taylor Brandon Taylor’s debut novel Real Life zooms in on a weekend in the life of Wallace, a Black, gay...
aolundsmith
Nov 28, 20202 min read
6 views
1 comment
Luster
Luster by Raven Leilani Review by Chelsey Kimberly I don’t read a lot of Millennial fiction, or I should say I haven’t yet. Despite...
aolundsmith
Sep 17, 202014 min read
22 views
0 comments
The Death of Vivek Oji
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi How many ways are there to know a person? You can know someone through their parents and their...
aolundsmith
Aug 25, 20201 min read
4 views
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Patsy
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn This is an oceanic novel: holding the minute and the massive, the mysterious and the mundane, moving with all...
aolundsmith
Aug 4, 20202 min read
3 views
1 comment
Supper Club
Supper Club by Lara Williams When I close my eyes to summon up an image that could represent this book, what I see is a sumptuous cake,...
aolundsmith
Aug 4, 20202 min read
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0 comments
Kiss of the Fur Queen
Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway I had never heard of this novel, first published more than twenty years ago, until I read Joshua...
aolundsmith
Jul 20, 20202 min read
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0 comments
Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler The best shorthand for how I felt about Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower is that I...
aolundsmith
Jul 11, 20203 min read
2 views
0 comments
Bitter in the Mouth
Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong I’ve been thinking a lot, in the weeks since George Floyd’s murder, about the enveloping quality of...
aolundsmith
Jun 23, 20203 min read
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The Intuitionist
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead The Intuitionist actually made me doubt what I even knew about the world at points. Set in the...
aolundsmith
Jun 8, 20202 min read
11 views
0 comments
Hurricane Season
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor A stream of dark, fricative shapes fill the page fully, almost suffocatingly, like a crushing mob of...
aolundsmith
May 17, 20202 min read
2 views
0 comments
The Knockout Queen
The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe Friendships can be every bit as intense, queer, grotesque, riddled with the aftershocks of trauma,...
aolundsmith
May 8, 20202 min read
5 views
1 comment
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy First, there is birth. With no control, one becomes a person amongst people. Some kind...
aolundsmith
Apr 29, 20203 min read
3 views
1 comment
Homegoing
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi An expansive, peripatetic novel chronicling the journeys, joys, pains, triumphs, and atrocities suffered by two...
aolundsmith
Apr 10, 20202 min read
3 views
1 comment
Other Voices, Other Rooms
Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote Truman Capote’s first novel begins with the arrival of young Joel Knox in the fictional...
aolundsmith
Mar 27, 20204 min read
6 views
2 comments
My Sister the Serial Killer
My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Sharp, silky, stinging, sweet. Caustic and sarcastic, bloody and lovely. My Sister the...
aolundsmith
Mar 19, 20202 min read
2 views
1 comment
This Town Sleeps
"When teenagers make their grandiose plans of leaving, they say There’s nothing to do here. They don’t realize there are plenty of houses...
aolundsmith
Mar 19, 20202 min read
2 views
2 comments
Song of Solomon
The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison I began reading Song of Solomon in the airport. Stranded there for hours and having finished the...
aolundsmith
Mar 19, 20202 min read
2 views
0 comments
Out of Darkness, Shining Light
Out of Darkness, Shining Light by Petina Gappah All I ever knew about David Livingstone’s exploration of various regions of Africa was...
aolundsmith
Jan 20, 20203 min read
2 views
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