I read the first book in this series a few years ago and, from what I saw of my Goodreads review and the slight tickle in my brain, I enjoyed it. I was interested in picking up a straightforward mystery and remembered this series and moved on to book two. It was fine. Precious Romatswe is referred to in many reviews as the Miss Marple of Botswana, and if you enjoy a homey mystery with a vibrant cast of characters, than you may want to […]
In the words of Poehler, “Good for her, not for me.” Another laborious tale that I slogged through.
Siiiiiigh. I know you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I mean, it’s there, just asking for an appraisal. And when this came through as I checked it out in audio format, with the picture of what looks like a christening gown, I was like, “Eesh. Here we go.” This is one of the picks for the Schaumburg library book club, not a thing I would gravitate toward and I did my best to give it a fair shake but this […]
Velvet…if you please (don’t murder me).
You know how there are just too many strong female secret agents to choose from, in the same vein as James Bond or Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne, or raspy Liam Neeson, or raspy Jason Staham or whoever Tom Cruise is in the Mission Impossible movies? Except, like, not. What I’m saying is, women are hurting for representation in this genre, and the Velvet series is here to fill that gap and make you very very happy. And make a lot of dudes really really […]
A parable of Nigeria
#CBR10bingo #Backlog — published in 2015, this has been in my stack for three years! The Fishermen, Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma’s debut novel, was nominated for a Man Booker prize. His second novel is due early next year. Set in the town Akure, Nigeria in the mid-1990s, The Fishermen is the story of four brothers whose lives are upended in a tragically short period of time. This novel has the feel of a parable, or of a very grim fairy tale. It has a dark […]