I love a good mystery, this was perfect.

Friendship at its finest. Homa is a women after my own heart and so admirable. The author touched lightly on the history of Iran but mainly focused on the struggle of women.

Marcie Rendon is a go to author for me.
A very good novel focusing on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and women who are fierce, strong, and brave.

Not sure how I felt about this book. I think I missed the message.

I was glad to read a fantasy inspired by Pre-Colombian Americas. I was also very satisfied with the ending.

Is this book about the want of erasure of history in books, authoritarian government, or is it a look at dementia and old age?

Fun! I will certainly continue with the series.

Cried my eyes out! I love books about generations.

The tragedies of life! A woman finds herself in a magical place and tells of the people both good and bad that pass through the her world of healing.
As for appropriation, I‘m not a fan and I will not read an author that does so. This author in my opinion, writes from the perspective of an outsider. I don‘t care to argue or even discuss the latter, I am not in the mood.

Dementia, alcoholism, loneliness, guilt, longing, grief, family, and heritage makes for this excellent story of Charles and the Penobscot people.

What an exceptional take on this classic!

This is a heartbreaking story of an Indigenous Mi‘kmaq child being stolen from her family as happened too many times throughout history.

This YA fantasy was okay but not good enough to want to pursue the series.

Crooked families, drugs, land theft and mostly a story of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIWG2S) come together to make this outstanding twisty mystery set in NE Oklahoma written by a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

I know death and mental health issues are not funny subjects. But, this book! Being in Gilda‘s mind made me laugh for so many reasons. I so enjoyed her. Death and mental illness is a reality and we all see it so differently. I loved Gilda and I cherished being a part of her reality.

“Tell me a story” Julia Alvarez certainly gave us a few stories in this wonderful book. It is filled with history, aging, family, and culture, some told with heartache, and of course heartwarming magical realism.

This is a story of a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre and continues on with his descendants. It is about finding oneself, it is about healing. I loved it. “You are from a people who survived by making their surviving mean more than surviving, who did their best to stay together”. Tommy Orange.

This novel was entertaining, fun, mysterious, heartfelt, and filled with friendship.

This is a very good YA novel touching on MMIWG2S and NAGPRA. The teens represent great positive role modeling.

A very imaginative novel. Kindness, friendship, hope, and the love of books all come together in this heartwarming and a bit sad story.

An awesome novel that looks at the struggles, hardships, joys, and triumphs of a Cherokee/Kiowa/Latino family.

This book is about grief and how hopefully, you learn to live with it. From the author “For me, the Wind Phone is mainly this: a metaphor that suggests how precious it is to hold on tight to joy as well as pain.”

What a story. This was an awesome and unexpected mixture of genre‘s. I loved it. A little bit magical realism, a little bit of a mystery, a little bit of a love story, a little bit science fiction.

The first book in this series by this Anishinaabe author was great but this one is outstanding. I would recommend audio so that you can have the language. The books are set in a near future “after the light have gone out.”

What a charming, fun, endearing, comical, and smart bunch of characters.

As in all short stories, they vary in quality at least for me. This group offers up history, lessons to be learned, revenge, shape shifting, social commentary, the presence of ghosts, and of course horror. Horror not being my favorite genre but still excellent writing from all authors.

I read that police procedural is not so accurate in this book but being that I don‘t know police procedural I won‘t complain. In fact it is a timely tale of white supremacy and crooked cops (maybe).

Khan never disappoints.

Hula, a spiritual, deep, emotional way of life. Not the touristy dance we all think of. What a wonderful novel focused on women, mothers, and family. This novel that spans years and generations gives you a glimpse into the true history, politics, and culture of Hawaii. The colonization, the crooked annexation and a way of life of a people fighting and struggling to keep what is theirs.

2023 in books. I missed my goal to read 50 books but alas, life happens. 37 books in all.

2023 in books, page 2

I like a book where the beginning circles back. Speculative fiction, science fiction and time travel made for a good read. Station Eleven was a big book for her but I think I enjoyed this one more.

Mexican folklore meets science fiction in this very young adult novel.
The cover pulled me in.

A bit boring learning about electric fences but still a great lesson in grizzly management. It‘s sad that there has to be a management but as usual, mankind has made its mark on the natural earth and it‘s inhabitants.

This story talks about appropriation, racism both subtle and bold, greed, and privilege set in and around the world of publishing. Social media is a beast in this book.

I liked the way the author circled back the ending to the beginning. This was a very different look at humanity, scary and intense.

A very good set of stories ranging from that ghost at the end of a long lonely highway to a pedophile priest getting his just deserts and vampires.

A very good set of stories ranging from that ghost at the end of a long lonely highway to a pedophile priest getting their just deserts and vampires.

This is about women overcoming generational trauma through the love and sacrifices of their ancestors and their own power as indigenous women. A very moving story and moving history lesson. The dolls give so much to these women, they even rescue them in some cases.

Yes, this is considered horror but I would say it is more of a western. I‘m not into westerns via any media but this one was an exception. This book is about women, mostly women of color. They are the hero‘s of this tale. This link is a great insight. https://www.tor.com/2023/04/03/book-reviews-lone-women-by-victor-lavalle/

A work of fiction that could very well be true. You meet many characters that are part of this institution for disabled youth. You get to know many awesome human beings but along with that also comes the lowest of the low who are allowed to do what they do because generally these institutions are set up to be profit makers.

This is a more accurate history of this young girl.
Her insight for her respect of the land and the spirits of the land are outstanding and the blindness of the men she is forced to travel with is spot on.

I liked how the author looked at generational trauma, colonialism, and the LIFE and beauty off the natural world. What a fine ending too.

An easy, simple, genuine, kind of love.

This was well researched and written. I have read two true crime books and have decided the genre is not for me.

Engaging story dealing with secrets, mystery, disfunction, and all the trigger warnings. I don‘t know yet what I think of the ending. I‘ll probably read her other books.

Kit Crockett, what a kid! She is incredibly smart, lovable, kind, giving, strong, and oh what a survivor. She is a young Cherokee girl that has lost her mother to TB. Life sends her evil people, the sad thing is they are people who are not supposed to be evil which makes it all the more shocking.

Imagine the mid to late 1600‘s in New France. Imagine being Indigenous, an Indigenous woman. Imagine being at the mercy of a cruel Christianity, cruel Jesuits. This novel takes you there. So full of heart.

What an excellent tale of womanhood (and so much more, I won‘t say what as to not spoil the story). I loved the grandma/granddaughter relationship so much.

The family story of Abdullah and Pari was the best part of this book.

Reading this dark and gritty take on my hometown was interesting.