From the first poem “Why I Can Dance Down A Soul-Train Line In Public And Still Be Muslim,” this collection is a marvel and a necessary examination of what it means to inhabit multiple identities in America.

Okay, this book was so well done. Exquisitely uncomfortable read.

This is a book full of characters driven by the certainty that there's just not enough love to go around. In the first chapter, I didn't blame April for wanting this kid out of her house. As the book wore on, I didn't blame the kid for growing up to be the kind of woman she is. Or I did. I blamed them, and then I forgave them, and then I blamed them all over again. But I never doubted them. Not for a minute. A definite pick.

I inhaled this book. Inhaled it. It's just wonderful. And next week I'll get to see the author at #VaBook2017! I cannot wait!

I've bailed on this twice but I'm halfway through and I'm going to finish this time. The writing is great and I'm generally enjoying the characters but I have to talk myself into reading each night. It feels like a book I'll end up admiring without ever falling in love with it.

I'm out. There's nothing sharp or funny or lyrical at the sentence level to keep me invested and I've started zoning out for paragraphs at a time.

Okay, how long is it going to take me to get into this one? I'm maybe a dozen chapters in and not feeling completely charmed yet. Or at all charmed. I'm very bored. Keep going?

I stayed up until 2:30 to finish this and now I have a headache. I loved the concept and the mythology and the characters. My only complaint was that sometimes there were lines (mostly in dialogue I think) that felt jarringly contemporary in tone. Still worth the headache.

Technically what I'm reading tonight are student papers, but I want very badly to get back to this novel. So many unexpected moments and I'm only halfway through.

Happy to get my hands on an early copy of this. Absolutely riveting so far.

Loved: the depiction of the world of ballet with its beauty and grit, its passions and obsessions. The central question of the novel, how ballet prodigy Mira became withdrawn academic Kate was less interesting to me. More meditation than mystery which made for a slower read than I'd been hoping for. Still, sharp writing and deftly drawn characters make this a pick.

My son is obsessed with these books and desperately wants me to catch up so we can talk about it. Pretty damn grim but I dig it.

Gannon is a poet and it shows in this book both through the language and through the deep exploration of the novel's themes. A deeply atmospheric novel with rich, vibrant characters. Highly recommend.

So my novel is coming out in Sweden this fall and I'm so in love with the cover I can't even tell you.

Travel day yesterday and this got me through two (delayed) flights. Very hungry when I landed.

This is another of my favorites from recent years. A slim novel, but with so much depth and weight. I read this in a few short hours but then felt like I carried it with me for weeks. Highly recommend it.

"She would show the portfolio to the group of men waiting for her in the Herald offices, and they would decide if she could make of herself a writer."

This book is for me a reminder of how much depends on my frame of mind. The first time I started it, I couldn't get into it. A year later, couldn't put it down. It's such a rich, full novel.

Ridiculously excited to be at Austin's BookPeople with the gloriously talented Jill Alexander Essbaum next week. Hausfrau is one of my absolute favorite books in recent years. Sept. 1, 7pm

Another book I'm surprised more aren't talking about. There's a grittiness to this come-back tour, a realness to Anna herself that I found so compelling. Nothing cliche about this one, and I loved seeing a female character with such raw artistic ambition.

The violence that is done to Mirielle is shattering to read. It is graphic and necessarily so for us to understand the depths of her betrayal, her isolation, how impossible for her to return to herself even after her return. This is a magnificent, significant book. Highly recommend.

Loved this. Funny and smart which is my favorite kind of book. Richard is kind of (ok very much) an asshole but you end up rooting for him anyway.

Obviously pre-ordered this the minute I learned of its existence. It seems like Roxane is known more for her (outstanding) essays but if you haven't read her fiction yet, you should fix that. I'll add reviews of An Untamed State and Ayiti soon.

Slowly adding reviews of my favorites and I see that I'm the first to post about this one, which is exciting but also ridiculous because this book is stunning. How is everyone not talking about it? The love affair of a young boarding school couple as imagined/told by an obsessed third party.

To start, just how sexy is this cover? So this book is complicated & dark. A French divorcee begins an affair with a younger man. She's as physically drawn to him as she is put off by his behavior, his demands. She's embarrassed by him, threatened by him. She can't seem to give him up.

Lucy's secrets from the long ago summer when her sister went missing have reverberated through two generations. Now, her great-niece comes home to the lake to reclaim the future. Rich characters and relationships throughout.

I read this a few years ago but found myself thinking about it again after recommending it to a friend this weekend. It is in my top 10 of most powerful, important books and there are scenes that will haunt me forever--the smaller moments, the accumulation of disappointments and minor failures.

I absolutely loved this novel. Read it in one long gulp. The characters are a mess, but in a way that's so true to life, and there's a real sweetness to them. The dialogue is first-rate!

Not my usual kind of story but the characters of Delpha and Phelan were well-drawn. A very atmospheric story. Some humor in the smaller cases but a lot of grit overall.

Almost bailed early on. Initially, it felt too close to the original, almost anachronistic in a way, but then the stories diverged enough that this book became its own thing and it was a lot of fun.

Picked this up at the recommendation of Kathleen at A Great Good Place for Books in Oakland. (I love this store!) Perfect summer read with some really smart human observations. I feel like Emma Straub should be about a dozen years older though. How does she know this stuff?

Heard Alison read at Booked on 25th's opening day in Ogden this morning. Adding Ophelia's War, the story of Mormon turned Madam, to the to-read stack.

I had the good luck to read with Seema in LA last week and she was stunning. Such a phenomenal reader. I'm so excited to start this.

Really love this one, a perfect combination of smart and quick and funny.

Definitely more literary than thriller, but paced nicely to keep you turning the pages. I was most drawn in by the exploration of the weird allure of Mr. Wick. The relationships/manipulations progress slowly enough to feel believable and even relatable at times.

Really drawn into this. It's slowly unraveling the story of what happened when a young girl and her friends were drawn into this cult-like group of misfits. Decades later the leader is in prison and his followers are intermittently threatening her and dancing on the graves of her dead friends.

Bought a bunch of books at The King's English last night (such a great store if you're ever in SLC). Most were books the kids wanted, but this one's for me. My road trip read.